Steering Intermediate Shaft Design Assistance Using Yoke Component Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Designing an intermediate shaft for a steering device is challenging due to the need to consider joint length and fitting length conditions, which requires effort and often results in increased production costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A design assistance device that uses existing components of tube yokes and shaft yokes, including a storage unit, candidate component extraction unit, calculation unit, and display unit to assist in selecting appropriate combinations that meet joint and fitting length specifications, preventing inappropriate selections and optimizing component usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If existing components of tube yoke and shaft yoke are selected and combined, then productivity is improved through automated selection, but device complexity increases due to the need for storage unit, extraction unit, calculation unit, and display unit
Solution Approach 1:
The design assistance device performs automated component selection and validation without requiring manual intervention. The calculation unit automatically computes fitting lengths and checks compliance with specifications, while the display unit presents suitable combinations to the designer, enabling the system to serve itself in the design process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical design processes with an automated computational system. Instead of manually calculating fitting lengths and checking component compatibility, the calculation unit performs these operations electronically, substituting mechanical design methods with computational algorithms
2Device complexity
If manual design process is used for intermediate shaft, then device complexity is reduced, but loss of time increases due to repeated design efforts for different conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The storage unit pre-stores information about existing tube yoke and shaft yoke components, including their dimensions and specifications. This preliminary preparation of component data allows the calculation unit to quickly retrieve and evaluate multiple component combinations without requiring repeated manual searches or redesign efforts
Solution Approach 2:
The system varies parameters such as joint length and fitting length specifications to evaluate different design conditions. By changing these parameters systematically, the calculation unit can assess multiple component combinations under different operational requirements, reducing the need for repeated manual design iterations
3Device complexity
If inappropriate component combinations are selected, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability decreases due to non-compliance with joint and fitting length specifications
Solution Approach 1:
The calculation unit computes the fitting length for each candidate component combination and compares it against the specified requirements. The display unit provides feedback to the designer by showing only those combinations that meet the joint and fitting length specifications, enabling the designer to select reliable components with confidence
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary validation of component combinations against specification requirements before the designer makes a selection. By checking compliance with joint length and fitting length specifications in advance, the system prevents inappropriate selections that could lead to reliability issues
Data Source
AI summary
A design assistance device for a steering device and a method of assisting a steering device design which assists a design of a steering device including an intermediate shaft by using existing components of a tube yoke and a shaft yoke. A design assistance device 1 for a steering device displays a select button on a display device when a fitting length of the combination of a candidate component of the tube yoke and a candidate component of the shaft yoke satisfies a condition of a fitting length. When the select button is selected, a control device 4 may receive information in which a drawing selected by a designer is determined.