Trailer Towbar Socket With Rivet-Sleeve Locking Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing electrical sockets for trailer towbars require significant assembly work, involving screws, nuts, and washers, which complicates the mounting process.
Innovation Solution
The electrical socket features a housing with guide channels and rivet sleeves that deform to form a locking head when actuated by locking pins, allowing for secure attachment to a support plate without the need for conventional nuts or washers, enabling assembly from a single side.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional screws, nuts, and washers are used to fasten the socket to the support plate, then reliable fastening is achieved, but assembly complexity and assembly time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple fastening components (screw, washer, nut) into a single integrated socket housing structure. The housing itself is designed with fastening elements that directly engage the support plate, eliminating the need for separate fastening components and simplifying the assembly process while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes unnecessary fastening components (nuts and washers) from the assembly. By designing the housing with integrated fastening capabilities, the solution eliminates extraneous parts that complicate assembly, keeping only the essential mounting structure.
2Reliability
If conventional screws, nuts, and washers are used to fasten the socket, then secure attachment is achieved, but assembly time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening elements are pre-integrated into the housing structure during manufacturing. This preliminary action of combining fastening components with the housing eliminates the need for separate assembly steps of multiple fastening parts, thereby reducing assembly time while ensuring secure attachment.
3Reliability
If multiple fastening components are used, then reliable fastening is achieved, but the number of parts increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple discrete fastening components (screw, washer, nut) into a single integrated housing structure. This consolidation reduces the total number of parts while maintaining the fastening reliability through the integrated design of mounting holes and fastening features directly in the housing.
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
This design simplifies the assembly process by eliminating the need for nuts and washers, ensuring reliable and secure fastening of the socket to the support plate with reduced assembly complexity and time.
Implementation Method 1
the locking pin causes the rivet sleeve to widen radially, so that the sleeve is deformed and forms a locking head
Implementation Method 2
the rivet sleeves each have a front end with an inner tapered channel section such that when the locking pin is displaced in the longitudinal direction, it exerts a radial force on the rivet sleeve
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
The invention refers to an electrical socket (2) for a trailer towbar, having a housing (6) for mounting on a support plate (4) of the towbar, the housing (6) extending in a longitudinal direction (8) from a front side (10) to a rear side (12) and comprises a number of guide channels (20) which extends in longitudinal direction (8) and having rivet sleeves (22) at their ends which protrudes over the rear side (12). The rivet sleeves (22) are configured to be inserted into mounting holes (24) of the support plate (4). The socket (2) further having locking pins (18) which are inserted into the guide channels (20) in an assembled state and wherein the locking pins (18) and the guide channels (20) are configured such that during assembling the locking pin (18) causes the rivet sleeve (22) to widen in radial direction such that the rivet sleeve (22) forms a locking head (26).