Page 1
edwin 02|2003
1
design • engineer • build • drive
02|2003
Edscha inside
IAA 2003
Hiding
sliding door
NEW SLIDING DOOR MECHANISM
Page 2
Fresh ideas for vehicles.
As a supplier of movable systems, we’ve got a feel for what’s essential for vehicles. Together with our ability to
design complete vehicles, and with fresh ideas, our path into the future invariably looks good. And hence some
matching extras can come along too. Like extras that smell nice. But leave that to others to supply.
www.edscha.com
Page 3
EDITORIAL
edwin 02|2003
3
Open up!
central feature of corporate culture at
Edscha is openness. Honest and time-
ly communication is something we
care about deeply, both in-house and towards
the general public and of course our customers. That’s one of the reasons why we have
edwin, now appearing the second time.
Coincidence or not – many of our products
also center on ‘openness’. Hinge and convertible roof systems from Edscha have for decades now been providing dependable access
to cars. In that time, the demands made on
cars have risen dramatically in every respect.
Nowadays, it’s comfort above all that’s the
clincher for the buyer. We haven’t shut our
eyes to that fact either – instead we set ourselves the task of opening up new prospects
in our niches for our customers.
In this edition of edwin we’re presenting
a few of our ideas for discussion. For example
ideas for more convenient opening systems:
ranging from the next-generation door hinge,
the Notch Stop (pages 11 and 22), and an
electrically-powered rear lid developed by us
(page 14), to the alternative sliding door
mechanism that adorns the title page (page 18).
We’ve developed new approaches elsewhere too: specialists from IVM Automotive
helped, for example, to develop the existing
Junkers opposed-piston engine into an unusually efficient, lightweight, inexpensive and
clean two-cylinder design for a wide range of
applications (page 16); and they pondered how
our customers could exert a favorable effect
on the production costs and weight during the
development process itself (page 12).
More details of all this can be found in this
issue – or can be heard at the Edscha Group’s
4th Symposium in November. Its motto?
“OpenMinded”, what else!
On that note, enjoy reading it!
A
IMPRINT
Publisher:
Edscha AG,
Hohenhagener Str. 26–28,
42855 Remscheid
Coordinator: Christiane Nadol
Publishing House: corps Corporate Publishing Services GmbH,
Schanzenstraße 56,
40549 Düsseldorf
Editors: Wilfried Lülsdorf,
Michael Drosten
Project Manager: Stefanie Dodt
Art-Direction: Guido Koch, Köln
Cover Photography: John
M. John
Photos: Adam Opel AG, Audi
AG, Manfred Bernhard, DaimlerChrysler Nutzfahrzeuge,
Dorint AG, Edscha AG, John M.
John, Lars Langemeier, M. Dannenmann, Meilenwerk, Smart
GmbH, Ssangyong Motor,
Volvo Car Corporation
Lithography: F+S GmbH
Printing: Druckerei Tannhäuser
Publication dates: twice a year
Page 4
CONTENTS
BUSINESS
5 News
Financial results, new joint venture in China, 4th Edscha Symposium
8 When the Machine came to Man
40 years ago Edscha opened its first branch plant in Bavaria
9 Sharper profile
IVM Automotive picks up the pace with a new structure
PRODUCTS
10 Edscha inside
The Group’s contribution to new vehicles launched at the IAA 2003
12 Lightweight doesn’t have to be expensive
IVM Automotive helps to keep costs down on lightweight concepts
14 Built-in drive
Edscha’s electric decklid increases drivers’ comforts
PROJECTS
16 Junkers for Asia
The opposed-piston engine for the 21st century: light, cheap, clean
18 Hiding sliding door
Without guide rail the sliding door becomes presentable
PROCESSES
20 Design from Germany
The IVM Automotive Design Center offers the entire design portfolio
22 For the next generation
Edscha invests in the future of hinges with a new metal-cutting line
24 Save without roof
From coupé to convertible using technical calculation
BOULEVARD
25 News
On drive-in movie theaters, elevators and wild animals crossing
26 A journey back in time
A ramble through Germany’s car museums
4
Page 5
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2002|2003 Weak mar-
kets and other adversities could do little to hold up the
Edscha Group this past financial year.
DIN ISO EN 9001: 2000 AND VDA 6.2
duction of the BMW Z4 and the Smart
Roadster tops caused sales of convertible roof systems to shoot up 30 percent to 189 million ( 145 million).
Thanks to numerous production launches, the Driver Controls division sharply boosted sales by half to 68 million ( 45 million). With 30 million,
the smallest division, Sliding Roofs for
Trucks, was also the only division reporting a slight dip in sales over the previous year ( 32 million) – but given a
very weak market it still turned in a
satisfactory performance.
In the face of these efforts, the
Edscha Group with little fanfare simultaneously prepared to meet coming challenges – with a new capital structure
(edwin 01
|
2003 reported), the reorganization of IVM Automotive (page 9), the
building of a factory in Mexico and new
Tacking against the wind
IVM Automotive
certified
espite contrary winds in the sales
markets and a rough climate in
the motor vehicle industry in
general, the Edscha Group attained its
sales targets in fiscal 2002
|
2003
(through 30 June) and extended its market positions. Between July 2002 and
June 2003 the Group sales were
948 million; this is an increase of
22 percent over the previous year
( 777 million), and almost exactly the
level envisaged since the beginning of
the year. The new division, Vehicle
Design, established by the acquisition of
IVM Automotive in July 2002, contributed 108 million to total sales.
The Hinge Systems business remained stable at 553 million (previous
year 555 million); the dramatic decline of the Brazilian real prevented reporting higher sales. The launch of pro-
joint ventures in Japan and China (page
6), and many new products (pages 10,
14, 18), orders and ideas. The future can
come now – with any weather.
D
Increasingly complex technology, the rising quality awareness
of car owners, and sharp competition require that automotive
component suppliers and service providers ensure highest quality across all processes. IVM Automotive takes this seriously.
After one year of preparations, in spring 2003 all locations and
business fields of the vehicle designer were certified to comply both with the amended version of
DIN ISO 9001 from the year 2000 as well as with
the standard VDA 6.2 for service providers. IVM
Automotive is thus the first company in its area of
business to have its processes certified as being
entirely in conformity with the new standards.
INTERNET
New in the web
Going online in the next few days – the new Internet site of
IVM Automotive. Based on the vehicle designer’s new Corporate Design (since the company was acquired by the Edscha
Group in the summer of 2002), the pages will have an entirely
new appearance, a new navigation and, of course, completely
revised or new contents. The purpose of the effort, as of the
entire reorganization of IVM Automotive (page 9):
higher quality of service
from more efficient
structures.
www.ivm-
automotive.com
i
A strong wind at the headquarters in Remscheid
doesn’t bother Edscha much
BUSINESS PRODUCTS PROJECTS PROCESSES BOULEVARD
edwin 02|2003
5
Page 6
6
MECHATRONICS CENTER
Live wires
Electric drives and electronic controls for mechanical components are the basis of most automotive innovations – including
rear lids, parking brakes and convertible roof systems. In
Remscheid, Edscha is therefore about to set up a Mechatronics
Center in the still-young business year 2003
|
2004. The Center
is to serve as interface between the Hinge Systems, Convertible Roof Systems and Driver Controls divisions, to the electrics and electronics experts at IVM Automotive, and not least
to suppliers and customers. Its tasks are to test motors, gears
or electronic components and to qualify them for Edscha
applications, to integrate them with mechanical components
into fully functional units, to initiate and support
cooperation with specialists, and to monitor
customer projects. To accomplish these tasks, the
Mechatronics Center will have full access to the
Edscha Group’s testing stations for entire vehicles, special measuring equipment, and test
benches for components.
