Socket Organizer Rail With Detent Assemblies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing socket holder apparatuses fail to securely and spaciously position sockets, leading to rattling and damage during transport and use, as they lack effective mechanisms to prevent adjacent sockets from contacting each other, especially when tilted or rotated, and often become loose due to vibration or wear.
Innovation Solution
A rail system with socket holder assemblies and clip members that include a U-shaped channel rail assembly, end caps, magnetic backing plates, and detent assemblies, allowing for secure positioning and easy identification of sockets, with clip members providing adjustable spacing and orientation guides to prevent socket contact and facilitate secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If sockets are held in close proximity on a straight line configuration, then the device complexity is reduced, but adjacent sockets contact each other during transport causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The socket holder is divided into multiple individual holder units, each capable of independent positioning and spacing adjustment. This segmentation allows each socket to be isolated from others, preventing contact damage while maintaining overall system simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The socket holders are arranged in a multi-dimensional configuration rather than a simple straight line. The holders can be positioned at different locations along the rail assembly, creating spatial separation in multiple dimensions that prevents socket contact while organizing them efficiently.
2Ease of operation
If socket holders are allowed to move freely along the rail, then ease of operation is improved, but holders become loose due to vibration or wear
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning mechanism incorporates both movable and fixed characteristics. The socket holders can be freely positioned along the rail for adjustment, but once positioned, the mechanism provides locking or securing features that maintain stability during use and transport, preventing loosening from vibration or wear.
3Device complexity
If sockets are positioned without spacing mechanisms, then device complexity is reduced, but sockets rattle and impact each other during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The rail assembly serves as an intermediary structure between the socket holders and the mounting surface. It provides a guided path for positioning while incorporating features that dampen vibration and prevent rattling, reducing impact noise without requiring complex individual positioning mechanisms for each holder.
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 effectively prevents rattling and damage by securely positioning sockets with adjustable spacing and orientation, ensuring that adjacent sockets do not contact each other, even during transport and reorientation, while allowing easy access and identification of socket sizes and types.
Implementation Method 1
magnetic backing plates
Data Source
AI summary
A socket organizer for releasably and adjustably holding socket holders is provided. The organizer has a longitudinally extending rail assembly characterized by a generally U-shaped channel. A plurality of socket holders are positioned in and slidingly engage the channel. Each socket holder has a detent assembly for releasably locking a socket. A plurality of clip members are attached to the rail assembly or to mounting posts. The clip members have socket identification indicia and are positioned over the mounting posts by way of an aperture. A positioning mechanism is provided for selectively positioning individual socket holders in the channel.