Slotted Clipping Bushing for Secure Fastener Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fastener assemblies face challenges in securely attaching bushings to components without the added labor, cost, and complexity of projection welding, and adhesive methods may fail cleanliness inspections.
Innovation Solution
A drawn metal bushing device with a slotted barrel body and cantilevered beam legs, featuring hooks and concave surfaces, that securely engages components by clipping or hooking onto another component, eliminating the need for welding and adhesives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If projection welding is used to attach the bushing to the component, then the bushing is securely attached to the component, but additional labor, cost, and complexity are added to the assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the projection welding process (thermal/mechanical system) with a purely mechanical interference fit system. The bushing features an outer diameter that directly engages with the hole in the component, eliminating the need for welding equipment, operators, and associated process controls, thereby reducing labor, cost, and complexity while maintaining secure attachment
Solution Approach 2:
The bushing is designed with self-aligning and self-securing features where the interference fit between the bushing outer diameter and the component hole automatically positions and secures the bushing during assembly without requiring additional welding operations or specialized equipment
2Strength
If adhesive is applied to the component to secure the bushing, then the bushing is attached to the component, but components with adhesive fail cleanliness inspections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes chemical adhesive bonding with mechanical interference fit bonding. The bushing's outer diameter creates direct mechanical engagement with the component hole through friction and normal forces, eliminating adhesive residues that would fail cleanliness inspections while maintaining equivalent or superior attachment strength
3Ease of manufacture
If a simple bushing design is used, then manufacturing is simpler, but the bushing cannot securely engage multiple components without additional fasteners
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated bushing structure: the body provides the central passage for fasteners, the outer diameter engages the first component, and the cantilevered beam legs with hooks engage the second component. This merging of functions into one piece eliminates the need for separate fasteners or attachment mechanisms while maintaining secure engagement of multiple components
Solution Approach 2:
The bushing is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously serves as a fastener guide, a mechanical connector for the first component via interference fit, and a connector for the second component via cantilevered beam legs with hooks, replacing what would traditionally require multiple separate parts
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 bushing device provides a secure and cost-effective method to attach components, ensuring cleanliness standards are met by avoiding adhesives and simplifying the assembly process, while maintaining strong frictional engagement with fasteners.
Implementation Method 1
The hooks of the first cantilevered beam legs are positioned to engage the second component and secure the first component and the second component together
Implementation Method 2
The concave surfaces of the second cantilevered beam legs are shaped to engage a fastener inserted into the barrel body
Data Source
AI summary
A bushing device includes a cap end shaped to engage a first surface of a first component having a first hole, and a slotted barrel body coupled with the cap end and elongated along a center axis. The slotted barrel body includes plural first cantilevered beam legs extending away from the cap end in directions that are parallel to the center axis. One or more of the first cantilevered beam legs has a hook at a distal end of the one or more first cantilevered beam legs. The slotted barrel body is shaped to fit inside the first hole in the first component and into a concentric second hole in a second component. The hook of the one or more first cantilevered beam legs is positioned to engage the second component to secure the first component and the second component together.