Segmented Centering Sleeve for Jam-Free Facade Fastening
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing centering sleeves for fastening facade elements on building substructures often leave remnants in the borehole, causing jamming or misalignment issues due to their design, especially when using self-drilling screws at high feed rates.
Innovation Solution
A centering sleeve with a hollow cylindrical body composed of two or more gutter-like shell elements, featuring axially parallel longitudinal slots and a joint section with a predetermined breaking point, which guides and centers the screw during installation and automatically ejects from the borehole once the screw reaches the substructure, ensuring secure and guided fastening without leaving any remnants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a traditional solid centering sleeve is used, then the screw can be centered and guided during installation, but the sleeve remains in the borehole causing jamming or misalignment issues
Solution Approach 1:
The centering sleeve is divided into multiple longitudinal segments or shell elements that can move independently. This segmentation allows the sleeve to expand outward when the screw is driven, ejecting it from the borehole after centering is achieved, thus preventing jamming while maintaining centering precision during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The centering sleeve transitions from a static solid structure to a dynamic segmented structure that can change its configuration. The segments are initially positioned to provide centering guidance, then move outward during screw installation to eject from the borehole, adapting to different phases of the fastening process.
2Productivity
If self-drilling screws are used at high feed rates, then installation productivity is improved, but the sleeve cannot eject in time causing misalignment or jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented sleeve is pre-configured with expansion capability that activates automatically when the screw reaches a certain depth or force threshold. This preliminary design ensures that the sleeve ejects at the precise moment needed, even during high-speed self-drilling operations, maintaining alignment precision without sacrificing productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple different sleeves are provided for different borehole diameters and thicknesses, then precise centering for various facade elements is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented sleeve design provides universal applicability across different borehole diameters and facade element thicknesses. The segments can expand and adapt to various configurations, eliminating the need for multiple specialized sleeve types while maintaining precise centering accuracy for different facade elements.
Data Source
AI summary
A sleeve for the centering of fasteners when installing structural parts on substructure of a building envelope is designed substantially as a hollow cylindrical sleeve body or split hollow cylindrical sleeve body. It has at least two gutter-like shell elements each having a head end and a rear end. The shell elements are grouped symmetrically about a central axis A and span between them a middle space with inner surfaces facing each other. The shell elements are spaced apart from each other and separated by axially parallel longitudinal slots, except for a connecting joint section at the head end. These sleeves are placed on a fastener and allow a precise centering in the predrilled hole of a facade plate, for example. The sleeve remains in the predrilled hole until such time as the centering of the fastener has been accomplished and is then ejected safely by driving the fastener home.