Single-Piece Roll-Formed Damper Frame to Reduce Noise and Leakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing roll-formed frames for ventilation components, such as dampers, suffer from issues like noise, rattle, looseness, and leakage due to their separate component construction.
Innovation Solution
A single piece roll-formed frame design featuring intersecting channels with angled legs and integrated tabs, secured by rectangular clinches, to provide a sealed and rigid structure without separate components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If separate roll-formed components are used to manufacture frames, then manufacturing flexibility and ease of assembly are improved, but structural integrity, noise, rattle, looseness, and leakage worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate roll-formed components into a single integrated frame structure. The frame is constructed as one continuous piece of formed material that provides both the structural support and the sealing surfaces, eliminating the need for separate components that would otherwise need to be assembled together. This integration directly resolves the contradiction by maintaining manufacturing simplicity through roll-forming while achieving superior structural integrity and eliminating assembly-related issues like looseness and misalignment.
Solution Approach 2:
While the frame is a single piece, the design incorporates segmented features such as integrated seals and mounting sections that are formed as distinct functional zones within the continuous structure. This allows the frame to provide different functions (structural support, sealing, mounting) in different sections without requiring separate components, thus maintaining ease of manufacture while improving reliability through integration.
2Ease of manufacture
If separate roll-formed components are used to manufacture frames, then ease of manufacture is improved, but noise, rattle, and looseness worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates noise and rattle by merging separate components into a single continuous frame structure. Without separate parts that can move relative to each other, the sources of mechanical noise and vibration are removed. The integrated design maintains ease of manufacture through roll-forming while simultaneously eliminating the harmful acoustic effects that plague assembled frames.
3Ease of manufacture
If separate roll-formed components are used to manufacture frames, then ease of manufacture is improved, but leakage worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates sealing surfaces directly into the continuous frame structure, eliminating gaps and misalignments that occur with separate components. The single-piece construction ensures continuous sealing surfaces that prevent leakage, while the roll-forming process maintains manufacturing efficiency. This directly resolves the contradiction by achieving superior sealing without sacrificing ease of manufacture.
Data Source
AI summary
A single piece roll-formed frame comprising a first channel having a base section and one or more legs, each leg comprising an upper side extending from the base section at a first angle and a lower side extending from the upper side at a second angle, a second channel having a base section and one or more legs, each leg comprising an upper side extending from the base section at the first angle and a lower side extending from the upper side at the second angle and wherein the base section of the first channel and the base section of the second channel are formed from a single piece and intersect to form a third angle, and the upper side of each leg of the first channel overlaps the upper side of each leg of the second channel.