Variable Rear Body Structure for Commercial Trailers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial trucks and trailers experience significant drag and fuel consumption due to their bluff-bodied design, particularly at high speeds, with existing aerodynamic solutions like air deflectors and foldable tails facing acceptance issues due to negative impacts on driver labor, cargo access, and safety concerns.
Innovation Solution
A variable configuration rear body structure with inward and downward folding roof and side walls, featuring hinged panels that redirect airflow and create v-shaped channels to reduce drag, while maintaining easy cargo access through multiple door configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If air deflectors and foldable tails are used to improve aerodynamic efficiency, then fuel consumption is reduced, but driver labor, cargo access, and on-highway safety are negatively impacted
Solution Approach 1:
The rear body structure is designed to be dynamically configurable between a streamlined configuration (for reduced drag at highway speeds) and an open configuration (for easy cargo access). The hinged panels and folding mechanisms allow the structure to adapt its shape based on operational needs, resolving the contradiction between aerodynamic efficiency and cargo accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The rear body is divided into multiple hinged panels and sections that can be independently moved or configured. This segmentation allows specific portions to be opened for cargo access while other portions maintain aerodynamic streamlining, or allows the entire structure to be quickly reconfigured between operational modes.
2Ease of operation
If a bluff-bodied design is used to facilitate rapid cargo access, then ease of operation is improved, but pressure drag increases significantly at high speeds
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transforms the static bluff-bodied design into a dynamic structure that can change its aerodynamic profile. When cargo access is not needed, the hinged panels fold inward and downward to create a streamlined shape that reduces pressure drag, while still allowing rapid access when needed.
3Use of energy by moving object
If foldable tails are implemented to reduce tail drag, then aerodynamic performance is improved, but on-highway safety and driver labor are adversely affected
Solution Approach 1:
The hinged panels are designed with specific curvature and angulation (inward and downward folding) to create a smooth, streamlined contour that mimics aerodynamic body shapes. This curved configuration reduces turbulence and pressure drag more effectively than straight-edged foldable tails, improving fuel efficiency without compromising safety.
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 results in lower fuel consumption and improved aerodynamic characteristics, reducing drag and fuel costs while ensuring easy access and safety, with the potential for a 9% reduction in fuel consumption at highway speeds and enhanced durability compared to existing solutions.
Implementation Method 1
The hinged roof panel is set with a slope of 10 to 20 degrees, preferably about 14 to 15 degrees relative to the plane of the top surface of the truck or trailer, to provide for the most beneficial redirection and shaping of the air flow near the rear of the vehicle when the truck or trailer is moving at highway speeds.
Implementation Method 2
the folding upper sidewall panels are configured to be folded inward in such a way that they form two expanding v-shaped channels that serve to direct air flow into the base region under the roof panel
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an air deflector configuration that can be fabricated into the construction of a new truck or trailer container or secured to the rear face of a flat rear box-like end of trucks and trailers as an attachment, with the aim of reducing aerodynamic resistance and correspondingly the fuel consumption of land vehicles used for the transportation of such containers.