Quick-Release Clamp With Retractable Pawls for Variable Panel Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mechanisms for securing accessories to vehicles face challenges in accommodating varying thicknesses of accessory and vehicle bodies, leading to deployment difficulties, breakage, slippage, and inadequate engagement, particularly due to the inability to adapt to different body thicknesses.
Innovation Solution
A quick hold and release clamp with a base, protrusion, retractable pawl, and actuator mechanism that allows for secure engagement and disengagement without tools, accommodating variations in thickness through a pawl design that extends laterally to engage with the second body, facilitated by an internal mechanism converting rotational actuator motion into translational pawl movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional fasteners (screw-type or snap type) are used to secure accessories to vehicles, then the accessory can be attached to the vehicle body, but the mechanism fails to accommodate varying thicknesses of accessory and vehicle bodies, leading to deployment difficulties, breakage, slippage, and inadequate engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp incorporates a resilient member that enables dynamic adjustment of the pawl's engagement depth. The resilient member allows the pawl to flex and adapt to different thickness combinations of vehicle and accessory bodies while maintaining secure engagement. This dynamic capability resolves the contradiction by enabling both adaptability to varying thicknesses and reliable engagement through the elastic deformation of the resilient member.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp mechanism changes the engagement parameter (engagement depth) by allowing the pawl to extend to different depths based on the total thickness of the bodies being joined. The resilient member enables this parameter change by providing elastic compliance, allowing the same clamp design to securely engage bodies of varying thicknesses without compromising engagement security.
2Ease of operation
If conventional fasteners are used, then attachment is possible, but the mechanisms are difficult to deploy and require tools or complex deployment procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp is designed as a self-service mechanism where the actuator directly manipulates the resilient member and pawl assembly without requiring external tools. The user simply operates the actuator to compress the resilient member, which automatically retracts the pawl for insertion, and releases it to extend the pawl for engagement. This self-service operation achieves both ease of operation (tool-free deployment) and reliable engagement (secure pawl engagement).
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient member acts as an intermediary between the actuator and the pawl assembly. When the actuator is operated, it compresses the resilient member, which in turn drives the pawl to retract or extend. This intermediary mechanism translates simple actuator motion into reliable pawl engagement while maintaining ease of operation, as the resilient member handles the complex motion transformation automatically.
3Ease of manufacture
If resin bodies are used for the clamp components, then manufacturing is simplified, but the components are prone to breakage when exposed to shear forces in vehicular applications
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp employs a composite construction where the base and actuator are made of resin for ease of manufacture, but the pawl and resilient member are made of metal (such as steel) to provide high strength and resistance to shear forces. This composite approach allows the majority of the clamp to be manufactured using cost-effective resin molding while the critical load-bearing components utilize metal's superior mechanical properties to withstand vehicular application forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp applies local quality by using different materials in different locations based on functional requirements. The resin material is used in areas requiring ease of manufacture and complex geometry (base, actuator housing), while metal material is used locally in the pawl and resilient member where high strength and shear resistance are critical. This localized material selection achieves both ease of manufacture and adequate strength.
4Device complexity
If fixed-depth fasteners are used, then the structure is simple, but they cannot accommodate different depths in bodies where holes are formed
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp uses a dynamic pawl assembly that can extend to different depths along the longitudinal axis of the protrusion. The resilient member enables this dynamic depth adjustment by allowing the pawl to flex and engage at various positions depending on the total thickness of the bodies. This dynamic capability provides adaptability to different body depths while maintaining relatively simple structure through the use of a single movable pawl component.
Solution Approach 2:
The pawl assembly is segmented into the pawl itself and the resilient member, allowing independent function of each component. The pawl provides the engagement function while the resilient member provides the depth-adjustment capability through elastic deformation. This segmentation enables the mechanism to accommodate different body depths without requiring multiple fixed-depth components, maintaining structural simplicity while achieving versatility.
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
The clamp provides a secure, adaptable, and tool-free solution for attaching accessories to vehicles, ensuring stable engagement despite varying thicknesses, reducing breakage and slippage, and facilitating easy installation and removal.
Implementation Method 1
resilient members pressing against the pawl or pawls at an other end to urge the pawl or pawls to extend laterally outwardly
Data Source
AI summary
A releasable clamp, a method for releasably joining a first body to a second body and an actuator are provided. A clamp may be insertable through aligned openings in joinable bodies. The clamp may comprise a base comprising a compression surface facing the first body and being compressible around a periphery of the first opening, and a protrusion extending in a longitudinal direction from the base and insertable through the aligned openings. A force may be applied to an actuator operatively connected to a retractable pawl or pawls housed in the base and extendable in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. When the pawl or pawls are extended to an engaged position, the second body, the first body and the base are held into compressed relation against the compression surface. A sloped surface on the pawl or pawls allows the clamp to secure joinable bodies of various thicknesses.