JAPAN
Edscha-Ohi growing
The joint venture of the Edscha Group established in January
2003 in the Japanese city of Yokohama is developing at a rapid
pace. Though initially the joint venture with the local hinge
manufacturer Ohi Seisakusho Co., Ltd., only targeted the
development and sale of hinge systems, as of 1 July, EdschaOhi Co., Ltd., has appreciably widened its scope of business:
now it also looks after the interests of the Convertible Roof
Systems and Driver Controls divisions in Japan – this is the
first step by these divisions into the world’s third largest car
manufacturing country. The workforce of the joint venture is
growing to keep pace with the tasks: Edscha-Ohi currently
employs eight people; in
the business year
2003
|
2004 which has just
commenced it is planned
to take on another three
employees in Sales, Design
and Quality Assurance.
NEW JOINT VENTURE IN CHINA
Edscha goes East
Anhui Edscha Automotive Parts Co.
Ltd. (AEA) is the Hinge Systems division’s response to the booming Chinese
automotive market.
Since mid-June, Edscha AG has been
running a second joint production ven-
ture (50:50) with AEA in Hefei in
Anhui province. Shanghai Edscha
Machinery Co. Ltd. (SEM), the first
joint venture of the Group in China, has
grown so fast since it was founded in
1994 that it will soon reach the limits of
its capacity. At present, SEM produces
easily six million hinges and door
checks annually, thus serving around 30
percent of the Chinese market for passenger car hinge systems. With the new
joint venture this market share passes
the 50 percent mark.
AEA is located around 450 kilometers west of Shanghai in the vicinity of
major automobile plants. Under the
name Jiang Nan, the factory previously
was one of the principal competitors in
the regional market for door hinges and
was not privatized until early 2003. The
technological strength and worldwide
presence of the Edscha Group persuaded the new owners to serve the Chi-
nese market jointly with Edscha in future. AEA currently supplies almost five
million hinges and door checks annually, mainly to Volkswagen and General
Motors.
Processes and product quality will
soon reach Edscha standard, and output
and sales will thereafter grow by at least
20 percent annually. AEA will then also
supply other Asian markets, including
the Japanese joint development and
sales venture Edscha-Ohi Co., Ltd., in
Yokohama, launched in January 2003.
In the medium term, AEA will additionally manufacture pedal boxes and
parking brakes for the Driver Controls
division.
The Edscha Hinge Systems business
division, producer of some 250 million
hinges annually, with 19 production
facilities in 13 countries, is the world’s
leading supplier of hinges to the automobile industry.
Chinese employees at AEA familiarize themselves with Edscha products
Page 7
edwin 02|2003
7
11–21 September 2003 (9/10 press days)
IAA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW
PASSENGER CARS • Frankfurt/Main
9 October 2003 PRESS CONFERENCE
ON FINANCIAL YEAR 2002
|
2003
• Steigenberger Parkhotel, Düsseldorf
16 October 2003
MEET@ FH WIESBADEN • Campus
Career Contact Fair, FH Rüsselsheim
23 October 2003
CONNECTA • Campus Career Contact
Fair, FH Regensburg
29 October 2003
W & I TAG • 6th Siegen Economics and
Engineering Day, Uni Siegen
5 November 2003
HOKO • Campus Career Contact Fair,
FH München
17 or 18 November 2003
BONDING KARLSRUHE • Campus
Career Contact Fair, Uni Karlsruhe
18–20 November 2003
4TH EDSCHA SYMPOSIUM • Dorint-
Hotel An der Messe, Cologne
8 or 9 December 2003
BONDING AACHEN • Campus Career
Contact Fair, RWTH Aachen
10–19 January 2004
N.A.I.A.S. • North American International
Auto Show (Detroit Motor Show), Detroit, USA
21 or 22 January 2004
BONDING KAISERSLAUTERN • Cam-
pus Career Contact Fair, Uni Kaiserslautern
27 or 28 January 2004
BONDING BRAUNSCHWEIG • Campus
Career Contact Fair, TU Braunschweig
January 2004
COMPANY AND INDUSTRY CONTACT
FAIR • University of Applied Sciences
(HAW), Hamburg
February 2004
HALF-YEARLY REPORT 2003
|
2004
4–14 March 2004 (2/3 press days)
74TH GENEVA MOTOR SHOW • Geneva,
Switzerland
26 or 27 April 2004
BONDING BOCHUM • Campus Career
Contact Fair, Ruhr-Uni Bochum
ovember is mostly a dreary
month. The world outside is
grey, car sales sag, and most
automobile designers and procurement
managers retire to the four walls of their
offices.
But not this year! For the fourth time
since 1995, 1998 and 2000, Edscha AG
is inviting selected customers from the
ranks of car manufacturers and automotive component suppliers to attend a
technical symposium, which will be
held on November 19, 2003 (conference
day), in the Dorint An der Messe (at the
trade fair), Cologne.
Edscha IVM Automotive
EVENTS
4TH EDSCHA SYMPOSIUM For many years Edscha has
been dependably opening vehicle doors, lids, hoods and roofs.
In November for the fourth time we invite our customers to
open up too – to our latest ideas relating to vehicle bodywork.
Taking as our motto “OpenMinded”,
on this day we intend to make our product and development skills tangible in
the field of doors, hoods, lids, roofs and
complete vehicles – they have been greatly expanded since the purchase of IVM
Automotive in July 2002. We will present
our freshest ideas and put them to
discussion. In-depth contributions by
outside speakers and a panel discussion
will complement the program. The symposium will be chaired by Franz W. Rother, editor-in-chief of the leading German automotive industry journal “Automobilwoche”. Following the day program, Edscha invites the participants to
attend a joint evening event – but we’re
keeping it a surprise!
Personal invitations will be sent out
in the course of September. Overnight
accommodation has been reserved at
Dorint An der Messe (at the trade fair),
Cologne for both the evening before,
Tuesday, November 18, and for Wednesday, November 19. If you do not receive
an invitation and wish to attend, please
contact us at info@edwin.de or phone
+49. 2191.363-363. We’d be happy to
see what we can do for you.
Open for Edscha?
N
OpenMinded
4th Edscha Symposium
Cologne, 18 – 20 November 2003
Franz W. Rother,
editor-in-chief
“Automobil-
woche”
Page 8
8
employs approx. 1,200 people on a factory site
of 47,000 m
2
. During the last business year,
plant revenues came to about 225 million,
equivalent to almost a quarter of the Group’s
entire sales – and a no less important factory
in the region’s economy today than in the sixties. By the time the plant celebrated its silver
jubilee in 1988, it was already – according to
Franz Josef Strauss, then prime minister of
Bavaria – “one of the most successful industrial developments in the Bavarian Forest”.
LEAPS AND BOUNDS
Since 1986, the plant owes much of its success
to the addition of a new business division:
Convertible Roof Systems. At the request of
BMW, Edscha – as a specialist in moveable
connections – assumed responsibility for the
production of the roof linkage for the first
Series 3 convertible. These days, Hengersberg
produces some 65,000 soft and hard tops a year
for four different car models – an impressive
figure and yet only half the division’s entire
production. Four more plants have since been
set up around the world; a fifth is currently
being built in Mexico.
At the Hengersberg division headquarters,
85 design engineers provide for the future: a
well filled order book means the Hengersberg
convertible roof production is booked out for
years to come. No doubt many there glance
upwards through the open roof in gratitude.
Rafael Zelek
hank Heaven for forty years of
Edscha Hengersberg. Church dignitaries such as the Abbot of the
nearby Niederalteich Monastery and the
Bishop of Passau were among the first to
give the start-up their blessing on June 7,
1963: “May the plant bear abundant fruit
for all who work here.” Fritz Eberle, then
mayor of Hengersberg, also rejoiced at the
prospect of a rich harvest on the day “the
Machine came to Man”. And the machine has
indeed brought wealth to the region.
