Rotating Locking Plate Coupling for Square Shaft-Ends
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing couplings for shaft-ends with square cross-sections require tools for assembly and disassembly, which can be inconvenient for applications like exercise bicycles or vehicles, where quick coupling and decoupling of cranks and wheels are necessary.
Innovation Solution
A coupling system comprising a front plate, a locking plate, and a rear plate with continuous and non-continuous square openings, where the locking plate is rotatably mounted between the front and rear plates, allowing for tool-free coupling by rotating the locking plate between unlocked and locked positions, ensuring secure engagement without removal without reversing the rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a coupling system uses a rotatable locking plate between front and rear plates with continuous and non-continuous square openings, then tool-free quick coupling and decoupling is enabled, but the device complexity increases due to multiple plates and rotational locking mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling device is divided into three separate plates (front plate, locking plate, rear plate) that can be independently manufactured and assembled. Each plate has specific functions: the front and rear plates provide structural support with continuous and non-continuous square openings respectively, while the locking plate provides the rotational locking mechanism. This segmentation allows for easier manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance while enabling tool-free operation.
2Productivity
If the locking plate is made thin (thickness not greater than groove width b), then the coupling allows quick rotation between locked and unlocked positions, but the structural strength may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The locking plate is designed with non-uniform thickness distribution. While the overall thickness is constrained to be not greater than the groove width b to enable quick rotation, the plate incorporates localized reinforcement zones at critical areas such as the square opening corners and attachment points to the front and rear plates. This local quality approach maintains structural strength where needed while preserving the thin profile for rapid rotational movement.
Data Source
AI summary
A coupling (1) for a shaft-end (2) having a square cross-section includes a front plate (6), a locking plate (7) and a rear plate (8) provided with square openings (9, 10, 11), in which the square shaft-end can be inserted. The locking plate can be rotated back and forth between an unlocked position (I), in which the square openings in the front plate, the rear plate and the locking plate coincide, and a locked position (II), in which the openings do not coincide. In the unlocked position the square shaft-end can be inserted through the coinciding square openings. Subsequently, the locking plate is rotated so that the shaft-end cannot be pulled out until the locking plate is returned into the unlocked position. The coupling can be used for easily interconnecting different types of parts, for example, applicable with exercise bicycles, bicycles, etc.