Self Locating Tie Bar Guide for Sash Locks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self locating tie bar guides for casement windows and doors face issues such as difficulty in initial operation due to breakable features, increased warranty claims from broken parts lodging in the mechanism, and rough operation from detent features, leading to homeowner dissatisfaction.
Innovation Solution
A self locating tie bar guide with a U-shaped design and a hemispherical tongue that releases without breaking, allowing free longitudinal movement of the tie bar from the first cycle, eliminating the need for cycling the lock to release the guide and preventing broken parts from interfering with operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a breakable tab or frangible feature is used to secure the tie bar guide, then the guide can be easily positioned and secured to the tie bar, but the lock becomes difficult to operate on the first cycle and broken parts can lodge in the mechanism causing binding and noise
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the securing function from a breakable tab system and implements it through a permanent detent feature that engages with a recess in the tie bar. The detent is retained by a retaining structure that prevents it from becoming loose or lodging in the mechanism, thereby eliminating the harmful effects of broken parts while maintaining the ease of securing the guide to the tie bar.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a retaining structure as an intermediary element that holds the detent feature in place. This retaining structure prevents the detent from becoming loose or interfering with the locking mechanism operation, while still allowing the detent to engage and disengage smoothly during lock cycling.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a permanent detent feature is used to secure the tie bar guide, then the guide remains securely positioned, but the detent can be felt every time the lock is cycled preventing smooth operation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating a precise fit between the detent feature and the recess in the tie bar. The detent engages in the recess when the guide is positioned, providing stable positioning, but the engagement is designed to be subtle and not create noticeable interference during normal lock cycling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining structure serves as an intermediary that secures the detent in its proper position, ensuring consistent engagement with the recess while allowing smooth disengagement during lock operation. This prevents the detent from becoming loose or causing binding.
3Productivity
If a breakable tab is used to hold the tie bar guide, then assembly is simplified, but broken pieces can become free and lodge in moving parts causing binding and noise leading to increased warranty claims
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful broken pieces from the system by replacing the breakable tab with a permanent detent feature. The detent remains intact throughout the product lifecycle, engaging and disengaging smoothly during lock operation without creating loose fragments that could lodge in the mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining structure acts as an intermediary that secures the detent feature, preventing it from becoming loose or detaching during assembly or operation. This ensures that no broken parts or loose components can lodge in the locking mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A self locating tie bar guide for use with a tie bar. The tie bar guide defines a passage into which the tie bar is received. A tie bar receiving portion is shiftable between an open orientation in which the tie bar can be inserted into the passage and a closed orientation in which the tie bar is held in the passage. A resilient engaging member that engages a prelocated opening in the tie bar is resiliently biased toward the tie bar when the receiving portion is in the open orientation. The resilient tie bar engaging member is shiftable away from the tie bar when the receiving portion is in the closed orientation by contact between a portion of the resilient engaging member and another portion of the tie bar guide.