Viscous Damper With Integral Spring for Storage Bin
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Solution Overview
Problem
The combination of individual springs and dampers in storage bins for motor vehicles often results in uneven door flushes due to non-uniform spring load, misinstallation issues, and limited design flexibility, making it difficult to increase spring constant without redesigning the housing.
Innovation Solution
A viscous damper with an integrated external coil spring, where the spring is concentrically received over a shaft and secured by a mounting boss with abutments and a spring retainer, allowing for proper orientation and adjustability, and a damping feature using vanes in a viscous fluid for smooth door operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If individual springs and dampers are used separately, then the door can be opened with spring force, but the spring load is not uniform across the entire door causing uneven flushes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the spring and damper into a single integrated assembly where the spring is mounted externally on the damper housing. This merging eliminates the separate spring and damper components, ensuring uniform force distribution across the door while reducing assembly complexity. The integrated design allows the spring load to be evenly distributed through the damper mechanism, resolving the uneven flush issue.
Solution Approach 2:
The damper housing serves multiple functions: it houses the damping mechanism and simultaneously provides mounting structure for the spring. The mounting boss with threaded holes and abutments creates a universal mounting system that accommodates both spring attachment and damper operation, eliminating the need for separate spring mounting hardware and improving structural efficiency.
2Reliability
If individual springs are used, then spring force can be applied, but misinstallation in terms of orientation and proper locking is easy to occur
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is pre-mounted on the damper housing assembly during manufacturing, with the mounting boss, abutments, and retainers already in place. This preliminary action ensures proper orientation and locking are built into the design, eliminating installation errors that would occur with field assembly. The spring's position and orientation are predetermined by the molded-in mounting features.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting boss with integrated abutments and the spring retainer create a self-aligning, self-locking mechanism. The spring automatically engages with the mounting features in the correct orientation, and the retainer secures it without requiring additional installation steps. This self-service design prevents misinstallation while maintaining ease of assembly.
3Force
If robust anchor points are provided for spring tension, then spring force can be maintained, but the housing needs to be redesigned when spring constant needs to be increased
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting boss is designed with adjustable features that allow the spring constant to be modified without redesigning the entire housing. The threaded holes and abutment positions can be adjusted to change the spring's effective length and mounting geometry, dynamically adapting the force characteristics while maintaining robust anchor points. This allows optimization of spring tension for different applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The design allows modification of spring parameters (constant, length, wire gauge) without requiring housing redesign. The mounting boss provides standardized attachment points that accommodate various spring configurations. By changing the spring parameters rather than the housing structure, the system maintains adaptability while preserving the robust anchor points needed for high spring constants.
4Device complexity
If the spring is mounted internally in the damper housing, then integration is achieved, but the coil spring size, material, wire gauge and number of coils are limited by the internal package size
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is extracted from the internal damper housing and mounted externally on the housing exterior. This extraction removes the space constraints of the internal package, allowing the use of larger coils, different wire gauges, and various spring materials without compromising the damper housing design. The spring can now be selected based on performance requirements rather than packaging limitations.
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
This design ensures proper door force freeload, enhanced adjustability, and increased design flexibility, allowing for a wider range of applications while providing smooth and consistent door movement.
Implementation Method 1
a spring connected to the second exposed end of the shaft. The spring may be a coil spring. That coil spring may be concentrically received over the shaft
Implementation Method 2
the damper feature comprises a plurality of vanes attached to the shaft rotating through a viscous fluid held in the sealed damper housing
Data Source
AI summary
A viscous damper includes a damper housing and a shaft extending through the damper housing. The shaft includes a first exposed end and a second exposed end. A gear is mated to the first exposed end of the shaft. A spring is connected to the second exposed end of the shaft. A storage bin is also disclosed.