LONG TIME COMING
It was almost a century before the descendants of company founder Eduard Scharwächter dared open a plant so far from their
roots in Bergisch Land. The reasons lay
somewhat closer to home: a lack of space and
manpower prevented the Company from expanding in Remscheid, while the border region
in the East offered plenty of
both. As a result, the fifties had
seen many thousands of people
migrate to the industrial regions.
Even the 25 jobs (later 70) initially offered in hinge production
(3,600 m
2
of operating area)
meant a considerable boost to
the region.
Four decades and several
expansions later, the plant now
40 YEARS AT HENGERSBERG In June 1963, Edscha
opened its first branch plant. For the people of the Bavarian For-
est this meant jobs – for the Edscha Group the birth of the Com-
pany’s most important out of today’s 24 plants around the globe.
When the Machine
came to Man
T
THEN AND NOW
These days Hengersberg is the
headquarters for the Driver
Controls and Convertible Roof
Systems division. Hinge system
production capacity is also
significant.
Page 9
edwin 02|2003
9
he ability to respond even more quickly and efficiently than before to custo-
mer requirements – this was the intention of the Vehicle Design business division
(IVM Automotive) and also the reason for its
new organizational structure. Their aim: consistent use of specialized know-how and
resources throughout all locations.
Since May 2003, IVM Automotive has
been subdivided into five business fields:
Complete Vehicle Development, Design,
Vehicle Body and Interior, Samples and Prototype Manufacturing, and System Development and Integration, with the latter comprising the segments Calculation and Simulation,
Electrics and Electronics, Engine/Drivetrain/
Chassis, and Testing.
MATRIX RELOADED
IVM Automotive will continue to focus in the
future too on developing complex modules
and complete vehicles including project control and coordination. The new feature: every
location will have access to the know-how
and services of all the business fields on the
spot; the skills available in every single business field will however be concentrated at a
central location and coordinated from there.
The business field Complete Vehicle Development for example is located at Bad Friedrichshall; Design and Electrics and Electronics are mainly at the Rhine-Main location;
Vehicle Body and Interior, Samples and
Prototype Manufacturing, and Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis predominantly in Bad Friedrichshall; and Calculation and Simulation
plus Testing in Ingolstadt. Sales and Customer
Support operate on the basis of key accounts
for all locations. The opportunities for IVM
Automotive on the French market are current-
ly being analyzed from Edscha’s French location, at Les Ulis.
“The new matrix organization forges links
between locations that have previously
worked largely independently of each other.
This will create synergies with which IVM
Automotive will continue to expand its market position”, says Managing Director Ulrich
Mellinghoff, commenting on the reorganization of the 1,000 or so engineers and technicians in Germany. “As an efficient engineering partner, we will also be offering to a
greater extent contents to the OEM as opposed to external capacity reserves. That will
make the use of our services easier to plan for
our customers – both OEM and system
manufacturers – from the cost angle”, says
the former BMW manager. The positive
responses from the customers confirm that the
vehicle designers are on the right track with
this new setup. Christina Kaulhausen
PRECURSORS
Ulrich Mellinghoff (53, left) has
been the spokesman of the
management since March
2003 and is in charge of the
Sales and Engineering fields.
He is assisted by Frank Braun
(43), who as managing director
has been in charge of the commercial aspects and the locations since April 2003.
IVM AUTOMOTIVE After the takeover of IVM Automotive
by Edscha in the summer of 2002, nine in-house teams
worked to raise the profile and structure of the vehicle designer. The results have been implemented since May 2003.
Sharper profile
T
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Locations
Wolfsburg
■ Complete Vehicle
Development
■ Design
■ Vehicle Body and Interior
■ Samples and Prototype
Manufacturing
■ System Development
and Integration
VW
Rhein-Main
Les Ulis (France)
Bad Friedrichshall
Stuttgart
Sindelfingen
Ingolstadt
Munich
Ford, Opel
PSA, Renault
DaimlerChrysler, Porsche
Audi, BMW
Business areas Key accounts
Page 10
OPEL ASTRA
The doors of the new Opel
Astra feature a door check of
completely new design – the
Edscha Corporate Check
(ECC1). Made almost entirely
of plastic, it is maintenance-
free, considerably lighter than
most other door checks, and
also better protected against
corrosion and friction noise.
The Edscha-designed handbrake of the new Astra also
makes the vehicle quieter: a
special comfort package
muffles mechanical noise and
isolates the lever from vibra-
tions.The door, engine hood
and liftgate hinges of the
new Opel are also from
Edscha.
BUSINESS PRODUCTS PROJECTS PROCESSES BOULEVARD
IAA 2003 The Edscha Group has chosen not to attend
this year’s International Motor Show (IAA) for passenger
cars in Frankfurt with its own stand. Instead, it can be
found in many other stands – with contributions large and
small towards concept studies and new production models.
Some instances.
decklid hinge
Edscha inside
pedal box
Page 11
edwin 02|2003
11
hand brake lever
SMART FORFOUR
In the new Smart Forfour, the latest
generation of hinges from Edscha is
opening series-produced doors for
the first time (page 22 f.):The Notch
Stop is a door hinge with an integrated door check and some very
special advantages for the OEM as
well as for car users. It takes up less
room than two separate systems and
is – thanks to its closed-off compartment – proof against paint penetration, easy to fit and maintenance-
free. Its modular design makes for a
special feature: the integrated door
check technology is interchange-
able – for example with the SoftStop
©
, a stepless system also developed by Edscha.
Edscha furthermore supplies engine
hood and liftgate hinges, plus foot
controls and handbrake for the new
Smart Forfour.
Notch Stop
Model
Audi A3 Avant
BMW 5er
BMW 6er
BMW X3
Ford C-Max
Mazda Mazda 3
Mercedes-Benz Viano
Opel Astra
Opel Vectra Caravan
Peugeot 307 CC
Smart Forfour
VW Golf
VW T5
DH DC HH LH FB HB PB
■
■■ ■ ■
■■■■ ■
■■■■ ■
■
■
■■ ■■
■■■■ ■
■1■■
■
❑ ■■ ■■
■■
■■■■■
EDSCHA PRODUCTS AT THE IAA 2003
DH door hinge; DC door check; HH hood hinge; LH decklid or liftgate hinge
FB foot operated parking brake; HB handbrake lever; PB pedal box
❑ = Notch Stop;
1
rear doors
MERCEDES-BENZ
VIANO
The Viano’s foot-operated
parking brake, specially de-
signed by Edscha, is distinguished by an extremely compact sandwich construction and
a strict design-to-cost approach. Even a manufacturer of
exclusive Italian sports cars has
since evinced interest in this
product from Edscha’s plant in
Santander, Spain.
hood hinge
Page 12
12
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
3
2
1
3
4
5
6
12
11
10
9
8
7
2
1
5
6
ightweight construction is an obvious
solution in the quest to cut fuel con-
sumption and harmful emissions. These
days, a wide range of lightweight options
exist: the first generation of aluminum bodies
produced during the nineties saw the steel
industry respond with a plethora of new steels
and processing techniques. Even magnesium
can now be obtained in something other than
for a medium-sized series (30 to 50,000
vehicles p. a.) of body components (material, finishing, ready for assembly, without
lacquer)
1 Stamped sheets with low waste
2 Drawn sheets with low waste
3 Sheets with high waste
4 Benchmark for magnesium sheet techno-
logy and hot shaping in one process
5 Large castings
6 Small castings
7 Straight sections with large cross-section
8 Section bent
9 Section stretch-bent
10 Section bent, IHPF
11 Section, stretch-bent, IHPF, intensive
machining
12 Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFK) -
IM and SMC benchmark (from 2008)
Specific costs (/kg)
COST-EFFICIENT LIGHTWEIGHT BODIES Environmental protection necessitates lower
fleet consumption, while tough competition requires strict cost management.Although lightweight construction concepts are central to the former, they still tend to hinder the latter.
