Vehicle Floor Frame With Foam Core for Rigidity and Crash Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle floor structures face challenges in balancing weight reduction for improved fuel efficiency with maintaining bending rigidity and collision stability, particularly when reducing the thickness of frame materials.
Innovation Solution
A floor structure design featuring a hidden rail system with a floor frame as a skeleton interposing a core structural member, where a seat rail is inserted between the core structural member, utilizing aluminum extruded materials for side sills, longitudinal frames, and transverse frames, and incorporating a core structural member made of impact-absorbing materials like PET, PVC, or PMI foam, to enhance both aesthetics and collision performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the thickness of the frame material is reduced to reduce weight, then weight is reduced and fuel efficiency is improved, but the bending rigidity of the frame is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material construction by combining aluminum extruded materials for the frame structure with foam core structural members. This composite approach allows the use of lighter aluminum materials while maintaining structural strength through the foam core, thereby reducing overall weight while preserving bending rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested structure where the core structural member (foam) is placed inside the aluminum extruded frame. This nested configuration allows the lighter foam core to provide structural support while the aluminum frame provides the outer skeleton, achieving weight reduction without sacrificing bending rigidity.
2Shape
If a hidden rail structure is implemented to improve interior aesthetics, then interior aesthetics are improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the seat rail function with the core structural member by integrating the rail into the foam core structure. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate rail components, achieving the hidden rail aesthetic while actually reducing overall structural complexity through functional integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The core structural member serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural support for bending rigidity, absorbs impact during collisions, and houses the seat rail mechanism. This multi-functionality achieves the hidden rail aesthetic without increasing complexity, as one component fulfills multiple roles.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment floor structure of a vehicle includes a pair of side seals disposed to face each other in a vehicle width direction, and respectively disposed in a vehicle length direction, a floor frame disposed between the pair of side seals and including a pair of longitudinal frames respectively arranged along the pair of side seals and at least one transverse frame mounted between the pair of longitudinal frames in the vehicle width direction, and at least one core structural member disposed in a space provided by the floor frame and including a material for absorbing impact.