Vehicle Splash Guard Non-Fastener Locating Projection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle splash guards often become loose or misaligned due to vibration and wear, leading to increased warranty and repair costs, despite being structurally sound.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle splash guard design featuring a base portion with a mounting structure and non-fastener locating projections that contact the vehicle body structure to restrict movement, ensuring secure attachment without fasteners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fasteners such as screws are used to couple the splash guard to the vehicle structure, then the splash guard can be securely attached, but the installation time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes fasteners entirely from the attachment system. The splash guard incorporates locating projections that directly engage with corresponding features on the vehicle body structure, eliminating the need for screws, clips, or other fastening elements. This extraction of the fastening function reduces installation time while maintaining secure attachment through precise geometric engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The splash guard's locating projections are designed to self-align and self-secure to the vehicle body structure without requiring additional fastening components. The geometric configuration of the projections and their mating features creates an automatic locking mechanism that secures the splash guard in place through the installation process itself, eliminating the need for separate fastening operations.
2Reliability
If traditional fastener-based mounting is used, then the splash guard can be attached to the vehicle structure, but the splash guard becomes loose or misaligned due to vibration and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The locating projections are pre-configured in specific positions and orientations on the splash guard to anticipate and prevent movement during service. The geometric design of these projections creates predetermined engagement points that maintain precise alignment and prevent the splash guard from becoming loose or misaligned under vibration and operational stresses throughout its service life.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system is divided into multiple locating projections distributed across the splash guard's attachment surface. This segmentation provides multiple independent engagement points that collectively resist various forces and moments, preventing both translational and rotational movement. The distributed arrangement ensures that if one projection experiences stress, others continue to maintain position stability.
3Reliability
If multiple fasteners are used to secure the splash guard, then movement restriction is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complexity of multiple fasteners, washers, clips, and associated fastening hardware by replacing them with a simplified locating projection system. The projections integrate the positioning and securing functions into the splash guard structure itself, eliminating the need for separate fastening components and reducing overall mounting structure complexity while maintaining effective movement restriction.
Solution Approach 2:
The locating projections merge the functions of positioning, alignment, and securing into a single integrated feature set. Rather than separating these functions into multiple fasteners and mounting elements, the projections combine all movement-restriction functions into the splash guard's own structure, simplifying the overall mounting system while achieving comprehensive movement control.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle splash guard includes a base portion, a mounting structure, and a first non-fastener locating projection. The base portion is configured to extend into a wheel well defined by a vehicle body structure. The mounting structure is defined on an inner surface of the base portion and is configured to fixedly couple the vehicle splash guard to the vehicle body structure. The first non-fastener locating projection extends away from an inner surface of the base portion and is spaced apart from the mounting structure. The first non-fastener locating projection is configured to contact a laterally extending edge of the vehicle body structure that is located on an underside of the vehicle body structure to restrict movement of the base portion relative to the vehicle body structure in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body structure when the vehicle splash guard is installed to the vehicle body structure.