FIELD OF INVENTION:
[001] The present subject matter described herein, relates to a vehicle side body arrangement. The present subject matter in particularly relates to a vehicle rear 5 side body arrangement for aerodynamic drag improvement.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART AND PROBLEM IN PRIOR ART:
[002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed 10 invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[003] Motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, and trucks, require a propulsive force in order to move the vehicle. This propulsive force must overcome the drag of the vehicle in order for the vehicle to move forward. Drag on a vehicle originates from a number of sources, 15 including aerodynamic drag and tire drag (resulting from frictional forces caused by the tire-road interaction). Propulsive force is typically generated by some sort of engine, such as internal combustion engine, fuel cell, electrical engine, etc.
[004] Drag is a force that acts parallel and in the direction opposite to the airflow. The drag coefficient of an automobile impacts the way the automobile 20 passes through the surrounding air. When automobile companies design a new vehicle they take into consideration the aerodynamic drag coefficient in addition to the other performance characteristics. Aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed; therefore, it becomes critically important at higher speeds.
[005] Aerodynamic drag includes both frictional drag and pressure drag. 25 Frictional drag derives from friction between the fluid (air) and the surfaces of the vehicle over which it is flowing. The velocity of the air moving over the surfaces of the vehicle is known as the free stream velocity. The free stream velocity is based on the speed of the vehicle and the prevailing wind. Because of the air
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moving over the surfaces of the vehicle, a boundary layer is typically formed along the surface of the vehicle, serving as a transition between air at zero velocity right at the surface and air at the free stream velocity at the edge of the boundary layer. The drag caused by the air in the boundary layer creates frictional drag.
[006] Pressure drag (also known as form drag) results from the difference in 5 pressure between the front of the vehicle and the rear of the vehicle. Accordingly, it depends on the size and shape of the vehicle. When the airflow separates on the vehicle, as described above, lower pressures are created behind the vehicle than would exist in the absence of separation, resulting in increased pressure drag. This problem is exacerbated on less aerodynamic vehicles, such as SUV's and trucks, 10 as their relatively blocky shapes cause additional separation and thus additional pressure drag. The pressure behind a vehicle may drop low enough, particularly when moving at high speeds, to create vacuum-like conditions behind the vehicle, resulting in very high pressure drag.
[007] Vehicle pressure drag results from separation of the airflow around the 15 vehicle and the resultant wake or separation bubble formed on the backside of the vehicle. Typically, when an airflow moves around the top, bottom, or side of a vehicle, the airflow will transition from an attached flow to a separated flow when boundary layer separation occurs. A vehicle with an optimized rear end, such as a sports car with a tapered rear, will allow for the boundary layer to stay attached 20 for as long as possible, minimizing the separated flow behind the vehicle (and reducing pressure drag). However, a vehicle such as an SUV with a squarish design and flat rear end will have significantly increased separated flow behind it, as the boundary layers and thus airflows will separate near the rear of the vehicle, causing a larger region of low pressure. 25
[008] It is one of the primary focus of the automobile companies to reduce the aerodynamic drag of the vehicle as higher aerodynamic drag results in less fuel efficiency of the vehicle. Higher drag means higher friction, higher resistance and decreased performance.
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[009] Reducing the drag coefficient in an automobile improves the performance of the vehicle as it pertains to speed and fuel efficiency. There are many different ways to reduce the drag of a vehicle.
[0010] US7152908B2 discloses a system and method for reducing the aerodynamic drag of the vehicle. More particularly, it discloses use of at least one 5 fan for directing air into a lower pressure region behind a vehicle in motion in order to reduce pressure drag. In one embodiment, the operation of the at least one fan may be controlled based on sensed conditions, user control, or other means. However, adding of another fan, increases the overall weight of the vehicle and also increases its cost. Further, it becomes difficult to maintain the vehicle if the 10 fan is damaged.
