Surface-Mounted Door Check with Flexible Arm
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door check systems for vehicles are often complex, bespoke, and require specialized tooling, limiting their adaptability to various door weights and sizes, and often necessitate modifications to the vehicle bodywork or require frequent lubrication, which can lead to dust and dirt accumulation.
Innovation Solution
A surface-mounted door check system with a flexible control arm, energized spherical element, and compression spring, which provides frictional control through negative spaces, allowing for tool-free installation and adaptability to different door sizes and weights without modifying the vehicle bodywork, and optionally uses a self-lubricating bushing to reduce wear and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a built-in door check system is used, then door position control is reliable, but door removal becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The door check system is divided into separate modular components: a control arm with roller assembly that can be independently removed from the door, allowing the door to be detached without removing the entire check system. This segmentation enables reliable door position control while facilitating easy door removal and reinstallation.
Solution Approach 2:
The control arm is designed with dynamic mounting features that allow it to be easily attached and detached from the door. The system transitions from a static built-in configuration to a dynamic removable configuration, maintaining control functionality while improving ease of door removal.
2Reliability
If a flat strap door check is used, then door restraint is provided, but door removal is hindered and only single position restraint is possible
Solution Approach 1:
The control arm is designed as a separable component with multiple roller mounting positions, allowing it to be removed and reinstalled independently of the door. This enables multiple door restraint positions while maintaining ease of door removal, overcoming the limitations of fixed flat strap systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The control arm assembly serves multiple functions: it provides door restraint at various positions, allows easy door removal, and can be adjusted for different door configurations. The universal design accommodates both removable and fixed door applications with the same basic mechanism.
3Adaptability or versatility
If spring energized rollers press on formed planes of a pivoting arm, then multiple door stops are achieved, but alignment precision and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The control arm features a curved pivot path with radii specifically designed to guide the roller through multiple stop positions. This curvature geometry inherently maintains proper alignment between the roller and stop surfaces, eliminating the need for high-precision alignment adjustments while providing multiple door stop positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The control arm is designed with variable geometric parameters including different curve radii and roller positions that can be adjusted or selected to provide multiple door stop positions. This parametric design allows flexibility in stop positioning without requiring high-precision manufacturing tolerances.
4Reliability
If a small contact area between roller and bar is used, then door swing control is achieved, but component wear increases and manufacturing cost rises
Solution Approach 1:
The control arm incorporates a curved surface with optimized radius that increases the contact area between the roller and the arm surface. This curved geometry distributes the contact forces over a larger area, reducing stress concentration and component wear while maintaining effective door swing control.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact area parameters between the roller and control arm are optimized by adjusting the curve radius and roller dimensions. This parameter optimization increases the contact area to reduce wear while maintaining the necessary control force, thereby extending component lifespan without sacrificing door swing control effectiveness.
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
The system offers a universal, economical, and lightweight solution that simplifies door check installation, reduces wear, and minimizes maintenance needs, accommodating a wide range of door sizes and weights while maintaining operational efficiency and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
an energized spherical element, which interacts with the negative space(s) provisioned within the flexible control arm. It is energized by the use of a compression spring
Implementation Method 2
optionally uses a self-lubricating bushing to reduce wear and maintenance
Data Source
AI summary
A surface-mounted device for controlling the swing/rotational motion of a hinged door/panel system. Said device controls the velocity of the door/panel's and provides check point(s) in the pathway of its motion. The device includes a non-pivoting carrier component to be fixed upon a hinged door/panel, a non-pivoting receiver component fastened to the adjacent and separate area which shares a common hinge(s)/axis with the movable door/panel and a flexible control arm component firmly attached at one end to the carrier. The flexible control arm is aligned with the receiver's through-body aperture by means of the carrier's fixed position on a movable hinged door/panel and provides control of the door/panel by means of passing into and through the aperture provisioned in the receiver in a linear manner to provide both speed and positional check control (motion detents) of the door's potential swing arc path. The speed control aspect of the device is accomplished by means of controlled frictional contact between the flexible control arm's component material(s) and the receiver's aperture and this effect is enhanced by means of the temporary physical deformation exhibited by the flexible control arm whilst it is undergoing loading stresses as it passes within the constriction of the receiver's aperture geometry, its component materials and the energized spherical element acting upon the wide surface of the flexible control arm by limiting frictional contact between the flexible control arm and the receiver's aperture when the energized spherical element is not engaged with the flexible control arm's provisioned negative areas(s) and the attached door/panel is in motion. Maximum frictional force is delivered by the device when the spherical element engages a provisioned negative area on the flexible control arm, thus creating a check in the door/panel swing path. The device may be added/retrofitted to the surfaces of a pre-existing or new hinged door/panel system without significant design or structural modifications of said hinged door/panel systems and their associated components.