Vehicle Panel Compressible Layer for Flexible Bending
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle interior panels, such as center console lids and sliding doors, often require awkward positioning for access and lack flexibility, leading to discomfort and limited functionality in concealing storage spaces while maintaining aesthetic appeal.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle interior panel comprising a rigid substrate with an elastically compressible layer and a decorative layer, featuring a non-uniform thickness and voids, allowing for flexible bending and compression, enabling easy access and concealment of storage spaces while providing cushioning and aesthetic appeal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a thick foam cushion is used in sliding doors, then comfort is improved, but flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The foam layer is designed with non-uniform thickness, having a first thickness in regions requiring comfort (such as under the decorative layer) and a second, lesser thickness in regions requiring flexibility (such as near the substrate). This local variation in thickness allows different regions of the same component to serve different functions optimally.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a depth dimension variation within the foam layer by creating a gradient from the first thickness to the second thickness. This dimensional change allows the foam to provide cushioning where needed while maintaining flexibility where required, effectively resolving the contradiction by utilizing the third dimension (depth) to differentiate functional zones.
2Strength
If a rigid substrate is used in vehicle panels, then structural strength is improved, but flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The foam layer's non-uniform thickness creates local variations in rigidity and flexibility. Regions with greater foam thickness provide cushioning and comfort, while regions with lesser thickness maintain flexibility and conformability to the rigid substrate, allowing the panel as a whole to exhibit both strength and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The panel combines a rigid substrate with a foam layer of varying thickness to create a composite structure. This composite design allows the rigid substrate to provide structural strength while the foam layer provides flexibility and comfort, with the non-uniform thickness optimizing the balance between these opposing properties.
3Ease of manufacture
If uniform thickness foam is used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but functional versatility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The foam layer is manufactured with non-uniform thickness to provide different functions in different regions. This local differentiation allows the single foam component to serve multiple functions (cushioning, flexibility, conformability) without requiring multiple separate parts, thus maintaining manufacturing simplicity while enhancing functional versatility.
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 panel effectively bends and compresses to facilitate easy access to storage spaces, reducing physical strain and enhancing comfort, while maintaining a thick, cushioned, and aesthetically pleasing design, suitable for various vehicle applications.
Implementation Method 1
an elastically compressible layer coupled with the substrate... the thickness of the compressible layer varies along a lengthwise direction of the panel... A void is formed between the substrate and the decorative layer and outside of the compressible layer
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle interior panel includes an elastically compressible layer between a substrate and a decorative skin layer. The compressible layer has a non-uniform thickness along which voids are formed within the thickness of the panel. A center console can be equipped with the panel in the form of a tambour door that opens to access a storage space in the console and closes to serve as a cushioned armrest. The compressible layer can be formed from a foam material molded directly onto the decorative layer and shaped as a series of projections that are attached to flexibly interconnected crossmembers of the substrate. Thin portions of the compressible layer between the projections facilitate reversible bending of the panel during movement along curved guides.