Socket Wrench Retaining Ring Eliminates Spring Fatigue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional socket wrenches with spring-loaded locking balls suffer from elastic fatigue during long-term use, leading to a loss of retaining functionality.
Innovation Solution
A socket wrench design featuring a retaining ring with a hook portion and straight leg, where the straight leg is configured to drive the retaining ring to an open position, allowing for secure engagement and disengagement of sockets, and optionally includes a switch ring and C-ring for enhanced functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spring-loaded locking ball is used in the retaining device, then the socket can be securely retained in the driving seat, but the locking ball may suffer from elastic fatigue during long-term utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the spring-loaded locking ball from the system entirely and replaces it with a retaining ring that uses a straight leg inserted into a cutout of the driving seat. This extraction of the elastic component eliminates the source of elastic fatigue while maintaining the retaining function through a purely mechanical engagement mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining ring with its straight leg and cutout design represents a simpler, more durable mechanism that doesn't rely on elastic materials with limited service lives. The design accepts a potentially simpler (and possibly less expensive) retaining mechanism that trades the complex spring-loaded system for a more robust, fatigue-resistant solution.
2Reliability
If a spring-loaded locking ball is used, then the retaining mechanism can provide continuous retention force, but it requires periodic replacement due to elastic fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the spring-loaded locking ball entirely and replacing it with a retaining ring and cutout mechanism, the patent eliminates the need for periodic replacement due to elastic fatigue. The mechanical engagement of the straight leg in the cutout provides continuous retention without relying on elastic materials that degrade over time.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining ring with straight leg appears to be a self-retaining mechanism that maintains its function without requiring external maintenance or replacement. The mechanical engagement in the cutout provides automatic, continuous retention force without the need for periodic intervention to replace fatigued elastic components.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If a retaining ring with straight leg is used instead of a spring-loaded locking ball, then elastic fatigue is prevented, but the mechanism requires manual operation to open
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining ring is designed with a straight leg that can be manually moved to engage or disengage from the cutout in the driving seat. This dynamic operation allows the user to easily open or close the retaining mechanism by simply moving the straight leg, providing convenient socket engagement and disengagement while maintaining the fatigue-resistant design.
Data Source
AI summary
A socket wrench includes a wrench body, a driving seat and a retaining ring. The driving seat disposed in a head of the wrench body, and has a central hole, an aperture defined in and through an inner wall of the central hole, and a cutout defined in an outer periphery thereof. The retaining ring mounted around the driving seat has a hook portion and a straight leg. The hook portion has a distal end extending through the aperture of the driving seat. The straight leg is rested in the cutout of the driving seat. The straight leg has a distal end extending outside the cutout. The straight leg could be operated to an open position where the distal end of the hook portion is retracted in the aperture of the driving seat.