Z-Shaped Heat Shield Bracket for Low-Deflection Wheel Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat shields and attachment brackets for vehicle wheels, particularly those with carbon disc brakes, are prone to deformation and deflection, leading to increased stress, weight, and potential wheel abrasion, especially in high-temperature and high-stress environments.
Innovation Solution
A Z-shaped attachment bracket design that attaches directly to the radially outer surface of the heat shield panel, eliminating the need for tabs on the panel and securing to the wheel rim, providing improved stability and reduced weight by distributing stress between the heat shield and wheel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the heat shield is made larger and more massive to increase robustness, then the heat shield becomes more resistant to deformation and deflection, but the overall mass of the wheel assembly increases and the problem of heat shield deflection worsens due to higher centrifugal forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the structural parameters of the bracket by transitioning from a conventional L-shaped design to a Z-shaped design. This geometric parameter change allows the bracket to maintain adequate stiffness and reliability while reducing material usage and overall mass, thereby resolving the contradiction between robustness and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The Z-shaped bracket can be viewed as a segmented structure with multiple contact surfaces distributed along its length. This segmentation allows stress to be distributed across multiple points rather than concentrated at a single location, improving reliability without requiring increased mass.
2Device complexity
If conventional L-shaped brackets are used to attach the heat shield to the wheel, then the attachment is simple, but stress concentrations arise at the attachment location especially when the heat shield deflects or deforms
Solution Approach 1:
The Z-shaped bracket extends the attachment interface along the axial dimension of the wheel rather than concentrating it at a single radial location. The multiple contact surfaces are distributed along the length of the bracket, transforming a point-contact stress concentration into a distributed line contact, thereby reducing peak stresses while maintaining attachment simplicity.
3Strength
If tabs are provided on the heat shield panel for bracket attachment, then the bracket can be securely attached, but the heat shield design becomes more complex and heavier
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of attaching the bracket to the tabs on the heat shield panel (conventional approach), the patent inverts the attachment logic by having the bracket contact the heat shield panel directly through its radially outer surface. The attachment strength is achieved through the Z-shaped bracket's geometry and material properties rather than through additional heat shield features, thereby reducing heat shield complexity.
4Volume of moving object
If the heat shield is spaced closer to the wheel tube well to reduce size, then the wheel assembly size is minimized, but the heat shield comes into contact with the wheel tube well causing wheel abrasion
Solution Approach 1:
The Z-shaped bracket provides dynamic stress distribution and deformation accommodation. When the heat shield deflects under thermal and centrifugal loads, the distributed contact surfaces along the bracket's length allow controlled movement without creating concentrated stress points that would lead to wheel abrasion, enabling closer spacing without harmful contact.
Data Source
AI summary
An attachment bracket for fastening a heat shield panel of a wheel assembly to a radially inner surface of a wheel, the bracket having an essentially Z-shaped structure comprising an attachment part defining two inner contact surfaces in a first plane each shaped to form, in use, a surface contact with the radially outer surface of the heat shield panel, and a wheel connector part defining an outer contact surface in a second plane arranged to form, in use, a surface contact with the wheel when the heat shield panel is located in position relative to the wheel, where the first and second planes are essentially parallel but spaced apart in the axial direction of the wheel, and a sloping connector part extending from the first plane to the second plane connecting a first end of the attachment part to a first end of the wheel connector part.