Miniature Clinch Pin With Rectangular Broaching Section
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Solution Overview
Problem
Miniature clinch-type fasteners are difficult to handle and install manually, making automated orientation and feeding challenging, especially for very small parts, which necessitates a machine-fed solution for effective panel fastening.
Innovation Solution
A clinching pin with a square or rectangular cross-section, featuring a head, shoulder, undercut, and tapered tip, designed for straight edge clinching, which is manufactured in a continuous string for easy feeding and installation, utilizing a broaching section to deform the bottom panel and secure the top panel effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If clinch-type fasteners are made smaller to reduce size, then the fastener dimensions are reduced, but the ease of operation deteriorates making manual handling and automated feeding difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The fastener is designed with distinct functional segments: a head portion for retention, a shaft portion for insertion, and a deformable tip for anchoring. This segmentation allows each portion to be optimized independently - the head maintains sufficient size for handling while the overall fastener remains compact, and the shaft geometry facilitates automated feeding through proper orientation
Solution Approach 2:
The fastener employs asymmetric geometry with a non-circular shaft cross-section (e.g., rectangular or oval) that provides inherent orientation feedback during automated feeding. This asymmetry ensures the fastener presents the correct insertion end to the dispensing mechanism, solving the orientation problem that plagues miniature fasteners while maintaining compact dimensions
2Productivity
If automated feeding systems are implemented to handle miniature fasteners, then productivity increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fastener's asymmetric geometry provides self-orienting functionality during automated feeding. The non-circular cross-section naturally aligns the fastener in the correct orientation as it is fed through the dispensing mechanism, eliminating the need for complex orientation sensors, actuators, or vision systems that would otherwise be required to handle miniature fasteners accurately
3Ease of manufacture
If the pin features are formed in one operation to simplify manufacturing, then ease of manufacture improves, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The head, shaft, and tip features are formed as an integrated component in a single manufacturing operation (such as stamping, extrusion, or injection molding). This merging of features eliminates the need for separate forming operations and assembly steps, simplifying manufacturing while the integrated design inherently ensures proper feature alignment without requiring high-precision post-forming operations
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 enables efficient and strong clinching of two metal sheets with reduced installation inefficiencies, providing enhanced pullout strength and simplifying the handling and installation process of miniature fasteners through automated feeding.
Implementation Method 1
a broaching portion at the tip which forms a square or rectangular portion in a round hole of the bottom sheet for straight edge clinching features to engage
Implementation Method 2
A displacer on the shank of the pin deforms material of the bottom panel pushing it into an undercut in the shank thus locking the pin into the bottom panel
Data Source
Figure 1~1D
Figure 2~2D
Figure 3~3D
AI summary
A fastener pin has a head at a topmost end that is the greatest diameter of the fastener. A shoulder extends downward from the head and includes a bottom surface for displacing material of a host object. A broaching section of rectangular lateral cross-section is located immediately below the displacer by cutting a rectangular profile into a round installation hole in the host object. Immediately below the broaching section is a tapered tip at a bottommost end which may be in the shape of a rectangular pyramid rotated radially out of alignment with the remainder of the other fastener features which all have parallel side edges. This individual fastener is one of a series of substantially identical pins attached toe-to-head at severable joints in a continuous string of fasteners.