Side-Engagement Buckle with Elastic Leg Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Side engaging buckles face issues with tensile strength and release load, where increasing the leg's cross-section or adding ribs enhances tensile strength but increases the release load, and expanding the engagement area for reliable coupling also raises the release load, making it difficult to achieve both without complex configurations.
Innovation Solution
A buckle design featuring a male member with inclined engaging faces and a female member with elastic deformation capabilities, where the engagement width increases upon external force, utilizing a swelling portion and space permission portions to enhance tensile strength without excessively increasing the release load, and incorporating movement and deformation regulators to stabilize the leg during deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the cross section of the leg is increased or a rib is provided, then tensile strength is improved, but release load increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The leg is divided into multiple sections: a base portion, a leg portion, and a swelling portion. This segmentation allows each section to have optimized dimensions - the swelling portion provides engagement area without requiring the entire leg to have increased cross-section, thus improving tensile strength while controlling release load.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of uniformly increasing the cross-section of the entire leg, the patent applies local quality by creating a swelling portion with increased cross-section only at the engagement area. This localized reinforcement improves tensile strength where needed while keeping other areas slender to reduce release load.
2Reliability
If the engagement area of the hook face is increased, then engagement reliability is improved, but release load increases due to larger migration area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic behavior through elastic deformation of the leg. The leg can deform elastically during engagement and release, allowing the engagement width to change dynamically. This dynamic capability enables reliable engagement through increased engagement width while controlling release load through controlled elastic recovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of engagement width dynamically through elastic deformation. During engagement, the engagement width increases to improve reliability. During release, the elastic deformation controls the migration area, preventing excessive release load while maintaining engagement reliability.
3Ease of manufacture
If a simple configuration is used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but tensile strength is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves improved tensile strength through parameter changes in the existing simple configuration. By modifying the cross-sectional dimensions at specific locations (creating the swelling portion) and utilizing elastic deformation characteristics, the patent enhances strength without adding complex structural elements like ribs or changing the basic side-engagement configuration.
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 buckle achieves improved tensile strength in a simple configuration with reduced release load, ensuring secure engagement and easy release without risking unintended disengagement or leg damage, providing a soft insertion feeling and stable operation.
Implementation Method 1
an engagement width (W2) between the engaging face and the engaged face becomes larger than an engagement width (W1) before the external force being exerted due to the elastic deformation of the leg exposed through the opening in an opposite direction to the side on which the pair of legs face each other is provided
Data Source
AI summary
A buckle including a male member; and a female member into which the male member can be inserted for engagement, when an external force in a direction opposite to the insertion direction is exerted on the male member after an engaging face of the male member and an engaged face of the female member being engaged, an engagement width between the engaging face and the engaged face becomes larger than an engagement width before the external force being exerted due to the elastic deformation of legs of the male member exposed through openings in an opposite direction to a side on which the legs faces each other.