Slide Rail Unit With Leaf Spring Lock Lever
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional slide rail units face challenges in maintaining effective slide restraint when right and left rails are installed at different inclination angles, leading to insufficient design strength and complex assembly processes, particularly due to issues with spring displacement and compactness.
Innovation Solution
A slide rail unit design featuring a leaf spring member with nip-holding and engagement portions that securely connect the operation lever and lock lever, allowing for a compact and easy-to-assemble structure that absorbs installation errors and maintains slide restraint even when rails are inclined, utilizing a S-like shape for enhanced stability and connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the lock lever and operation lever are connected within the rail using a torsion spring, then the slide restraint function is maintained, but the slide rail unit becomes large in size and assembly becomes extremely difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the connection mechanism into separate components: the operation lever extends outside the rail, and the torsion spring is positioned externally rather than within the rail. This segmentation allows the rail to maintain its compact size while the connection mechanism is simplified and positioned for easier assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The operation lever is repositioned from an internal connection to an external connection, extending beyond the rail boundaries. This dimensional change allows the lever to connect to the lock lever through a more accessible path, simplifying the assembly process while maintaining the compact rail structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If the torsion spring position is changed during transportation, then the operation lever cannot be attached, but maintaining a fixed spring position increases assembly complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The torsion spring is pre-installed on the lock lever within the rail before transportation. The operation lever is designed with a structure that guides it to engage with the pre-installed spring during assembly, ensuring that even if the spring shifts slightly during transportation, the assembly process remains straightforward through the guiding structure.
3Reliability
If the operation lever gives unintended force to one lock mechanism due to inclination angle errors, then slide restraint becomes insufficient, but adding compensation mechanisms increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The torsion spring acts as an intermediary element between the operation lever and the lock lever. It provides elastic compliance that absorbs inclination angle errors and unintended forces, allowing the system to tolerate installation variations without requiring complex compensation mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The torsion spring changes its elastic parameters (torque characteristics) based on the degree of inclination error, automatically adjusting the force transmission to maintain reliable slide restraint. This passive parameter adjustment eliminates the need for active compensation mechanisms.
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
The design achieves reliable slide restraint and simplified assembly by providing a one-touch connection mechanism, increasing productivity and reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining strength and compactness, and effectively absorbing errors in installation angles and vehicle floor deformation.
Implementation Method 1
a leaf spring member (21) disposed between the lock lever (15) and the operation lever (6)... the leaf spring member (21) absorbs installation error
Data Source
AI summary
A simple, compact and easy-to-assemble slide rail unit is provided. The slide rail unit reliably restrains right and left rails from sliding even when the right and left rails are installed onto the vehicle floor at an inclination angle different from each other in a longitudinal direction thereof. The slide rail unit includes a slide rail member having an upper rail member and an upper rail member slidably engaged with each other and a lock lever rotatably pivoted to the upper rail member so as to engage with/disengage from an engagement portion formed on the lower rail member. The slide rail unit also includes an operation lever connected to the lock lever within the slide rail member. Between the lock lever and the operation lever, a leaf spring member is disposed for connecting the lock lever and the operation lever therebetween.