Toggle Lever Closure Clamp with Internal Tension Adjustment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Toggle fasteners used in the pharmaceutical and food sectors face contamination and cleaning challenges due to exposed screw threads and adjustment mechanisms that are difficult to clean and prone to dirt accumulation.
Innovation Solution
An internal adjusting mechanism is integrated within the clamping bracket, featuring a transverse bore with internal teeth and a disk with external teeth, allowing tension adjustment without exposed screw threads, and the toggle fastener can be dismantled for thorough cleaning, with components detachable for manual disassembly without requiring special tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If screw threads are used for adjusting the tension bracket position, then the tension can be adjusted, but the screw threads are exposed to the environment and are difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustment mechanism is nested within the clamping bracket structure. The disk with external teeth is received in a recess of the clamping bracket, and the transverse bolt with internal teeth is integrated into the clamping bracket body. This nesting protects the adjustment mechanism from external contamination while maintaining adjustability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a disk with external teeth as an intermediary element between the transverse bolt and the clamping bracket. This disk can be rotated to adjust the position of the tension bracket while being protected within the bracket structure, eliminating exposed screw threads.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the adjustment mechanism is integrated into the clamping bracket, then contamination is reduced and cleaning is easier, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustment mechanism is merged with the clamping bracket structure. The transverse bolt with internal teeth is integrated directly into the clamping bracket body, and the disk with external teeth is received in a recess of the same bracket. This merging reduces the number of separate components while maintaining the adjustment function and contamination resistance.
3Ease of manufacture
If the toggle fastener is designed for disassembly, then cleaning is more thorough, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The toggle fastener is segmented into detachable components including the base body, pivoting element, clamping bracket, and counter-holder. These segments can be easily separated from each other, allowing thorough cleaning of each component without requiring complex disassembly procedures.
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 provides a contamination-resistant and easily cleanable toggle fastener with adjustable tension, ensuring effective protection against contamination and ease of cleaning, as the adjustment mechanism is protected within the tension bracket and the entire assembly can be thoroughly cleaned, including industrial washing processes.
Implementation Method 1
The corresponding transverse bore with internal teeth is located in the tension bracket itself, and the disk with external teeth meshing with it is arranged within this transverse bore and can be released from its engagement with the internal teeth and brought back into this engagement by axial displacement. By simply twisting the disc using the transverse bolt connected to it, which serves as a bearing bolt, the position of the bearing bolt arranged eccentrically on the disc can be adjusted relative to the bearing position of the pivoting element
Implementation Method 2
by manually actuating a tensioning lever attached to a pivoting element, the pivoting element is rotated or pivoted about its bearing position on a base body according to the toggle lever principle, as a result of which a tension bracket arranged on the pivoting element is locked with a counter-holder or removed from the Locking position
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a tension lock for connecting a first component to a second component, in particular for connecting a cover which closes an opening to a container. The tension lock is characterised in that the tension lock has an inner adjusting mechanism for adjusting the tension applied, such that the tension lock offers good protection against contamination and can be cleaned particularly well. The tension lock is therefore particularly suitable for applications in the pharmaceutical industry or food industry.