Cooling Pipe Male Connector With Elastic Pins for Screw-Free Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for connecting cooling pipes to housings or internal cooling systems require machining and additional components like screws, increasing manufacturing effort and costs.
Innovation Solution
A male connector with a hollow cylindrical base part featuring elastic pins and T-shaped clips that form a snap-fit connection with a female connector, eliminating the need for screws and enabling a sealed, stable, and easily releasable connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a screw connection with bushings is used to connect the cooling pipe to the housing, then the connection is secure and reliable, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The male connector integrates the connection function directly into the cooling pipe component itself, merging what were previously separate elements (pipe and connector) into a single integrated part. This eliminates the need for separate bushings and screw connections while maintaining secure attachment through the elastic pin mechanism that engages with the housing bore.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and eliminates the unnecessary intermediate components (bushings and screws) from the connection system. By removing these extraneous elements and replacing them with a direct elastic pin engagement mechanism integrated into the male connector, the design simplifies the manufacturing process while preserving connection reliability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If screws and bushings are used for connection, then the connection is stable, but additional manufacturing effort and costs are required
Solution Approach 1:
The male connector combines the cooling pipe and connector functions into a single integrated component with elastomeric pins directly formed as part of the pipe structure. This merging eliminates the need for separate bushings and screw fasteners, reducing the number of parts to manufacture while maintaining stable connection through the elastic pin-housing bore engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastomeric pins provide self-aligning and self-securing functionality during insertion into the housing bore. The elastic deformation of the pins during insertion and their subsequent recovery creates an automatic locking mechanism that ensures stable connection without requiring separate fastening operations or additional components.
3Ease of manufacture
If an elastic pin is added to the male connector, then the connection becomes easier and cheaper, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric pins are integrated directly into the male connector body as a unified structure, combining the connector housing and fastening elements into a single component. This integration adds minimal structural complexity compared to separate screw and bushing assemblies, while significantly simplifying the manufacturing process by reducing the number of parts and assembly steps.
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
This solution simplifies the connection process, reduces manufacturing costs, and ensures a secure, leak-proof connection without the need for additional tools, while allowing easy disconnection.
Implementation Method 1
The base part comprises at least one elastic pin which is integrally formed with the surface of the base part. The at least one elastic pin protrudes from the surface of the base part into a direction which encloses an acute angle with the surface of the base part
Implementation Method 2
the first end having a circumferential notch for the reception of an o-ring arranged adjacent to a chamfered outer circumferential edge of the base part
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention refers to a male connector (100) for a cooling pipe. The male connector (100) comprises a hollow cylindrical base part (80) with a first and a second end (1, 2), the first end (1) having a circumferential notch (70) for the reception of an o-ring (60) arranged adjacent to a chamfered outer circumferential edge (50) of the base part (80). According to the invention, the base part (80) comprises at least one elastic pin (55) which is integrally formed with the surface (81) of the base part (80). The at least one elastic pin (55) protrudes from the surface (81) of the base part (80) into a direction which encloses an acute angle (α) with the surface (81) of the base part (80), the angle (α) having a vertex (41) which is pointing towards the first end (1) of the base part (80).