Tube Latching Device with Spring-Biased Buttons
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing latching devices for telescopic tube arrangements are either prone to pin loss or damage, or they offer low accuracy and poor force transmission due to crude and loose mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A latching device with a housing and slide members that include buttons and a spring mechanism, allowing for secure engagement and release with external elements, featuring a telescoping design for safety and ease of operation, and a removable stop for installation and service.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate pin is inserted through aligned holes in the two tubes, then the tubes can be locked in a required position, but the pin can be lost or damaged when removed so that the tubes cannot be locked in a required position
Solution Approach 1:
The latching device is segmented into a housing, slide member, button, and spring mechanism. The button can be independently depressed to release engagement, allowing the pin to be removed and reinstalled without losing its latching function. This segmentation enables the pin to be temporarily removed while maintaining the ability to reliably latch again.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring mechanism automatically returns the button to its engaged position after depression, and the slide member automatically returns to its latching position. This self-service mechanism ensures the pin is always ready to latch without requiring manual repositioning or adjustment by the user.
2Ease of operation
If a spring biased pin is mounted inside the inner tube with a rounded end portion projecting outwardly, then the pin can engage into a hole in the outer tube, but the arrangement is crude and loose with low accuracy of location and low level of force transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The button is designed to be depressible, transitioning from a protruding engaged state to a retracted disengaged state. This dynamic mechanism allows precise control of the latching position while maintaining high location accuracy through the structured housing and slide member guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The crude rounded end portion is replaced with a precisely engineered button mechanism guided by the slide member and housing. This substitution provides accurate location through the defined geometric relationships between components while maintaining ease of operation through the spring-biased automatic return.
3Ease of operation
If a spring biased pin is mounted inside the inner tube, then the pin can engage into a hole in the outer tube, but the arrangement provides low level of communication of longitudinal force or rotational torque between the tubes
Solution Approach 1:
The button mechanism transitions between engaged and disengaged states, allowing full force transmission when engaged while maintaining ease of operation for release. The structured housing and slide member ensure efficient force communication between tubes when latched.
Solution Approach 2:
The button and corresponding engagement features are designed with curved surfaces that optimize force distribution and transmission. The rounded button end provides point contact for engagement while the overall geometry ensures efficient transfer of longitudinal forces and rotational torques between the tubes.
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 secure, accurate, and reliable latching with independent button operation, preventing unintentional disengagement and offering audible and visual engagement indicators, while being easy to install and maintain, and suitable for various tube sizes and configurations.
Implementation Method 1
a spring within the housing for resisting the sliding movement as the button is depressed
Data Source
AI summary
A latching device for insertion into a tube provides two large flat buttons one on each side to lock the tube relative to an outer tube or to two parallel plates. A tubular housing with open ends slides into the tube between the side walls of the tube with the ends of the housing substantially butting inside surfaces of the side walls. The buttons are mounted on respective slide members mounted in the housing spring biased apart so that the buttons can be depressed. One or two set screws acting as stop members can be inserted after the housing is moved to the required location in the tube to prevent depression of the buttons to a position inward of the inner surface of the tube so that the housing is held in place.