Patent Application
20250052269
The present application claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202311003927.6, filed on Aug. 10, 2023, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to the field of mechanical assembly, and more particularly, to a snap fastening unit used for assembling and fastening a device.
Snap fastening is a cost-effective mechanical fastening solution that requires only a simple mounting hole in a thin wall without using screws. The thin wall can be attached to various components such as housing walls, door leaves, shutters, frames, door frames, or plate-shaped parts, thus, the snap fastening is widely used in various applications; for example, the snap fastening can be used to connect two or more components with the aforementioned thin walls together, or to connect a latch, a handle, or other devices to a frame to a thin wall (as disclosed in the application of a locking device in patent literature NO. CN 217581643U).
Various structural forms of snap fastening units have been described in related technologies, such as the simple structural form of a plastic component disclosed in the patent literature NO. U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,296, and the mechanism formed by multiple components disclosed in the patent literature NO. U.S. Pat. No. 7,600,794B2, U.S. Pat. No. 8,001,656B2, and U.S. Pat. No. 8,297,665B2. The snap fastening unit can be an independent component or a part integrated on related equipment. The snap fastening unit formed by multiple components usually includes a housing having a fastening support wall which limits and supports the thin wall with through holes. The housing further has a seat housing (also known as a head portion) protruding away from the fastening support wall. A snap block capable of sliding horizontally is arranged in the seat housing. The seat housing includes a clamping head engageable with the thin wall to clamp the clamping head onto the thin wall. As the snap block is moveable, the snap block has a fastening position that engages with the fastening support wall to securely clamp the snap block onto the thin wall and a releasing position to release the thin wall along a sliding direction, which allows the snap fastening unit to be disassembled from the thin wall. The snap block is held in the fastening position by a spring. An inclined surface is formed on a side of the snap block that corresponds to an assembly direction of the thin wall supported by the fastening support wall (the direction in which the housing protrudes from the fastening support wall) on the thin wall. During the assembly process, the snap block interacts with a periphery of the through hole in the thin wall. The periphery of the through hole abuts and pushes the inclined surface on the snap block, forcing the snap block to slide until the periphery of the through hole reaches a vertex of the snap block, that is, the snap block retracts to the releasing position. Then, as the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall passes the vertex of the snap block, the snap block is released and returns to the fastening position under a loading force of the spring. The snap block engages with the fastening support wall to fasten the snap fastening unit to the thin wall.
The existing snap fastening unit formed by multiple components has defects as follows. When no compressive forces are applied to the snap block, the snap block remains in a protruding fastening position under a driving force of the spring, which thus requires the inclined surface formed on the snap block. When the snap fastening unit is fastened to the thin wall, the inclined surface guides the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall to press the snap block to slide and avoid the thin wall, thus, the force required to keep the snap block fastened to the thin wall becomes a resistance during the assembly process. The resistance accompanies the entire assembly process and continues to increase until the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall passes the vertex of the snap block. On the one hand, when a strong force is required to keep the snap block fastened to the thin wall, the snap fastening unit cannot be inserted into the through hole in the thin wall with a low resistance; on the other hand, during occasional maintenance or disassembly, whenever it is necessary to detach the snap fastening unit from the thin wall, the operator needs to use a separate tool to maintain the snap block compressed inside the housing (due to the inclined surface, it is difficult to directly press the snap block manually, thus, a tool is required to press the snap block), and simultaneously remove the snap fastening unit from the hole in the thin wall, making the disassembly operation inconvenient.
To overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the present disclosure aims to provide a snap fastening unit with a snap block capable of maintaining in a retracted state, having the advantages such as quick and easy assembly and disassembly, and low insertion resistance.
To achieve the above objectives, the present disclosure provides the following technical solutions:
In the above technical solution, the automatic locking device locks the snap block in the releasing position on the head portion to keep in the snap block in the releasing position and unlocks the snap block to release the snap block from the releasing position. When the snap block slides to the releasing position, the automatic locking device automatically locks to lock the snap block in the releasing portion on the head portion (that is, the snap block is in a retracted state), realizing the energy storage of the elastic member. During the assembly and disassembly process, the snap block can be compressed in advance to the releasing position, and the snap block can pass through the trough hole in the thin wall without being pressed by the periphery of the through hole, making the fastening assembly process smoother and more convenient and allowing the parameter setting of the fastening force (provided by the elastic element) to be more flexible. When the snap fastening unit is assembled to the thin wall, the head portion is inserted into the through hole; when the head portion reaches the preset position in the thin wall, the triggering component drives the automatic locking device to release the snap block, and the clamping head pops out under the action of the energy storage of the elastic member, fastening the snap fastening unit to one or multiple thin walls.