[0011] US20130106135A1 discloses device, assembly, and system for reducing aerodynamic drag. The system and method of reducing aerodynamic drag and mitigating detrimental side wind effects on vehicles moving through air or water with a plurality of new subsystems disposed in a plurality of locations on the 15 vehicles. Each one of the subsystems includes a sub-set of small-scale vortex generators that have an intake for air from airflow around the vehicle and that produce intensive small-scale vortices with large lifespan, and/or a new fairing device that streamlines airflow and produces a sheet of small-scale-vortices. The subsystems direct the vortices with large lifespan and/or sheets of vortices into the 20 vehicle's drag-producing volumes. The vortex generators have one or several air channels preventing airflow from bypassing vortex-producing elements and the elements inside the channels that produce small-scale vortices.
[0012] The problems with the existing solutions for reducing the aerodynamic drag of a vehicle are that they all use external sources such as fan, vortex 25 generators etc. which increases the weight of the vehicle and being external devices it is difficult to maintain them.
[0013] The proposed invention solves the problems mentioned in the prior arts by overcoming them. The present invention discloses a rear side body arrangement which comprises of one or more air deflectors which guide and deflect the air 30
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flow away from the rear suspension parts/ tyres so that the drag at these locations improves drastically.
[0014] The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that 5 this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
[0015] It is therefore the object of the invention to overcome the aforementioned and other drawbacks in prior method/product/apparatus.
[0016] The principal objective of the present invention is to provide a vehicle rear 10 side body arrangement for aerodynamic drag improvement.
[0017] Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle rear side body arrangement for aerodynamic drag improvement with plano-concave shaped deflectors on sidestep and side body molding.
[0018] Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle rear side 15 body arrangement for aerodynamic drag improvement with width of plano-concave shaped deflectors similar to width of the sidestep.
[0019] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle rear side body arrangement for aerodynamic drag improvement with integrated plano-concave shaped deflectors on sidestep and side body molding. 20
[0020] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle rear side body arrangement for aerodynamic drag improvement with plano-concave shaped deflectors on sidestep and side body molding and a wedge shaped deflector mounted on rear wheel cladding.
[0021] These and other objects and advantages of the present subject matter will 25 be apparent to a person skilled in the art after consideration of the following detailed description taken into consideration with accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present subject matter are illustrated.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
[0022] Solution to one or more drawbacks of conventional rear body arrangement, and additional advantages are provided through the arrangement as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the technicalities of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the 5 disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered to be a part of the claimed disclosure.
[0023] The present invention discloses a vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement by certain design changes in side step, side body molding and rear wheel cladding. Generally, side step in a vehicle is for 10 utility purpose. Specifically, these are provided in a SUV vehicle for customer convenience as the ground clearance is higher than hatchback/sedan vehicles and are also incorporated to improve the aesthetics of a vehicle, however, they are sometimes also provided in hatchbacks and sedan vehicles as well. The arrangement according to the present invention guides and deflects the air flow 15 away from the rear suspension parts/tyres. As a result, less air will hit the rear suspension parts as well as the rear tyres of the vehicle. Hence, the drag at these locations improves drastically. Further, due to reduced aerodynamic drag, fuel efficiency of the vehicle is also increased.
[0024] The present subject matter relates to a vehicle rear side body arrangement 20 (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement. The arrangement comprising a plano-concave shaped deflector (101) which is mounted on sidestep (102) of the vehicle and has a width of concavity (W), radius of concavity (R), length of concavity (L) and height of concavity (H); and a plano-concave shaped deflector (103) which is mounted on side body molding (104) of the vehicle, having a width of concavity 25 (W’), radius of concavity (R’), length of concavity (L’) and height of concavity (H’) wherein the deflector (101) is placed vertically below the deflector (103).
[0025] In an embodiment, the present subject matter discloses a vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement with a wedge shaped deflector (105) mounted on rear wheel cladding of the vehicle. 30
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[0026] Yet another embodiment of the present subject matter discloses a vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement wherein width (W and W’) of the deflectors (101 and 103) is equal to the width of the sidestep (102).
