Fluid Reservoir Locking Pin with Spring Tabs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid container securing methods for hydraulic motor vehicle brake systems are prone to incorrect assembly, wear, and reduced resilience under high loads, making them difficult to assemble and disassemble, especially in blind conditions, and limiting their reuse.
Innovation Solution
A flush-mounted locking device with elastically springable lugs that securely latch onto a thickened locking pin, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly without tools, and featuring a rotationally symmetric locking pin with a spherical surface section for robust and cost-effective construction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a locking pin with an orthogonally angled projection is used, then the locking function is improved, but the assembly complexity and inspection effort increase due to the need for specific positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The locking pin features an asymmetric design with a head flange and a specifically shaped locking projection that engages with the locking device. This asymmetric geometry ensures correct positioning during assembly while maintaining a simple insertion motion, resolving the contradiction between reliable locking and assembly simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking pin's head flange automatically engages with the locking device during insertion, providing self-alignment and self-positioning. The design eliminates the need for separate positioning operations or complex alignment procedures, allowing the component to guide itself into the correct position during assembly.
2Ease of operation
If a retaining pin with detent elements is used, then the assembly process is simplified, but the reusability and load-bearing capacity are reduced due to wear of detent elements
Solution Approach 1:
The locking pin is designed as a simple, robust component without complex detent elements that are prone to wear. While the assembly process remains simple, the design prioritizes durability and reusability by using a straightforward locking mechanism that can withstand repeated assembly-disassembly cycles and high lateral loads without degradation.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking pin incorporates a spherical surface section that interacts with a corresponding concave surface in the locking device. This curved geometry distributes contact forces more evenly, reducing stress concentrations and wear, thereby improving both reusability and load-bearing capacity while maintaining ease of assembly.
3Stability of the object's composition
If plate-shaped locking projections are used on the container bottom, then axial securing is achieved, but blind assembly becomes difficult and the locking function deteriorates after repeated use
Solution Approach 1:
The locking pin's head flange and spherical surface section provide self-guiding features that automatically align the pin with the locking device during insertion. This self-alignment mechanism enables easy blind assembly by hand or automation without requiring visual inspection or complex positioning, while the spherical contact surfaces ensure reliable repeated use.
4Ease of operation
If a locking device with elastically springable lugs is used, then assembly ease and reusability are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking device uses elastically springable lugs that change their physical state (flexing) during assembly. These lugs deform elastically to accommodate the locking pin's spherical surface section, then spring back to secure the pin in place. This dynamic parameter change enables simple assembly motion while maintaining a relatively simple overall device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking device incorporates flexible, elastically springable lugs that can deform and return to their original shape. This flexibility allows the lugs to accommodate the locking pin during insertion and then provide secure retention, achieving both ease of assembly and reliable locking with minimal structural 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 solution provides a robust, crash-safe, and cost-effective fluid container attachment that can be assembled and disassembled multiple times, ensuring secure locking without tools and reducing assembly forces, while being suitable for both right-hand and left-hand drive vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
which comprises at least two elastically springable tabs that engage with a thickened locking section of the locking pin, thereby securing the locking pin in its axial direction
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 5~8
AI summary
The invention relates to a fluid container (1) for releasably connecting to a vehicle component (2), wherein the fluid container (1) has at least one fastening extension (4, 5) with an opening (6, 7) which is aligned with a plug-through opening (8) in the vehicle component (2), and the connection is secured by a locking pin (3) which can be stretched into the plug-through opening (8) and the opening (6) and/or opening (7) and can be locked in an end position by a rectilinear plug-in movement in a plug-in direction (S); in order to increase the load-bearing capacity of the connection and to simplify the installation, it is proposed according to the invention that the fastening extension (4, 5) has a locking device (9, 10) which is arranged aligned with the respective opening (6, 7), and the locking device (9, 10) comprises at least two elastically springable tabs (11, 12, ..) which act in a latching manner on a thickened locking portion (18) of the locking pin (3) and thereby secure the locking pin (3) in the axial direction thereof.