In some embodiments, the triggering component is arranged on the snap block and is moveable along with the snap block, the triggering component includes a triggering member movably arranged on the snap block, and a trigger end reset spring for driving the triggering member to move and reset, the triggering member has a triggering end for operating the triggering component, the triggering end is capable of protruding from a front end surface of the clamping head to be exposed on the front end surface under the driving of the trigger end reset spring, the triggering end has an upper triggering surface and a lower avoidance drive surface, a vertex is formed between the upper triggering surface and the lower avoidance drive surface, the upper triggering surface and the lower avoidance drive surface are arranged along a direction in which the head portion is inserted into the through hole in the thin wall; during the process of inserting the head portion into the through hole in the thin wall and the process of removing the head portion from the through hole in the thin wall, the upper triggering surface and lower avoidance drive surface directly contact and abut a periphery of the through hole in the thin wall to drive the triggering end to retract towards a rear side of the front end surface of the clamping head of the snap block, and during the process of inserting the head portion into the through hole in the thin wall, the upper triggering surface directly contacts and abuts the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall to operate the triggering component to unlock the first locking member from the second locking member. In such configuration, the triggering component is arranged on the snap block and is assembled in the housing with the snap block, facilitating the assembly of the product; the triggering component adopts the triggering end allowing the front end surface of the clamping head to be exposed, during the process of inserting the head portion into the through hole in the thin wall, the periphery of the through hole passes over the vertex of the triggering end and simultaneously release the snap block, and the snap block moves to the fastening position under the energy storage of the elastic member to fasten the snap fastening unit onto the thin wall, facilitating the operation; during the process of removing the head portion from the through hole, the lower avoidance drive surface can be abutted by the periphery of the through hole to drive the triggering end of the triggering component to avoid the thin wall, and the periphery of the through hole passes over the vertex of the triggering end; during the process of detaching the snap fastening unit from the thin wall, the force required for triggering the triggering component is not related with the force for resetting the snap block to the fastening position and is relatively smaller.
In some embodiments, the first locking member includes a movable lock piece arranged on the snap block; the movable lock piece includes a lock spring, which provides a spring force to drive the movable lock piece to engage and lock with the second locking member; the triggering component is operated to drive the movable lock piece to act such that the movable lock piece disengages with the second locking member. In such configuration, the first locking member is movably arranged on the snap block and engages with the triggering component to unlock the automatic locking device, allowing for a more reliable and convenient engagement. Correspondingly, the second locking member is a protrusion or a recess formed in the inner wall of the guide channel, that is, the second locking member is a structure which can be directly formed in the housing, allowing for a simple structure and facilitating the processing.
In some embodiments, the movable lock piece is rotatably arranged on the snap block, and a locking portion on the movable lock piece is offset from a rotation center of the movable lock piece. In such configuration, the movable locking piece is rotatable, which requires a small assembly space and can act flexibly and reliably.
In some embodiments, the locking portion is a hook-shaped hook head, and the second locking member is a hooking structure allowing the hook head to hook thereon. Such configuration allows the locking of the automatic locking device to be more stable and reliable.
In some embodiments, the triggering member is a lever arm fixed or integrally formed on the movable lock piece, the lever arm and the movable lock piece forms a lever structure with a pivot point located between the lever arm and the hook head, the lock spring simultaneously serves as the trigger end reset spring for driving the lever arm to be in a non-triggered state, and the lower avoidance drive surface is a convex arc-shaped surface. In such configuration, the triggering component and the movable lock piece form a single component which act in synchronization with each other and form a lever structure, which has a simple and compact structure; furthermore, the lower avoidance drive surface is a convex arc-shaped surface, which ensures the triggering end can be abutted by the thin wall to drive the lever arm to swing.
