Flanged Roller Elastic Hook Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing castor wheels with protective flanges face issues with secure fixation and shock resistance, especially when used for moving furniture or luggage that is handled roughly, leading to potential detachment during impacts.
Innovation Solution
A wheel design featuring an intermediate flange that clips onto the hub with elastic hooks and a main flange that secures over the intermediate flange, using a combination of breakthroughs and hooks for secure attachment, allowing for relative movement and assembly via glue points, with materials like plastic and metal for enhanced durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flanges are fixed by bolting or elastic tabs on small caster wheels, then the wheel can be assembled, but the flanges detach during shocks and impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The flange assembly is divided into two separate flanges (first flange and second flange) that are assembled sequentially onto the hub. The first flange is clipped onto the hub, and the second flange is then attached to the first flange, creating a segmented structure that distributes shock loads and prevents detachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The first flange is pre-assembled onto the hub using simple clipping before the second flange is added. This preliminary action creates a base layer that absorbs initial impacts, and the second flange is then secured to this base, providing progressive protection against detachment during shocks.
2Reliability
If flanges are designed for large wheels to withstand shocks, then shock resistance improves, but the design becomes too complex and expensive for small caster wheels
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single complex flange design, the solution segments the flange into two simpler flanges that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows each flange to be optimized for specific functions while keeping individual component complexity low.
Solution Approach 2:
The second flange is designed to fit over and attach to the first flange, creating a nested structure where one flange contains or covers the other. This nesting approach provides enhanced shock resistance similar to large-wheel designs but achieves it through layered simplicity rather than single-component complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple flanges are added to improve shock resistance, then fixation reliability improves, but assembly difficulty and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The first flange is assembled onto the hub in advance using simple clipping mechanisms before the second flange is added. This preliminary assembly creates a stable base that simplifies the subsequent attachment of the second flange, making the multi-flange assembly process more manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The clipping mechanisms are designed to be self-assembling or self-securing, where the flanges automatically engage with the hub and each other through elastic tabs or clip structures that require minimal manual intervention, reducing assembly complexity despite having multiple flanges.
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 design provides a cost-effective and easy-to-assemble solution with improved shock resistance and secure fixation, suitable for small-sized wheels used in moving furniture and luggage, ensuring the flanges remain attached during shocks and impacts.
Implementation Method 1
these two hooks being capable of clipping, by elastic deformation, on respectively the first and second radial edge portions of the breakthrough
Implementation Method 2
assembly via glue points
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The present invention relates to rollers Ro. The roller of the invention is essentially characterized in that it comprises at least one wheel (1) including a hub (10) and a tread (11) located around the hub (10), a flange (21), and snap-fitting means (22) capable of snap-fitting the flange onto the hub (10), wherein the means (22) for snap-fitting the flange onto the hub (10) comprises at least one perforation (30) made in the hub (10), at least two hooks (31, 32) mounted so as to project from the intermediate flange (21) such that, when the flange (21) is snap-fitted onto the hub (10), the two hooks (31, 32) hook onto the edge (34) of the perforation (30) by means of elastic deformation, while defining a free inter-hook space (35) therebetween. The invention can be used for rollers used to facilitate the movement of objects such as furniture, wheeled luggage, or the like.