[0027] Yet another embodiment of the present subject matter discloses a vehicle 5 rear side body arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement wherein deflector (103) is mounted on the side body molding (104).
[0028] It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined to form a further embodiment of the 10 disclosure.
[0029] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description. 15
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the 20 accompanying figures. In the figures, a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods or structure in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the 25 accompanying figures, in which:
[0031] Fig. 1 illustrates a vehicle rear side body arrangement according to the prior art.
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[0032] Fig. 2 illustrates a vehicle rear side body arrangement according to the present invention.
[0033] Fig. 3 illustrates the close-up view of the arrangement according to the present invention.
[0034] Fig. 4 illustrates the top view of the deflector according to the present 5 invention.
[0035] Fig. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention.
[0036] Fig. 6 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention.
[0037] Fig. 7 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention.
[0038] Fig. 8 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention. 10
[0039] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for the purposes of illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein. 15
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
[0040] While the embodiments of the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof have been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular 20 forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
[0041] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the disclosure, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a device, system, assembly that comprises a list of components does not include 25 only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such system, or assembly, or device. In other words, one or more elements in a system or device proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without
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more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or device.
[0042] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily 5 utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly 10 to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its 15 organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.
[0043] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures. It should be 20 noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.
[0044] Reference may be made to figure 2 illustrating a vehicle rear side body 25 arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement according to the present invention.
[0045] Referring to Fig. 3, the vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement comprises of a plano-concave shaped deflector (101) which is mounted on sidestep (102) of the vehicle, a plano-concave shaped 30
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deflector (103) mounted on side body molding (104) of the vehicle, wherein the deflector (101) is placed vertically below deflector (103).
[0046] The plano-concave shaped deflectors (101 and 103) guide and deflect the air flow away from the rear suspension parts/tyres. As a result, less air will hit the rear suspension parts as well as the rear tyres of the vehicle. Hence, the drag at 5 these locations improves drastically.
[0047] Referring to Fig. 4 illustrating the top view of the deflector 101, the deflector (101) has a width of concavity (W), radius of concavity (R), length of concavity (L) and height of concavity (H). Similarly, the deflector (103) has a width of concavity (W’), radius of concavity (R’), length of concavity (L’) and 10 height of concavity (H’). In the preferred embodiment, the width (W), the radius of concavity (R), the length of concavity (L) and the height of concavity (H) of the deflector (101) are equal to the width of concavity (W’), the radius of concavity (R’), the length of concavity (L’) and the height of concavity (H’) of the deflector (103). However, the width of the concavity (W), the radius of concavity 15 (R), the length of concavity (L) and the height of concavity (H) of the deflector (101) may be different from the width of concavity (W’), the radius of concavity (R’), the length of concavity (L’) and the height of concavity (H’) of the deflector (103). The deflectors (101 and 103), at their concave surface, make an angle α with the horizontal surface of the sidestep (102) and the side body molding (104) 20 respectively. The angle α ranges from 0.1o to 25o. More specifically, optimum aerodynamic drag improvement is achieved in the angle range of 8o to 15o.
[0048] Experiments are performed to calculate the aerodynamic drag at different angles (α) to determine the relationship between angle α and aerodynamic drag improvement. The result is shown below: 25
S. No
Proposal
α (deg)
% in CdA Improvement
11
1
Angle of concave surface with side surface of side step(α)
0.5
1.0
2
8
2.2
3
15
1.8
4
25
1.5
[0049] In the preferred embodiment, the width (W and W’) of the deflectors (101 and 103) is equal to the width of the sidestep (102).
[0050] In the preferred embodiment, the deflector (101) and the deflector (103) are integrated with the sidestep (102) and the side body molding (104) 5 respectively, however they may be manufactured as separate units and be attached to the sidestep (102) and the side body molding (104) using one or more of nut bolt combination, adhesives, clips, and ultra-sonic welding.