In some embodiments, the lock spring is a compression coil spring, one end of the compression coil spring abuts the snap block, and the other end of the compression coil spring abuts the lever arm, the lever arm is hook-shaped, and the compression coil spring is located in a hook opening of the lever arm. Such configuration allows the assembly and arrangement of the lock spring to be convenient and reliable.
In some embodiments, the triggering member is slidably arranged on the snap block; a sliding direction of the triggering member is the same as a sliding direction the snap block; one end of the triggering member has the triggering end for operating the triggering component to be in a triggered state, and the other end of the triggering member has a driving end; the locking portion is an abutting end of the movable lock piece, and the movable lock piece includes a tripping action portion in transmission connection with the driving end; the second locking member is a recess formed in the inner wall of the guide channel, and a stop surface is formed in the recess for abutting the abutting end; the other end of the lock spring opposite to the end of the lock spring which abuts the movable lock piece abuts the snap block or the inner wall of the guide channel.
In some embodiments, the tripping action portion is a push arm of the movable lock piece, and the driving end is in push-fit engagement with the push arm.
In some embodiments, the locking portion on the movable lock piece is an abutting end located on a side of the rotation center of the movable lock piece, the second locking member is a recess formed in the inner wall of the guide channel, a stop surface is formed in the recess for abutting the abutting end, the abutting end abuts the stop surface to lock the first locking member with the second locking member, a sliding slot is formed in the movable lock piece and is located between the locking portion and the rotation center of the movable lock piece, an insertion arm is arranged on the triggering member, the insertion arm is slidably inserted into the sliding slot to form a relative sliding engagement between the triggering member and the movable lock piece, the insertion arm abuts a side wall of the sliding slot which is close to the movable lock piece to form a linkage between the triggering member and the movable lock piece in a rotation direction of the movable lock piece; when the head portion is inserted into the through hole in the thin wall, the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall abuts the upper triggering surface, and the triggering member abuts a wall of the sliding slot through the insertion arm, driving the movable lock piece to rotate until the abutting end disengages from the stop surface; the trigger end reset spring is arranged between the triggering member and the movable lock piece, a guide wall that restricts a rotation of the triggering member and guides the triggering member to slide linearly is arranged on the snap block; during the process in which the head portion is removed from the through hole in the thin wall, the lower avoidance drive surface abuts the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall, and the triggering member slides linearly on the guide wall.
In some embodiments, an installation groove is formed along a thickness direction of the snap block, a corresponding protrusion is formed on the snap block to enclose the installation groove; a clamping surface of the clamping head extends to the protrusion; the first locking member and the triggering member are both arranged inside the installation groove. In such configuration, the first locking member and the triggering member are both arranged inside the installation groove, thus, there is no need to provide an additional space inside the guide channel of the housing, resulting in a compact overall structure, convenient processing and assembly, more stable and reliable positioning and sliding of the snap block, allowing the positioning and sliding of the snap block to be more stable and reliable, and ensuring a width dimension of the clamping surface on the snap block.
In some embodiments, the front end surface of the clamping head has a flat end surface extending from a side of the front end surface close to the clamping surface to a side of the front end surface away from the clamping surface along a height direction of the snap block. In such configuration, the flat end surface facilitates holding the snap block and directly compressing the snap block into the guide channel, which provides a convenient operation.
In some embodiments, a chamfered surface is formed on an end corner of the head portion corresponding to an opening of the guide channel and away from the fastening support wall, and when the snap block is in the releasing position, a part of the flat end surface of the snap block is capable of protruding out to be exposed outside the opening of the guide channel through the chamfered surface. In such configuration, the two snap blocks are adopted and the arrangement of the two snap blocks is compact.
In some embodiments, the snap block includes a tool engagement portion for engaging with a tool to complete the sliding of the snap block to the releasing position with the tool, and an operation window is formed in the head portion for exposing the tool engagement portion; the operation window is located on a side of the fastening support wall facing away from a clamping surface of the snap block, and the operation window is covered by a detachable cover plate or directly opened in the head portion. In such configuration, in some applications where the protrusion of the head portion cannot be directly accessed, the snap block can be compressed by a tool from the other side of the head portion, thus completing the movement of the snap block to the releasing position and locking the snap block in the releasing position. After that, the snap fastening unit can be easily extracted from the through hole in the thin wall.
