Conical Pole Mount Locking for Easy Installation and Secure Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pole mounting systems face challenges in achieving easy engagement and disengagement while ensuring secure retention of poles, often making installation cumbersome and prone to accidental displacement.
Innovation Solution
A pole mounting system featuring a support mounting with a conically tapering receiving recess and a pole base with guide posts that engage helical guide channels, allowing for secure retention by rotating the pole base to align guide posts with the channels and advancing the pole base to engage the wall, providing stability against unintentional removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the pole base is easily inserted into the support mounting, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability of secure retention deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a conically tapered receiving recess in the support mounting that corresponds to the tapered insertion end of the pole base. This conical geometry allows the pole base to be easily inserted through simple axial movement, while the tapering shape provides progressive engagement that ensures secure retention. The curved conical surfaces guide the pole base into proper alignment and provide mechanical interlocking without requiring complex fastening mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The helical guide channels are pre-formed in the receiving recess before the pole base is inserted. These channels guide the guide posts along a predetermined spiral path during insertion, automatically aligning and securing the pole base in the correct position. This preliminary preparation of the engagement path simplifies the installation operation while ensuring reliable retention through the designed helical engagement geometry.
2Reliability
If the pole base is securely retained by the support mounting, then the reliability is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic engagement mechanism where the pole base can be easily inserted through axial movement but requires rotational movement for secure engagement. The helical guide channels convert the simple axial insertion motion into a rotational engagement process, where the guide posts follow the spiral path and automatically lock into position. For removal, the user simply rotates the pole base in the opposite direction to disengage from the helical channels, making removal as easy as insertion while maintaining secure retention during normal use.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical tapering geometry provides a self-aligning and self-securing mechanism. During insertion, the tapered surfaces guide the pole base into proper alignment and the increasing contact area along the taper provides progressive locking. The conical shape ensures that the pole base remains securely retained under vertical loads while allowing easy removal through reverse rotation that overcomes the frictional engagement of the tapered surfaces.
3Device complexity
If the pole base is made simple in structure, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability of secure retention deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves secure retention with simple structure by employing conical tapering surfaces on both the pole base insertion end and the support mounting receiving recess. This single geometric feature simultaneously provides alignment guidance, frictional engagement for retention, and a self-locking mechanism under vertical loads. The simplicity of the conical geometry avoids the need for complex fastening devices while ensuring reliable secure retention through the mechanical interlocking of the tapered surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The helical guide channels are pre-formed integral features of the support mounting structure, requiring no additional components or assembly steps. These channels work in conjunction with the simple conical geometry to provide automatic alignment and engagement guidance during insertion. The preliminary formation of the helical paths in the mounting structure enables reliable retention through the spiral engagement of guide posts without adding structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A pole mounting system comprises a support mounting and a pole base. The support mounting has a receiving aperture that tapers conically inwardly from a receiving aperture, and at least one helical guide channel is formed in a wall of the receiving recess and extends axially away from the receiving aperture. Each guide channel has a terminal reverse bend. The pole base has an insertion end tapering conically inwardly toward a tip thereof and having guide post(s) extending laterally therefrom. The insertion end and the receiving recess are of complementary shape. The insertion end of the pole base is inserted into the receiving recess with each guide post aligned with the entrance of a corresponding guide channel and rotated in one direction and then the other to drive the guide post(s) along the guide channel(s) until the outer surface of the insertion end engages the wall of the receiving recess.