Hinged Locking-Tooth Fastener for High Pull-Out Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fasteners for utility items like electrical installations and pipes require improvements in load-bearing capacity and anchoring strength, particularly in drilled holes, while minimizing the need for rotation and ensuring effective pull-out protection.
Innovation Solution
The fastening element features adjustable locking teeth with a curved underside, arranged in multiple rows and segments, allowing for enhanced tiltability and angular adjustment relative to the shaft, providing increased frictional connection with the drilled hole wall, and a split shaft design for improved stability and ease of installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If locking teeth are made tiltable relative to the shaft to improve pull-out protection, then the fastener can withstand higher pull-out forces, but the structural complexity increases due to the hinge mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The locking teeth are segmented from the shaft through the hinge mechanism, allowing them to move independently. This segmentation enables the teeth to tilt and adapt to the hole wall while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking teeth transition from a static configuration to a dynamic one through the hinge mechanism. This allows the teeth to tilt and adjust their position in response to insertion forces and pull-out loads, improving anchoring without requiring a complex rigid structure.
2Strength
If multiple rows of locking teeth are added to increase load-bearing capacity, then the fastener can handle higher loads, but the shaft diameter and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The locking teeth are organized into multiple rows that are segmented along the shaft. This segmentation allows for increased load-bearing capacity while maintaining a manageable structural complexity through systematic arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of increasing the complexity of individual teeth, the solution adds multiple rows of teeth in the circumferential direction. This dimensional approach distributes the load across multiple teeth rows, enhancing load-bearing capacity without requiring overly complex individual tooth structures.
3Strength
If the locking teeth are made adjustable in a plane spaced from the longitudinal axis, then the anchoring is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge mechanism allows the locking teeth to change their angular parameter dynamically during installation and use. This parameter change enables improved anchoring through automatic adjustment rather than requiring precise pre-setting during manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking teeth automatically adjust their angular position through the hinge mechanism in response to applied forces. This self-adjusting capability improves anchoring without requiring external adjustment mechanisms or high manufacturing precision for angular positioning.
4Ease of operation
If the fastener is designed to require only translational movement without rotation, then the ease of operation is improved, but the anchoring effectiveness in certain applications is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The locking teeth are designed to dynamically tilt and adjust their position during translational insertion. This dynamic adjustment allows the teeth to automatically optimize their anchoring position within the hole without requiring rotational movement, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring anchoring effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastener performs its own anchoring optimization through the self-adjusting locking teeth that automatically tilt into the optimal position during simple translational insertion. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for manual rotation while maintaining anchoring effectiveness.
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 enhances anchoring strength, allowing the fastener to withstand higher pull-out forces and requires only translational movement for installation, reducing the need for rotation and ensuring secure attachment with improved load distribution and stability.
Implementation Method 1
the locking teeth, which are supported on the drill hole wall with their curved underside, provide effective pull-out protection. This is because the locking teeth strive to roll against the drill hole wall, whereby an increasing radial force is coupled into the drill hole wall as the pull-out force increases.
Implementation Method 2
The tiltability of the locking teeth relative to the shaft is provided by a film hinge located between the locking teeth and the shaft.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~6
Figure 7~8b
AI summary
The invention relates to a fastening element with a shaft 2 and locking teeth 3, 3.1 projecting laterally from the shaft 2, integrally formed with the shaft 2 via a hinge 13, 14, and tiltable relative to the shaft 2 for force-fit connection of the fastening element 1, which is inserted with its shaft 2 into a borehole, under a tensile load acting on the fastening element 1 opposite to the insertion direction. These locking teeth 3, 3.1 are equipped with a curved underside. A particular feature is that the tiltability of at least some of the locking teeth 3, 3.1 relative to the shaft 2 is arranged such that the section of these locking teeth 3, 3.1 that determines the maximum radius of the shaft of the fastening element 1 is adjustable in a plane E1, E2 that is spaced from or perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L of the shaft 2 in the delivered state of the fastening element 1.