Safety Door Guard Lock with Snap-In Plunger and Flexible Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional locking devices for safety doors require a control wheel and push rod in separate housing parts, leading to increased space requirements and potential alignment issues, limiting compact design and fail-safe functionality.
Innovation Solution
A locking device with a snap-in plunger and clamping recess, combined with a bistable solenoid-driven locking shaft, allows for flexible positioning and secure mechanical locking, incorporating an RFID tag for enhanced safety and monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a control wheel and push rod in separate housing parts are used, then the locking device achieves reliable locking function, but the space requirement increases and alignment issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the control wheel and push rod into a single integrated actuator unit that can be inserted at flexible angles into a single receptor. This merging eliminates the need for separate housing parts while maintaining the locking function, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and space requirement.
Solution Approach 2:
The actuator is designed with universal insertion capability at multiple angles (including 180° flexibility), allowing it to serve both as a control mechanism and a positioning mechanism in a single component. This multi-functionality reduces the overall space requirement while ensuring reliable operation.
2Reliability
If a control wheel and push rod in separate housing parts are used, then the locking device achieves reliable locking function, but alignment work is required at the safety door
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the control wheel and push rod into a single actuator with flexible angular insertion capability, the patent eliminates the need for precise alignment between separate components. The actuator can be inserted at various angles directly into a single receptor, significantly simplifying installation and manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The actuator incorporates dynamic angular flexibility, allowing insertion at multiple orientations including 180° rotation. This dynamic capability eliminates rigid alignment requirements, making the locking device easier to manufacture and install while maintaining reliable locking function.
3Reliability
If the key can only be inserted into the receptor in a correct position, then the locking device achieves secure locking, but fail-safe guard lock is not guaranteed
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator is designed with dynamic angular flexibility allowing insertion at multiple orientations including 180° rotation. This eliminates the single-correct-position constraint while maintaining secure locking through the snap-in plunger mechanism, thereby enabling fail-safe guard lock functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the insertion parameter from a fixed angular position to a flexible angular range. The actuator can be inserted at various angles and still engage the snap-in plunger reliably, providing both secure locking and fail-safe functionality without requiring precise alignment.
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 solution provides high locking forces, compact design, and flexible positioning, ensuring reliable fail-safe operation with reduced space requirements and improved alignment, while enabling contactless monitoring through RFID technology.
Implementation Method 1
The locking shaft/locking rod can be moved by a bistable solenoid
Implementation Method 2
The locking plunger is moved by a bistable solenoid. The position of the locking shaft/locking rod and the associated locking of the locking function can be safely monitored.
Implementation Method 3
The position of the RFID tag and thus of the safety device can be reliably detected with an RFID sensor located in the guard lock unit
Data Source
AI summary
Locking device having a guard lock for safety doors, comprising a mechanical actuator which can be fastened on a movable door part and a housing which interacts with the actuator and can be fastened to a door counterpart, which housing comprises a receptor to which the actuator can be inserted, and the housing comprises a locking element which is displaceable between an unlocked position, in which the actuator can be released, and a locked position, in which the actuator can be fixed relative to the receptor, wherein the actuator comprises an engagement tongue having an engagement recess for mechanical operative engagement with a head end of a locking element in form of an engagement plunger, the engagement plunger being guided in the housing so as to be longitudinally displaceable a spring-biased manner in the in a plunger longitudinal direction relative to an inner fixed bearing, being shaped as a bushing and carrying radially displaceable and fixable engagement elements which lock the engagement plunger at its inner contour in the locked position during a defined state, for which purpose the engagement plunger comprises an engagement stop at the inner contour which acts in the longitudinal direction.