Thread Insert Drive Element for Brittle Sleeve Torque Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing threaded inserts, particularly those made of coiled steel with high carbon content, face challenges in transferring screwing torque due to brittleness, and wound threaded inserts struggle with torque transmission in the axial direction, limiting their applicability in thread forming and connection stability.
Innovation Solution
A drive element with a receptacle and axial connecting section is designed to transmit torque to the threaded insert sleeve, featuring a drive profile and a connecting section that forms a positive or non-positive connection, allowing torque transfer primarily in the radial direction, suitable for hardened or brittle inserts, and enabling thread forming or cutting through the external thread.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a coiled profile strip is used to form a threaded insert sleeve, then material usage is reduced and manufacturing cost is lowered, but torque transmission capability deteriorates due to brittleness when hardened
Solution Approach 1:
The threaded insert is divided into two functional parts: a coiled profile strip forming the external thread and internal thread, and a separate drive element with drive profile inserted into a receptacle. This segmentation allows the coiled strip to be made from hardenable material for thread forming while the drive element provides the torque transmission path, resolving the contradiction between cost-effective coiled construction and reliable torque transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive element acts as an intermediary component that bridges the drive tool and the coiled profile strip. It transmits torque from the drive tool through the receptacle to the threaded insert sleeve, enabling reliable torque transmission without requiring the coiled strip itself to transmit torque axially, thus solving the brittleness problem while maintaining manufacturing advantages.
2Strength
If high carbon content steel is used to achieve the required hardness for thread forming, then thread forming capability is improved, but brittleness increases making torque transmission difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the thread-forming function (requiring high hardness) from the torque-transmission function. The coiled profile strip is made of hardenable material for thread forming, while the drive element provides a separate torque transmission path, allowing the use of high-carbon steel without suffering from brittleness-related torque transmission failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive element is designed with specific geometric parameters (circular cross-section, centralized axis) that optimize its torsional strength and torque transmission capability, compensating for the brittleness of the hardened coiled strip by providing a dedicated torque transmission pathway with superior mechanical properties.
3Ease of operation
If torque is transmitted axially through the threaded insert sleeve, then thread forming is enabled, but the structure becomes unsuitable for hardened brittle materials
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of transmitting torque axially through the threaded insert sleeve (traditional approach), the invention inverts the approach by using a drive element inserted into a receptacle at the rear end. Torque is transmitted from the drive tool through the drive element to the threaded insert sleeve, enabling thread forming in hardened brittle materials that cannot transmit torque axially.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive element serves as an intermediary that enables thread forming in brittle materials by providing a torque transmission path that does not rely on axial torque transmission through the brittle threaded insert sleeve itself, thus allowing thread forming capability while accommodating material brittleness.
4Reliability
If a drive helix is anchored via external profile, then torque transmission is improved in the leading area, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The drive element combines multiple functions into a single component: it provides the drive profile for torque transmission, contains the receptacle for drive tool engagement, and features the connecting section for integral connection to the threaded insert sleeve. This multi-functionality achieves reliable torque transmission without the complexity of separate drive helix and anchoring mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive element merges the drive mechanism and connection mechanism into one integrated component. The receptacle, drive profile, and connecting section are combined in a single element that is inserted into the threaded insert sleeve, simplifying the overall structure compared to separate drive helix and anchoring systems while maintaining torque transmission reliability.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1e
Figure 2a~3c
Figure 4a~4d
AI summary
The present invention relates to a drive element (10) for transmitting torque to a threaded insert sleeve. The drive element (10) comprises a receptacle (12) with a drive profile (14), in which a drive tool for transmitting a torque from the drive tool to the drive element can be accommodated along a longitudinal axis (L) of the drive element, the longitudinal axis passing through the center of the Drive profile runs and corresponds to an axis of rotation of the drive element (10) about which the drive element rotates during torque transmission from the drive tool to the drive element. The drive element (10) also includes an axial connection section (16) with an outer surface (18) for forming a materially bonded, form-fitting and/or non-positive connection to the threaded insert sleeve, with the outer surface when a connection to a threaded insert sleeve, a torque can be transmitted from the drive element (10) to the threaded insert sleeve, the drive element (10) having at least in sections a cross-sectional area in which a circular line with a center through which the axis of rotation (L) runs is inscribed can.