[0051] The deflectors (101 and 103) are made from polypropylene and the like.
[0052] Referring to Fig. 5, in one of the embodiments, the vehicle rear side body 10 arrangement (100) comprises of wedge shaped deflector (105) which is mounted on rear wheel cladding (106) of the vehicle along with the plano-concave shaped deflector (101) which is mounted on sidestep (102) of the vehicle and the plano-concave shaped deflector (103) mounted on side body molding (104) of the vehicle. The wedge shaped deflector reduces wake region area near the rear wheel 15 cladding of the vehicle and thus reduces the aerodynamic drag locally.
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[0053] Referring to Fig. 6, in one of the embodiments, the vehicle rear side body arrangement comprises of deflector (103) which is mounted on the side body molding (104).
[0054] Referring to Fig. 7, in one of the embodiments, the vehicle rear side body arrangement comprises of deflector (103) which is mounted on the side body 5 molding (104) and a deflector (107) which is mounted on a side sill cover (108).
[0055] Referring to Fig. 8, in one of the embodiments, the vehicle rear side body arrangement comprises of deflector (107) which is mounted on the side sill cover (108).
[0056] It will be understood that the present invention is directed towards all 10 types of vehicles with side step or without side step. The type of vehicles includes passenger cars, SUVs, hatch-backs, trucks, buses. etc.
[0057] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should 15 be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such 20 recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such 25 introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, 30
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even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention 5 analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). 10 In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, 15 B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the 20 possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
[0058] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present invention contemplates all of these combinations. 25 Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. In addition, while a feature of the present invention may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of 30 other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the
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above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of “comprising” or “including” also contemplates embodiments that “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the recited 5 feature.
[0059] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present 10 subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within

WE CLAIM:

1. A vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement, the arrangement, comprising:
a plano-concave shaped deflector (101) mounted on a sidestep (102) of a vehicle, having a width of concavity (W), a radius of concavity (R), a 5 length of concavity (L) and a height of concavity (H); and
a plano-concave shaped deflector (103) mounted on a side body molding (104) of the vehicle, having a width of concavity (W’), a radius of concavity (R’), a length of concavity (L’) and a height of concavity (H’),
wherein 10
the deflector (101) is placed vertically below the deflector (103).
2. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the width of concavity (W), the radius of concavity (R), the length of concavity (L) and the height of concavity (H) of the deflector (101) are 15 equal to the width of concavity (W’), the radius of concavity (R’), the length of concavity (L’) and the height of concavity (H’) of the deflector (103) respectively.
3. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 1, 20 wherein the width (W and W’) are equal to the width of the sidestep (102).
4. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deflectors (101 and 103) make an angle α with the horizontal surface of the sidestep (102) and the side body molding (104) respectively. 25
5. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the angle α ranges from 0.1o to 25o.
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6. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deflectors (101 and 103) are integrated with the sidestep (102) and the side body molding (104) respectively.
7. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 1, 5 wherein the deflectors (101 and 103) are mounted on the sidestep (102) and the side body molding (104) respectively using one or more of nut-bolt combination, adhesives, clips, and ultra-sonic welding.
8. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 1, 10 wherein a wedge shaped deflector (105) is mounted on rear wheel cladding (106) of the vehicle.
9. A vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) for aerodynamic drag improvement, the arrangement, comprising: 15
one or more plano-concave shaped deflectors mounted on rear side body of the vehicle and making an angle with the horizontal surface of the rear side body.
10. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the one or more plano-concave shaped deflectors includes a 20 deflector (103) mounted on the side body molding (104).
11. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the one or more plano-concave shaped deflectors includes a deflector (107) mounted on a side sill cover (108).
12. The vehicle rear side body arrangement (100) as claimed in claim 9, 25 wherein the one or more plano-concave shaped deflectors includes deflectors (103 and 107) mounted on the side body molding (104) and side sill cover (108) respectively, and deflector (107) is placed vertically adjacent below the deflector (103).