Screw-Free Door Lock Using Snap-Fit Clamping for Panel Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door locks for electrical devices require screw reinforcement, necessitating positioning holes on the panel, which complicates installation, affects precision, stability, and aesthetics.
Innovation Solution
A door lock design featuring a door hook hole body with clamping edges and a lock head that installs without screws, utilizing a cantilever mechanism with elastic deformation to secure onto a panel through a snap-fit mechanism, ensuring precise and stable attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If screw reinforcement is used for door lock installation, then installation stability and strength are improved, but installation complexity increases and aesthetic appearance deteriorates due to visible screw holes
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the screw fastening components from the door lock installation system. The door hook hole body is designed with clamping edges that directly engage with the panel rim, removing the need for screws, positioning holes, and reinforcement structures, thereby simplifying installation while maintaining stability
Solution Approach 2:
The door hook hole body incorporates a rotatable mechanism that transitions from an installation state (where clamping edges engage the panel rim) to a working state (where the rotating member engages the door hook). This dynamic transformation allows the same structure to serve multiple functions without additional components
2Strength
If screw reinforcement is used for door lock installation, then installation strength is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase due to the need for precise positioning holes
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping edges of the door hook hole body automatically engage with the rim of the installation hole through elastic deformation and geometric constraints. The structure self-adjusts and self-locates during installation, eliminating the need for pre-drilled positioning holes and high-precision manufacturing, while still achieving strong installation strength
3Stability of the object's composition
If screw reinforcement is used for door lock installation, then structural stability is improved, but aesthetic appearance deteriorates due to visible screw holes on the panel
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes all visible screw holes and fastening components from the panel surface. The door hook hole body is installed within the panel cavity and engages the rim internally, leaving the panel front surface completely intact and aesthetically pleasing while maintaining structural stability through the clamping mechanism
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
Enables easy, precise, and aesthetically pleasing installation without screw reinforcement, maintaining stability and facilitating quick detachment.
Implementation Method 1
a cantilever, the cantilever is laterally provided on the base, and is on the outer side of the first sidewall of the first pair of sidewalls of the door hook hole body, with the lock head provided on the upper part of the cantilever
Data Source
AI summary
The present application discloses a door lock, which may be implemented on a door panel of an electrical device such as a washing machine. The lock includes a housing that can be installed into the panel without hardware such as a mounting screw, eliminating a need to position a screw in the panel for mounting the lock. The lock housing may include a lock head that can move into or out of a groove formed as a recess into a clamping edge of the housing. Ramped surfaces and contact faces of the housing are provided that allow rotation of the housing during its installation into the panel, which force the lock head into the groove during the housing insertion into the panel and allow the lock head to restore by moving out of the groove when the housing is in an installed position, locking the housing in place.