The present disclosure will be further described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The Referring to
The automatic locking device automatically interlocks to lock the snap block 2 on the head portion 12 and keep the snap block 2 in the releasing position, and the energy storage of the elastic element 3 is realized. In this way, the snap fastening unit forms a mechanism with locking function and internal energy storage. During the assembly and disassembly process, the snap block 2 can be compressed in advance to the releasing position, and the first locking member 41 is driven to unlock from the second locking member 42 by the triggering component, which releases the snap block 2. The snap block 2 moves under the energy storage of the elastic element 3 to pop out of the clamping head 21. The clamping head 21 of the snap block 2 extends to the fastening position to fasten the snap fastening unit on the thin wall, allowing the snap block 2 to be controllable. During the assembly process, the thin wall is not required to bear the resistance for forcing the snap block to retract to the releasing position, which significantly reduces or eliminates all the pushing force required to assemble the snap fastening unit on the thin wall, making the fastening assembly process smoother and more convenient. Similarly, during the disassembly process, the snap block 2 is compressed to maintain in the releasing position without using any tool manually, which greatly facilitates the disassembly operation of the snap fastening unit and allows the parameter setting of the fastening force (provided by the elastic element 3) to be more flexible.
To make the snap fastening process more convenient, when the snap block 2 is locked in the releasing position, a triggering end of the triggering component protrudes from the head portion 12. During the process of inserting the snap fastening unit into the through hole in the thin wall 1-1 along the head portion 12, the triggering end is exposed on a periphery of the through hole in the thin wall 1-1, thus, during the process of pushing the head portion 12 into the through hole in the thin wall 1-1, the thin wall 1-1 directly applies contact pressure to the triggering end of the triggering component to complete the triggering operation of unlocking the automatic locking device, making the snap fastening assembly process smoother. Although the thin wall 1-1 may receive the resistance from the triggering component when driving the triggering component, and the snap block 2 may abut the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall 1-1 before the head portion 12 reaches the fastening position on the thin wall 1-1, the remaining stroke of the snap block 2 in the thin wall 1-1 before reaching the fastening position can be designed to be shorter, and a front end surface 21a of the clamping head 21 can be a flat surface. Therefore, even if the released snap block 2 applies a large contact pressure on the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall 1-1, the remaining journey in the through ole of the thin wall is also relatively easy.
Therefore, those skilled in the art, based on the existing technology and under the guidance of the essential spirit of the present disclosure, can design a triggering component which is independent of the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall and can be directly triggered. In other words, after the head portion of the snap fastening unit is fully inserted into the through hole in the thin wall, the triggering component can be artificially triggered by an auxiliary actuator, for example, the triggering component can be manually triggered by pressing a button, pulling a wire, or through a magnetic field signal.
The triggering component is configured on the snap block 2 and is moveable along with the snap block 2. By associating the triggering component with the snap block 2, the triggering component can be associated with the snap block 2 in a modular form, facilitating the assembly of the product. The triggering component includes a triggering member 43 movably arranged on the snap block 2 and a trigger end reset spring 44 for driving the triggering member 43 to move and reset. The triggering member 43 has a triggering end for operating the triggering component. Under the driving of the trigger end reset spring 44, the triggering end protrudes out to be exposed on the front end surface 21a of the clamping head 21 of the snap block 2. A position of the triggering end on the front end surface 21a is limited by a stopper limit structure (such as a wall 1210 in this embodiment) in the guide channel 121. The triggering end has an upper triggering surface 431 and a lower avoidance drive surface 432. A connection position of the upper triggering surface 431 and the lower avoidance drive surface 432 forms a vertex Q. The upper triggering surface 431 and the lower avoidance drive surface 432 are arranged along a direction in which the head portion 21 is inserted into the through hole in the thin wall 1-1. During the process of inserting the head portion 21 into the through hole in the thin wall 1-1 and removing the head portion 21 from the through hole in the thin wall 1-1, the upper triggering surface 431 and the lower avoidance drive surface 432 can be pressed by the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall 1-1 to trigger the triggering end of the triggering member such that the triggering end retracts backwards toward the front end surface 21a of the clamping head 21 of the snap block 2. In this way, the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall 1-1 can pass over the vertex Q of the triggering end, and during the process of inserting the head portion 12 into the through hole in the thin wall 1-1, the upper triggering surface 431 is directly pressed by the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall 1-1 to operate the triggering component to unlock the first locking member 41 from the second locking member 42. During the assembly of the snap fastening