Clamping Connection Assembly With Rotating Locking Sections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fastening methods in the beverage industry, such as screw connections, are time-consuming and expensive, and there is a need for a simple and stable connection of components in transport devices that operate at high speeds.
Innovation Solution
A fastening device with non-circular pre-holes and profiling sections that allow for clamping and form-fitting engagement of components, enabling a secure and releasable connection without screws, utilizing a clamping mechanism that rotates to engage locking elements with the components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If screw connections are used to connect scaffold components, then reliable connection is achieved, but assembly time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system is divided into separate modular components: a fastening device with locking sections and scaffold components with corresponding receptacles. This segmentation allows for rapid assembly by simply engaging the modules together without requiring complex fastening operations like screwing.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection system is designed to be self-locating and self-securing through the geometric compatibility between the non-circular pre-hole and the locking section. The components automatically align and lock when brought together, eliminating the need for additional fastening tools or operations.
2Reliability
If traditional fastening methods are used, then secure connection is achieved, but productivity decreases due to time-consuming assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The locking sections and receptacles are pre-designed with complementary geometries during manufacturing. The non-circular pre-hole shape is precisely formed to match the locking section, so that when assembly is required, the components are already prepared for immediate engagement without any additional preparation or fastening steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The pre-hole is designed with a non-circular, asymmetric cross-section that corresponds to the locking section geometry. This asymmetric design ensures that the components can only be assembled in the correct orientation and provides inherent mechanical interlocking, achieving secure connection through shape compatibility rather than threaded fastening.
3Reliability
If screw connections are used for scaffold assembly, then stable connection is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex fastening function is extracted from the scaffold components themselves and integrated into a separate, dedicated fastening device. This allows the scaffold components to be manufactured with simpler geometries (just the receptacles and pre-holes), while the fastening device handles all the locking and securing functions, simplifying the manufacturing of individual parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastening device combines multiple functions into a single integrated component: the locking section engages with the pre-hole, the body provides structural connection, and the overall design incorporates both positioning and securing functions. This merging eliminates the need for separate screws, washers, and other fastening hardware, reducing total component count and manufacturing cost.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an assembly for detachably connecting at least two components (BT1, BT2) by means of a fastening device (2) according to the preamble of claim 1. The essential aspect according to the assembly for detachably connecting at least two components (BT1, BT2) by means of a fastening device (2) is that, for fastening by releasable clamping, the first component (BT1) has, at least in a portion (23) that is flat at least in some sections, a preliminary hole or opening (20), which deviates from the shape of a circle and the cross-section of which is matched to the longitudinal section of the first locking portion (VA1), namely in such a way that the first locking portion (VA1) can be fed through the preliminary hole (20) and the fastening device (2) can be clampingly fastened to the first component (BT1) by means of the first fastening portion (BA1) by rotation about the central longitudinal axis (MA), or that the first component (BT1) has at least one profiling portion (22), which forms a cut-out (21) and the cross-section of which is matched to the longitudinal section of the locking portion (VA1), namely in such a way that, for fastening the first fastening portion (BA1) to the first component (BT1) by releasable clamping by rotation of the first locking portion (VA1) about the central longitudinal axis (MA), the first locking portion (VA1) can be at least partially interlockingly received in the cut-out (21). Particularly advantageously, the first and second components (BT1, BT2) can thus be connected without the use of a screw connection. By virtue of the fastening by clamping, a particularly stable and positionally fixed connection of the two components to each other is also achieved.