One effective remedy is the cost/weight optimization method developed by IVM Automotive.
cast form, and it is almost impossible to number all the different plastics and composites
currently in use.
At the moment, however, lightweight construction is having problems establishing
itself in series production; strict cost management by OEM facing an unfavorable market environment would appear to leave little
scope for innovative production materials and
Lightweight doesn’t
have to be expensive
L
COMPARISON OF SPECIFIC COSTS
Sheet steel
shells
Aluminum
sheets
Magnesium
castings
Magnesium
sheets
CFK Aluminum
section
Aluminum
castings
Page 13
edwin 02|2003
13
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
5,0
4,0
3,0
2,0
1,0
30
25
20
15
10
5
BLUE, GREEN, RED
The blue bars represent the
specific costs of the material.
The bottom end marks the
cost-optimized solution for the
material in question. The blue
ball represents the targeted
concept status.The designer
can thus ascertain the cost of a
particular design.
The green bars stand for
weight. Once again, the ends
of the bars should be regarded
as positive and negative
benchmarks.The green ball
represents the target weight.
The designer can thus ascertain how lightweight a particular design is.
The absolute costs are shown
in red. Multiplying the above
values produces the range.The
designer can ascertain whether
the cost targets have been
met.
techniques. The reasons are as varied as the
spectrum of alternative materials available:
the often biased expertise of concept engineers regarding the potential, maturity and
cost of alternative materials, semi-finished
products and techniques, the expensive procedures before they are released as suitable for
use, and insufficient importance being attributed to the learning curve in cost models.
Often dimensional concepts designed for use
with steel are used for lightweight materials;
when transposed at a ratio of 1:1, they generally result in greatly inadequate weight reductions. In practice, cost-optimized lightweight
construction fails not least because of a tendency to ignore the designers’ old rule of
thumb that design costs should already be
fixed during the concept phase.
STARTING EARLY
Enter CWO (Cost Weight Optimization) – a
method developed by IVM Automotive that
allows simple calculation of production costs
for lightweight concepts very early on and a
positive impact on the whole process. CWO
enables the marketability of new materials or
semi-finished products to be assessed, new
techniques to be compared, and aims for their
development to be defined. Entire car bodies,
not to mention individual modules or components, may be cost-optimized for each size of
production run. By the end of the development process you have a vehicle that strikes
the right balance between cost, weight and
other required properties in production, too.
At the heart of the CWO method lies the
simple cost equation
C = m • Cs
Where C is the cost of the component in
euros, m its mass in kilos, and Cs the specific
cost in /kg of the ready-to-fit component:
this includes material and production costs,
tooling cost depreciation and extra charges.
Specific costs are generally determined by
only a handful of cost factors. In a CWO project, the designer receives a table of possible
materials matching the project concerned and
the scale of production; the contents of the
table vary considerably depending on the latter (diagram left).
The aim of the concept phase must be to
achieve the weight targets while maintaining
sufficient rigidity and meeting the cost targets. In the past, however, the calculation of
production costs has frequently been postponed into subsequent project phases. If it is
assumed that automobile designers can optimize and control the mass and other properties of a vehicle or component using finite
element (FE) methods, CWO represents an
opportunity to optimize costs at the earliest
possible stage while taking account of other
target values (diagram above).
BIG ENLIGHTENMENT
Having developed it between 1996 and 2001,
IVM Automotive has so far applied the CWO
method to various customer projects. The
results are persuasive: in each individual case,
whether involving small or large components,
in small or large production runs, the early
transparency in production costs for lightweight construction effectively helped optimize costs. In several cases where a maximum weight saving was achieved, the costs
even matched those of conventional construction. In one project, for instance, it proved
possible to design the production of a lightmetal car cross member in such a way that its
cost matched that of the reference model
while achieving a 50 percent reduction in
weight. Ralf Anderseck
COST WEIGHT OPTIMIZATION (CWO) DIAGRAM
Sheet steels-
hells
Aluminum,
conventional
Aluminum,
new process
Magnesium,
hot shaped
Aluminum,
IHPF
Specifiic costs (/kg)
Weight (kg)
Total cost ()
Page 14
14
ot even hinges are what they used to
be. Their task has remained largely
the same ever since automobiles were
invented and Edscha began equipping them:
that task is reliable and flexible connection of
car body parts. However, the demands on
their service life and safety, their functionality
and their comfort have risen enormously.
ELECTRIFYING OPENING
Consequently, the design engineers of the
Edscha Hinge Systems Division have for
years been working on new and improved,
more comfortable opening systems: from pantographic side doors and sliding doors (pages
18 f.) to multipiece rear lids and extending
load compartment floors. They haven’t
neglected the driver motors either: in Sep-
tember the first electrically powered rear lid
system from Edscha – the first of its kind in
the market – goes into production.
Design chief Andreas Polz explains the
advantages for drivers: “Our system
offers distinctly more comfort than
the usual electrohydraulic
systems, since the trunk lid
control is more sensitive and
the lid responds reliably even
at ambient temperatures of minus 40 or plus
80 degrees Celsius. Not least, the stalled-condition detection feature developed by us and
based on Hall sensors sets new standards in
software-controlled sensitivity and variability.” The OEM will also notice the advantages:
up to 30 percent lower costs, in part thanks to
the use of a special Edscha motor, as well as a
step towards independence from hydraulic
ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN REAR LIDS Trunk lids that open and close at
the push of a button – more and more car owners appreciate this kind of comfort.
Edscha engineers have developed a particularly economical and comfortable
electric solution that will go into production in the autumn of 2003.
fluids, which have to be disposed of at considerable expense to comply with the end-oflife vehicle regulations.
Even in comparison with other electriconly drives, the Edscha system affords clear
advantages: the drive integrated in the popup
hinge permits stopping and reversing the
direction of motion at any time. Motor power
is controlled by means of pulse-width modulation (PWM) depending on temperature; and
a voltage equalizer ensures practically constant operation irrespective of battery charge
level. Although a trouble-prone and cost-raising coupling was dispensed with, opening and
closing the trunk lid is nonetheless child’s
play if ever the vehicle power supply fails.
INVOLVOED
The system was installed in a test car by mid
2002. The first to be convinced by Polz to
employ a customized version of the Edscha
system was Volvo – in the ‘Versatility Concept Car’, Volvo’s highlight at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show. The Scandinavian designers
set particular store by stylish, comfortable
cruising in this forward-looking high-class
station wagon. Edscha hinges feature not only
in the electrically operated rear lid, but also in
the hinges to the side doors which open in
opposing directions.
However, the Edscha system will first be
entering the market in a different make. As of
autumn 2003, Korean manufacturer Ssangyong, a former subsidiary of the Daewoo
group, will be fitting out its flagship ‘Chairman’ with it. Several thousand of these luxury
cars annually – thanks to Ssangyong’s earlier
Built-in drive
N
POWERFUL
This is it how it looks, the pop-
up multilink hinge with inte-
grated electrical drive that pro-
vides much greater comfort
than conventional systems.
Page 15
edwin 02|2003
15
connection with Mercedes-Benz, it’s no coincidence that the ‘Chairman’ resembles the
predecessor of the current S-Class – are
intended to lavish this great comfort on Asia’s
growing upper class. Edscha assumes responsibility for the entire system, from development to project coordination, supplying all
components with the exception of the existing
hinges: from motor to control unit and gas
spring, from lock to closing assist. Around 75
percent of the parts come from the companies
that supplied Edscha during development.
