Unitary Overhead Console Button Carrier Mold for Multi-Feature Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing process for overhead console button carriers requires assembly from multiple parts, increasing complexity and cost due to the need for multiple mold tools and assembly labor.
Innovation Solution
A mold assembly that forms a unitary body for the overhead console button carrier, incorporating a combination of zero draft core inserts, buried retractor mechanisms, and slide mechanisms to create a single-piece component with integrated light collimators, intrusion sensor brackets, and button guides, allowing for complex functionality without assembly from multiple parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the overhead console button carrier is assembled from multiple parts, then the component can incorporate complex functionality (light collimators, intrusion sensor brackets, button guides), but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase due to multiple mold tools and assembly labor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate components (light collimators, intrusion sensor brackets, button guides) into a single integrated button carrier body. This is achieved through a unified mold cavity that forms all features in one piece, eliminating the need for separate parts and assembly operations while maintaining all required functionalities.
Solution Approach 2:
The button carrier body is designed as a universal component that performs multiple functions simultaneously: it houses light collimators for optical alignment, supports intrusion sensor brackets for safety detection, and provides button guides for precise button positioning. All these functions are integrated into one monolithic structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple mold tools and assembly labor are used to manufacture the button carrier, then complex functional features can be incorporated, but production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines multiple manufacturing operations into a single molding process. The mold assembly includes integrated cavities and cores for forming light collimators, sensor brackets, and button guides simultaneously, eliminating the need for multiple separate mold tools and subsequent assembly labor, thereby reducing production costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold design incorporates preliminary positioning features and integrated cores that pre-establish the spatial relationships between different functional elements during the molding process itself. This preliminary action during molding eliminates the need for later assembly operations and reduces manufacturing complexity.
3Device complexity
If the button carrier is made as a unitary body, then assembly labor is reduced and production complexity decreases, but the mold assembly must accommodate complex internal features (light collimators, sensor brackets, button guides) with specific orientations
Solution Approach 1:
The mold assembly is segmented into multiple independent components including separate cavities, cores, and inserts for forming different features. This segmentation allows each feature (light collimators, sensor brackets, button guides) to be formed with precise orientation control while maintaining the unitary nature of the final button carrier body.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses intermediary mold components such as removable inserts and movable cores that facilitate the formation of complex internal features with precise orientations. These intermediaries allow the mold to accommodate various feature geometries and orientations while maintaining manufacturing precision, and they can be easily adjusted or replaced if needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A mold assembly, for an overhead console button carrier having a unitary body, includes a cavity side and a core side. The core side includes at least one zero draft core insert, a first buried retractor mechanism and a first slide mechanism.