Vehicular Storage Divider Mount with Position-Dependent Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicular storage arrangements face a conflict between anti-rattling and ease-of-use due to the slidable peripheral engagement of mounts with dividers, where tight engagement promotes anti-rattling but loose engagement compromises ease-of-use, and existing solutions like interference fits are unforgiving and costly.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a position-dependent variable-tightness slidable peripheral engagement system, where mounts support dividers to bend and tighten only when moved from near-mounted to mounted positions, resolving the conflict without the need for an interference fit, using resiliently bendable dividers and position-dependent engagement mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the slidable peripheral engagement is made tight, then anti-rattling is improved, but ease-of-use deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mount incorporates a resilient element that allows the engagement tightness to dynamically change based on the divider's position. During installation, the engagement is loose to facilitate easy insertion. Once the divider reaches its final position, the resilient element engages to provide tight peripheral contact that prevents rattling, thus resolving the contradiction between ease-of-use and anti-rattling properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the engagement parameter (tightness) from loose during installation to tight during operation. The resilient mount element enables this parameter change by deformable engagement that transitions from a compliant state during insertion to a rigid state in the final position, simultaneously achieving ease-of-use and anti-rattling.
2Reliability
If an interference fit is used to achieve tight engagement, then anti-rattling is improved, but manufacturing precision and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a permanent interference fit that requires high manufacturing precision, the invention employs a resilient element that changes the engagement parameter from loose to tight after installation. This eliminates the need for precise interference fit manufacturing while achieving the same anti-rattling effect through position-dependent engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient mount element provides a cost-effective alternative to precision interference fits. By using a compliant material or structure that deforms during installation and then provides rigid engagement, the system avoids the high manufacturing costs associated with precise interference fit tolerances while achieving equivalent or superior anti-rattling performance.
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
This solution effectively balances anti-rattling and ease-of-use by untightening the engagement when dividers are moved from pre-mounted to near-mounted positions and tightening when moved to mounted positions, maintaining a forgiving and cost-effective design.
Implementation Method 1
a resiliently normally bendable divider for dividing the storage compartment
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicular storage arrangement includes a storage compartment, a resiliently normally bendable divider for dividing the storage compartment, and a mount for the divider in the storage compartment. The mount is configured to make slidable peripheral engagement with the divider, under which the mount is configured to support the divider in a mounted position, and urge the divider to normally bend in the mounted position, thereby tightening the slidable peripheral engagement.