BETTER RESULTS
FROM JOINT EFFORTS
Polz is convinced that this is
just the beginning of the growth
of the hinge business on an appreciably broader scale: “The link
with IVM Automotive opens
up entirely new opportunities for us. Whereas we
previously only had
the connection
points between
body and door
in mind, we can
now design new
structures and analyze
and optimise them with
advanced simulation
tools.” Innovative body
ideas are evolved in
cooperation with
the IVM Automotive Design Center
Rhine-Main (pages
20 f.) and serve as
basis for discussions
with the design and
pre-development
departments of the
OEM. Physical models
can be provided at short
SHOW OBJECTS
An Edscha system was shown
for the first time in public in
the Volvo Versatility Concept
Car; a different version will
soon be seen on Korean roads
in the Ssangyong Chairman.
Edscha itself demonstrates the
development at the converted
rear lid of a 7 Series BMW.
notice by the model and prototype makers at
IVM Automotive. And in collaboration with
the Mechatronics Center that is about to be
established in Remscheid (page 6), the electrics and electronics experts of IVM Automotive design and test new controls, including
their software, and integrate them into existing vehicle networks. Polz takes great pride
in these comprehensive skills: “This enables
Edscha to offer our customers a
unique range of services.”
Christiane Nadol
Page 16
BUSINESS PRODUCTS PROJECTS PROCESSES BOULEVARD
ugo Junkers’ aircraft engines are to
this day the most efficient diesel en-
gines ever built. The creator of the
Junkers 52 (“Auntie Ju”), a flying legend, was
the first to recognize the potential inherent in
the opposed-piston principle – and this was at
the end of the nineteenth century. With its
pistons at opposite ends of a common crankshaft, the one controlling the inlet of fresh air,
the other the exhaust of the combustion gases,
it’s the only two-stroke cycle that easily outperforms the present-day four-stroke cycle.
And so the specifications of the famed
Junkers engines 205 and 207 of the 1930s are
sensational even by the standards applied to
today’s diesel engines. From 16.6 liters swept
volume the JUMO 207, for example, generated 2,200 horsepower, i.e. 133 horsepower
from one liter – at only 3,300 revolutions per
minute. Owing to its simple design, consisting of relatively few parts, it also had a unit
mass of 309 grams per horsepower and consumed just 155 grams of fuel per horsepower
– advantages that still speak in favor of the
opposed-piston principle today. However, it
had one serious drawback: a high rate of wear
of the exhaust-side pistons, which necessitated short replacement intervals in the old aircraft engines and which renders the principle
unsuitable for present-day car engines, precisely because of the high demands on their
longevity. This is not to even mention the
high pollutant emissions.
JUNKERS REVISITED
Notwithstanding, in the late 1990s, IVM
Automotive took up the idea again and
improved it using the tools and knowledge of
the present, to produce a one-cylinder engine
which impressed the engineering world at the
2002 Aachen Colloquium. Together with Diesel-Air, the aircraft engine specialists from
Dessau (Junkers’ hometown), IVM Automotive succeeded in completely overcoming the
weaknesses of the old opposed-piston engine
using advanced development, manufacturing
and materials technology. In the meantime
two two-cylinder working prototypes have
been built of the so-called GKM 1200: each
displaces about 1,200 cubic centimeters and
develops 70 kW output with 250 Newton
meters torque (illustration). The distinctive
and decisive features of these joint develop-
H
OPPOSED-PISTON ENGINE Increasingly lower costs, consumption, exhaust emissions
and weight – these are the most important goals of manufacturers as they continue to develop the internal combustion engine. Employing the well-known opposed-piston principle
but brand-new technology, IVM Automotive has built a two-cylinder engine which promises
big reductions in all the above values.
CARBON-ALUMI-
NUM PISTON
With a 25 percent lower mass
and 300 percent higher tempe-
rature resistance than conven-
tional pistons, the carbon-alu-
minum pistons are the ideal
partners in the GKM 1200.
Junkers for Asia
16
Page 17
ments are the carbon-aluminum pistons and the
magnesium crankcase.
■ Designed by IVM Automotive with the
assistance of Laukötter, the Dessau-based diecasting specialist, and Diesel-Air, the crankcase consists of a magnesium alloy. Its manufacture by a die-casting process, and applying
special design guidelines for magnesium,
results in extremely low weight and low costs
compared with aluminum die-casts. At present, Laukötter is producing the tools required
to build the crankcase.
■ The carbon-aluminum piston developed by
Diesel-Air also features a very low specific
weight. Its biggest advantage, however, is its
tremendously long service life even at extreme temperatures of over 1,000 degrees
Celsius. Moreover, with the carbon piston the
HCCI combustion principle – currently a subject of much discussion in the engineering
world – can be implemented in the opposedpiston engine: owing to homogeneous blending and subsequent simultaneous ignition of
the air/fuel mixture, it promises even higher
overall efficiency. Initial operational tests
with the prototypes have corroborated the theoretically computed figures.
■ IVM Automotive and Diesel-Air oppose
the injection pressures presently used in diesel
engines, which reach 2,000 bar and more,
with a low-pressure, 120 to 200 bar injection
system. The interaction of
an early injection point,
extremely hot piston sur-
face, long overall stroke,
and piston synchronization at
top dead center allows the GKM
1200 to achieve high efficiency combined
with low pollutant emissions.
MANY OPTIONS
By now the two-cylinder engine has been
almost completely integrated into a virtual
lightweight vehicle (LWP) designed by IVM
Automotive and Hamburg Technical College
(illustration). Still, the development partners
are far from satisfied: the engine should also
be a multi-fuel unit capable of running on
vegetable oils or gasoline, with compressor,
oil-free and in water-cooled and air-cooled
variants. This would make it well-suited for a
great many applications: as a generator
set engine to produce electric power
and heat (promising contacts
with an electricity producer
have already been forged), as
an aircraft engine for lightweight planes, as an outboard motor for boats, and
last but not least as an engine
for small cars and commercial vehicles – particularly for the booming
Asian market. The first contacts have been
established with China. If they result in series
production, Junkers will in the end have flown
farther than his planes. Tom Sauerzapf
YOUTH RESEARCH
The GKM 1200 (above), largely
designed by work study students and postgraduates, is
with its target weight of 72 kg
and a torque of 250 Nm perfectly suited to power a lightweight vehicle such as the one
designed by IVM Automotive
and Hamburg Technical College
(below).
Magnesium crankcase
Tie-rod
Decoupled links of the crankshafts by means of a drive belt
Crankshaft
edwin 02|2003
17
Page 18
18
BEFORE
Hiding
sliding door
NEW KIND OF SLIDING DOOR MECHANISM Note how unnoticeably the sliding
door opens – smoothly, almost noiselessly, giving no indication from the outside of being a
sliding door until it opens.A fully functional prototype of the new Edscha system promises
new freedoms for car designers and drivers.
conventional sliding door is really
more of a “push door” – it takes
strong arms to get it moving; it often
can be heard streets away as it slides heavily
and slams shut, and its guide rail along the
fender is the first thing that draws dirt, rust
and design criticisms. For these reasons, the
sliding door has gained acceptance to date
mainly in commercially used vans and their
derivatives aimed at large families.
And yet the sliding door has potentially
enormous advantages for the users of purebred cars too, from compacts to luxury limousines: it provides the easiest way of getting
into a car – even in the tightest parking spaces. In pursuit of new customer benefits, more
and more carmakers are thus seeking solutions to the image problems that the sliding
door suffers from. And an entirely new solution is now offered to them by Edscha.
PRESENTABLY INVISIBLE
“Our system will open all doors wide to the
slide concept.” Klaus Ruigrok van de Werve,
Product Manager Sliding Doors in the Hinge
Systems Division and co-inventor of the concept, is convinced of that. In spring 2001,
Ruigrok (at the time still with invenio, the
engineering service providers) and his team
began experimenting with telescoping rails,
pantographs and swiveling arms: “I just
couldn’t see why we shouldn’t succeed in
eliminating the drawbacks of the sliding
door.” The solution they found is as simple
as it is ingenious (see box on right) – and
already patented. As it features a whole range
of advantages over conventional systems,
there’s only enough space here to name the
most important ones:
■ With the Edscha system, vehicle design is
no longer subject to the limitations resulting
from external guide rails. The sole externally
visible indication of the door technology is a
round button in the fender, about the size of a
parking sensor.
