Panel Fastener With Movable Nut for Varying Panel Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fasteners used in vehicles are complex, heavy, and costly to manufacture, limiting their versatility and requiring multiple types for different panel sizes, which complicates their use and production.
Innovation Solution
A fastener design featuring a base member with a through bore and a receiving aperture, a nut member that moves to engage with stop members, and resilient legs for panel support, made from integrally molded plastic, allowing for easy assembly and use across varying panel thicknesses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metal fasteners are used, then strength and reliability are improved, but weight and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from metal to plastic, fundamentally altering the weight and cost characteristics while maintaining fastener functionality. This material substitution resolves the contradiction by providing a lighter, cheaper alternative that still achieves reliable attachment through the designed engagement mechanism between the fastener and panel structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastener utilizes plastic material with specific structural design elements (receiving portion, resilient legs, blocking portion) to create a composite solution that combines material properties with geometric features. This approach allows the plastic fastener to achieve metal-like reliability through the interaction between the blocking portion and stop members, while maintaining the weight and cost advantages of plastic material.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple types of fasteners are used for different panel sizes, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fastener is designed with a universal receiving portion that can accommodate panel structures of varying sizes and thicknesses. The resilient legs and blocking portion work together to adapt to different panel configurations, allowing a single fastener design to replace multiple specialized fastener types. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by providing versatility through a unified design rather than through multiple different fastener types.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient legs provide dynamic adaptation capability, allowing the fastener to flex and adjust to different panel thicknesses and positions. This dynamic feature enables the same fastener design to accommodate varying panel sizes without requiring multiple fixed-design fasteners, thereby reducing complexity while maintaining adaptability.
3Reliability
If complex fastener designs are used, then reliability is improved, but ease of manufacture and ease of operation worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The fastener integrates multiple functional elements (receiving portion, resilient legs, blocking portion) into a single molded plastic component. This merging of functions into one part simplifies manufacturing compared to assembling multiple separate metal components, while the interlocking design of the blocking portion and stop members ensures reliable attachment. The integration resolves the contradiction by achieving reliability through design geometry rather than through complex assembly of multiple parts.
4Ease of operation
If frangible connection is used, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability may worsen during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The frangible connection is pre-designed to break at a specific point during the installation process, automatically transitioning the fastener from a loose state to a locked state. This preliminary design of the failure point ensures that the connection is reliably established without requiring complex installation procedures. The controlled breakage resolves the contradiction by making the reliability transition automatic and built into the installation process itself.
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(c)
Figure 2(a)~2(d)
Figure 3(a)~3(d)
AI summary
A fastener for coupling two panel structures, comprising: a base member, having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion extending along a longitudinal axis; a first member, provided on said base member towards said proximal end portion, said first member comprising a through bore having a first central axis that is parallel to said longitudinal axis; a second member, provided on said base member towards said distal end portion and spaced apart from said first member so as to form a receiving portion configured to receive at least one panel structure, comprising an aperture defining an internal surface and having a second central axis that is coaxially aligned with said first central axis, said internal surface comprising at least one stop member protruding radially inwardly from said internal surface, and a nut member, coaxially aligned within and frangibly connected to said internal surface of said aperture, comprising at least one block member protruding radially outward from an outer surface of said nut member and configured to stoppingly engage with said at least one stop member, and wherein, during use, said nut member is configured to move from a first position, where said nut is frangibly connected to said internal surface, to a second position, where said least one block member is abuttingly engaged with said at last one stop member so as to allow axial movement of said nut member within said aperture of said second member.