Button Fastener Orientation Adjustment Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for adjusting the circumferential orientation of buttons or button fasteners with two pins or convex portions at an eccentric position in button fastening machines require manual operation and additional marks, limiting automation and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus with a transport path and an adjustment mechanism that includes a rotation providing member and a constraining member, using elastic bias to rotate and constrain the button or button fastener to a predetermined orientation, eliminating the need for additional marks and enabling automatic adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual operation is used to adjust the circumferential orientation of button fasteners with two pins, then the orientation can be adjusted, but automation is limited and efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The button fastener automatically adjusts its own orientation through the interaction between its protrusions and the guide members. The guide members provide geometric constraints that cause the fastener to self-align during the transport process, eliminating the need for external automated adjustment mechanisms or manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide members are pre-configured in the transport apparatus to create specific geometric constraints before the button fastener reaches the fastening position. These pre-set constraints ensure that the fastener achieves the correct orientation automatically during transport, preparing it in advance for the fastening operation.
2Manufacturing precision
If additional marks are added to buttons or button fasteners for positional adjustment, then circumferential orientation can be adjusted to a constant position, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The solution extracts the orientation adjustment function from the button fastener itself and transfers it to the transport apparatus. Instead of adding marks or features to the fastener, the guide members in the transport system provide the geometric constraints needed for automatic alignment, simplifying the fastener design while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide members act as intermediaries between the transport path and the button fastener. They mediate the orientation adjustment process by providing geometric constraints that guide the fastener into the correct position without requiring direct control mechanisms or additional features on the fastener itself.
3Adaptability or versatility
If button fasteners are rotated by up to 90 degrees for orientation adjustment, then the circumferential position can be corrected, but the adjustment range is limited compared to 180 degree rotation capability
Solution Approach 1:
The guide members are designed with asymmetric geometric features that create different constraint conditions for different rotation angles. This asymmetric design allows the system to achieve precise orientation control within the 90-degree range by exploiting the unique geometric relationships between the guide members and the button fastener protrusions.
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
Automatically adjusts the circumferential orientation of buttons or button fasteners with two pins or convex portions to a constant position, enhancing automation and reducing manual intervention, while maintaining the up-and-down posture of the button or fastener throughout the transport process.
Implementation Method 1
a constraining member which is biased by an elastic member to be positioned in an initial position where the constraining member can constrain the protrusion against one side surface of the transport path
Implementation Method 2
the constraining member is displaced from the initial position away from the one side surface of the transport path against the bias from the elastic member when the constraining member contacts the protrusion out of the predetermined circumferential orientation
Implementation Method 3
a rotation providing member for rotating the button or the button fastener to be oriented toward the predetermined circumferential orientation by contacting the base of the button or the button fastener
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(b)
Figure 2(a)~2(b)
Figure 3
AI summary
An apparatus for transporting a button fastener (20) to a button fastening section (110), the button fastener (20) having a disk-like base (21) and two pins (22) protruding from the base (21) is provided. The apparatus comprises: a transport path (122) for allowing the button fastener (20) to pass through while keeping its up-and-down posture constant; a pusher (123) for moving the button fastener (20) from an upstream side to a downstream side in the transport path (122); and an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a circumferential orientation of the button fastener (20) which is moving through the transport path (122) to a constant predetermined circumferential orientation. The adjustment mechanism includes: a rotation providing member (133) for rotating the button fastener (20) to be oriented toward the predetermined circumferential orientation by contacting the base (21) of the button fastener (20) which deviates from the predetermined circumferential orientation in the circumferential direction, and a constraining member (140) which is biased by an elastic member (138) to be positioned in an initial position where the constraining member (140) can constrain the pins (22) against one side surface (121a) of the transport path (122). The constraining member (140) is displaced from the initial position by contacting the pins (22) out of the predetermined circumferential orientation.