Tolerance-Compensating Fastening Assembly for 3D Misalignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fastening methods for components to structures are cumbersome and time-consuming due to the need for multiple spacers to compensate for tolerances, leading to inconsistent installation of components, especially in applications like aircraft interiors where precise alignment is crucial.
Innovation Solution
A tolerance-compensating fastening arrangement featuring a serrated fastening bolt and a socket base with a conical funnel and jaw segments that automatically adjust to compensate for horizontal, vertical, and angular tolerances, allowing for self-finding and automated installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional fastening methods with multiple spacers are used to compensate for tolerances, then tolerance compensation is achieved, but installation time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple spacer functions into a single integrated female fastener assembly that includes the socket base, conical funnel, and jaw segments. This merged structure compensates for tolerances in one operation rather than requiring multiple separate spacers to be installed sequentially, thereby reducing installation time while maintaining tolerance compensation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastening system is designed to be self-adjusting through the conical funnel and movable jaw segments that automatically compensate for tolerance variations during the fastening process itself. The system performs its own tolerance compensation function during installation, eliminating the need for pre-installed spacers and manual adjustment operations.
2Manufacturing precision
If different sized spacers are used for each object to level out tolerances, then alignment precision is improved, but device complexity and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The female fastener with the conical funnel and movable jaw segments is designed as a universal component that can accommodate and compensate for tolerance variations across different objects and positions. This single multi-functional design replaces the need for multiple different-sized spacers, simplifying the fastening system while maintaining alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The jaw segments can change their radial position and the opening size dynamically during the fastening process to adapt to different tolerance conditions. This parameter change capability allows the system to maintain precision alignment without requiring complex pre-configured spacer assemblies for each specific case.
3Device complexity
If conventional fastening methods are used without integrated tolerance compensation, then device complexity is reduced, but installation consistency and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system incorporates dynamic elements including the movable socket base along the horizontal tolerance compensation plane and the radially movable jaw segments. These dynamic components automatically adjust during installation to compensate for tolerance variations, ensuring consistent and reliable fastening results without requiring complex external adjustment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical funnel acts as an intermediary element between the male fastener and the jaw segments. It guides the male fastener and transmits the tolerance compensation movement to the jaw segments, enabling reliable and consistent fastening while keeping the overall system design relatively simple.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~5
Figure 6~11
AI summary
A tolerance-compensating fastening arrangement for fastening a component to a structure comprises a male fastener comprising a fastening bolt having a serrated outer profile; and a female fastener comprising a socket base arranged within the female fastener movable along a horizontal tolerance compensation plane and having a conical funnel configured to receive the fastening bolt such that horizontal tolerances between the male fastener and the female fastener are compensable by movement of the socket base within the female fastener, the movement being actuated through contact of the fastening bolt with an inner funnel surface of the conical funnel; and a socket jaw arranged on the socket base and comprising several jaw segments arranged circumferentially around a vertical tolerance compensation axis such as to form a central jaw opening configured to receive the fastening bolt through the conical funnel of the socket base, the jaw segments being configured movable radially with respect to the vertical tolerance compensation axis to adjust a size of the jaw opening to retain the fastening bolt along the vertical tolerance compensation axis via contact of the serrated inner profile and the serrated outer profile and thereby compensate vertical tolerances be-tween the male fastener and the female fastener.