unit, the head portion 21 is inserted along the through hole in the thin wall. When the head portion 21 reaches a certain position, the upper triggering surface 431 contacts the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall. As the head portion 21 is continuously inserted into the through hole in the thin wall, the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall abuts the upper triggering surface 431, causing the triggering component to actuate. The triggering end retracts towards a rear side of the front end surface 21a of the clamping head 21 of the snap block 2 until the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall reaches the vertex Q, allowing the triggering end to avoid the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall. At the same time, the first locking member 41 unlocks from the second locking member 42, and the snap block 2 is released. After the head portion 12 is inserted in place, the snap block 2 moves to the fastening position, fastening the snap fastening unit to the thin wall (as shown in
In an embodiment, the first locking member 41 includes a movable lock piece 411 rotatably arranged on the snap block 2. The movable lock piece 411 is mounted on the snap block 2 through a pivot shaft 413. A locking portion 4111 on the movable lock piece 411 is offset from a rotation center of the movable lock piece 411, and the locking portion 4111 can swing around the pivot shaft of the movable lock piece 411. The locking portion 4111 is a hook-shaped hook head. The movable lock piece 411 engages with a lock spring 412, which provides a spring force to drive the movable lock piece 411 to lock with the second locking member 42. The triggering component is operated to a triggered state to drive the movable lock piece 411 to unlock from the second locking member 42. With the above-mentioned installation groove 22 on the snap block 2, the second locking member 42 can be a protrusion arranged on the inner wall of the guide channel 121 of the head portion 21. The protrusion is inserted into the installation groove 22 to realize a compact engagement. It is understood that, in the present disclosure, the second locking member 42 can be a recess formed in the inner wall of the guide channel 121 of the head portion 21 to accommodate different movable lock pieces 411 and engage with different movable lock pieces 411. For example, when there is no installation grooves formed in the snap block 2 and a avoidance recess is formed inside the head portion 21, the second locking member 42 can be a recess formed in the inner wall of the guide channel 121 of the head portion 21. The movable lock piece 411 is driven by the lock spring 412 to automatically hook into the second locking member 42 when the snap block 2 slides to the releasing position. The lock spring 412 can be a compression spring, tension spring, or torsion spring; in some embodiments, the lock spring 412 can be a compression spring. The movable lock piece 411 is driven by the triggering member 43 to overcome the force of the lock spring 412 and swing, such that the hook head (the locking portion 4111) of the movable lock piece 411 can disengage from the protrusion (the second locking member 42). The hook head tends to snap onto the protrusion under the driving of the lock spring 412, such that when the snap block 2 slides to the releasing position, the hook head (the locking portion 4111) automatically hooks into the protrusion under the force of the lock spring 412 to achieve automatic locking. The process of automatic locking is specifically as follows: when the snap block 2 is about to slide to the releasing position, the hook head reaches the position of the protrusion, and the hook head (the locking portion 4111) is pushed up and bounces by the protrusion; when the snap block 2 reaches the releasing position, the hook head (the locking portion 4111) automatically hooks into the protrusion under the driving of the lock spring 412 to lock with the protrusion; the hook head abuts the triggering component, driving the hook head (the locking portion 4111) of the movable lock piece 411 to swings out of the protrusion, thereby releasing the snap block 2. The snap block 2 automatically slides to the fastening position under the force of the energy storage of the lock spring 412. The automatic locking device uses a rotatable movable lock piece 411 to hook on the protrusion to complete the locking (as shown in
It is understood that, under the guidance of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art can also select corresponding ones from the existing locking structures. In an alternative embodiment, the first locking member 41 and the second locking member 42 can also be respectively a sliding lock tongue and a lock hole. In addition, it is obvious for those skilled in the art that the structural forms of the first locking member 41 and the second locking member 42 can be interchangeable. For example, the first locking member 41 provided in this embodiment is the movable lock piece 411 with the hook head (the locking portion 4111), and the second locking member is the protrusion. In other embodiments, the first locking member 41 can be a protrusion or recess formed in the snap block, the second locking member 42 can include the movable lock piece 411 with the hook head (the locking portion 4111), and the movable lock piece 411 can be installed on the head portion. However, the structure in which the first locking member 41 is configured as the movable lock piece 411 on the snap block 2 and the triggering component and the first locking member 41 are both arranged on the snap block 2, can facilitate the assembly of the snap fastening unit. At the same time, considering that the snap block is usually designed to be flat, the locking member is configured to be rotatable around an axis along the thickness direction of the snap block 2 (an X-axis direction in the drawing); that is, the pivot shaft of the movable lock piece 411 is arranged along the thickness direction of the snap block 2.
