Nested Tolerance Ring Cartridge for Entanglement-Free Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tolerance rings with large gaps tend to entangle during use, packaging, and shipment, leading to potential damage and increased manual workload, while existing solutions do not adequately address the need for easier handling and assembly in assemblies such as motor, alternator, and hard disk drive applications.
Innovation Solution
A packaged article comprising a cartridge that nests tolerance rings with inward or outward waves, where each ring has end portions terminating at first and second ends, and a circumference spanning 180° or less in an uninstalled state, allowing for deformation to fit between inner and outer components, reducing entanglement and facilitating assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If tolerance rings are made with large gaps between ends, then they provide adequate performance in assemblies, but they become entangled during use, packaging, and shipment
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple tolerance rings are nested within a cylindrical cartridge housing, with each ring positioned inside the previous one. This nesting arrangement prevents entanglement during packaging and shipment while maintaining the rings' functional performance in assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The tolerance rings are pre-positioned in a controlled, non-entangled state within the cartridge during manufacturing. This preliminary arrangement ensures they remain organized and easy to handle during packaging and shipment, eliminating the entanglement problems that would otherwise occur with large-gap rings.
2Productivity
If tolerance rings have large gaps, then they allow rapid apparatus assembly, but they increase manual workload for users
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge is designed to enable self-service extraction of tolerance rings through a simple push action. The rings are held in place by friction and light spring pressure, allowing users to easily remove rings from the cartridge and install them on shafts without requiring manual unwrapping or dealing with entangled rings, thus maintaining rapid assembly while minimizing manual workload.
3Ease of operation
If tolerance rings are packaged loosely, then they are easy to access, but they become entangled and potentially damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The rings are nested within the cartridge in an organized sequence, preventing entanglement while remaining accessible. The cartridge design allows users to easily access and remove rings as needed, combining the benefits of secure packaging with easy accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge uses a flexible cylindrical housing that can be easily opened and closed. This flexible shell protects the rings from damage while allowing simple access, eliminating the need for complex packaging that would hinder accessibility.
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 provides a compact, easy-to-handle packaged article that reduces the risk of entanglement and assembly complexity, enhancing the assembly process by allowing for automated handling and improving the fit between components, thus reducing assembly forces and increasing the lifetime of the assembly.
Implementation Method 1
tolerance rings include a strip of resilient material, for example a metal
Implementation Method 2
The projection is adapted to compress radially to allow rotational or axial movement between the inner component and the outer component upon application of rotational or axial force
Data Source
Figure 1~2D
Figure 3
Figure 4A
AI summary
A tolerance ring (200) including a tolerance ring sidewall (404) including a plurality of waves (or bridges) (452) extending at least one of radially inward or outward and having first (416) and second end portions (420) terminating at first (417) and second ends (421), respectively, where the tolerance ring has a first radius of curvature Ri, measured at a point bisecting a circumferential length, LC, of the tolerance ring sidewall, and a second radius of curvature, R2, measured along one of the first and second end portions of the tolerance ring sidewall, and wherein at least one of: 1) Ri is greater than R2, or 2) wherein Ri is negative and R2 is positive.