Adjustable Channel Mount Coupler Anti-Rattle Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hitch ball couplers are labor-intensive to assemble, prone to rattling due to loose attachment, and require separate designs for different mounting channel widths, leading to unsatisfactory performance and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable mount coupler with a channel mount design featuring flanges, apertures, and engagement members that securely attach to various mounting channel widths, incorporating anti-sag and anti-rattle features to maintain stability and prevent noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional welding assembly method is used for hitch ball coupler, then structural strength is improved, but assembly time and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (collar lock assembly, coupler channel, tongue end, cap spring, support washers) into a single integrated coupler body that is formed as one piece. This eliminates the need for welding these components together, thereby reducing assembly time and manufacturing complexity while maintaining structural integrity through the unified design.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated coupler body serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural support, incorporates the locking mechanism, includes the spring assembly, and provides mounting features. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate welded components, reducing both assembly time and manufacturing cost while maintaining the required structural strength.
2Ease of operation
If two bolts are used to attach hitch ball coupler to mounting channel, then installation is simplified, but rattling and wear increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates an anti-rattle feature that is built into the coupler body design itself, which preemptively prevents rattling from occurring. This feature works in conjunction with the bolt attachment system to eliminate play and movement between the coupler and mounting channel, thereby preventing the harmful effects of rattling and premature wear while maintaining simple installation.
3Manufacturing precision
If hitch ball coupler is designed for specific mounting channel width, then fit precision is improved, but adaptability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The coupler body is designed with a universal mounting interface that can accommodate both 2.875-inch and 3.00-inch mounting channel widths. This is achieved through features such as adjustable flange positioning or a mounting design that allows for width variation, enabling a single coupler design to fit multiple channel widths precisely without requiring separate designs for each width.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates adjustable or movable mounting features on the coupler body that can be positioned to match different mounting channel widths. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the same coupler to maintain precise fit for both 2.875-inch and 3.00-inch channels, thereby achieving both fit precision and adaptability.
4Stability of the object's composition
If hitch ball coupler deflects upwards under load, then structural flexibility is improved, but visual appeal and functional performance worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates an anti-sag feature in the coupler body design that preemptively counteracts the upward deflection that occurs under load. This feature maintains the coupler in a level or perpendicular position relative to the mounting channel even when loaded, thereby preventing the unsatisfactory visual appearance and functional issues associated with upward deflection while preserving necessary structural flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A channel mount coupler is shown and described. The channel mount may include a body, a socket extending from the body and configured to accept a hitch ball, and a channel mount extending from the body. The channel mount may include a first flange, the first flange including at least one aperture and at least one recess generally circumscribing the aperture, the recess being generally acircular, and a second flange spaced from the first flange. The channel mount may also include an engagement member engaged with the recess, and a fastener engageable with the engagement member and the at least one aperture, where engagement of the engagement member and recess prevents rotation of the engagement member during engagement of the fastener with the engagement member, whereby the first and second flanges are engageable with a towed vehicle.