Adjustable Fastening Clip With Dual Hinges For Airbag Trim
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fastening clips for motor vehicle interior trims, particularly those covering airbags, face difficulties in adjusting hold strength, requiring significant assembly effort and often result in either weak or excessive fixation, complicating the process and safety concerns due to 'all or nothing' engagement/disengagement scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A fastening clip design featuring two independent hinges that allow for precise adjustment of resistance through surface contact, enabling flexible assembly and disassembly in stages, with hinges oriented perpendicular to the main engagement direction, ensuring effective retention and controlled disengagement by distributing radial openings and arms around the hinge axes, and incorporating rigid and elastically deformable components for enhanced retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional fastening clips with single engagement mechanism are used, then the structure is simple, but the hold strength cannot be adjusted and assembly effort is significant
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening clip is divided into two independent hinges (first hinge and second hinge) that can engage and disengage separately. Each hinge has its own rod, bearing surface, and elastic deformation characteristics, allowing independent adjustment of engagement forces and hold strengths without increasing overall structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the fastening clip are designed with different mechanical properties - some parts are made elastic (deformable walls) while others are rigid (rigid portions). The bearing surfaces have different engagement characteristics, with one hinge providing stronger retention than the other, enabling localized adjustment of hold strength throughout the structure
2Ease of operation
If traditional fastening clips are used, then the structure is compact, but the assembly effort required is significant
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening clip employs dynamic engagement where the two hinges can engage in any sequence and at different times. The elastic deformable walls allow the structure to adapt to assembly forces dynamically, reducing peak assembly effort compared to rigid single-stage engagement mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement force parameters are distributed across two independent hinges with different mechanical characteristics. By sizing the hinges independently, the assembly effort is divided and reduced, while still achieving the required total hold strength through the combined action of both hinges
3Adaptability or versatility
If traditional fastening clips with single hinge are used, then the structure is simple, but disengagement occurs in all-or-nothing manner
Solution Approach 1:
The single hinge is segmented into two independent hinges that can engage and disengage separately. This segmentation creates intermediate engagement states where one hinge may be engaged while the other is disengaged, providing flexibility in engagement states without requiring a complex multi-component mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The fastening clip allows partial engagement where only one of the two hinges is engaged while the other remains disengaged. This partial action capability enables intermediate states between fully engaged and fully disengaged, providing operational flexibility for controlled disengagement sequences
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 clip provides reliable, adjustable, and space-efficient fixation, ensuring effective maintenance of parts under stress conditions while preventing the fastening element from becoming a projectile during airbag inflation, offering improved safety and ease of assembly.
Implementation Method 1
said portion rigid extending over at least a quarter of the cylinder defining said bearing surface, said elastically deformable portion extending over at least half of said cylinder defining said bearing surface
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a clip (1) for attaching a component (100) to a support (200), comprising an anchoring element (6) secured to said support (200) and a retaining element (2) secured to said component (100), which are joined together by a strap (4) and provided with hinges each comprising a nondeformable cylindrical rod (51, 52) and a cylindrical bearing surface (55, 56) provided with a radial opening (57) and comprising an elastically deformable portion capable, under the effect of engagement (F1) and disengagement (F2) forces, of deforming in order respectively to allow the mutual engagement and securing of said anchoring element (6) to said retaining element (2) and the mutual disengagement thereof, the axes (A1, A2, B1, B2) of said hinges being roughly mutually parallel. The invention also relates to an assembly of a component (100) on a support (200) using such an attaching clip (1).