Furthermore, the triggering member 43 adopts a single-component design that acts in synchronization with the movable lock piece, rather than a component being independent of the movable lock piece. In detail, the triggering member 43 is a lever arm fixed or integrally formed on the movable lock piece 411, and the lever arm (the triggering member 43) and the movable lock piece 411 form a lever structure with a pivot point located between the lever arm (the triggering member 43) and the hook head (the locking portion 4111). The lock spring 412 simultaneously serves as the trigger end reset spring 44 that drives the lever arm to be in a non-triggered state. The lower avoidance drive surface 432 is a convex arc-shaped surface. According to the lever principle, those skilled in the art can obtain the required curvature of the convex arc-shaped surface and a distance parameter between the pivot point and the convex arc-shaped surface through parameter calculation and limited experiments.
To facilitate the installation and arrangement of the lock spring 412, the lock spring 412 is a compression coil spring. One end of the compression coil spring abuts the snap block 2, and the other end of the compression coil spring abuts the triggering member 43. The triggering member 43 is hook-shaped, and the compression coil spring is located in a hook opening of the triggering member 43. It is understood that, the lock spring 412 can also be a torsion spring. In addition, one end of the compression coil spring can also abut a wall of the guide channel; however, such a configuration requires forming a corresponding wall in the guide channel, causing the structure to be more complicated.
Since the snap block 2 can reach the releasing position without being abutted by the thin wall, there is no need for forming the inclined surface on the snap block for being pressed by the thin wall. Therefore, in this embodiment, the front end surface 21a of the clamping head 21 has a flat end surface 212 extending from a side of the front end surface 21a close to the clamping surface 211 to a side of the front end surface 21a away from the clamping surface 211 along a height direction of the snap block 2. Compared to the inclined surface formed on the snap block of the existing snap fastening units, the flat end surface facilitates holding the snap block with a hand and provides the possibility and convenience of directly compressing the snap block into the guide channel in some applications of the snap fastening unit.
To further facilitate pressing the snap block 2, a chamfered surface 122 is formed on an end corner of the head portion 12 which corresponds to the guide channel 121 and is away from the fastening support wall 11. When the snap block 2 is located at the releasing position, a part of the flat end surface 212 can protrude out to be exposed outside the head portion 12 through the chamfered surface 122 (as shown in
To facilitate compact installation and convenient assembly of the snap block 2, two snap blocks 2 facing opposite directions are arranged in the guide channel 121. The two snap blocks 2 are stackedly arranged in the guide channel along the thickness direction of the snap block 2. Each snap block 2 includes an elastic element 3. A waist-shaped hole, which is adapted to the sliding stroke of the snap block 2, is defined the snap block 2. A limit pin 13 is fixed on the head portion 12. The limit pin 13 passes through the waist-shaped hole of the snap block 2 to restrict the snap block 2 on the head portion 12. Such a configuration has the advantage of compact structure. It is understood that, those skilled in the art can also use a single snap block 2 in combination with existing technology.
