Countersunk Floating Anchor Nut for Blindside Clearance Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current floating anchor nuts face difficulties in situations with limited blindside clearance, leading to potential damage or fouling of nearby components due to manufacturing tolerances and restricted access, which can result in reduced reliability and increased risk of corrosion or failure.
Innovation Solution
A floating anchor nut design featuring a plate with a larger bolt aperture and a flange positioned partway along the nut's body, allowing limited parallel displacement and counter-sinking, which accommodates misalignment and reduces the protrusion of the nut, enabling the use of shorter bolts and improving clearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the nut is positioned closer to the plate surface for easier access, then ease of operation is improved, but blindside clearance is reduced causing bolt impingement on behind-components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repositions the nut in the depth dimension (counter-sunk into the plate) rather than keeping it at the surface, allowing the bolt to engage without impinging behind-components while still enabling access through the plate aperture
2Manufacturing precision
If manufacturing tolerances are reduced to eliminate misalignment, then manufacturing precision is improved, but production cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The nut is made movable (floating) within the plate aperture, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position to accommodate misalignment between components without requiring high manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the positional parameter of the nut from fixed to variable, enabling it to float and self-align within the aperture, thereby compensating for manufacturing tolerances
3Strength
If the nut body is made longer to engage deeper threads, then strength is improved, but blindside clearance is reduced increasing risk of fouling
Solution Approach 1:
The nut is positioned in the depth dimension (counter-sunk) rather than extending forward, allowing long thread engagement without the nut body protruding to foul behind-components
Data Source
AI summary
A floating anchor nut configured to receive a bolt is described. The floating anchor nut comprises a plate having a bolt aperture and retention features for retaining a nut. The floating anchor nut additionally comprises the nut that itself comprises an internally threaded body and a flange extending from an outer surface of the body, the nut being retained through interaction of the flange with the retention features, the retention features allow limited parallel displacement with respect to a plane of the plate. The flange is positioned along the body so that at least a portion of the body is counter-sunk into the bolt aperture of the plate.