Vehicle Underfloor Tank Protector Resilience
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle underfloor structures face challenges in protecting the urea water take-out port from external loads, as protrusions can be deformed and transmit loads to the port, leading to potential damage.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle underfloor structure featuring a tank with a protected member, a lower portion protector covering the port from the vehicle lower side, and an outer periphery protector that surrounds the member, with a narrow gap between the protectors to absorb deformation and redirect loads, allowing for easy connection of pipes and wires through an open tube design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protector is provided at the vehicle lower side of the urea water take-out port to suppress load from the road surface, then the protected member can be protected from external load, but when the protector is deformed by load, the load will be transmitted to the protected member via the deformed protector
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an outer periphery protector as an intermediary component between the lower portion protector and the protected member. This outer periphery protector absorbs the deformation energy and prevents direct load transmission to the protected member, effectively acting as a mediator that resolves the contradiction between providing protection and avoiding harmful load transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer periphery protector is positioned beforehand to cushion the deformation of the lower portion protector before the load can reach the protected member. This prior cushioning mechanism ensures that when the lower portion protector deforms under external load, the energy is absorbed by the outer periphery protector rather than being transmitted to the protected member.
2Weight of moving object
If the outer periphery protector is formed of resin to reduce cost and weight, then manufacturing cost and vehicle weight are reduced, but the structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs resin material for the outer periphery protector, utilizing the properties of composite materials to achieve an optimal balance between weight reduction and sufficient structural strength. The resin material provides adequate strength for its intended function while significantly reducing weight compared to metal alternatives.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter of the outer periphery protector from traditional metal to resin, which alters the strength-to-weight ratio. This parameter change enables weight reduction while maintaining sufficient strength through proper material selection and design optimization.
3Ease of operation
If the outer periphery protector is formed in a shape of a tube at which a portion is open in a peripheral direction to allow easy connection of pipes and wires, then ease of operation is improved, but the protective coverage is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The outer periphery protector is designed with an open portion that segments the protective structure, creating an opening for pipe and wire connections while maintaining protective coverage in other directions. This segmentation allows the structure to fulfill multiple functions: protection and accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer periphery protector has different structural qualities at different locations: it is closed and protective in most areas, but has an open portion at specific locations to allow connection operations. This local quality variation optimizes both protection and ease of operation by providing coverage where needed and accessibility where required.
Data Source
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AI summary
A vehicle underfloor structure (10) has: a tank (20) in which a liquid is stored; a pump module (30) that serves as a protected member that is mounted to a bottom portion (20A) of the tank (20); a lower portion protector (40) that is mounted to a vehicle body and covers at least the pump module (30) from a vehicle lower side; and an outer periphery protector (50) that is mounted to the tank (20), extends toward the vehicle lower side and surrounds the pump module (30), at least a portion of the outer periphery protector (50) being covered by the lower portion protector (40) from the vehicle lower side, and a gap (C1) between a lower end portion (50A) of the outer periphery protector (50) and the lower portion protector (40) being narrower than a gap (C2) between the pump module (30) and the lower portion protector (40).