Floating Clip Nut Cage for Torque-Safe Lightweight Fasteners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lightweight-construction fasteners, such as clip nuts, face challenges in mounting, handling, and production complexity due to co-rotation issues and torque transmission, particularly in plastic or aluminum honeycomb structures used in automotive and aerospace industries.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight-construction fastener comprising a one-piece plastic clip body with a movable clip nut featuring a polygonal main body, side walls, and a cage with holding openings, allowing for floating mounting and torque support through side wall contact, reducing complexity and enhancing handling and production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed threaded sleeve is used to prevent co-rotation, then co-rotation is prevented, but the nut has no play and mounting comfort is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a fixed threaded sleeve to a dynamic cage structure with multiple wall elements that allow controlled movement. The cage can rotate and adjust during mounting, providing play and mounting comfort while still preventing co-rotation through the interaction between pin-shaped lugs and wall element openings.
2Force
If lugs, journals or stop surfaces are provided for torque transmission, then torque is transmitted during tightening, but the complexity of the clip nut and mounting outlay increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the torque transmission function with the existing cage structure. The pin-shaped lugs engaging with openings in the wall elements serve dual purposes: preventing co-rotation and transmitting torque during tightening. This eliminates the need for separate lugs, journals, or stop surfaces, reducing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The cage structure is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it prevents co-rotation, allows floating mounting with play, and transmits torque during tightening. The pin-shaped lugs and wall element openings work together to achieve all these functions without requiring additional components.
3Reliability
If a metal clip body with fixed threaded sleeve is used, then co-rotation is prevented, but mounting comfort is reduced and production complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the clip body into a plastic component and separates the co-rotation prevention mechanism into a distinct cage structure with wall elements. This allows each component to be optimized for its specific function and manufactured using appropriate processes, reducing overall production complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction with a plastic clip body and a cage structure, allowing combination of materials with different properties. The plastic provides lightweight construction and ease of manufacturing, while the cage structure provides precise co-rotation prevention and torque transmission.
Data Source
AI summary
A lightweight-construction fastener (10) having a one-piece clip body (20) made of plastic and a clip nut (40). The clip body has the basic shape of a clamp, having two opposite legs (22, 24) extending in the longitudinal direction and a cage (28) in which the clip nut is floatingly mounted. The clip nut in turn has a nut base (42) which is substantially planar. A main part (44) is structured on the nut base and has a cover surface (41) and a plurality of side walls (51, 51′) which extend between the nut base and the cover surface. The side walls of the main part preferably have a convex curvature and the cage has correspondingly designed concave walls. The sizing is such that the convex-concave surface pairs act as torque supports during use of the lightweight-construction fastener.