Tilting Underrun Guard With Shared Pivot for Unloading Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing underrun protection devices for commercial vehicles with tiltable cargo containers interfere with unloading operations and fail to reliably transition between protective and unloading positions, leading to potential damage during unloading and travel.
Innovation Solution
An underrun protection device with a tiltable protective element that uses a common tilting joint with the cargo container or tiltable unit, allowing independent movement between protective, unloading, and placement positions, featuring contact surfaces and a damper element to absorb forces and prevent major damage, ensuring the element remains in the protective position unless intentionally moved.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the protective element is fixed in position to ensure underrun protection, then vehicle safety is improved, but unloading operations are interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The protective element is designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically change position between a protective position (for underrun protection during travel) and an unloading position (clear of the unloading area). This is achieved through a tilting mechanism with a tilting axis that enables the protective element to pivot between these positions, resolving the contradiction between maintaining protection and enabling unloading operations.
2Ease of operation
If the protective element is made movable to clear the unloading area, then unloading operations are improved, but the protective element cannot reliably return to the protective position
Solution Approach 1:
A counterweight element is provided that acts on the protective element to generate a tilting moment. This counterweight mechanism ensures that when the cargo container is in the travel position, the protective element is automatically tilted into the protective position. The counterweight compensates for the tendency of the protective element to remain in the unloading position, reliably returning it to the correct protective position without additional actuation.
3Strength
If the protective element is made freely tiltable to avoid damage during contact, then damage resistance is improved, but the element may not remain in the protective position during travel
Solution Approach 1:
The counterweight element creates a stabilizing tilting moment that keeps the protective element in the protective position during travel. This gravitational counterweight mechanism provides passive stability, ensuring the protective element remains in the correct position without requiring active control, while still allowing the element to be freely tiltable for damage resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the protective element based on the cargo container position. When the cargo container is in travel position, gravitational forces and counterweight moments maintain the protective element in the protective position. When the cargo container is tilted for unloading, the protective element is allowed to move freely to the unloading position, absorbing contact forces without damage.
4Device complexity
If a common tilting joint is used to simplify the structure, then device complexity is reduced, but the protective element and cargo container move together causing interference
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into functionally independent components: the cargo container tilting mechanism and the protective element tilting mechanism. Although they share a common tilting joint structure, the protective element has its own counterweight element that independently controls its position. This segmentation allows the protective element to be decoupled from cargo container movement, enabling it to clear the unloading area when needed while maintaining simple overall structure.
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 solution ensures the protective element is securely positioned to prevent vehicle underride while allowing for unobstructed unloading and minimizing damage during contact with the ground, maintaining the protective position during travel without driver intervention.
Implementation Method 1
The underrun protection device comprises a tiltable protective element to prevent underrunning of the commercial vehicle... featuring contact surfaces and a damper element to absorb forces and prevent major damage
Data Source
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AI summary
In order to improve an underride protection device (10) for a commercial vehicle with a tiltable load container (11) or a tiltable unit with load container (11), wherein the underride protection device (10) has a tiltable protective element (15) against underrunning by the commercial vehicle, in such a way as to ensure that a protective element of the underride protection device is secured against damage, while at the same time ensuring that it is always returned to the legally prescribed protective position, it is proposed that the protective element (15) be tiltable about the same tilting axis (32) as the load container (11) or the tiltable unit.