Wearable Latch Mount With Blind Alignment and Quick Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable devices in industrial and logistics settings often require complex or counterintuitive motions for latching and release, leading to inefficiencies and difficulties in attachment and detachment, particularly due to protruding battery designs and narrow sliding channels.
Innovation Solution
A wearable device mounting system with a protrusion attachment mechanism and a rail mechanism that allows for intuitive and efficient alignment, featuring angled guide surfaces, a release button for quick detachment, and rotational freedom, enabling blind insertion and easy removal by aligning the attachment mechanism with the guide surface and latching mechanism in opposing directions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a protrusion attachment mechanism with rail and groove is used, then alignment and attachment are simplified, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The rail mechanism with guide surfaces enables self-alignment during attachment. The angled guide surfaces automatically guide the protrusion into the groove as the device is brought toward the mount, eliminating the need for manual alignment adjustments and simplifying the attachment operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment mechanism is divided into separate functional components: the protrusion element, the rail mechanism with grooves, and the guide surfaces. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function (engagement, guidance, alignment) independently, making the overall system easier to operate despite the increased structural complexity.
2Reliability
If complex latching operations are required, then secure attachment is achieved, but operation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The latching mechanism is combined with the attachment mechanism into an integrated system. As the protrusion engages the groove through the rail mechanism, the latching action occurs simultaneously through the interlocking of the protrusion and groove features, eliminating separate latching steps and reducing operation time while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The latching mechanism performs self-latching through the geometric interlocking of the protrusion and groove. The angled guide surfaces and rail geometry automatically guide the components into their locked positions without requiring additional manual latching actions, reducing both operation time and complexity while ensuring reliable attachment.
3Reliability
If opposing motions are required for release, then secure detachment control is achieved, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The release mechanism inverts the attachment motion. During attachment, the protrusion moves along the rail in one direction to engage the groove. During release, the same rail mechanism guides the protrusion in the opposite direction to disengage, using the reversed motion path to simplify the release operation while maintaining controlled detachment.
4Ease of operation
If blind insertion is enabled, then ease of attachment is improved, but precision of alignment must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The angled guide surfaces of the rail mechanism provide self-alignment during blind insertion. As the protrusion is inserted without visual guidance, the guide surfaces automatically correct any misalignment by guiding the protrusion into the correct position within the groove, maintaining alignment precision while enabling easy blind insertion operation.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, apparatuses, systems, and/or the like are provided. An example method may include operably attaching a wearable device to a mounting apparatus. An example wearable device may include one of a guide surface and an attachment mechanism and one of a receptor and a latching mechanism. The wearable device may be rotatable relative to the mounting apparatus in which the latching mechanism and the receptor are disengaged. The mounting apparatus may include the other of the guide surface and the attachment mechanism and the other of the receptor and the latching mechanism. The latching mechanism may include a release button. The wearable device may be aligned with the mounting apparatus. The attachment mechanism may be engaged with the guide surface, and the latching mechanism may be engaged with the receptor.