Bent Stopper for Timing Chain Tensioner Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tensioner stoppers with straight designs face difficulties in mounting and removal in restricted engine spaces due to interference with engine structures, making installation and assembly challenging.
Innovation Solution
A bent stopper design with a pin and handle where the pin and handle axes intersect, allowing the handle to rotate and avoid contact with interfering objects, enabling the tensioner to be mounted and removed in tight spaces without obstruction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a straight stopper design is used, then the stopper structure is simple, but the stopper cannot be mounted or removed in restricted engine spaces due to interference with engine structures
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper is designed with a bent shape where the handle can rotate relative to the pin axis, transforming the static straight structure into a dynamic configuration that adapts to spatial constraints during mounting and removal operations
Solution Approach 2:
The stopper transitions from a one-dimensional straight line to a two-dimensional bent structure with the handle extending at an angle, utilizing additional spatial dimensions to avoid interference with engine structures while maintaining the same functional purpose
2Ease of operation
If a bent stopper design is used, then the stopper can be mounted and removed in restricted spaces, but the stopper structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The bent stopper incorporates rotational freedom of the handle around the pin axis, allowing the structure to dynamically adjust its orientation to navigate around engine structures during installation and removal, thereby simplifying the operational process despite increased structural complexity
3Adaptability or versatility
If the stopper handle is rotated to avoid interfering objects, then the stopper can be installed in tight spaces, but additional rotational movement is required
Solution Approach 1:
The handle is designed to rotate freely around the pin axis, providing dynamic adaptability that allows the stopper to accommodate various spatial configurations and avoid interfering objects without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The bent shape of the stopper with its angular configuration provides geometric adaptability, allowing it to navigate around obstacles and fit into restricted spaces through strategic orientation rather than requiring linear movement adjustments
Data Source
AI summary
In a tensioner for a timing chain, a spring-biased plunger for urging a shoe into sliding engagement with the chain is temporarily held in a retracted condition, prior to installation of the tensioner, by a stopper having a pin that extends through a hole in the tensioner housing and engages a grove formed in the plunger. The stopper is bent so that its handle extends away form the pin axis at an angle greater than zero but not greater than 90°. Removal of the stopper from the tensioner can be carried out by rotating the handle to avoid interference with engine components in the vicinity of the tensioner.