Removable Fan Blade Connector for Color Deck
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing color fan decks require dismantling the fastener to add or remove fan blades, which is time-consuming and risks losing or misarranging blades, and the blades must withstand the weight of the deck during use.
Innovation Solution
The fan blades feature a planar connector with a channel that allows for removal and addition without opening the fastener, combined with a polymeric film for additional strength, enabling the blades to support the deck's weight without deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the fastener is made secure and durable to hold blades during use, then the blade strength and reliability are improved, but the time and complexity to add or remove blades increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into a blade connector portion and a fastener connector portion, allowing the blade to be independently attached to the fastener without dismantling the entire fan deck structure. This segmentation enables selective blade replacement while maintaining the integrity of the fastener and other blades.
Solution Approach 2:
The channel feature is extracted from the connector, providing a dedicated pathway that allows the fastener body to pass through during blade installation and removal. This extraction creates a specific mechanical interface that simplifies blade exchange while maintaining secure attachment during use.
2Ease of operation
If the connector is made flexible to allow blade removal, then the ease of operation is improved, but the structural integrity and weight support capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is designed with flexible material properties that allow it to deform during blade insertion and removal operations, then return to its original shape to maintain structural integrity. This flexibility enables easy blade exchange while preserving the strength needed to support the fan deck weight during normal use.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector transitions between different mechanical states: flexible and deformable during blade installation/removal, then rigid and stable during fan deck usage. This dynamic behavior allows the connector to accommodate both operational requirements of ease of assembly and structural strength.
3Ease of manufacture
If the channel is made wide enough to allow fastener passage, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the risk of blade separation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The channel has varying dimensions along its length, with a wider section for fastener passage during manufacturing and assembly, and a narrower section that provides mechanical interference fit to retain the blade on the fastener. This local variation in geometry allows easy manufacturing while preventing blade separation during use.
Data Source
AI summary
A fan blade and color display fan deck provide a changeable color display product because the fan deck blades can be added to and removed from the fan deck without opening the fastener to which the fan blades are pivotally attached. Despite being removable from the fan deck, the blades can withstand the normal wear and tear associated with use in a color fan deck such as supporting the weight of the whole fan deck when a user holds an individual fan blade.