Vehicle Air Deflector Segmentation for Pedestrian Safety and Style Adaptability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing air deflector in motor vehicles, which incorporates a pedestrian impact function, is not easily renewable across different vehicle styles due to its integrated design with the bumper skin, leading to costly modifications to adapt to varying styles.
Innovation Solution
A front part of a motor vehicle design featuring an air intake grille with a substantially vertical wall that covers a corresponding wall on the air deflector, allowing the deflector to be renewable by accommodating different bumper skin styles, while maintaining the pedestrian impact function through a rigid structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the air deflector incorporates an integrated pedestrian impact function with molded vertical walls, then the pedestrian safety function is improved, but the adaptability to different vehicle styles deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The air deflector is divided into two independent parts: a reusable base deflector and a style-specific skin. The base deflector contains the pedestrian impact function with vertical walls, while the skin provides aesthetic adaptation. This segmentation allows the functional part to remain unchanged while the aesthetic part varies across vehicle models.
Solution Approach 2:
The pedestrian impact function (vertical walls) is extracted from the integrated deflector-skin assembly and placed in the reusable base deflector. The skin is separated as an independent aesthetic component that can be changed without affecting the safety function. This extraction resolves the contradiction by isolating the functional element from the style-dependent element.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the deflector is modified to adapt to different bumper styles, then the adaptability is improved, but the manufacturing cost deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the deflector into a reusable base and replaceable skins, the manufacturing cost is reduced. The expensive base with safety features is produced once and reused, while only the cheaper aesthetic skins need to be modified for different styles.
Solution Approach 2:
The base deflector serves as a universal component across multiple vehicle models, performing the pedestrian impact function. Only the aesthetic skins differ between models, allowing one base design to serve multiple purposes and reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost.
3Reliability
If the skin is positioned between the grille and deflector with vertical walls, then the pedestrian impact function is maintained, but the design flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The structure is segmented into the base deflector with vertical walls for safety and the skin for aesthetic purposes. This segmentation maintains the simple, effective vertical wall structure for pedestrian protection while allowing the skin to provide design flexibility without adding structural complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The invention relates to a front section of a motor vehicle, including an air intake screen (10), an air deflector (11) extending under said air intake screen (10), and a front bumper, the cover (12) of which is arranged between said screen (10) and said deflector (11), characterized in that the front of the air intake screen (10) has a substantially vertical wall (10a) directed toward the front of the air deflector (11), and the front of said deflector (11) has a substantially vertical wall (11a) directed toward the front of the screen (10) and at least partially covering the substantially vertical wall (10a) of the screen (10). The bumper cover located between the front of the screen (10) and the front of the deflector (11) extends in front of both substantially vertical walls (10a, 11a).