Flexible Wall Securing Device for Tool-Free Vehicle Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing securing devices for motor vehicles require tedious and costly installation of specific rails and fixing means, such as welding or drilling, to secure objects or loads inside the vehicle.
Innovation Solution
A device that uses a hollow body with a flexible wall and a pusher mechanism to lock a securing means, like a ring, to a circular opening in the vehicle's wall without the need for tools or rails, allowing the flexible wall to bend radially for easy installation and locking into place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If specific rails and fixing means (welded, roman nuts, plates or drilled holes) are provided on the vehicle body to secure objects, then the securing function is achieved, but the installation becomes tedious and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the securing function from the complex rail fixing system and concentrates it into a single self-contained device that can be installed through a simple circular opening, eliminating the need for welded rails, roman nuts, plates or drilled holes on the vehicle body
Solution Approach 2:
The device is self-installing through the circular opening using the pusher mechanism that expands and contracts to secure itself without requiring external fixing means or tools, making the installation process simple and tool-free
2Ease of operation
If the flexible wall is maintained in an expanded position by the pusher, then the device can be easily inserted through the opening, but the device cannot lock into place
Solution Approach 1:
The pusher mechanism dynamically changes the state of the flexible wall between expanded (for insertion) and contracted (for locking), allowing the device to transition between different functional states to achieve both easy insertion and secure locking
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible wall is preliminarily expanded by the pusher to facilitate insertion through the opening, then the pusher is retracted to allow the wall to contract and lock into place, performing the expansion action before the locking is needed
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 fixation of objects or loads inside a motor vehicle without the need for tools or additional fixing rails, simplifying the installation process and reducing costs, while maintaining effective locking and unlocking functionality.
Implementation Method 1
the pusher is movable against the action of a return spring
Implementation Method 2
the flexible wall flexes radially towards the rest position
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The device has a hollow body (3) surrounding a body including a flexible wall with a free edge (6), where the free edge is inscribed in a circle of diameter equal to or higher than a circular opening (2) when the edge is at rest. A push rod (7) moves between a position in which the push rod maintains the free edge by an axial push and another position in which the push rod liberates the free edge so that the flexible wall bends radially towards a rest position. The wall has elastic prongs (8) defining a flared volume in a direction of application of the body (3).