Drawbar Hammer Strap Pin Lock Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drawbar hammer straps often extend too high, risking contact with power-take-off (PTO) equipment, fail to securely hold the drawbar pin in place, and allow rotational movement, leading to excessive wear and operational inconvenience.
Innovation Solution
A drawbar hammer strap assembly with a low profile design, featuring a cross pin that can be locked in place using a handle member with detent recesses and a lever arm mechanism to prevent rotation, ensuring secure positioning and clearance for PTO equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the hammer strap is extended higher to accommodate the drawbar pin and locking mechanism, then the pin can be securely locked, but the profile increases and risks contact with PTO equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism transitions from a vertical arrangement (which would increase profile height) to a horizontal arrangement within the plane of the hammer strap. The detent recesses and handle member operate laterally to lock the drawbar pin, maintaining a low vertical profile while achieving secure locking.
Solution Approach 2:
The handle member and detent recesses are integrated into the hammer strap structure itself, with the handle pivoting within the strap body and the detents formed directly in the strap. This nesting eliminates the need for separate external locking components that would increase the overall profile height.
2Ease of operation
If the drawbar pin is allowed to rotate freely for ease of insertion and removal, then operation is convenient, but excessive wear occurs on the drawbar and hammer strap
Solution Approach 1:
The drawbar pin transitions from a completely static fixed position to a dynamically controlled state. The pin can rotate freely during insertion and removal operations when the handle is in the unlatched position, then transitions to a locked non-rotating position when the handle is engaged in the detent recess, providing both operational convenience and wear prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The pin's rotational freedom is segmented into two distinct states: a free-rotation state during operation (insertion/removal) when the handle is unlatched, and a locked non-rotating state during service when the handle is latched. This segmentation allows the pin to have both ease of operation and wear prevention at different times in its operational cycle.
3Ease of operation
If no handle is provided on the drawbar pin for customer convenience, then the structure remains simple, but handling and positioning of the pin becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The handle member serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides a gripping surface for easy handling and positioning of the drawbar pin, acts as a lever to engage and disengage the locking mechanism, and serves as a visual indicator of the locked/unlocked state. This multi-functionality adds convenience without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The handle member is merged with the locking mechanism itself rather than being a separate component. The handle is pivotally coupled to the cross pin and integrated with the detent recesses in the hammer strap, combining the gripping function with the locking function in a single unified structure.
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 solution provides a low-profile assembly that maintains PTO clearance, securely locks the drawbar pin, and prevents rotational movement, reducing wear and enhancing user convenience by allowing easy handling of the drawbar pin.
Implementation Method 1
The handle member is pivotal to an unlatched position wherein it is spaced apart from the detent recess, and to a latched position wherein it is releasably received in the detent recess
Implementation Method 2
The cross pin is rotatable in the hammer strap to a locked position wherein the cross pin prevents rotation of the drawbar pin and an unlocked position wherein the cross pin permits rotation of the drawbar pin
Data Source
AI summary
A drawbar hammer strap assembly design achieves a low profile, and prevents rotation of the drawbar and of the cross pin. The drawbar hammer strap assembly includes a drawbar, a hammer strap member attached to the drawbar, a drawbar pin mountable to drawbar and hammer strap member and a cross pin rotatably mounted in the hammer strap for releasably holding the drawbar pin in its mounted position. The hammer strap has a pair of detent recesses formed in the sides thereof. The drawbar hammer strap assembly also includes a handle member which is pivotally coupled to an upper end of the drawbar pin. The handle member is pivotal to an unlatched position wherein it is spaced apart from the detent recess, and to a latched position wherein it is releasably received in the detent recess. The handle member is engagable with a lever arm of the cross pin to hold the cross pin in its locked position when the handle member is in its latched position.