Flexible Fastener Cluster for Accurate Heated Floor Pipe Stapling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clusters of fasteners for underfloor heating pipes face issues with optimal engagement and energy transmission into the synthetic support, leading to inefficient anchoring and potential detachment during the stapling process.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of flexible links between fasteners, which allow translational movement and pivoting, along with symmetrical connections and anti-return fins, ensures precise guidance and reduced energy loss, enhancing the anchoring process and mechanical energy transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If rigid links are used to connect fasteners in a cluster, then the cluster structure is stable and fasteners are held firmly, but the first fastener cannot engage in the ejection channel in the correct direction and mechanical energy is not fully transmitted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rigid links with flexible links that can dynamically adapt their configuration. The flexible links allow the first fastener to pivot and translate relative to the second fastener during ejection, enabling correct engagement in the ejection channel while maintaining cluster stability through the elastic properties of the flexible material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of the links from rigid to flexible, allowing deformation and pivoting motion. This parameter change enables the first fastener to move independently in the correct direction during ejection while the flexible link transmits mechanical energy effectively, resolving both the engagement accuracy and energy transmission issues.
2Productivity
If the first fastener is driven in translation towards the ejection channel, then the fastener engages in the channel, but the link exerts traction on the second fastener which causes energy loss and suboptimal driving
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible link allows the first fastener to pivot and translate independently during the initial phase of ejection. This dynamic movement enables the first fastener to engage in the ejection channel without exerting traction on the second fastener, thereby preventing energy loss and ensuring optimal driving efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the movement of the fasteners by allowing the first fastener to move independently through pivoting and translation relative to the second fastener. This segmentation of motion enables the first fastener to be driven into the ejection channel without dragging the second fastener, eliminating unnecessary energy loss and improving ejection productivity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If fasteners are held firmly in the cluster, then the cluster maintains its shape, but the fasteners cannot be detached and ejected one by one efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible links maintain the cluster's overall shape and stability while allowing controlled detachment and ejection of fasteners one by one. The elastic properties of the flexible material enable the links to deform during ejection and then return to their original configuration, ensuring both cluster stability and efficient fastener detachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses flexible links made of elastic material to connect the fasteners. These flexible links maintain the structural integrity and shape of the cluster while allowing the fasteners to be detached and ejected sequentially. The flexibility of the links enables smooth deformation during ejection without compromising the overall cluster configuration.
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
This solution enables perfect engagement of fasteners into the support without energy loss, reducing the risk of detachment and improving the efficiency of the stapling process, allowing for better penetration and reduced stress on the synthetic support.
Implementation Method 1
the implementation of flexible links between the fasteners, also called staples, which allow a translational movement of the first fastener relative to the second fastener, towards the ejection channel
Implementation Method 2
a blade which exerts pressure on the first fastener of the cluster to detach it then engage it in an extraction channel
Implementation Method 3
The points are then anchored in this support and the non-return fins, like a harpoon, limit the clip's extraction capacities
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a cluster (53; 72) of fasteners comprising a plurality of U-shaped fasteners (10) each having an arc-shaped part (12) and two opposing anchor legs (14, 16), each of said fasteners having, on the one hand, two opposing faces (18, 20) defining respectively two tangent planes Ptg1, Ptg2 and a mean plane Pmoy extending parallel to and equidistant from said tangent planes, and on the other hand, a slice (22) defining a trace (24) at the intersection of said mean plane and said slice (22), said cluster (53; 72) of fasteners further comprising at least a plurality of flexible links (62, 64, 66; 80), the flexible links (62, 64, 66; 80) each having two fixing ends respectively fixed in said opposite faces. The flexible links (62, 64, 66; 80) extend longitudinally, and in that said fixing ends are respectively fixed in the vicinity of said trace (24).