Motor Vehicle Gate Assembly with Automatic Latching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle restraint systems at open doorways lack efficient mechanisms for securely transitioning between stowed and deployed positions, compromising occupant safety and ease of access.
Innovation Solution
A gate assembly with a pivoting end and latching end, featuring latch striker pins and cams, and an actuator that allows the gate to pivot from a stowed position adjacent to the doorway to a deployed position across it, securing the gate in place using latch cams that engage and disengage with striker pins.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a gate is designed to be movable between stowed and deployed positions, then ease of access is improved, but reliability of occupant containment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The gate assembly incorporates latch cams and striker pins that are pre-positioned to automatically engage when the gate reaches either the stowed or deployed position. This preliminary positioning ensures that the gate is securely contained in either position without requiring manual intervention, thus maintaining reliability while enabling ease of access.
Solution Approach 2:
The gate system uses self-latching mechanisms where the latch cams automatically engage with the striker pins based on the gate's position. The actuator automatically transitions the latch cams between engaged and disengaged states, allowing the gate to secure itself in stowed or deployed positions without external assistance, thereby maintaining containment reliability while improving operational ease.
2Reliability
If a latch mechanism is added to secure the gate in multiple positions, then reliability of occupant containment is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The latch cam mechanism serves multiple functions: it secures the gate in the stowed position, secures the gate in the deployed position, and enables automatic transitions between these states. By using a single multi-functional latch mechanism rather than separate locking systems for each position, the patent improves reliability while minimizing the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the latching functions for both stowed and deployed positions into a single integrated mechanism using latch cams and striker pins. This merging of functions reduces the overall number of components compared to having separate latching systems for each position, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
3Ease of operation
If an actuator is used to automatically transition latch cams between positions, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator is designed to automatically transition the latch cams between engaged and disengaged states based on the gate's position, without requiring manual control. This self-service capability improves ease of operation by eliminating the need for manual latching while the actuator's integrated design minimizes the increase in overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A gate assembly for a motor vehicle having an open doorway includes an elongated gate having a pivoting end mounted to a first frame component at one side of the doorway and a latching end opposite the pivoting end, a latch striker pin mounted to a second frame component at the opposite side of the doorway, a latch cam at the latching end of the gate and having a latched position and an unlatched position, and an actuator having an engaged position in which the latch cam is in its unlatched position and a disengaged position in which the latch cam is in its latched position. The gate is pivotable from a stowed position adjacent to the one side of the doorway to a deployed position across the doorway in which the latch cam in its latched position engages the striker pin to secure the gate in its deployed position.