■ The width of the door opening is no longer
limited by overall vehicle length; previously
this criterion ruled out the use of sliding
doors in vehicles with a short overhang. With
the Edscha system, the door now can be
opened across its entire width – even beyond
the rear end of the vehicle if desired.
■ As the guide rail lies entirely within the
vehicle, and moreover can be made to run
straight, the system is appreciably more resistant to wear, has much closer tolerances
and is thus sturdier than conventional sliding
doors. A double door seal is now also
possible.
■ Technical details additionally enhance com-
fort: a spring assembly, for example, saves the
user a great deal of effort opening the door.
■ Not least of all, the concept has significant
advantages also for production. Although the
production sliding door à la Edscha would
cost roughly the same as conventional
systems, it still means good money to the
OEM: as the number of subassemblies
declines, bodyshell complexity also is appreciably reduced.
WENT CLICK
At this point the catch pin has
received the passive roller car-
rier. The door is now securely
guided to the end of the open-
ing travel distance.
A
Page 19
behalf of customers. Practically as a sideline,
hobby sculptor Ruigrok also is tinkering with
an electric drive for the system, and with his
latest vision: sliding doors for driver and rear
passengers that open in opposite directions.
With no B pillar, they would open up the
entire side of the passenger compartment –
the ultimate in accessibility. The first concept
sketches are already awaiting his attention.
Christiane Nadol
edwin 02|2003
19
AFTER
PRINCIPLE DIAGRAM OF SLIDING DOOR*
Closed position
Fully swung out
Fully opened
First swing movement of 37 degrees
*further developed version with straight guide rail
Passive roller carrier
Guide rail in car roof
Fold-away cantilever
Catch pinActive roller carrier
Deflecting support
■
On the C pillar there is a
deflecting support with a
spring actuator. On the inside
of the door, at the same
height, there is a guide rail
hidden by a blind. It is connected to the deflecting support
via a roller carrier. Behind this
roller carrier there is a second
roller carrier parked at the end
of the door.
■
When the door is opened,
the deflecting support swings
out, the door lifts out and over
the support, parallel to the
body, and is pushed over the
first roller carrier towards the
rear.
■
The swinging out of the
deflecting support has simultaneously caused a control rod
to trigger a catch pin; the pin
jumps about 60 mm out of
the fender and is now ready to
receive the passive roller
carrier.
■
When the door – and with
it the parked roller carrier –
reaches the catch pin, the
roller carrier engages the pin.
From half the length of its
opening travel, the door is
therefore securely guided over
the second roller carrier until
the entire width of the door
opening is exposed.
MORE RAIL TRAFFIC
Around 4,000 hours were invested in
engineering and model making to complete
the first fully functional prototype based on
a Mercedes-Benz Vaneo. Since the beginning of 2003, Ruigrok and his colleagues
have been calling on the development
departments of the OEM with it – and
meeting with keen interest. They are already
developing made-to-order concepts on
AND HERE’S HOW THE
EDSCHA SLIDING
DOOR WORKS:
Page 20
BUSINESS PRODUCTS PROJECTS PROCESSES BOULEVARD
erry Wolkind
doesn’t rely on
luck in his
work. “A vehicle has
about ten seconds to convince a potential buyer. So
nothing must be left to
chance,” the head of the IVM Automotive Design Center believes. “On the contrary: design quality is based on a coherent concept, and that’s the result of hard work by a
team of professionals.” A good designer, Wolkind is convinced, must always strike the right
balance between aesthetics and functionality
in cars and their components – and, of course,
their profitability for the manufacturer. It’s a
challenge that still appeals to the 55-year-old
Briton’s sense of adventure even after almost
40 years in the motor vehicle business. Not
only new technologies, but also the zeitgeist
always provide him fresh stimuli: “The retro
look, for example, would hardly have met
with demand in the market a few years ago.
But now some manufacturers are enjoying
great success with it. That shows they’re on
the right track.”
Wolkind and his team also have demonstrated their good nose in the past six years.
Only set up as a separate unit in Rüsselsheim
in 1998, IVM Automotive was soon involved
in the development of the design concept of
the Opel Speedster – a concept that was very
important for the brand. In close cooperation
with Opel, IVM Automotive built first design
models that led to show cars presented at the
Geneva, Frankfurt and Detroit motor shows.
Under Wolkind, designs for a number of concept studies on behalf of other OEM also
have been produced; numerous pictures testifying to this activity adorn the walls of the
studio.
FROM SKETCH TO SHOW CAR
The Design Center skills have been steadily
enhanced by Wolkind since 1998: “Today, we
offer our customers the entire design portfolio
– from first concept sketches to drivable show
cars.” He has done particularly well with the
IVM AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN CENTER “Made in Germany” stands for precision
and reliability, for mechanical engineering and metal machining, but not for innovative
automotive design studios.Terry Wolkind and his team at the IVM Automotive Design
Center are out to change that.
Design from
Germany
VITA
Terry Wolkind (55)
The mobile Briton has always
been one to look beyond his own
island and his own nose.After
studying to become a body
design engineer in England, he
worked, among others, as a
designer at Ford and GM in the
USA; for an independent design
studio in England; and at Por-
sche, BMW and Opel in Germa-
ny. He has been head of the
Design Center at IVM Automo-
tive in Rüsselsheim since 1998.
T
20
Page 21
latter in the most recent past: besides show
cars for Hyundai (incl. Hyundai Clix, Frankfurt International Motor Show 2001) and
Mazda (Mazda 6 MPS Concept, Paris Motor
Show 2002), his last outstanding effort was
the design of the ‘Luminus’ shown on the
Edscha / IVM Automotive stand at the 2003
Geneva Motor Show. Luminus, based on a
modified Mercedes-Benz A-Class, demonstrated the comprehensive skills of the designers
and engineers of IVM Automotive. They
equipped the vehicle with a panorama roof
measuring just about 1.5 square meters, thus
glazing it almost over its entire length and
width; the roof slides along the roof rails.
They furnished the Luminus interior with two
independently operating roller blinds and
high-grade leather appointments; and on a
projection screen they presented further (virtual) innovative ideas for roofs, doors and
lids. “For the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show we
again have built a show car for a customer,
but we can’t talk about it as yet. And we’re
engaged in concrete talks for the 2004 Geneva Motor Show”, Wolkind disclosed after persistent inquiry.
A lover of Cuban cigars, he is assisted by a
44-strong team of university-educated designers, clay modellers and Alias modellers,
studio engineers and model makers. They
demonstrate creativity, professional competence and a feel for shape and configuration
day in, day out – sketching exteriors,
interiors and color & trim concepts, making
clay models by hand, performing digital design
with Alias, and finally producing models from
electronic data records with milling cutters.
“At the end of the digital process chain, we
also offer our customers the possibility of
viewing design concepts in a 3D virtual display”, Wolkind explained. This enables designers to assess a vehicle in all its dimensions,
colors and variants in an early concept phase.
DESIGN OF THE FUTURE
Because he is not a man to bank on getting
lucky, the chief designer pursues a clear
vision: “In future we intend to increasingly
realize design studies of our own, which we
then present to our international customers.”
IVM Automotive already possesses the prerequisites to do so, Wolkind is sure – good
ideas in particular: “We have creativity in
abundance. And that is vital in a market as
competitive as ours.”
So far, however, most industry observers
still associate creativity much rather with the
independent design studios in Italy. “We’re
just as good”, says Wolkind: “We just lack the
history, which is why, with many customers,
we’ve only been able to make a name for ourselves so far as technical designers. But we’re
going to change that.”
