Cam-Retainer Push Button for Stable Alternating Actuation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing push buttons with alternating actuation mechanisms are complex and expensive to manufacture, or insufficiently robust for high-force industrial applications, necessitating a simplified and durable design.
Innovation Solution
A push button mechanism comprising a plunger with three sections, a retainer with camming structures, and a spring, allowing for robust and cost-effective construction with minimal components, enabling reliable operation in rugged environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional alternating actuation mechanisms are used, then the push button can provide stable extended and retracted positions, but the mechanism becomes complicated and expensive to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated retainer component that houses the spring, guides the plunger, and provides camming surfaces for alternating actuation. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate guides, spring holders, and cam mechanisms, reducing part count and manufacturing complexity while maintaining reliable extended and retracted positions
Solution Approach 2:
The plunger is segmented into distinct functional zones: a button portion for actuation, a square midsection for engagement with cam surfaces, and a pin portion for output. This segmentation allows each section to be optimized for its specific function while simplifying the overall mechanism design
2Reliability
If traditional alternating actuation mechanisms are used, then the push button can provide alternating actuation, but the mechanism is insufficiently robust for high-force industrial applications
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer features localized camming surfaces with specific geometric profiles designed to engage the square plunger midsection at precise points during actuation. These cam surfaces are positioned and shaped to provide mechanical advantage and distribute high forces across strengthened regions of the plunger, enabling robust alternating actuation suitable for industrial applications
3Reliability
If traditional alternating actuation mechanisms are used, then the push button can provide alternating actuation, but it becomes expensive to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer is designed as a single stamped or formed metal component that integrates the spring retainer, plunger guide, and camming surfaces. This consolidation reduces manufacturing steps, eliminates multiple assembly operations, and lowers tooling costs, making alternating actuation mechanisms cost-effective for production
Solution Approach 2:
The spring-loaded retainer design allows the mechanism to self-regulate and maintain proper tension without external adjustment mechanisms. The cam surfaces and square plunger engagement provide automatic alternating actuation without requiring complex control systems, reducing manufacturing and maintenance costs
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 mechanism provides a durable, inexpensive, and simplified solution for alternating actuation, capable of withstanding high-force industrial applications with stable extended and retracted positions, while maintaining positional stability through rotational alignment and spring bias.
Implementation Method 1
A spring is operative between the end cap and the plunger midsection which urges the plunger toward the retracted position
Implementation Method 2
The roof and the floor have camming structures which engage the corners of the plunger midsection which causes it to rotate
Data Source
AI summary
A push button consists of component parts including a plunger, a retainer, a spring and an end cap. The plunger reciprocates within the retainer which has three main portions: an upper portion closely holds the button on the top of the plunger and includes a rectilinear recess that can receive a square midsection of the plunger. A middle portion of the retainer comprises an enlarged cavity that provides the side clearance for the plunger pin's enlarged square midsection to rotate. The cavity is bounded above and below by opposing roof and floor camming structures which engage the corners of the plunger midsection that causes it to rotate. A spring within the retainer biases the plunger upward. An end cap affixed to the bottom of the retainer captivates the plunger and spring assembly and provides attachment means to affix the push button assembly to a supporting structure.