Segmented Dowel Pin With Flexible Joint for Assembly Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dowel pins face challenges in achieving precise positioning and easy assembly, as they often require high precision manufacturing and can cause overconstraint due to fixed distances between the pins and holes, leading to mounting difficulties and inaccuracies.
Innovation Solution
A dowel pin design with a flexible, transversely movable part that allows relative movement in one direction, combined with elevated contact surfaces to accommodate non-circular holes, ensuring accurate alignment and ease of assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If dowel pins are made with tight tolerance and precise dimensions, then positioning accuracy is improved, but assembly difficulty increases due to press fit requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The dowel pin incorporates a flexible section that allows dynamic adjustment during assembly. The pin can elastically deform to accommodate slight misalignments between holes, enabling smooth insertion without requiring excessive force while maintaining precise positioning once assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the dowel pin by introducing a flexible section with different material properties than the rigid sections. This flexible portion has lower stiffness, allowing it to bend and adapt to hole position variations, thus resolving the contradiction between precision and ease of assembly.
2Ease of operation
If clearance is provided between dowel pin and hole for easy assembly, then assembly ease is improved, but positioning accuracy deteriorates due to play
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible section enables the dowel pin to dynamically adapt during assembly. Initially, the pin can move freely to accommodate clearance, but once positioned, the rigid sections provide precise positioning. The system transitions from a flexible state during assembly to a rigid state during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The dowel pin is segmented into different functional sections: rigid sections for precise positioning and a flexible section for accommodating clearance during assembly. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function optimally.
3Manufacturing precision
If fixed distance between dowel pins is maintained for precision, then positioning accuracy is improved, but overconstraint occurs leading to mounting difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible section acts as a dynamic element that compensates for distance variations between pins. It allows the system to absorb dimensional tolerances and slight misalignments without creating overconstraint, simplifying the mounting process while maintaining positioning accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The introduction of the flexible section changes the stiffness parameter of the dowel pin system. This allows the system to transition from a fully rigid configuration that causes overconstraint to a semi-flexible configuration that accommodates variations without complexity.
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 flexible design reduces manufacturing demands for hole location and roundness, enhances accuracy, and facilitates easier mounting and removal of components while maintaining precision.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient element which biases the first part in a direction towards alignment with the second part
Data Source
Figure 1~6
Figure 7~14
Figure 11~16
AI summary
A dowel pin (1) according to a first aspect with a cylindrical body (4). The cylindrical body (4) is divided into first and second parts (2,3). The first part (2) is movably connected to the second part (3) allowing only relative transverse movement between the first and second parts (2,3). According to a second aspect, the dowel pin (1) comprises a cylindrical circumferential surface (5) and first and second longitudinal ends. The circumferential surface (5) comprises a first plurality of primary radially lifted contact areas (33) at a first distance D1 from the first longitudinal end and a second distance D2 from the second longitudinal end, with D1 being less than D2, and a second plurality of secondary lifted contact areas (35,36) at a third distance D3 from the first longitudinal end and a fourth distance D4 from the second longitudinal end, D3 being larger than D4.