Helmet Strap Latching Device with Locking Pawls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current chinstrap buckles on sports helmets, particularly football helmets, often become unsnapped during impact or game play, leading to helmets coming off, posing a safety risk, especially for youth players who lack the strength to properly engage the buckles and may unsure of the secure attachment.
Innovation Solution
A latching device with a buckle and clasp assembly featuring locking pawls and a release mechanism, including a cylindrical receiving member with an annular rim and a threaded shaft, and opposing buttons with biasing members to securely and releasably attach the strap to the helmet, ensuring stable retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional snap buckles are used to retain the helmet, then the device complexity is low and ease of manufacture is high, but the reliability of helmet retention deteriorates as the buckles become unsnapped during impact or game play
Solution Approach 1:
The buckle mechanism is divided into separate functional components: a clasp assembly with locking pawls and teeth, a button assembly with springs, and a receiving member. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function reliably while maintaining overall system manageability and manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking pawls act as intermediary elements between the button assembly and the receiving member. These pawls engage with the teeth on the receiving member to provide positive locking, serving as a mechanical mediator that ensures reliable retention while translating the simple button press into a secure locked state.
2Reliability
If traditional snap buckles are used, then the ease of operation is high, but the reliability deteriorates because youth players lack sufficient strength to properly snap the buckles and are unsure when they are properly engaged
Solution Approach 1:
The biasing springs in the button assembly provide tactile feedback to the user during engagement. When the buttons are pressed and the locking pawls engage with the teeth, the springs compress and release, giving the user clear tactile confirmation that the buckle is properly engaged. This feedback mechanism ensures youth players can reliably determine when the helmet is securely fastened.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking pawls are spring-loaded to automatically engage with the teeth on the receiving member when the buttons are pressed. This self-actuating mechanism eliminates the need for the user to manually manipulate complex locking components, making the system easy to operate while ensuring reliable engagement even for youth players with limited hand strength.
3Reliability
If a more complex locking mechanism is implemented to improve reliability, then the helmet retention becomes more secure, but the ease of manufacture deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The design uses standard spring parameters and modular component dimensions that can be manufactured using conventional processes. The locking pawls, teeth, and biasing springs are designed with standardized geometries that simplify manufacturing while maintaining the complex functional behavior needed for reliable helmet retention during impact.
Data Source
AI summary
A latching device configured to secure a strap to a piece of sports equipment or other wearable equipment. The latching device includes a locking buckle and clasp assembly. The locking buckle has a main body portion and a release mechanism. The release mechanism has locking pawls with claw members. The locking pawls engage the clasp assembly to releasably retain the locking buckle on the clasp assembly.