Stacked Caps with Connecting Stems for Roofing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fastener cap assemblies for roofing and construction require labor-intensive manual assembly and are difficult to reinsert into magazines due to lack of integral molding, and prior solutions either unstack easily or require bulky feed mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A coaxially-stacked assembly of fastener caps with shearable connecting stems, allowing for integral molding as a unit, eliminating the need for manual assembly and enabling easy reinsertion into magazines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If caps are stacked using a longitudinal rod or string, then caps can be quickly loaded into the magazine, but the caps cannot be removed and reinserted without becoming unstacked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple caps into a single integral stacked assembly through co-molding, where adjacent caps are connected by shared walls and common bases. This unified structure allows the entire stack to be loaded and removed as one unit, maintaining both quick loading capability and ease of reinsertion without caps becoming unstacked.
Solution Approach 2:
The caps are pre-assembled into a complete stacked assembly during the molding process itself, with all connections and structural elements formed in advance. This preliminary formation of the integral structure eliminates the need for post-assembly operations and ensures the stack remains intact throughout handling and reinsertion.
2Ease of operation
If portions of the outer circumference of adjacent caps are melted together, then the stack remains together as a unit for easy reinsertion, but the manufacturing process becomes labor intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The integral stacked assembly is formed in advance during the injection molding process itself, with all connecting walls and common bases created as the caps are molded. This eliminates the need for post-molding operations like melting or manual assembly, significantly reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining the unified structure for easy reinsertion.
Solution Approach 2:
The molding process automatically creates the integral connections between caps through the mold design, where the mold cavities and ejector pins work together to form shared walls and common bases. The system serves itself by integrating the assembly function into the manufacturing process, eliminating the need for separate assembly operations.
3Manufacturing precision
If caps are individually molded and manually gathered, then each cap can be precisely formed, but the assembly process becomes labor intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual cap molding operations into a single integral molding process. The mold is designed with multiple cavities and shared walls that form multiple caps simultaneously as one unified assembly, maintaining precise formation of each cap while eliminating the need for manual gathering and assembly operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The complete stacked assembly is pre-formed during the molding process itself, with all caps and connecting structures created in a single manufacturing step. This preliminary integration of multiple caps into an assembled unit eliminates subsequent assembly operations, reducing labor while maintaining manufacturing precision through the molded connections.
Data Source
AI summary
A plurality of stacked fastener caps, each having a cap body. The cap body has first and second faces joined by a perimeter of the cap body, and adjacent faces of adjacent caps are joined by at least one connecting stem. The adjacent caps and connecting stems are integrally molded as a unit as by injection molding. One or both of the first and second faces may be planar. One of the first or second faces may be concave and the other may be convex. One or both of the first and second faces may have first and second thicker portions with a transverse groove interposed therebetween.