Modular Trowel Handle With Compressible Seal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing trowel handles face challenges in providing a secure yet easily removable interface with trowel blades, especially in wet environments, and require tight tolerances to prevent water and adhesive ingress, which increases production costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A modular trowel handle design featuring a handle section with a post and mounting surface, a trowel blade receiving plate with engaging structure, and a compressible outer sleeve to ensure a secure and watertight seal, allowing easy attachment and detachment from the trowel blade, while using different materials for the handle and blade receiving plate to reduce manufacturing constraints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a removable interface is provided between the blade and handle to allow easy detachment, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to risk of water and adhesive ingress
Solution Approach 1:
The handle is divided into multiple separable components including a blade receiving plate, mounting surface, and handle section that can be assembled and disassembled. This segmentation allows for easy detachment while incorporating sealing elements at each interface to maintain reliability during use.
Solution Approach 2:
Sealing elements act as intermediary components between the blade receiving plate and handle section, preventing direct contact between water/adhesive and internal mechanisms while allowing the removable interface to function. These seals mediate between the need for easy detachment and protection against ingress.
2Reliability
If tight tolerances are used to prevent water and adhesive ingress, then reliability is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The design uses replaceable polymeric handle sections that can be manufactured with relaxed tolerances. Instead of requiring precision-machined permanent handles, the system uses cost-effective polymeric components that are replaced when worn, eliminating the need for tight manufacturing tolerances while maintaining reliability through the sealing system.
Solution Approach 2:
Flexible sealing elements and polymeric components are used to create watertight seals without requiring precision-machined surfaces. The flexibility of these materials allows them to conform to slight variations in manufacturing, achieving reliable sealing with relaxed tolerance requirements.
3Ease of operation
If a soft, comfortable interface is provided on the handle for user contact, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to damage from adhesives and concrete materials
Solution Approach 1:
The handle is segmented into a protective outer shell and an inner comfortable interface. The outer shell protects against damage from adhesives and concrete, while the inner polymeric section provides user comfort. This segmentation allows each component to fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The polymeric handle section that provides user comfort is designed as a replaceable component. When it becomes worn or damaged from contact with adhesives and concrete, it can be easily replaced by detaching the handle from the blade, allowing recovery of the durable blade while discarding only the worn polymeric section.
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 modular design provides a secure, easily removable, and comfortable handle interface that reduces manufacturing costs and complexity, ensuring a watertight seal and extended product life without the need for tight tolerances, thus addressing the challenges of secure attachment and ease of replacement in wet environments.
Implementation Method 1
Coupling of the end cap to the forward abutment with the outer sleeve and inner member compressed therebetween can result in the at least a portion of the forward and the rear terminal sections of the outer sleeve compressibly and sealably engaging the forward abutment and the end cap
Data Source
AI summary
A modular trowel handle device comprises a handle section to provide a handle interface for a user of the trowel handle and a post extending from the handle section. A mounting surface is coupled to the post and extends generally parallel to the handle section. The mounting surface includes a plurality of fasteners extending therefrom or formed therein. A trowel blade receiving plate includes engaging structure configured to engage a connector of a trowel blade and a plurality of corresponding fasteners extending therefrom or formed therein. The trowel blade receiving plate is coupled to the mounting surface by the fasteners and is formed from a different material than the mounting surface.