Vehicle Ventilation Flap Asynchronous Adjustment Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air flap arrangements for vehicles are complex and require powerful, expensive drive devices to operate, especially in extreme conditions like dirt, insect blockages, or icing, and are not efficient in adjusting multiple flaps simultaneously due to high air pressure and wind exposure.
Innovation Solution
An air flap arrangement where the first air flap is adjusted before the second, allowing asynchronous adjustment, reducing the effort required to open and close air flaps, using a smaller drive unit that is less expensive and takes up less space, and enabling easier maintenance by reducing air pressure on the second flap.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If all air flaps are adjusted simultaneously, then the air opening can be opened or closed quickly, but a powerful and expensive drive mechanism is required to overcome high air pressure and wind exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the simultaneous adjustment of all air flaps into sequential segments. The actuating element adjusts air flaps one after another in a predetermined sequence rather than all at once. This segmentation reduces the peak torque requirement at any given moment, allowing a smaller, less expensive drive mechanism to be used while still achieving complete adjustment of all flaps.
2Reliability
If a powerful drive mechanism is used to adjust air flaps against high air pressure, then reliable operation is achieved, but the drive mechanism consumes a lot of energy and requires considerable space
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the adjustment process into sequential steps for each air flap, the drive mechanism only needs to overcome the air pressure on one flap at a time rather than all flaps simultaneously. This significantly reduces the energy consumption and power requirements while maintaining reliable operation under extreme conditions such as dirt blockages, insect blockages, or icing.
3Volume of moving object
If all air flaps are connected to a single actuating element for simultaneous adjustment, then the design is compact, but the design becomes complex with many moving parts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a single actuating element with multiple drivers that sequentially engage with each air flap. This segmented approach maintains a compact design by using one actuating element rather than multiple independent ones, while avoiding the complexity of many interconnected moving parts that would be required for simultaneous adjustment of all flaps.
4Power
If air flaps are adjusted asynchronously one after another, then less torque is required and a smaller drive unit can be used, but the adjustment process takes longer
Solution Approach 1:
The actuating element is designed with multiple drivers positioned to engage with each air flap in a predetermined sequence. This preliminary arrangement of drivers allows the system to quickly transition from one flap to the next without idle time, maintaining efficient adjustment speed while using the torque-reducing benefit of asynchronous adjustment.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 1c~1d
Figure 2a~2d
AI summary
Disclosed is a ventilation flap assembly for a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle (8), the assembly having at least one first and one second ventilation flap (2, 2') in addition to an actuating element (3). Each of the first and the second ventilation flaps (2, 2') can be moved from a first position into a second position, in order to allow the passage of a quantity of air, which differs in the second position in comparison to the quantity of air in the first position, through an air opening (83, 84) of the vehicle. The actuating element (3) is used to move both the first and the second ventilation flaps (2, 2') and said actuating element (3) is designed, when actuated, to firstly move the first ventilation flap (2) from its first position into its second position and only then to move the second ventilation flap (2') from its first position into its second position.