Pushbutton-Releasing Tool With Adjustable Finger Arches
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pushbutton couplers on semi-flexible shafts and telescoping tubes are difficult to disengage, especially in challenging environments or with gloved hands, due to small button sizes and the need for additional tools, which can be impractical or costly.
Innovation Solution
A tool with interconnected arches and a nubbin design that encircles the user's fingers, providing a stable and adjustable mechanism to press the coupler button, allowing for easy disengagement of shaft segments without additional tools, suitable for use in dirty or adverse conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the coupler button is made small to reduce coupler diameter, then the coupler size is reduced, but the button becomes difficult to press with fingers
Solution Approach 1:
A tool with a nubbin (protrusion) is introduced as an intermediary between the user's finger and the coupler button. The tool's nubbin contacts and presses the button, while the user's finger contacts the tool's arch structure, enabling force transmission without direct finger-to-button contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from direct linear finger-to-button contact to a multi-dimensional interaction where the tool's arch structure engages the finger from one dimension while the nubbin presses the button from another dimension, allowing indirect force application.
2Ease of operation
If an Allen wrench or similar small tool is used to press the button, then the button can be depressed, but the tool may be dropped or lost
Solution Approach 1:
The solution merges the button-pressing function with a finger-retaining structure by integrating the nubbin (for pressing) and the arch structure (for finger retention) into a single unified tool, eliminating the need to hold or manage separate small tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The tool's arch structure automatically retains the user's finger during operation, providing self-service functionality where the tool itself ensures proper usage and prevents loss, without requiring additional retention mechanisms.
3Shape
If the button is positioned within a depressed cavity on the coupler exterior, then the coupler surface is streamlined, but the button becomes harder to access and press
Solution Approach 1:
The tool's nubbin extends from the arch structure to reach into the depressed cavity, pressing the button from a different spatial dimension than direct finger approach, allowing access to recessed buttons without compromising surface continuity.
Data Source
AI summary
A tool comprising a nubbin, or projection, is used to press on a recessed pushbutton of a shaft coupler. In one embodiment, a circular structure or a C shape structure fits a finger of the user's hand. A nubbin extends from the structure exterior. An arch, or a pair of projections, extend transversely to the user finger length, to contact one or both adjacent fingers during use and limit rotation of the tool. Another embodiment comprises a first element and a second element, each comprising two arches connected end-to-end; the two-arch openings face each other. To fit different diameter fingers, the spacing between the two elements is adjustable; a shaft integral with one element slides within a boss that is integral with the other element.