Retractable Push Pin Mechanism for Safe Thumb Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing push pins are difficult to handle in bulk, pose a poking hazard, especially for young children, and often become bent, making them unreliable for use and unsuitable for applications requiring minimal hole damage.
Innovation Solution
A push pin design featuring a main body with a trough, a rotatably coupled pin body, and a tension member, such as an elastic loop or torsion spring, that biases the pin body toward a stowed position within the trough, allowing easy deployment and secure stowing, with a thumb-actuated mechanism for easy operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the pin is exposed for easy access, then ease of operation is improved, but safety is worsened due to poking hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The pin is nested within a cavity in the push pin body when not in use, making it inaccessible for poking. When needed, the pin can be deployed outward while remaining integrated with the body, thus maintaining safety while providing ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The pin transitions between a retracted safe state and an extended usable state, allowing the device to adapt its configuration based on operational needs. This dynamic positioning resolves the contradiction between safety (retracted) and ease of operation (extended).
2Ease of operation
If a ring is added to provide grip, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability is worsened due to spring tension pushing the pin out
Solution Approach 1:
The problematic ring component is completely removed from the design. Instead, the push pin body itself is designed with an integrated cavity and thumb actuator that provides both grip and operational control without introducing spring tension that could push the pin out of the intended surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The gripping function and the body structure are merged into a single integrated component. The thumb actuator is built into the body, eliminating the need for a separate ring while maintaining ease of operation and improving reliability.
3Ease of manufacture
If the pin passes through a ring orifice, then manufacturing is simplified, but reliability is worsened when pins become bent
Solution Approach 1:
The ring component with its orifice is completely removed from the design. The pin is instead directly received in a cavity within the push pin body, eliminating the need for the pin to pass through any orifice and removing the reliability issue associated with bent pins.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the pin pass through a ring (external constraint), the design inverts the approach by having the pin received within a cavity (internal containment). This reversal eliminates the manufacturing complexity and reliability issues while maintaining ease of manufacture through simple cavity formation.
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 push pin is safely stowed to prevent pokes, deploys without pushing out of surfaces, and has a user-friendly thumb actuator, addressing handling difficulties and reliability issues while minimizing hole damage.
Implementation Method 1
a tension member, such as an elastic loop or torsion spring, that biases the pin body toward a stowed position
Implementation Method 2
a tension member, such as an elastic loop or torsion spring, that biases the pin body toward a stowed position
Data Source
AI summary
A push pin, which has a position in which the pin is stowed to avoid unintended pin pricks and a fully-deployed position, is disclosed. The push pin includes: a main body with a trough and a pin, a pin body rotatably coupled to the main body; and a tension member coupled between the main body and the pin body. The tension member biases the pin body toward a stowed position in which the pin of the pin body is stowed in the trough of the main body. With a thumb-actuated nub on the pin body, the user of the push pin pushes against the tension member to rotate the pin body into the fully-deployed position for use. The tension member is an elastic loop in some embodiments and a torsion spring in other embodiments.