Christina Kaulhausen
A CAR IN
FOUR ACTS
Design sketch, clay model, 3D
image – this is how first ideas
turn into a new car at IVM
Automotive. Before it makes its
first appearance, for example
as a show car, it’s not only
ideas and machine tools that
are buzzing: professional work
to tight schedules is essential.
edwin 02
|
2003
21
Page 22
hen the first owners of the new
Smart Forfour proudly open the
doors to their cars in the spring of
2004, they will hardly guess how much effort
was needed to make this possible: three years
of development time for the hinge and another 20 months for the equipment on which it is
produced.
INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE
At Hauzenberg in the Bavarian Forest, a 30
kilometer drive from Passau, Edscha invested
in the summer of 2003 about three million
NOTCH STOP In October 2003, Edscha’s latest hinge generation
will go into production. A highly sensitive steel colossus weighing
150 tons has been especially designed to produce it.
euros in a specially designed production facility for the Notch Stop, the group’s latest integrated hinge generation. This hinge not only
affords more comfort to drivers, but also
distinct advantages to carmakers during
assembly (pages 10f.). As of the coming year,
the Notch Stop – three million copies of it
annually – will also be opening doors and
locking them in position in five other vehicles
in addition to the Smart Forfour.
To enable each Notch Stop to perform its
task perfectly, hinge production must attain
both a high level of precision and, if produc-
For the next
generation
W
22
Page 23
tion is to pay off for Edscha, a level of flexibility to match. This is why the Remscheid
production and process planners, in collaboration with a special-purpose machinery maker,
devoted as much love of detail to the development of the new machining equipment as the
hinge designers did to the hinge.
UNTIRING OPERATION
Featuring pallet systems, short tooling times
and flexibly usable machining stations, this is
the most complex modular CNC machine (out
of many others) ever to be ordered by the
Edscha Group – and the biggest to boot. Its
sheer size – 27 meters long, eight meters
wide and four meters high – called for delicate maneuvering when it was delivered in
June: with the aid of huge cranes and compressors, the colossus was bedded on an air
cushion, about one millimeter thick, in front
of the Hauzenberg production hall, and then
floated on that cushion with great precision to
its destination. Eight employees of the
machinery making company then spent about
five weeks setting up and testing the highly
sensitive equipment.
Large-scale operation of the facility is
scheduled to begin in October: in 18 machi-
ning steps and across 28 CNC axes, it will
simultaneously machine raw forgings, two for
the left, two for the right (provided only with
punched screw holes), into Notch Stop pillar
or door parts. Every single step on these
very latest carbide cutting tools – starting
with milling, continuing with drilling, countersinking, reaming, and ending with thread
cutting and deburring – takes only eleven
seconds, including transport and adjustment;
one part therefore takes about three-and-ahalf minutes to pass through all stations. Then
the finish-machined parts have to be galvanized, paired with their counterparts and
assembled on two equally modern and newly
acquired assembly lines – four Notch Stop
hinges are then complete.
The young generation is growing quickly:
in Hauzenberg it will soon be possible to
machine eight parts simultaneously. In order
to cover the highest capacities for all vehicle
series already on order, another identical
machine has already been ordered. Properly
treated and maintained, both have a life
expectancy of over ten years. But the nextbut-one hinge generation is sure to be on the
horizon by then.
Rafael Zelek
COLOSSUS ON
CUSHION
Delivery and assembly of the
new metal-cutting system
required the greatest care to
ensure that roads, bridges,
buildings and the machine
itself were not damaged.
edwin 02
|
2003
23
Page 24
hen was the last time you got exa-
sperated by an attempt to stow your
collected odds and ends in an open
shoe box and carry it around with
you? With its lid on it was relati-
vely stiff. But now, without the
lid, it gets distorted and mis-
shaped, and it doesn't give your
treasures much support.
A similar thing happens when a
coupé loses its sheet metal roof. Both the flexural strength and the torsion stiffness of the
body drop to around a quarter of the values
for the coupé – with drastic consequences for
driving dynamics, driving comfort and occupant safety.
No convertible owner fancies being trapped
in his vehicle just because one wheel is up on
the sidewalk, thus distorting the body and
jamming the door – whatever the joys of fresh
air. And he'd probably be even less happy if
the forces of a frontal impact, instead of being
transmitted into the vehicle structure via the
roof, caused the A pillar to come alarmingly
close to his head.
A major challenge for the bodywork
experts at IVM Automotive, who are being
commissioned more and more often with the
body development of vehicle derivates like
convertibles: they have to compensate for the
lack of support from a roof, yet without substantially increasing the weight of the vehicle
or the manufacturing costs. This means that a
standard target figure of about 20 percent
additional stiffness-enhancing mass relative to
the closed vehicle is not exceeded; and also
that as many parts as possible from the original
series-produced vehicle can be used without
CONVERTIBLE DEVELOPMENT When its sheet metal
roof is removed, a vehicle loses around three-quarters of its
stability. Thanks to Technical Calculation, IVM Automotive
puts the stiffness back into the convertible and cuts weight
and development time at the same time.
Safe without roof
modification. The development time too
should of course be kept as short as possible.
This is why the bodywork development
process at IVM Automotive is now determined
by the Technical Calculation department. It's
only under their guidance that the heavy
demands placed on static and dynamic stiffness and crash safety can be satisfied with a
short development time and with safe designs
in which problems don't go undetected until
the testing stage. The Technical Calculation
people first conduct simple potential studies
to pinpoint quickly and easily the areas in the
original body that need optimization. Then
the design team analyses the package and the
feasibility of these approaches. In detailed
calculations, the precise measures necessary to
achieve the target values are then ascertained.
An essential condition for this new method:
powerful computer hardware.
The designers too benefit from this approach; whereas in the past their concept proposals could not be evaluated until much later
on in the process, nowadays this is often possible after just hours on the basis of the computation results. Corrections and optimizations
can be incorporated very quickly into the
development work. A gain for everyone, and
particularly for the OEM: this method gives
him a few more months of time-to-market.
And there's another competitive advantage
of convertible design by IVM Automotive: cooperation with the Convertible Roof Systems
division. The Edscha Group can optimize
both the body and the roof system at the same
time and at the same place – and in this way
offer convertible derivates as turnkey projects.
Jürgen Gumpinger, Dr. Gunther Wisinger
FROM COUPÉ TO
CONVERTIBLE
We don’t know which team of
vehicle developers transformed
the Audi TT coupe into a road-
ster. What we do know, how-
ever, is how much know-how
and effort it takes to optimize
a topless derivate in terms of
static and dynamic stiffness
and crash safety. At IVM Auto-
motive, this bodywork develop-
ment process is based on
modern simulation techniques.
By the way: at least the soft
top of the Audi TT roadster is
made by Edscha.
W
24
Page 25
ELEVATORS
Reaching for the sky
Long before there were cars, mankind
was working continuously to improve its
mobility, and ingenious inventors were
already familiar with the idea of conveying passengers in the
vertical plane. As early as
1743, Louis XV of France
enjoyed the luxury of using
the first elevator – albeit a
muscle-powered one. But
the breakthrough for the
elevator came exactly 150
years ago: Elisha Graves
Otis invented the safety
elevator in America. His engineering
feat consisted of a clamp on the elevator that expanded into the guide rail
running along the platform in the event
of a cable break. This
invention is still used
today in a similar form.
Elevators from the Otis
Elevator Corporation are
today used in around 1.4
million buildings, including ten of the twenty
highest skyscrapers in
the world.
Sadly, there are fewer and fewer of these
outdoor facilities today. Because even
now, watching movies under the stars is
a fascinating experience – and not just
for the nostalgic. Europe’s first drive-in
was, incidentally, built in Germany, and
is still operating today. It was opened in
1960 in Gravenbruch near Frankfurt.
