Buckle Assembly Locking Arrangement with Releasing Key
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional buckle assemblies are insecure, allowing easy disengagement by unauthorized individuals, which can lead to accidental or intentional removal of equipment, such as those worn by law enforcement officers.
Innovation Solution
A buckle assembly with a locking arrangement featuring a specifically designed releasing key that requires authorization to detach the first buckle member from the second buckle member, utilizing a locking slot, a movably mounted locking member, and a resilient element to maintain the locking position, ensuring secure engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional buckle latches are used for engagement, then the buckle assembly is easy to operate, but the engagement becomes insecure and can be easily disengaged by unauthorized individuals
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is segmented into multiple independent components: a locking member with locking protrusion, a locking slot, and a releasing key with actuating protrusion. This segmentation allows the system to maintain ease of operation through simple component interaction while achieving enhanced security through the required key authorization for disengagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The releasing key acts as an intermediary element between the user and the locking mechanism. The key's actuating protrusion must engage with the locking member's recess to enable disengagement, creating an authorized access pathway that maintains security while allowing legitimate operation when the key is available.
2Reliability
If a locking arrangement with releasing key is implemented, then the engagement security is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking arrangement applies local quality by concentrating the security enhancement in specific localized features: the locking protrusion and slot geometry, the key's actuating protrusion shape, and the resilient element positioning. This localized approach achieves high security without requiring complex system-wide changes, maintaining overall device simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism employs asymmetric geometry in the locking protrusion, locking slot, and releasing key actuating protrusion. These asymmetric features ensure that only the correctly shaped key can engage and release the locking mechanism, providing security through geometric authentication while keeping the overall structure simple and manufacturable.
3Reliability
If the locking member is movably mounted to engage the locking slot, then the locking performance is enhanced, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The locking member is designed as a movable component that can shift between locked and unlocked positions. This dynamic capability allows the locking protrusion to engage or disengage from the locking slot through controlled movement, enhancing locking performance while accommodating normal manufacturing tolerances through the movable adjustment capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient element enables parameter changes in the locking member's position and force characteristics. By using elastic deformation and spring force, the system can accommodate variations in manufacturing precision while maintaining reliable locking engagement, as the resilient element compensates for dimensional tolerances through its elastic properties.
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 assembly provides enhanced locking performance, preventing unauthorized disengagement by requiring the releasing key for detachment, thus ensuring secure attachment and reducing accidental or intentional disengagement.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient element provided in the second buckle member to normally retain the locking member in the locked position
Data Source
AI summary
A buckle assembly includes a first buckle member having an insertion member, a second buckle member having a receiving slot, and a locking arrangement. The locking arrangement includes a locking slot indently formed on the insertion member, a locking member movably mounted in the second buckle member at a position corresponding to the locking slot, and a releasing key detachably attached on the second buckle member to drive the locking member to move between a locked position and a releasing position. In the locked position, the locking member is moved to engage with the locking slot to prevent the insertion member from detaching from the receiving slot. In the releasing position, the locking member is driven by the releasing key to retract from the locking slot so as to allow the insertion member to be pulled out of the receiving slot.