Control Box Component Holder With Snap-Fit Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic component holders in control boxes require fasteners like screws, making it difficult to access components for replacement, and are prone to loss, rust, or breakage, necessitating frequent maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The design includes capacitor cradle surface elements with arrow-shaped features, circuit breaker holders with H-shaped bodies, relay holders with spring levers and hooks, and T-shaped cradles, all secured without fasteners using welding and zip ties to ensure secure and easy access to components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fasteners like screws are used to hold electronic components in place, then the components are securely retained, but it becomes difficult to access components for replacement and maintenance is required frequently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes fasteners entirely from the component holder design. Instead of using screws or bolts to secure components, the holder uses an integrated snap-fit or friction-fit mechanism where the component itself is retained by the holder's geometry. This extraction of the fastener element resolves the contradiction by eliminating the need for tools to access components while maintaining secure retention through the holder's structural design.
Solution Approach 2:
The component holder is designed to automatically retain components through its own structural features without requiring separate fastening elements. The holder's geometry creates a self-retaining mechanism where the component fits into a cradle or recess that prevents removal during normal operation but allows easy extraction when needed, enabling both secure retention and easy access without external fasteners.
2Reliability
If fasteners are used to secure components, then components are held firmly, but fasteners can be lost, rust, or break requiring regular maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates fasteners from the design entirely, removing the source of maintenance problems such as rust, breakage, and loss. The component retention is achieved through the holder's integrated structural features rather than separate fastening elements, thereby eliminating the maintenance burden associated with fasteners while maintaining reliable component security.
Solution Approach 2:
The holder design uses a simple, integrated retention mechanism that is inherently more reliable than fasteners. Rather than using metal fasteners that can corrode or break, the design employs a unified holder structure where retention is built-in, effectively replacing potentially failure-prone fasteners with a more durable integrated system that requires no maintenance.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic component holder for a control box for holding non-passive components, such as capacitors, relays and circuit breaker switches to a surface of the control box. The electronic component holder is welded or secured to an inner surface of the control box. By the structure of the electronic component holder, the need for use of conventional fasteners, such as screws or bolts, to hold the electronic components in place within the control box is eliminated.