In-glovebox Container With Strike-less Latch and Buttress Thread
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current nuclear material containers face challenges in meeting performance objectives, particularly in glovebox environments, where they need to withstand fires, drops, and water immersion, with existing designs struggling to maintain watertightness and prevent material release during accidents.
Innovation Solution
The development of a container with two closing mechanism designs: an upright strike-less latch design and a Buttress thread design, incorporating a rubber-like seal and a unique thread configuration for enhanced axial pulse loading resistance, along with a hydrophobic perfluorooctyl-trichlorosilane treatment for the filter to maintain material integrity under high gamma radiation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional container designs are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but the container cannot withstand glovebox fire, drops, and water immersion while maintaining watertightness
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into separate functional components: a lid assembly with latch mechanisms, a body with threaded engagement features, and a gasket system. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while meeting the overall performance requirements for fire, drop, and water immersion resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The container incorporates pre-engineered features such as tack-welded latches positioned at specific distances from the lid, pre-compressed gaskets with predetermined compression percentages, and threaded engagement structures that are designed in advance to withstand axial pulse loading. These preliminary design actions ensure the container meets performance objectives without requiring complex assembly or adjustment during operation.
2Reliability
If the container uses a latch design with tack-welded latches, then watertightness is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirement increases due to distance dependencies
Solution Approach 1:
The latches are tack-welded to the container body at predetermined positions during manufacturing, establishing fixed geometric relationships between the latches and the lid engagement surfaces. This preliminary positioning ensures that the distance between latch final placement and the lid is consistent and dependent on the predetermined gasket compression percentage, thereby maintaining watertightness while managing manufacturing precision requirements through pre-planned tolerances.
3Reliability
If the container is designed to withstand a 12-foot drop, then reliability under accident scenarios is improved, but the device complexity and structural requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The container incorporates structural features designed in advance to absorb and distribute impact forces from drops. The threaded engagement structure and latch mechanisms are engineered with built-in flexibility and strength to withstand the forces generated by a 12-foot drop, cushioning the nuclear materials against damage while maintaining containment integrity without requiring overly complex protective structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A container having two different closing mechanism designs including an upright strike-less latch design and a Buttress thread design.