Flexible Emblem Retainer for Variable Panel Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retainers have a limited allowable panel thickness range, requiring multiple versions to accommodate different panel thicknesses and relying on small barbs for attachment, which is inefficient and not robust enough.
Innovation Solution
A retaining system with a stamped-metal retainer featuring a body with flexibly connected legs forming a channel and multiple panel-engagement features, such as saw-tooth or spring-tab structures, to securely engage panels of varying thicknesses and provide robust attachment by engaging the tower at multiple points.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional retainers are designed for specific panel thicknesses, then attachment reliability is improved for those specific thicknesses, but the number of different retainer versions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer is designed with a resilient body that can flexibly adapt to different panel thicknesses within a range, allowing a single retainer design to serve multiple functions across varying panel specifications. The resilient material enables the retainer to maintain reliable attachment while accommodating thickness variations, eliminating the need for multiple specialized retainer versions.
Solution Approach 2:
The retainer utilizes changes in physical parameters, specifically the flexibility and resilience of the material, to adapt to different panel thicknesses. By designing the retainer body with resilient properties, it can deform and adjust its shape to match various panel thicknesses while maintaining secure attachment, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
2Device complexity
If small barbs are used to secure the retainer to the blade, then the retainer design is simplified, but the attachment robustness is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer employs a resilient, dynamically adaptable body that can flex and conform to the blade surface, providing robust attachment without requiring complex static structures. The dynamic resilience of the material allows the retainer to maintain strong attachment while keeping the overall design relatively simple, overcoming the limitation of small barbs.
3Device complexity
If a single retainer design is used for multiple panel thicknesses, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer's resilient material properties enable it to accommodate variations in panel thickness through elastic deformation. This parameter change capability allows the retainer to maintain proper function across a range of thicknesses without requiring extremely tight manufacturing tolerances, thus reducing the burden on manufacturing precision while maintaining design uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient body of the retainer provides a cushioning effect that compensates for variations in panel thickness before they become critical issues. This beforehand cushioning through material resilience allows the retainer to absorb thickness variations, reducing the need for high manufacturing precision while maintaining attachment reliability.
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
Enables secure attachment across a wider range of panel thicknesses, reducing the need for multiple retainer versions and enhancing retention values by engaging panels at multiple points, thus providing a more robust and versatile fastening solution.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient retainer body
Implementation Method 2
multiple panel-engagement features... configured to engage the panel at multiple points
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are systems and methods for retaining system coupling a component to a panel via a retainer. The retainer can couple a component with panels of different thicknesses. The retainer comprising a body portion and at least one panel-engagement feature coupled to the body portion. The body portion having a pair of legs spaced apart and flexibly connected to one another to define a channel. The channel is sized and shaped to receive a tower associated with the component. The at least one panel-engagement feature is coupled to one of the pair of legs to engages an opening of a panel having a thickness ranging from a first thickness (T1) to a second thickness (T2) that is greater than the first thickness (T1).