Sheet Material Attachment Structure With Elastic Locking Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing attachment methods for sheet materials, such as heat caulking, heat welding, and adhesive bonding, increase manufacturing costs and component weight, while methods using holding clips can compromise attachment workability and durability.
Innovation Solution
An attachment structure featuring a sheet material with a potbelly hole and a locking portion on the member to be attached, including a column portion, head portion, and insertion guide, which allows easy and reliable attachment and detachment by bending projecting pieces in the thickness direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If heat caulking, heat welding, or adhesive bonding is used to fix the sheet material to the member to be attached, then the attachment strength is improved, but the manufacturing cost and component weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces thermal processes (heat caulking, heat welding, adhesive bonding) with a purely mechanical locking system. The locking portion with columnar shaft and head engages with the potbelly hole structure through mechanical interference and geometric constraints, eliminating the need for thermal equipment and adhesive materials while achieving secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the attachment function from complex thermal or chemical processes and implements it through a simple mechanical structure consisting of the locking portion and potbelly hole. This extraction simplifies the manufacturing process by removing equipment requirements and reducing production steps.
2Strength
If heat caulking, heat welding, or adhesive bonding is used to fix the sheet material to the member to be attached, then the attachment strength is improved, but the number of attaching steps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment structure is segmented into distinct functional elements: the potbelly hole with large-diameter hole, small-diameter hole, and communication portion; and the locking portion with columnar shaft and head. This segmentation allows for simple, sequential assembly operations that reduce the number of steps compared to thermal processes requiring setup, heating, cooling, or adhesive application and curing.
3Reliability
If the width of the communication portion is set smaller than the diameter of the neck of the holding clip to prevent falling off, then the attachment reliability is improved, but the attachment workability deteriorates due to plastic deformation or breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs elastic deformation dynamics where the neck of the locking portion is flexibly inserted through the communication portion and then elastically recovers to lock in place. This dynamic approach allows the narrow communication portion to temporarily accommodate the neck during insertion, then provides automatic locking through elastic recovery, eliminating the need for forceful plastic deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication portion is designed with dimensions and material properties that allow it to temporarily yield to the neck during insertion, cushioning the transition. This beforehand cushioning prevents damage by allowing controlled elastic deformation during the attachment process, ensuring reliable locking without breakage.
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
Ensures secure and efficient attachment of sheet materials without plastic deformation or breakage, reducing manufacturing complexity and weight, and enhancing workability.
Implementation Method 1
an insertion guide portion having an inclined face formed on a side face of the column portion, and configured to bend the projecting piece in contact with the column portion in a thickness direction of the sheet material when the column portion is passed through the communication portion
Data Source
AI summary
An attachment structure for a sheet material includes an attachment hole portion that is provided in a sheet material and in which a large-diameter hole and a small-diameter hole communicate with each other through a communication portion, a locking portion provided in a member to be attached corresponding to the attachment hole portion, and configured to lock the attachment hole portion to attach the sheet material to the member to be attached, and a projecting piece that is provided in the communication portion and in which a width of the communication portion is narrower than an inner diameter of the small-diameter hole. The locking portion includes an insertion guide portion having an inclined face formed on a side face of a column portion, and configured to bend the projecting piece in contact with the column portion in a thickness direction of the sheet material.