Steering Column Bracket Asymmetrical Stiffening Ribs Crash Collapse
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current steering column assemblies do not effectively manage crash loads, leading to potential trauma for drivers, as they lack controlled telescopic collapse mechanisms that can distribute and absorb axial forces during collisions.
Innovation Solution
The steering column assembly incorporates a mounting bracket with asymmetrical stiffening ribs and frangible connectors, allowing for controlled telescopic collapse by distributing forces asymmetrically and breaking free from the vehicle body during high loads, utilizing a U-shaped bracket design with diagonal stiffening ribs and frangible connectors to manage crash forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the mounting bracket is made rigid to maintain structural integrity during normal operation, then the bracket can securely hold the steering column, but the bracket cannot allow controlled collapse during a crash
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting bracket transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic system that adapts its stiffness based on loading conditions. During normal operation, the bracket maintains rigidity through its geometric design. During a crash, the bracket allows controlled collapse when frangible connectors break, enabling the structure to transition between rigid and compliant states.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting bracket is divided into distinct functional segments: rigid structural components (bracket body, arms) that maintain shape, frangible connectors that break during crashes, and pivot connections that enable controlled rotation. This segmentation allows different parts to serve different functions - structural integrity during normal use and controlled collapse during crashes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If frangible connectors are used to enable crash collapse, then the steering column can break free during high load, but the bracket may experience excessive bending forces that compromise structural integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The frangible connectors are pre-positioned and pre-engineered to break at specific load thresholds during a crash. This preliminary arrangement ensures that when a crash occurs, the connectors break in a controlled manner before excessive forces can damage the bracket structure, enabling safe collapse while protecting structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The frangible connectors act as intermediary elements between the rigid bracket structure and the collapse mechanism. They absorb and redirect crash forces, breaking in a controlled manner to enable the bracket to transition from a fixed to a collapsed state while protecting the main bracket structure from excessive bending forces.
3Ease of manufacture
If the bracket arms are positioned symmetrically, then the bracket structure is balanced and easy to manufacture, but the bracket cannot effectively distribute asymmetric crash forces
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket arms are positioned asymmetrically relative to the steering column, with each arm at a different angle and location. This asymmetric configuration is deliberately designed to optimize the distribution of asymmetric crash forces that occur during lateral impacts, allowing the bracket to better manage force vectors from different directions while remaining manufacturable.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A steering column assembly 100 comprises a steering column shroud 102, which surrounds a steering shaft 104 for a steering wheel, a mounting bracket 118, which is fixed in position relative to a part of vehicle, and a clamp mechanism 116, which is movable between a clamped position in which the clamp mechanism 116 fixes the shroud 102 in position relative to the mounting bracket 118 and a released position in which the clamp mechanism 116 permits movement of the shroud 102 relative to the mounting bracket 118. The mounting bracket 118 comprises a main body portion 120 with two depending bracket arms 122 extending away from the main body portion 120 to form a U-shape, the arms 122 embracing a portion of the column shroud 102, and in which the clamp mechanism 116 when in the clamped position squeezes the two arms 122 together thereby clamping the steering column shroud 102 in position. The mounting bracket 118 is provided with one or more stiffening ribs 170 in areas where the highest forces are carried by the bracket 118 in the event of a crash where a load is applied axially to the steering column shroud 102.