Vehicle Lock Striker Assembly Pedestrian Impact Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle lock shackle arrangements do not adequately address pedestrian safety, as they lack mechanisms to absorb and release forces effectively during impacts, while maintaining adjustability for tolerance compensation.
Innovation Solution
A lock shackle arrangement with a support plate and a bearing element, such as a rivet nut, that responds to stress by plunging through the carrier plate, providing a displacement path and adjustable height for the side leg, ensuring the connection is released only under a certain threshold force, thereby enhancing pedestrian protection without increasing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a fixed lock shackle arrangement is used, then the connection is stable and reliable, but it causes harmful effects to pedestrians during impact
Solution Approach 1:
The lock shackle arrangement transitions from a fixed connection to a dynamic system where the bearing element can move relative to the support plate. The side leg is held in the bearing element in a height-adjustable manner, allowing the system to adapt its position and absorb impact forces while maintaining connection integrity under normal conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing element is designed to respond to predetermined stress in the pressure direction by plunging through the support plate, converting the harmful impact force from pedestrians into a beneficial release mechanism that saves the lock shackle from breaking while protecting pedestrians.
2Manufacturing precision
If a non-adjustable lock shackle is used, then the manufacturing is simpler, but it cannot compensate for tolerances and maintain proper alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The side leg is held in the bearing element in a height-adjustable manner, enabling dynamic adjustment to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and maintain proper alignment between the lock shackle and the vehicle body, while the bearing element itself provides a simple structural solution.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a bearing element that releases under pressure is used, then pedestrian protection is improved, but the connection strength under normal load may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing element is designed with differentiated local properties: it provides strong resistance to tensile forces and moments under normal operating conditions, but is specifically designed to plunge through the support plate when subjected to predetermined compressive stress from pedestrian impact, thus providing both strength and safety.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The lock shackle arrangement (1) has a lock shackle (3) with side arms (4,5) and a transverse arm (6). A carrier sheet (2) is provided with receiving openings (7,8), in which one of the side arm is inserted. A bearing element is so fastened in the receiving openings that the bearing element is unfastened by a predetermined stress in pressing direction and a displacement path for the lock shackle is released.