Vehicle shutter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle shutters fail to detect and prevent power transmission cutoffs to flaps, leading to deteriorated cooling performance and potential engine issues like seizure and heat deterioration.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle shutter system with turn restriction units on adjacent flaps to prevent other flaps from turning when power transmission is cut off, combined with an abnormality detection and notification system to alert users of operation failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a vehicle shutter is provided with multiple flaps and a drive section to open and close the outside air introduction path, then the cooling performance can be adjusted, but when power transmission is cut off to intermediate parts, some flaps may be held in a closed state causing deteriorated cooling performance and engine seizure
Solution Approach 1:
The abnormality detection section monitors the operating state of the drive section to detect when power transmission is cut off. When a breakpoint is detected in the power transmission path, the system generates abnormality signals to notify the user, enabling timely detection and response to cooling system failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The shutter is divided into multiple independently controllable flaps, each with its own turn restriction unit. When power transmission to one flap is cut off, the turn restriction unit prevents adjacent flaps from turning, isolating the故障 to a specific segment and preventing complete system failure.
2Reliability
If turn restriction units are formed on adjacent flaps to restrict turning when power transmission is cut off, then abnormality detection is enabled, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The turn restriction unit is integrated into the flap structure itself, combining the restriction function with the flap's existing components. This merging approach enables abnormality detection without requiring separate, complex external mechanisms for each flap.
Solution Approach 2:
The turn restriction unit automatically activates when power transmission is cut off, using the mechanical connection between adjacent flaps to restrict turning of unaffected flaps. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for additional active control systems or sensors on each flap.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a vehicle shutter capable of detecting a flap to which power transmission is cut off by providing turn restriction units each having a simple structure in flaps.The vehicle shutter is provided with: a plurality of flaps 13 capable of opening and closing an outside air introduction path 8 for introducing outside air into an engine compartment and arranged in parallel to each other so as to cross the outside air introduction path 8; a linkage operation section linking the flaps 13 with each other to perform an opening/closing operation of the flaps; a drive section driving the flaps 13 to be open and closed through the linkage operation section; an abnormality detection section detecting an abnormality of the flaps 13 on the basis of an operating state of the drive section; and an abnormality notification section notifying the abnormality to a user on the basis of output from the abnormality detection section. Opening failure detecting restriction units 13j and closing failure detecting restriction units 13k are formed on adjacent flaps 13 as turn restriction units which restrict, when power transmission to one of the adjacent flaps 13 from the drive section is cut off, the other flap 13 from turning.