Adjustable Tool Support Clamp With Pivoting Grips for Hood Flanges
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional support clamps are inflexible, difficult to adapt to various hood flange designs, and lack versatility in directing light to specific areas, often causing damage and inadequate illumination during automotive repairs.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable tool support clamp with a removable gripping mechanism and tension member configuration, featuring a tubular body with pivotable grips and movable holding members like a claw grip that can rotate to direct light and accommodate different surfaces, allowing for easy grip replacement without disengaging the tension member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If soft rubber or plastic pads are disposed over the hooks to protect the vehicle paint, then the vehicle body is protected from damage, but the pads wear after use and expose the metal hooks underneath causing scratches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs replaceable soft pads that can be easily removed and replaced when worn. The pads are designed as consumable protective elements that can be discarded after a certain period of use, eliminating the need to replace the entire clamp assembly. This resolves the contradiction by accepting that the protective pads have limited service life but making their replacement simple and economical.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp is divided into separate functional components: the metal hook structure and the protective soft pad are distinct replaceable elements. The soft pad can be independently removed and replaced without affecting the structural integrity of the hook assembly, allowing the protective element to be renewed while retaining the durable metal component.
2Strength
If the gripping hooks are under tension to provide secure gripping, then the gripping force is improved, but the hooks become difficult to replace as the tension member retracts inside the tube when released
Solution Approach 1:
A tube structure is introduced as an intermediary element that guides and contains the tension member. The tube prevents the tension member from retracting uncontrollably when the hook is released, making it easier to manipulate and replace the gripping hooks. The tube acts as a mediator that maintains tension while facilitating maintenance operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The tension member is pre-configured within the tube structure before the hook replacement operation. This preliminary arrangement ensures that when the hook is released, the tension member remains accessible and controllable within the tube, preventing it from disappearing inside the mechanism and simplifying the replacement process.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the clamp is designed with a generic design to fit over the largest hood flange, then the largest flanges are accommodated, but the clamp is unstable when gripping narrower flanges
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp incorporates movable and adjustable components that allow it to adapt its configuration dynamically. The gripping hooks can be positioned at different locations along the clamp body, and the clamp can adjust its geometry to match the specific dimensions of the flange being gripped, providing stability across a range of flange sizes rather than being fixed for a single size.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp is designed with multiple functional positions and adjustable features that enable it to effectively grip various flange sizes. By incorporating universal mounting positions and adjustable gripping mechanisms, the clamp can stabilize itself on both large and narrow flanges through proper positioning and configuration.
4Device complexity
If the gripping hooks are rigid or rotatable in only one direction, then the structure is simple, but it is difficult to adequately grip many surfaces unless the hooks are perfectly aligned
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping hooks are designed with multi-directional rotational capability, allowing them to pivot and orient themselves in various directions. This dynamic positioning capability enables the hooks to adapt to different surface geometries and angles, significantly improving gripping versatility while maintaining a relatively simple hinge-based mechanical structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The hooks are given rotational freedom in multiple dimensions rather than being constrained to a single rotation axis. This multi-axial rotational capability allows the hooks to accommodate surfaces at various orientations and angles, transforming a simple rigid structure into a versatile gripping tool that can adapt to complex surface geometries.
5Device complexity
If the clamp is designed to hold only one specific type of device, then the structure is simple and focused, but it lacks versatility for different automotive tasks requiring light in various directions
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp is designed with multiple mounting positions and adjustable holding members that can accommodate different types of devices in various orientations. The structure includes versatile mounting points that allow lights, tools, or other equipment to be positioned and directed as needed, transforming a single-purpose clamp into a multi-functional support system.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp incorporates movable and adjustable components that allow the mounted devices to be repositioned and oriented dynamically. This adjustability enables the light or other devices to be directed toward different areas as needed for various automotive tasks, providing flexibility without requiring multiple specialized clamp designs.
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 clamp provides structural adaptability and improved light distribution to specific areas, preventing damage and enhancing usability in various automotive tasks by allowing easy grip adjustment and secure attachment to diverse surfaces without requiring users to hold the tension member in place.
Implementation Method 1
a rod movably received within the body and having first and second rod ends, the first rod end adapted to receive a first grip, and the second rod end adapted to be coupled to the second tension member end and receive bias force therefrom
Data Source
AI summary
A clamp structure that provides versatility and structural adaptability to different clamping surfaces. A tension member can be coupled to the inside of a tubular body at one end and to a rod at the other end. Removable grips can be coupled to the ends of the body, but are not directly coupled to the tension member so that changing the grips can be done without removing the tension member from its anchored position. The grips can, in some embodiments, be pivotable so as to accommodate a variety of different gripping surfaces. Various holding members such as a tool holder, a utility hook and/or a claw grip can be movably provided on the body and can hold tools or light fixtures in a variety of configurations.