Safety Bolt Profile Assembly for Theft-Resistant Panel Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mounting systems for surface elements, such as photovoltaic modules and glass panes, are inadequately secured against theft since fastening means are accessible from the outside, allowing for non-destructive disassembly and potential theft.
Innovation Solution
A mounting system featuring a safety bolt with a predetermined breaking point, inserted into a U-shaped profile, which limits movement and prevents disassembly without visible external access, ensuring the bolt is protected and difficult to destroy, combined with a head section forming a stop for adjacent elements and allowing for thermal compensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional fastening means are used that are accessible from the outside, then assembly is easy and fastening is simple, but the surface elements can be easily disassembled and stolen
Solution Approach 1:
The safety bolt is divided into two parts: a removable insertion section that can be accessed from outside for easy installation, and a fixed head section with a predetermined breaking point that remains inside the profile to provide secure anchoring and prevent theft. This segmentation allows the fastening system to be easily assembled while providing strong anti-theft protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The insertion section of the safety bolt is designed as a disposable component with a predetermined breaking point. Once installed, this section can be easily broken off and discarded, while the main anchoring function is provided by the permanent head section inside the profile. This allows for easy replacement and installation of new surface elements.
2Ease of operation
If the safety bolt is inserted into the profile from the outside, then assembly is simple, but the bolt is vulnerable to destruction and theft
Solution Approach 1:
The safety bolt is divided into a removable insertion section and a permanent head section. The insertion section can be easily inserted from outside the profile for simple assembly, while the head section with the anchoring element remains inside the profile to provide strong protection and resistance against destruction and theft attempts.
Solution Approach 2:
The insertion section acts as an intermediary component that facilitates easy installation from outside the profile. It transfers the fastening function to the head section inside the profile, allowing simple assembly while the actual security function is performed by the protected internal components.
3Reliability
If the surface element is tightly fixed to prevent movement, then security is improved, but thermal expansion and movement tolerance are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The safety bolt system provides dynamic fixation by allowing controlled movement of the surface element within the profile while maintaining security. The play between the bolt and profile accommodates thermal expansion and contraction, as well as other movements, while the predetermined breaking point ensures that excessive movement or theft attempts result in bolt failure rather than element damage.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
The system has two profiles (6, 7) arranged at a distance from each other and comprising respective U-shaped sections, where a surface element (2) is inserted into one of the U-shaped sections. A fastening bolt (20) is arranged at one of the profiles for limiting movement of the surface element to a base of the U-shaped section. The bolt has a predetermined breaking point, and demounted only through damage of the breaking point. The bolt has a spring rod and a head section that is arranged in another U-shaped section, where the bolt is made from plastic.