Upward Opening Automobile Storage Box Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional glove boxes in automobiles restrict the size of items that can be stored due to limited opening angles and interference with the interior design, as they require grooves and curvature matching the crash pad, which complicates the door's rotation and closure.
Innovation Solution
A storage box design featuring a box door that opens upward, utilizing a gear bar, rotating body, and supporting member with a bridge and second hinge point, allowing for maximum opening without interference with the housing or peripheral parts, and ensuring smooth operation by maintaining engagement with the rotating body.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the glove box door is designed to open laterally with a limited angle to prevent items from spilling, then item security is improved, but the storage space utilization and opening accessibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional lateral opening direction to an upward opening direction. The box door opens upward perpendicular to the front surface of the box housing, allowing items to remain secured in the storage space while providing full accessibility to the occupant compartment. This directional inversion resolves the contradiction by achieving both item security and ease of access simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional lateral opening to three-dimensional upward opening. By changing the opening dimension from horizontal to vertical, the door can achieve a 90-degree or greater opening angle without interfering with the occupant compartment, thereby improving accessibility while maintaining item security through the upward motion path.
2Ease of operation
If the box door is designed to open at a large angle to maximize accessibility, then ease of operation is improved, but interference with the housing and peripheral parts occurs
Solution Approach 1:
By inverting the opening direction from lateral to upward, the patent enables the door to open at a large angle (90 degrees or more) without causing interference with the housing or peripheral parts. The upward opening path clears the front surface of the box housing, eliminating the interference problem while maximizing accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The transition to vertical opening in the third dimension allows the door to achieve a wide opening angle without colliding with horizontal obstructions. The upward motion path is clear of the housing structure, enabling maximum opening angle without interference.
3Ease of operation
If grooves are formed on the crash pad to accommodate the door structure, then door operation is enabled, but the interior design freedom and crash pad structure are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the door rotation mechanism from the crash pad structure. Instead of forming grooves in the crash pad, the door is supported by a separate supporting member that is rotatably coupled to the box housing. This separation eliminates the need for complex crash pad modifications while enabling smooth door operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting member acts as an intermediary between the door and the crash pad. It provides the necessary rotation support and bearing functions without requiring structural modifications to the crash pad, thereby simplifying the overall structure while enabling door operation.
4Shape
If the door is formed with curvature to match the crash pad, then aesthetic integration is improved, but the door's rotation smoothness and structural simplicity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the curvature-matching requirement from the door structure. The door is designed with a flat or simple shape that does not need to conform to the curved crash pad surface. The supporting member handles the geometric adaptation, allowing the door to rotate smoothly without complex curvature adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting member serves as an intermediary that accommodates the geometric differences between the flat door and the curved crash pad. It provides the rotation axis and bearing surface, eliminating the need for the door itself to have complex curvature while maintaining rotation smoothness.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a storage box for an automobile, in which a box door opens upward. The storage box includes: a box housing defining a storage space, and including a gear bar disposed therein; a box door opening and closing the storage space, and including a first hinge point and a second hinge point below the first hinge point formed thereon; a bridge slidably disposed on the box housing and rotatably coupled to the first hinge point, to be slid by the box door when the box door is opened and closed; a supporting member rotatably coupled to the second hinge point; and a rotating body engaged with the gear bar and the supporting member and rotatably disposed on the bridge, moving along the bridge and rotating during sliding of the bridge, and enabling the supporting member to raise and support the box door.