Pivoting Keyboard Tray Interlock for Stable Vehicle Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing keyboard mounting solutions for vehicles and other applications lack a secure and easy-to-use mechanism for pivoting and securing a keyboard tray relative to a base, often resulting in instability and noise during use.
Innovation Solution
A keyboard mounting assembly featuring a base with a U-shaped channel and a keyboard tray with edge-engaging flanges that pivot between non-parallel and parallel positions, secured by a latch mechanism and interlock tabs, minimizing metal-to-metal contact and using resilient pads for damping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a keyboard tray is mounted to a base with simple attachment, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability and stability deteriorate due to lack of secure engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard tray is designed with dynamic engagement capabilities, allowing it to pivot between non-parallel and parallel positions relative to the base, and to be selectively latched or unlatched. This dynamic design provides both ease of adjustment and secure stability when latched, resolving the contradiction between simple attachment and reliable engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting mechanism is segmented into distinct functional components: edge-engaging portions for attachment to the base, an interlock mechanism for securing, and a latch mechanism for locking. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently, providing reliable stability without excessive overall complexity.
2Reliability
If a secure interlock mechanism is added to the keyboard tray, then the reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The interlock mechanism is designed to automatically engage when the keyboard tray is positioned in the parallel orientation. The interlock tabs and slots self-align and self-engage without requiring manual intervention, providing secure reliability while minimizing the complexity of operation and mechanism design.
Solution Approach 2:
The edge-engaging portions act as intermediaries between the keyboard tray and the base, providing the primary connection point. The interlock mechanism then builds upon this intermediary connection to provide additional securing, allowing the system to achieve high reliability through layered engagement rather than a single complex mechanism.
3Reliability
If manual fastening is required to secure the keyboard tray, then the reliability improves, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The latch mechanism is designed to automatically engage and lock the keyboard tray in the parallel position without requiring manual fastening operations. The system serves itself by automatically securing the tray, providing both reliability and ease of operation simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual fastening system is replaced with an automated latch mechanism that uses spring-loaded or cam-based mechanical advantage to automatically secure the keyboard tray. This substitution eliminates the need for manual intervention while maintaining secure reliability.
4Ease of manufacture
If direct metal-to-metal contact is used between the keyboard tray and base, then the ease of manufacture improves, but the reliability deteriorates due to noise and wear
Solution Approach 1:
Resilient pads are introduced as intermediary elements between the metal components of the keyboard tray and base. These pads mediate the contact, providing vibration damping and noise reduction while maintaining the structural connection. This allows the system to retain ease of manufacture with simple metal parts while dramatically improving reliability by eliminating direct metal-to-metal contact.
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
Enables secure, vibration-damped, and easy-to-use keyboard positioning without manual fastening, reducing noise and wear, suitable for various support structures including vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
using resilient pads for damping
Data Source
AI summary
A keyboard mounting assembly includes a base having a body portion with an edge, and a keyboard tray having a support portion configured to engage a keyboard. The keyboard tray further includes an edge-engaging portion configured to releasably engage the edge of the base for pivotal movement between a first position, in which the body portion of the base and the support portion of the keyboard tray are not parallel to one another, and a second position, in which the body portion of the base and the support portion of the keyboard tray are generally parallel to one another. The assembly further includes an interlock mechanism between the base and the keyboard tray that is operable to releasably secure the base and the keyboard tray in the second position.