It all started with a Kodak projector and
a bedsheet hung between trees in a
backyard: Richard Holingshead had to
experiment for some time before his
idea was at last put into practice. The
big day was the 6th of June 1933: the
first drive-in movie theater opened in
New Jersey. The heyday of these openair cinemas was in the 1950s, and the
main factor behind the success of this
inexpensive pastime was doubtless the
cult of the car prevalent in those years.
For a listing of all open-air cinemas
in Germany visit:
www.openairkinos.de
i
TIPS
A cult for 70 years
DRIVE-IN MOVIE THEATERS
CAUTION:
WILD ANIMALS CROSSING
Automobile engineering is highly developed, and the design departments of
both manufacturers and sub-suppliers
are working unceasingly to make vehicles even safer. Still, there are some dangerous situations that can never be completely prevented. For example, accidents
involving wildlife are particularly frequent between autumn and spring. The
sad tally for Germany’s roads: more than
50 people are killed every year in accidents with wild animals, and about
2,500 others are severely injured.
600,000 wild animals are killed. The
material damage amounts to around
350 million, and rising.
Here’s how you can minimize the
accident risk:
■ Slow down when you see a “wild
animals crossing” road sign
■ Keep away from the right-hand edge
of the road
■ Caution: an animal is rarely on its own
■ Only use your brakes when there’s no
risk of being hit by a vehicle coming
from behind
■Animals on the road: apply brakes, use
horn and dip headlights
■ On no account swerve to avoid the
animal if there is any risk of hitting a
tree, landing in a ditch or endangering
oncoming traffic
If you do have an accident:
■ Immediately make the acci-
dent area safe (warning triangle) and notify the police
■ On no account touch the animal, as it
might harbor diseases (for example
rabies) or inflict severe injury
Correct procedures at the accident site
are also necessary to claim from the
insurance companies. Important: if your
vehicle has not hit a wild animal but
been damaged after swerving around to
avoid it, you can claim the cost of repair
against your insurance company with
reference to ‘rescue costs’. Incidentally:
taking away the injured or dead animal
is illegal and is deemed as poaching.
BUSINESS PRODUCTS PROJECTS PROCESSES BOULEVARD
edwin 02|2003
25
Page 26
26
ffection for them has grown over
more than 100 years. Ever since Carl
Benz patented his motor carriage
back in 1886, and Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach took their first jaunts with a
gasoline-driven coach, a unique relationship
has evolved between the driver and his vehicle, and in that the car differs from every
other technical object. And if the car is the
German’s first love, classic models are even
more special and fascinating. Whether it’s
nostalgia, admiration for the pioneering spirit
of the first carmakers, or simply the aesthetic
appeal of the product – there are many reasons
why the sight of historic vehicles sets the
pulse of most people racing.
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
To preserve these witnesses to our mobile
past, more than 150 car museums have been
created in Germany. Many are private collections, devotedly put together by their owners.
Almost all these collections are worth a visit,
and it’s not always the biggest that are the
best. The “Deutsches Museum” in Munich
has only around 50 vehicles, but these were
OLDTIMER-TOUR
Just over 15 years ago, the
Association of German Car,
Motoring and Technical
Museums began to draw up a
directory of all the vehicle
museums in Germany.This
work resulted in the “German
Museum Route” scheme; all
the known museums can be
found along it. The plan shows
how to get from one classic
car museum to the next –
subdivided by region and
individual segment.
Contact: Verband der deut-
schen Museen für Auto, Motor
und Technik e.V.
branch office at the
Automuseum Rosso Bianco:
Obernauer Strasse 125
63743 Aschaffenburg, Germany
Telephone: +49. 6021.21358
Telefax: +49. 6021.20636
Internet: www.deutsche-
museumsstrasse.de
key influences on the industry – from the
Adler Vis-à-Vis from 1901 to the Wanderer
“Puppchen” of 1913.
The collections of the major car manufacturers are perhaps somewhat one-sided, but
very comprehensive. BMW, Mercedes, Opel
and VW all present their own automobile
history without any gaps. Audi aims to provide a very special history lesson: on the
former premises of the Horch plant in
Zwickau, the Ingolstadt-based company is
building a museum that will document the
car-making tradition of the region. Next year
will see both its inauguration and an anniversary celebration. On the 10th of May 1904,
August Horch moved the site of his company
to Zwickau to found August Horch & Cie
Motoren-Werke. In 1909, after falling out
with his business partners, he founded a new
company in Zwickau. The new company bore
his name translated into Latin: Audi.
Whether it’s a small private collection or a
factory-organized exhibition, the German car
museums have something for every taste. For
example, the Motor Sport Museum at the
Hockenheimring (www.hockenheimring.de)
A journey
back in time
CAR MUSEUMS Artistically forged steel, gleaming
chrome and fascinating forms.Veteran and vintage cars exude
a magical charm and also provide exciting history lessons.
A
Page 27
gest streetcar depot 100 years ago, is the
“Meilenwerk” – a mecca for all lovers of classic cars (www.meilenwerk.de). They’ll find
everything they need to make them happy on
an area 16,000 square meters in size: low-cost
parking spaces, workshops for restoration,
maintenance, upholstery work and electronics, dealing and rental of vintage and veteran
cars, technical inspection service, shops for
accessories, a bookshop for car literature,
club/conference rooms, special event areas
and restaurant/bar. To ensure that not only the
owners but also visitors are lured into the
hall, the initiators have designed the “Forum
for Driving Culture” to be as transparent as
possible, the aim being to make it a center for
experience. The 90 parking spaces therefore
comprise glass boxes that permit study from
every angle. Unlike in a museum, visitors do
not pay an entry fee here. The same applies
for the workshops too: the restoration work by
the specialists can be watched closely through
large windows. This makes the “Meilenwerk”
almost like a township for classic cars – not
just for the purists.
Michael Drosten
edwin 02|2003
27
offers not only an extensive collection of classic vehicles and modern racers, but also a realistic race simulator and a multimedia show
in a separate cinema. The largest and also one
of the most important collections of sports
cars in the world is in the Automuseum
Rosso-Bianco near Aschaffenburg
(www.rosso-bianco.de): the vehicles exhibited
come from over 50 manufacturers in all.
NOT JUST FOR THE PURISTS
The Dortmund Automobile Museum Dortmund (www.oldiemuseum.de) is particularly
proud of its collection of celebrity-owned
vehicles, including the Jaguar MK V B of oil
magnate Rockefeller and the Jaguar MK I of
Heinz Rühmann, the German film star. More
than 200 veteran and vintage cars can be
admired in the museum of Fritz B. Busch,
housing one of the biggest private collections
(www.automuseum-busch.de). Among its prized exhibits is the original Cadillac of Hans
Albers, another well-known German film star.
A project that’s probably unique in Germany was implemented in May of this year in
Berlin. In Moabit, in what was Europe’s big-
A PLETHORA OF
PLATES
There is even a museum dedicated to license plates.The
international museum for
license plates, traffic and registration history (www.nummernschildmuseum.de) shows
the history and the development of license plates. In addition to historic license plates
and documents from Germany,
from 1890 to the present day,
license plates from more than
170 other countries and territories are on display.
Incidentally: since 1997, the
fans of classic cars have enjoyed tax privileges if they
choose historic license plates.
A license plate of this type
requires that the car is at least
30 years old and that the
vehicle is used first and foremost for the preservation of
our engineering heritage.A
prior inspection by the TÜV or
Dekra inspection organizations
is necessary.
Page 28
Edscha AG
Hohenhagener Strasse 26–28
42855 Remscheid
Germany
Telephone: +49. 2191.363-0
Telefax: +49. 2191.363-549
www.edscha.com
IVM Automotive
Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Hufelandstrasse 13
80939 Munich
Germany
Telephone: +49. 89.31566-191
Telefax: +49. 89.31566-575
www.ivm-automotive.com
Loading...