Captured Hardware Mounting System for Agricultural Applicators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hardware systems for mounting skid-mounted agricultural product application equipment on agricultural product applicators are cumbersome, lack precision, and require bulky fasteners to handle heavy loads and dynamic forces, especially when access to mounting features is limited or blocked.
Innovation Solution
A captured hardware system using extended T-nuts and shear blocks to secure skid-mounted equipment to the applicator frame, facilitating precise alignment and load resistance through a mounting bolt, T-nut, and shear block configuration, which allows for easier installation and reduced size and weight of mounting hardware.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional bulky fasteners are used to secure heavy skid-mounted equipment, then load resistance and reliability are improved, but device complexity and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system is divided into separate functional components: mounting bars attached to the frame, T-nuts inserted into slots in the mounting bars, and shear blocks positioned between the skid and mounting bar. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while reducing overall system complexity compared to single bulky fasteners.
Solution Approach 2:
T-nuts serve as intermediary elements that connect the mounting bolt to the mounting bar through a slot interface. The T-nut's bar-shaped body extending beyond the mounting bar facilitates alignment and provides a reliable threaded connection point, mediating the connection between the skid-mounted equipment and the applicator frame while distributing loads effectively.
2Measurement precision
If precise alignment features are added to mounting hardware, then alignment precision is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Mounting bars are pre-attached to the applicator frame at predetermined locations and orientations. T-nuts are pre-inserted into slots in the mounting bars with their bar-shaped bodies extending beyond the mounting bar edges. This preliminary positioning of alignment features simplifies the final assembly process, as the T-nuts and shear blocks naturally guide the skid-mounted equipment into correct alignment during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The bar-shaped body of the T-nut extending beyond the mounting bar automatically serves as an alignment aid during installation. When the skid-mounted equipment is lowered onto the frame, the T-nut's exposed portion and the shear block's positioning features self-align with corresponding features on the skid, eliminating the need for complex external alignment tools or procedures.
3Ease of operation
If mounting hardware is reduced in size and weight, then ease of installation and portability are improved, but load resistance and strength may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The T-nut is designed with a bar-shaped body that can slide within the slot of the mounting bar during installation, providing dynamic adjustment capability. This sliding action allows the T-nut to self-position and accommodate minor misalignments while maintaining a secure threaded connection, achieving both ease of installation and reliable load resistance in a compact form.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system employs composite construction with mounting bars (potentially different material than the frame), T-nuts with threaded holes, and shear blocks made of load-resistant material. This composite approach allows each component to be optimized for its specific mechanical requirements, achieving high strength-to-weight ratio and distributed load paths that maintain load resistance while reducing overall hardware size compared to conventional bulky fasteners.
4Device complexity
If access to mounting features is blocked, then compact hardware design is improved, but ease of installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring access to the back side of the mounting bar for traditional nut installation, the T-nut is inserted into the slot from the accessible side with its bar-shaped body extending beyond the mounting bar. The threaded hole in the T-nut is oriented to receive the mounting bolt from the same side, inverting the conventional installation approach and eliminating the need for blocked back-side access.
Solution Approach 2:
The T-nut utilizes the slot dimension in the mounting bar to provide installation access. By inserting the T-nut into the slot and having its bar-shaped body extend beyond the mounting bar edge, the system creates a new access dimension through the slot opening, allowing bolt threading to occur from the front/side rather than requiring back-side access, thus solving the accessibility problem while maintaining compact hardware design.
Data Source
AI summary
A captured hardware system secures a mounting plate of skid-mounted product application equipment to a frame of the applicator, utilizing a mounting bolt passing through a hole in the skid mounting plate, a mounting bar and an extended T-nut. The T-nut has a bar-shaped body that extends beyond an exposed edge of the mounting bar to facilitate aligning a threaded hole in the T-nut with a hole in the mounting bar, when the T-nut is slidingly inserted into a slot in the mounting bar for securing the skid to the frame with the mounting bolt.