Pendant Locking Mechanism for Interchangeable Insert Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pendants lack the ability to display different items and do not have a user-friendly locking mechanism for interchangeable inserts, which are often made of high sentimental value and require a permanent seal.
Innovation Solution
A pendant design featuring a face plate with offset key portions and a back plate with matching grooves, allowing for a primary and secondary locking mechanism, enabling the interchange of inserts such as a pillbox or circular insert, with a display portion for showcasing items like ashes of departed loved ones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pendant is permanently sealed to protect items of high sentimental value, then security and protection are improved, but the ability to interchange inserts is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The pendant is divided into separable components: a face plate, a back plate, and interchangeable inserts (pillbox or circular insert). The segmentation allows the pendant to maintain security through its locking mechanism while enabling interchangeability of the insert components. The face plate and back plate can be separated to allow insert replacement, resolving the contradiction between permanent sealing and interchangeability.
Solution Approach 2:
The pendant transitions from a static, permanently sealed design to a dynamic system with movable parts. The locking mechanism includes a latch that can engage and disengage, and the face plate can be rotated relative to the back plate to lock or unlock. This dynamic capability allows the pendant to switch between secured and open states, enabling both security and interchangeability.
2Reliability
If a conventional pendant is designed with a permanent seal, then item security is improved, but user-operable locking mechanism is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to be user-operable without requiring external tools or assistance. The user can manually manipulate the face plate rotation and latch engagement to lock and unlock the pendant independently. This self-service capability maintains item security while providing ease of operation for the user.
3Device complexity
If a pendant is designed without interchangeable inserts, then structural simplicity is maintained, but display versatility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The pendant is designed with universal compatibility for multiple insert types (pillbox and circular insert) within the same case structure. The standardized interface with key portions and grooves allows different inserts to be used interchangeably, providing display versatility while maintaining relatively simple structural design. The same locking mechanism serves multiple functions for different insert configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A pendant includes a face plate and back plate for defining an internal chamber. When key portions on the face plate are positioned over key entrances of the back plate, and the face plate rotated with respect to the back plate so that the key portions rest on a top surface of the second portion of the grooves in the back plate, the pendant enters a primary locked position. When the latch of the face plate is positioned between two protruding portions of the back plate and resting on a seat location, the pendant enters a secondary locked position.