Strut Clip With Rotatable Elements And Elastic Stops
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support clips for securing conduits to structures are difficult to install and often require sliding or tightening fasteners in hard-to-reach locations, making them inefficient and challenging to secure effectively.
Innovation Solution
A strut clip system featuring rotatable elements with tapered edges and notches that pivot to secure around strut flanges, utilizing elastic elements and stops to maintain position without the need for additional fastening, allowing for easy installation and secure attachment of conduits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If existing support clips are used to secure conduits to structures, then the conduits can be attached to the supporting structure, but the installation process becomes difficult and time-consuming due to the need to slide clips along the structure or tighten fasteners in hard-to-reach locations
Solution Approach 1:
The support clip incorporates rotatable elements that can dynamically change position between a first position (for insertion) and a second position (for locking). This dynamic mechanism allows the clip to be easily inserted by rotating the elements to the first position, then securely locked by rotating to the second position, eliminating the need for sliding or tightening fasteners in hard-to-reach locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable elements automatically lock into place around the strut flanges through their own rotational motion, securing the conduit without requiring external fastening operations. The elastic elements provide automatic retention force, allowing the clip to self-secure once installed, eliminating the need for additional fastening steps.
2Reliability
If traditional fastening methods are used, then secure attachment can be achieved, but the process requires additional fasteners and complex tightening operations in difficult locations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the fastening function from separate fasteners and integrates it into the rotatable elements themselves. The rotatable elements directly engage with the strut flanges through their notches, eliminating the need for additional fasteners and simplifying the overall attachment mechanism while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The support clip merges the functions of the clip body, locking mechanism, and fastening elements into a single integrated structure. The rotatable elements serve both as the main body components and as the locking/f fastening mechanism, reducing device complexity while ensuring reliable attachment.
3Ease of operation
If rotatable elements with notches are used to secure around strut flanges, then easy installation is achieved, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The support clip is segmented into multiple rotatable elements that can independently rotate and engage with the strut flanges. Each element is a separate, simpler component with a notch for engagement, and their collective rotational motion achieves the locking function, making installation easier while keeping individual component complexity low.
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 strut clip system provides a secure and efficient method for attaching conduits to structures, ensuring stability without the need for further fastening, as the rotatable elements lock into place around the strut flanges, resisting dislodgment from upward or downward forces.
Implementation Method 1
at least one elastic element connected to the first rotatable element and the second rotatable element, where the at least one elastic element maintains the first rotatable element and the second rotatable element in the first position
Implementation Method 2
a first tapered lower edge... a second tapered lower edge... The first rotatable element and the second rotatable element may pivot between a first position and a second position
Implementation Method 3
The first re-entrant edge and the second re-entrant edge may contact downward flanges of a strut in a third position, and the position of the first and second rotatable elements relative to the strut may be maintained in the third position
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus is disclosed as comprising a first leg of a strut clip; a first rotatable element rotatably attached to the first leg of the strut clip at a first aperture; a second rotatable element rotatably attached to the first leg of the strut clip at the first aperture, where the first and second rotatable elements may have tapered lower edges; a first notch of the first rotatable element may be disposed on a longitudinal edge of the first rotatable element; a second notch of the second rotatable element may be disposed on a longitudinal edge of the second rotatable element; one or more stops may be disposed in the first leg of the strut clip, where the one or more stops may limit rotation of at least one of: the first rotatable element and the second rotatable element; and a first elastic element may be disposed between distal longitudinal edges of the first rotatable element and the second rotatable element.