Lever Clamp Fixing Mechanism for Vehicle Assembly Support Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lifting devices for motor vehicle assemblies lack a simple, safe, and efficient method for fixing support arms, particularly in adjusting angles and ensuring secure fixation across various vehicle configurations.
Innovation Solution
The lifting device employs a lever clamp with spring-loaded pins and a central disk featuring bores for a combination of frictional and positive connections, allowing for flexible angle adjustment and secure fixation through a design that includes a threaded screw and strategically arranged bores for enhanced force and positive engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a locking unit with a brake element and clamping lever is used to secure the support arm position, then the support arm can be fixed in a set position, but the structure becomes complex and the fixation force is insufficient compared to the patent's solution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex brake element and clamping lever mechanism from the locking unit, replacing it with a simplified design that uses spring-loaded pins directly engaging with holes in the central disc. This removes unnecessary components while maintaining fixation security through the spring-loaded pin mechanism that provides both frictional and positive engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fixation mechanism from a brake-based friction system to a spring-loaded pin system that combines frictional engagement (when pins press against the central disc surface) with positive engagement (when pins engage with holes). This parameter change in the engagement mechanism provides both simplicity and high fixation force.
2Force
If smooth or roughened surfaces are pressed against each other by the lever clamp, then fixation is achieved, but the fixation force is insufficient compared to the spring-loaded pin mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces spring-loaded pins as intermediary elements between the lever clamp and the central disc. These pins transmit and amplify the clamping force through their spring mechanism, providing a fixation force several times greater than the spring force itself. This intermediary mechanism eliminates the need for complex surface treatments while achieving high fixation force.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring-loaded pins provide a dynamic fixation mechanism that automatically adjusts to load conditions. The springs allow the pins to maintain constant contact pressure with the central disc or engage with holes as needed, providing adaptive fixation force that responds to operational loads without requiring complex surface treatments.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the lifting device is designed for specific vehicle assemblies, then fixation is secure, but the adaptability to different vehicle configurations is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the support arm and central disc with a universal interface system featuring multiple holes arranged in patterns and spring-loaded pins that can engage with any of these holes. This universal design allows the same mechanism to securely fix the support arm in multiple angular positions, accommodating different vehicle configurations while maintaining fixation security through both frictional and positive engagement.
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
This solution enables secure and flexible angle adjustment of support arms, providing a higher fixation force and cost-effective design, ensuring stability even in positions without a positive connection, and allowing for easy adaptation to different vehicle assemblies.
Implementation Method 1
The lever clamp has at least two spring-loaded pins on the side facing the central disc, which can disappear into a recess against a spring force
Implementation Method 2
fixing can be achieved solely through friction, whereby at least one spring-loaded pin, located on the lever clamp, is pressed against the central disc
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a lifting apparatus for an assembly of a motor vehicle, having a load bearing unit (2) having at least one carrier arm (3) and a support unit (4) that can be arranged on a lifting unit, the at least one carrier arm (3) being able to be rotated about a central axis (10), characterised in that the at least one carrier arm (3) is connected to a lever clamp (30), the lever clamp (30) being able to be fixed to a central disc (11), the central disc (11) being arranged in a rotationally symmetrical manner about the central axis (10).