Vehicle Panel Clip with Reinforcement Case and Flexure Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clips for fastening accessories to vehicle panels, particularly those used in airbag mechanisms, face challenges with deformation under lateral forces, leading to operational difficulties and increased costs due to play between parts, which compromises their resilience and ease of removal.
Innovation Solution
The clips feature a base with conical flexible fins and a reinforcement case formed by symmetrical double folds, eliminating play between mid parts, and extended flexure arms that increase lever length and flexibility, enhancing resilience and installation ease.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the flexure arms are made rigid to provide structural support, then the structural strength is improved, but the ease of installation deteriorates due to increased resilient resistance to deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The flexure arms are designed with variable rigidity along their length, being more flexible at the base for installation and more rigid at the distal end for structural support. This dynamic flexibility gradient allows the arm to be easily inserted while maintaining structural integrity during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the flexure arm have different mechanical properties - the base section is designed with higher flexibility to reduce insertion force, while the distal section maintains higher rigidity for structural support. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between ease of installation and structural strength.
2Shape
If the cube structure is formed by joining flanges together with interlacing fingers and hollows, then the geometric structure is formed, but the reliability deteriorates due to play between parts that facilitates deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The reinforcement case is formed as a single integrated piece rather than by assembling multiple separate flanges and fingers. This merging eliminates the gaps and play between interlacing parts, providing a solid, deformation-resistant structure that maintains geometric integrity under lateral forces.
3Device complexity
If the flexure arms are kept short to maintain structural compactness, then the device complexity is reduced, but the resilient response deteriorates due to insufficient flexure lever length
Solution Approach 1:
The flexure arms incorporate variable cross-sectional properties along their length, with the moment of inertia optimized to provide sufficient flexure lever effect while maintaining compact overall dimensions. This dynamic structural design allows long enough arms for resilient response without excessive complexity.
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 improved design provides a secure and efficient attachment to vehicle panels, resisting deformation and facilitating easier installation and removal, thus enhancing the operational reliability and longevity of airbag mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
flexible fins made of an appropriate material, with a generally conical configuration which facilitates their insertion
Implementation Method 2
a case for reinforcement against lateral forces, which, in the present invention, is formed by means of the joining of two mid parts, the edges of which have symmetrical double folds
Implementation Method 3
have a fold which permits extension of the arms in a direction different from the original one, for example more or less opposite the original direction, thus giving rise in general to an increase in the length of the arms and the length of their flexure lever, as well as to an increase in their resilient response
Data Source
Figure 1~4
Figure 5~6
Figure 7~8
AI summary
A clip for fastening accessories to vehicle panels includes a rectangular reinforcement case (6) which is formed by the end contact of its opposite mid parts, by means of the fitted-together join of a single finger (9) per side of each mid part, by means of a shape approximately of a double fold in the form of a zig-zag against the edge of the opposite part, which extends in parallel to the walls of the case and in the interior of the case (6). The remainder of this opposite part has a symmetrical finger (9) with a similar arrangement.