Semi-Trailer Aerodynamic Skirt Stabilizer Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aerodynamic skirts on vehicles can interfere with obstacles such as snow and ice on roadways, leading to potential damage to both the skirts and encountered objects, and are prone to accidental contact during vehicle maneuvering, especially due to inboard or outboard movement.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a resilient aerodynamic skirt system with stabilizers that absorb impact, featuring a first and second plate configuration with a transition curve, and preloaded leaf springs to manage movement and maintain the skirt's neutral position, allowing for inboard and outboard accommodation and return to original orientation post-obstacle encounter.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If skirts are extended longitudinally along the sides of the vehicle to reduce drag, then aerodynamic efficiency is improved, but the risk of contact with obstacles such as snow, ice, and other objects increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizer is designed as a dynamic structure with first and second plates connected by a hinge, allowing the skirt to move between a neutral position (hanging down) and an impacted position (pivoted upward). This dynamic capability enables the skirt to accommodate obstacles like snow and ice while maintaining aerodynamic efficiency during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilizer incorporates a spring element that is pre-loaded to provide cushioning force before impact occurs. This beforehand cushioning allows the stabilizer to resiliently absorb impact forces when the skirt contacts obstacles, preventing damage to both the skirt and the encountered objects.
2Loss of energy
If skirts are made rigid to maintain aerodynamic shape, then aerodynamic efficiency is improved, but the ability to accommodate inboard or outboard movement during maneuvering is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizer uses a hinged connection between the first plate (attached to the vehicle body) and the second plate (attached to the skirt), allowing the skirt to dynamically adjust its position. The spring element provides restoring force to return the skirt to its neutral aerodynamic position after movement, combining rigidity for aerodynamics with flexibility for adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilizer changes the physical state of the skirt from a fixed rigid position to a controllable dynamic position. By using the spring element to provide resilient force, the system maintains the skirt in an optimal aerodynamic configuration during normal operation while allowing temporary displacement when obstacles are encountered.
3Strength
If stabilizers are added to accommodate skirt movement, then resistance to impact is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizer is divided into distinct functional segments: a first plate for attachment to the vehicle body, a hinge connection, a second plate for attachment to the skirt, and a spring element. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while keeping the overall structure manageable and maintainable.
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilizer utilizes a flexible spring element that can bend and deform to absorb impact forces. This flexible component provides the necessary resilience and impact absorption capability without requiring complex rigid mechanical structures, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining strength.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively resists movement and maintains aerodynamic efficiency while minimizing damage by providing controlled movement and return to the neutral position, ensuring stable operation and reduced risk of collision with obstacles.
Implementation Method 1
Each stabilizer includes a first plate which extends inwardly from an attachment beneath the vehicle bed near one of the skirts. A second plate then extends from that inwardly extending first plate to the attachment with the same skirt. These stabilizers accommodate either inboard or outboard movement of the associated skirt when the skirt encounters obstacles while driving and resiliently returns to a neutral depending position once free.
Implementation Method 2
Once the encountered obstacle or object is passed, the stabilizer returns the skirt to its neutral dependant orientation relative to the bed of the vehicle.
Implementation Method 3
In one specific aspect of the present invention, each stabilizer operates to bend the second plate to accommodate inboard movement of the associated skirt. With outboard movement, the second plate is principally in tension with the first plate bending to accommodate outboard movement of the skirt.
Data Source
AI summary
A semi-trailer has an elongate bed with skirts depending there from adjacent to either side of the bed. The skirts are laterally flexible and can also flex vertically to overcome obstacles and objects. Elongate plates are mounted at one end to the underside of the bed adjacent one or the other of the depending skirts. The elongate plates extend inwardly beneath the bed and then diagonally downwardly to the adjacent skirt displaced below the attachment to the bed. Leaf springs are superimposed on the underside of the inward extensions of the elongate plates to preload the plates toward the bed of the semi-trailer. The skirts extend from landing leg assemblies on the semi-trailer to longitudinally adjacent the forward outboard tires of the wheel assemblies.