Spring-Loaded Pivoting Latch for Portable Device Battery Cover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional portable electronic devices with sliding covers for battery compartment access can be physically challenging for users due to the need for tight securing mechanisms, which may lead to difficulties in opening and closing the cover.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of spring-loaded latch assemblies pivotally located along the edges of the cover, allowing for easier access by depressing and rotating the tabs away from engagement with the housing catches, enabling the cover to be lifted and removed with less physical effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cover is secured tightly to the housing using conventional sliding hooks, then the cover remains securely closed, but users find it physically challenging to open and close the cover
Solution Approach 1:
The latch assembly incorporates a spring mechanism that provides dynamic force to automatically engage the hook with the recess upon cover closure. The spring-loaded design allows the latch to move between engaged and disengaged states with minimal user force, resolving the contradiction between secure closure and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring-loaded latch assembly is designed to automatically engage and lock the cover to the housing without requiring manual intervention for the final securing action. When the cover is closed, the spring automatically pushes the hook into the recess, providing self-securing functionality that maintains reliability while reducing operational difficulty.
2Strength
If the cover is secured tightly to ensure secure closure, then the holding force is sufficient, but the force required by users to open the cover becomes excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The spring mechanism creates a dynamic force system where the spring stores potential energy during cover closure and releases it to maintain strong engagement. This allows the housing to exert strong holding force on the cover while requiring minimal force from users to initiate opening, as the spring assists in both engagement and disengagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring acts as an intermediary element between the user's manual input and the hook-recess engagement. It amplifies the user's small input force into sufficient engagement force, and conversely, it stores energy to provide strong holding force during operation, resolving the contradiction between strong holding and low activation force.
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
This design reduces the physical challenge of opening the battery compartment, allowing for easier access and replacement while providing a secure and durable mechanism that can be easily repaired by replacing the cover, unlike previous designs where the entire housing needed to be replaced.
Implementation Method 1
The latch assembly is spring-loaded and pivotally located along opposite edges of the cover
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus secures a cover onto a housing of a portable electronic device. The apparatus has a first latch that is pivotally connected to the cover by a first hinge, so that in a first rotational position, the first latch contacts a first catch on the housing and in a second rotational position, the first latch is remote from the first catch. A second latch assembly has a second latch that is pivotally connected to the cover by a second hinge, so that in one rotational position, the second latch contacts a second catch on the housing and in another rotational position, the second latch is remote from the second catch. By squeezing the first and second latches between two fingers, a user is able to disengage those latches from the catches and remove the cover from the housing.