Brake Pipe Clip-In Fixation with Spring Locking for High Pull-Out Force
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fixation devices for cylindrical items like vehicle brake pipes or cables struggle to provide high reliability and vibration-damping while maintaining a balance between push-in and pull-out forces, often bending open at higher temperatures and requiring tools for assembly.
Innovation Solution
A fixation device comprising a clip-in part that deforms from a closed to an open state during insertion, connected to a frame part via a spring element, allowing vibration-damping and automatic locking without tools, with the spring element providing flexibility and maintaining the clip-in part's shape after insertion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a standard Omega clip is used to fix the cylindrical item, then the assembly is simple and tool-free, but the pull-out force is nearly equal to the push-in force and insufficiently high
Solution Approach 1:
The clip-in part is designed to be deformable, transitioning from a closed state with a smaller opening to an open state with a larger opening during insertion. This dynamic deformation allows the clip to expand around the cylindrical item and then reshape back to the closed state, creating friction and normal forces that significantly increase pull-out resistance while maintaining simple assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The opening size of the clip-in part changes dynamically during insertion - smaller in the closed state and larger in the open state. This parameter change enables the clip to accommodate the cylindrical item during assembly and then constrict around it to provide high retention force, resolving the contradiction between easy assembly and high pull-out force
2Ease of operation
If the clip-in part is made more flexible to allow easy insertion, then assembly is easier, but the mount bends open easily at higher temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation device is divided into distinct functional parts: a frame part for structural support and mounting, a deformable clip-in part for item retention, and a spring element part for vibration damping. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized independently - the frame part can be rigid for temperature stability while the clip-in part remains flexible for easy insertion
Solution Approach 2:
The spring element part acts as an intermediary between the frame part and the clip-in part, providing vibration damping and maintaining the clip-in part's shape after insertion. This intermediary element ensures that the flexible clip-in part does not bend open at high temperatures while still allowing easy insertion
3Reliability
If the clip-in part is rigid to maintain shape at high temperatures, then temperature stability is improved, but assembly requires tools and is not simple
Solution Approach 1:
The clip-in part exhibits dynamic behavior - flexible during assembly to enable tool-free installation, then stabilizes in a locked position that maintains shape at high temperatures. The spring element provides continuous force to maintain the clip-in part's shape, ensuring temperature stability without requiring the clip to be inherently rigid
Solution Approach 2:
The spring element automatically maintains the clip-in part's shape after insertion without requiring external intervention or tools. The system self-regulates to provide both easy assembly and temperature stability, eliminating the need for complex assembly procedures
4Reliability
If vibration-damping is added to the fixation device, then reliability under vibration is improved, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The spring element part serves multiple functions simultaneously: it connects the clip-in part to the frame part, provides vibration damping, and helps maintain the clip-in part's shape. This merging of functions achieves vibration resistance without significantly increasing structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The spring element acts as a flexible component that absorbs vibrations through elastic deformation. This flexible element provides effective vibration damping while maintaining a simple overall device structure, avoiding the need for complex vibration isolation systems
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device achieves high reliability and vibration-damping with a significant increase in pull-out force relative to push-in force, ensuring secure attachment and easy assembly without tools, adaptable to various applications.
Implementation Method 1
The spring element part is configured for providing vibration-damping of the clip-in part, and thus the cylindrical item when inserted ('clipped-in') into the clip-in part, with respect to the frame part
Implementation Method 2
The spring element part is configured for connecting the clip-in part to the frame part movably... the spring element part is more flexible than the clip-in part
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~3D
Figure 4A~5
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a fixation device (1) for fixing a cylindrical item (6), in particular a pipe or a cable, to an external carrier structure, in particular a vehicle, with a clip-in part (3) configured for attachment of the cylindrical item (6) to the fixation device (1) by insertion of the cylindrical item (6) through an opening (3a) of the clip-in part (3) into a receiving area (3b) of the clip-in part (3) in an insertion direction (I), where the clip-in part (3) is configured to be deformed by the cylindrical item (6) during insertion from a closed state, in which closed state the opening (3a) is of smaller size, to an open state, in which open state the opening (3a) is of larger size, and where the clip-in part (3) is configured to reshape back into the closed state after insertion of the cylindrical item (6); and with a frame part (2) configured for fixing the fixation device (1) to the external carrier structure; wherein a spring element part (4) movably connects the clip-in part (3) and the frame part (2); and, while being connected to the frame part (2) via the spring element part (4), the clip- in part (3) may be moved from a neutral position, where two outer flanks (3e, 3e') of the clip-in part (3) do not touch the frame part (2), to a locking position, where the two outer flanks (3e, 3e') of the clip-in part (3) do touch the frame part (2) in order to provide a tool-free fixation device (1)for fixing a cylindrical item (6) to a carrier structure with high reliability and with vibration-damping.