Segmented Screw With Breakaway Stem For Tool-Free Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for adaptations that facilitate the manipulation of small, handheld fastening devices, such as screws, which are commonly used in mechanical and construction industries, to enable easier handling and use without the need for tools.
Innovation Solution
A screw design featuring a breakaway mechanism between a threaded and non-threaded portion, allowing for clean decoupling when a torsional or out-of-plane bending force is applied, enabling manual removal without tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a screw is designed as a single integrated piece, then it has simple structure and is easy to manufacture, but it is difficult to remove without tools and may be dropped during handling
Solution Approach 1:
The screw is divided into two separate components: a threaded portion that engages with the hinge and a handle portion that provides grip. The breakaway feature creates a controlled separation point between these segments, allowing the threaded portion to remain in place while the handle portion can be easily removed by hand without requiring tools.
2Length of moving object
If a screw has a long stem for reaching deep threaded channels, then it can access deeper fastening points, but it becomes harder to manipulate by hand and more prone to being dropped
Solution Approach 1:
The screw stem is segmented into a threaded portion and a separate handle portion connected by a breakaway feature. This allows the threaded portion to be sufficiently long for deep fastening points while the handle portion provides a grip surface for easy manual manipulation. The breakaway connection ensures the handle can be easily removed without requiring the user to grip the entire length of the stem.
3Productivity
If a screw is designed to be easily removable by hand, then it saves time on repairs and reduces dropped screws, but it requires a breakaway mechanism that complicates manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The screw is manufactured as two separate components (threaded portion and handle portion) that are assembled together with a simple breakaway connection. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using standard processes, and the breakaway feature provides easy manual removal capability that significantly reduces repair time and prevents dropped screws.
4Ease of operation
If a screw has a non-threaded second portion for hand manipulation, then it enables tool-free handling, but it requires a breakaway mechanism that increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The screw incorporates a non-threaded second portion (handle portion) that is segmented from the threaded portion by a breakaway feature. This segmentation enables tool-free hand manipulation through the handle portion while the breakaway mechanism provides a controlled separation point. The structural complexity is minimized by using a simple geometric feature (reduced diameter section) to create the breakaway point rather than complex mechanical connections.
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
This design enhances the ease of handling and use of screws by allowing them to be easily inserted and removed from threaded channels, reducing the frequency of dropped screws and saving time on repairs, while providing a variety of sizes and thread configurations.
Implementation Method 1
a diameter of the proximal end of the breakaway is less than a diameter of the distal end of the breakaway, so that the non-threaded second portion and the breakaway decouples cleanly from the threaded first portion when a user applies a torsional or out-of-plane bending force by hand sufficient to decouple the threaded first portion from the non-threaded second portion
Data Source
AI summary
A fastener with a breakaway and methods of using the same. In one embodiment the fastener is a screw having a head and elongated stem, adapted to be easily manipulated by a user when using the screw as a fastener in a hinge or joint. A means of holding a screw by providing a breakaway tab or non-threaded second portion of the elongated stem which can be used to align and insert the screw into a screw hole in the process of engaging threads in the screw hole with threads of the screw. After engaging the threads in the screw hole, such as after the screw has been essentially completely inserted into the screw hole, the breakaway tab or non-threaded second portion of the elongated stem of the screw may be broken off at a breakaway and discarded.