Quick Attach Bracket for Aircraft Lightening Holes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft interior installations require permanent fixtures, making it difficult to mount non-structural objects without expensive tooling or rivets, and existing brackets do not allow for easy removal or coexistence with other components like wires and cables in lightening holes.
Innovation Solution
A quick attach bracket with an L-shaped member and self-centering hub that snaps onto a flange and partially inserts into a lightening hole, allowing for toolless installation and easy removal, while not fully occupying the hole to accommodate other items.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing brackets use permanent fixtures like rivets or expensive tooling for mounting, then the bracket achieves secure attachment to aircraft structures, but the installation becomes complex and difficult to remove
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is divided into two functional portions: an L-shaped member for structural attachment and a hub for insertion into the lightening hole. This segmentation allows each portion to be optimized independently - the L-shaped member provides secure structural attachment while the hub enables easy insertion and removal through the lightening hole without requiring complex tooling or permanent fixtures.
2Reliability
If a bracket fully occupies a lightening hole for secure mounting, then the bracket achieves stable attachment, but other components like wires and cables cannot coexist in the same hole
Solution Approach 1:
The hub is designed to partially occupy the lightening hole rather than fully occupying it. The hub extends from the L-shaped member and inserts into the lightening hole just enough to provide stable attachment, leaving sufficient space remaining in the hole for other components such as wires, cables, or additional fasteners to pass through and coexist with the bracket.
3Ease of operation
If a bracket is designed for easy removal from lightening holes, then the bracket allows for quick uninstallation, but the hub may become difficult to extract without damaging the hole
Solution Approach 1:
The hub features a rounded portion with a curved outer diameter that tapers toward the end. This spherical/curved geometry allows the hub to be easily inserted into the lightening hole by rolling or pushing it in, and equally easily removed by gripping and pulling it out. The curved surface distributes stress evenly during insertion and extraction, preventing concentration of forces that could damage the lightening hole edges.
4Manufacturing precision
If a bracket uses traditional mounting methods with tooling, then the bracket achieves precise positioning, but the installation time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The L-shaped member with its retaining ridge and flange engagement features is designed to self-align and self-position when installed on the aircraft structure. The retaining ridge engages with the flange of the lightening hole, automatically providing precise positioning without requiring external alignment tools or specialized installation equipment. The bracket essentially installs itself through its geometric features.
Data Source
AI summary
A quick attach bracket includes a first portion and a second portion aligned substantially perpendicular with the first portion, a retaining ridge disposed across the first portion and extending in the direction of the second portion, and a hub disposed on the second portion and extending in the direction of the first portion. The retaining ridge is configured to receive a flange of a structure. The hub includes a sidewall that extends from the second portion in the direction of the first portion, a façade aligned with the second portion, and a rounded portion connecting the sidewall and the façade to assist with installation of the hub into a recess or through-hole of the structure. The quick attach bracket is installable by hand via hooking of the retaining ridge on the flange and insertion of the hub into the recess or through-hole.