Drive socket connection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drive sockets in appliances like blenders wear down over time, necessitating disassembly for repair or replacement, which is inconvenient and time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A connection assembly featuring a drive socket with a groove and a support sleeve, including a grab ring or balls, allows for easy access and secure attachment to a drive shaft without disassembling the appliance, enabling quick replacement or repair.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the drive socket is securely attached to the drive shaft, then the connection reliability is improved, but the ease of disassembly for maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The connection assembly is divided into separable components: the drive socket with groove, the support sleeve with grab ring or balls, and the drive shaft. This segmentation allows the drive socket to be easily detached from the drive shaft by collapsing the support sleeve, enabling maintenance without permanent attachment while ensuring secure operation during use.
Solution Approach 2:
The support sleeve incorporates a collapsible structure with grab rings or balls that can transition between expanded and collapsed states. During normal operation, the sleeve is expanded to securely hold the drive socket. During maintenance, the sleeve can be collapsed to release the drive socket, providing dynamic control over connection strength.
2Ease of manufacture
If the drive socket structure is simplified, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the security of attachment to drive shaft deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support sleeve acts as an intermediary component between the drive socket and drive shaft. Instead of requiring complex direct attachment features on the drive socket itself, the support sleeve provides the attachment mechanism with its grab rings or balls that engage with the groove, simplifying the drive socket design while ensuring secure attachment.
3Ease of operation
If the support sleeve is made collapsible for easy removal, then the ease of operation is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The collapsible support sleeve can be designed to collapse automatically when force is applied to release it, or through a simple user actuation mechanism. The structure uses its own geometry and elastic properties to achieve collapse without requiring complex external mechanisms, allowing easy removal while limiting the increase in structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Generally described, one or more aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods, systems, and devices related to forming a connection assembly for an appliance including a drive socket. The drive socket includes a body having a first aperture at a proximal end, a second aperture at a distal end, and a groove on an exterior surface of the body near the distal end. The connection assembly includes a drive shaft connected to a motor, and a support sleeve including a proximal end configured to receive the drive socket. The support sleeve includes a distal end connected to the drive shaft, and a grab ring positioned on an inner surface of the support sleeve. The grab ring is configured to be positioned within the groove of the drive socket to prevent translation of the drive socket relative to the support sleeve.