Plastic Shaft Base Plate With Fastening Tabs for Stable Footing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plastic shafts lack a secure and stable base plate that provides non-slip footing for technicians working in adverse weather conditions, especially when wearing dirty or slippery shoes, and the base plate often shifts under load.
Innovation Solution
A base plate with internally hollow protrusions and edge recesses for fastening tabs, combined with fastening means, ensures immovable attachment to the shaft walls, providing a non-slip surface and secure footing, even on uneven substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a smooth or ribbed base plate is placed unsecured on the shaft floor, then the base plate is easy to install, but it shifts under load and does not provide secure footing
Solution Approach 1:
The base plate is divided into multiple functional elements: a base plate body, multiple fastening tabs with foot sections, and internally hollow protrusions. The fastening tabs are separable components that connect the base plate to shaft walls, allowing easy installation while providing secure anchoring when engaged.
Solution Approach 2:
The foot sections of the fastening tabs are inserted into pocket-like recesses in the base plate, creating a nested structure. The fastening tabs are partially received within the base plate geometry, allowing for simple placement while maintaining strong connection capability.
2Reliability
If a base plate with fastening tabs and protrusions is used, then secure footing and immovable attachment are achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into single components: the fastening tabs simultaneously provide structural connection to shaft walls and create anchoring points through their foot sections in pocket recesses. The protrusions serve both as footing elements and as features that work with the fastening system, reducing the need for separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The pocket-like recesses are designed to automatically receive and position the foot sections of the fastening tabs during installation. The geometry of the recesses guides the fastening tabs into their correct positions, eliminating the need for complex alignment procedures or additional fastening steps.
3Reliability
If internally hollow protrusions are distributed across the base plate surface, then non-slip footing is provided, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The base plate incorporates internally hollow protrusions that create a porous-like surface structure. These hollow protrusions provide mechanical interlocking with shoe soles, preventing slippage while being manufacturable through standard plastic injection molding processes that can easily create hollow cellular structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The surface geometry of the base plate is modified by adding hollow protrusions with specific dimensional parameters. The height, diameter, and distribution pattern of these protrusions are optimized to provide adequate grip while maintaining compatibility with standard manufacturing tolerances and production methods.
4Ease of operation
If pocket-like recesses are provided at edge regions for fastening tabs, then easy installation under confined spatial conditions is achieved, but the base plate design becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The pocket-like recesses are pre-formed in the base plate during manufacturing, creating ready-received positions for the fastening tabs. This preliminary preparation of the mounting locations allows installers to simply drop or insert the fastening tabs into place without requiring complex alignment or additional drilling operations in the confined shaft space.
Data Source
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AI summary
The shaft with shaft walls and a base plate is characterized in that the base plate has on its upper side a plurality of internally hollow elevations distributed over its surface and at least one pocket-like recess at each of its edge areas, into which a foot section of a fastening tab is inserted, which is attached to the lower edge area of the shaft walls with fastening means.