As shown in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the triggering member 43 is also configured on the snap block 2, and the first locking member 41 also adopts the rotatable movable lock piece. The snap block 2 is also provided with the installation grooves in which the triggering member 43 and the first locking member 41 can be installed, etc. The difference lies in that the triggering member 43 is a sliding component configured on the snap block 2, with a sliding direction of the triggering member 43 being the same as a sliding direction of the snap block 2. One end of the triggering member 43 has a triggering end, and the other end of the triggering member 43 has a driving end 433. The locking portion 4111 on the movable lock piece is an abutting end of the movable lock piece, and a tripping action portion 4112 in transmission connection with the driving end 433 is arranged on the movable lock piece. The tripping action portion 4112 is a push arm on the movable lock piece, and the driving end 433 engages with the push arm. The trigger end reset spring 44 is a helical spring abutting the triggering member 43. It is understood that, since the triggering member 43 and the movable lock piece interlocks, the function of the trigger end reset spring 44 can also be realized through the lock spring 412, that is, the lock spring 412 can be used as the trigger end reset spring 44 at the same time, omitting a specially-designed trigger end reset spring (such as another variant solution provided in
An anti-drop protrusion 1211 for stopping the abutting end is arranged in the guide channel 121. The abutting end reaches a position corresponding to the anti-drop protrusion 1211 under the driving of the lock spring 412, preventing the snap block 2 from escaping from the guide channel 121 due to the force of the elastic element 3. As shown in
The main difference between the technical solution of this embodiment and the technical solution of Embodiment 4 lies in the transmission connection structure between the triggering member 43 and the movable lock piece 411. In this embodiment, the tripping action portion 4112 of the movable lock piece 411 in transmission connection with the driving end 433 adopts a gear surface, and the driving end 433 of the triggering member 43 is a rack meshing with the gear surface. Therefore, due to the tooth transmission between the triggering member 43 and the movable lock piece 411, under the transmission connection, a single spring can be used to simultaneously reset the triggering member 43 and the movable lock piece 411.
As shown in
In this embodiment, the triggering member 43 is also arranged on the snap block 2, and the first locking member 41 also adopts a rotatable movable lock piece. The snap block 2 is also provided with the installation grooves 22 in which the triggering member 43 and the first locking member 41 are installed, etc. The difference lies in that the locking portion 4111 of the movable lock piece 411 is an abutting end located on a side of a rotation center of the movable lock piece 411 (as shown by the position of the pivot shaft 413), and the second locking member 42 is a recess formed in the inner wall of the guide channel 121. The stop surface 421 is formed in the recess for abutting the abutting end. A sliding slot 4113 is formed in the movable lock piece 411, located between the locking portion 4111 and the rotation center of the movable lock piece 411 (as shown by the position of the pivot shaft 413). An insertion arm 434 is arranged on the triggering member 43. The insertion arm 434 is slidably inserted in the sliding slot 4113, forming a relative sliding engagement between the triggering member 43 and the movable lock piece 411. The insertion arm 434 of the triggering member 43 engages with a side wall 41131 of the sliding slot 4113 close to the movable lock piece 411, forming a linkage between the triggering member 43 and the movable lock piece 411 in the rotation direction of the movable lock piece 411; thus, when the head portion 12 is inserted into the through hole of thin wall 1-1, the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall 1-1 abuts the upper triggering surface 431, and the triggering member 43 abuts the side wall of the sliding slot 4113 through the insertion arm 434, driving the movable lock piece 411 to rotate until the abutting end disengages from the stop surface 421, releasing the snap block 2 (as shown in
An anti-drop protrusion 1211 for stopping the abutting end is arranged in the guide channel 121. The abutting end reaches the position corresponding to the anti-drop protrusion 1211 under the driving of the lock spring 412, preventing the snap block 2 from escaping from the guide channel due to the force of the elastic element 3. When the snap block 2 is disassembled, the snap block 2 can abut the abutting end of the movable lock piece 411, allowing the abutting end to pass over the anti-drop protrusion 1211.
The snap fastener provided in the present disclosure has the advantages as follows. Firstly, the snap block 2 can be locked in the releasing position, thus, when the snap fastening unit is disassembled, the snap block 2 can be pre-locked and is in a retracted state, facilitating the assembly and disassembly; although the triggering member of the automatic locking device forms a certain obstruction to the thin wall (the triggering member needs to abut the periphery of the through hole in the thin wall to unlock the automatic locking device), the resistance is different from the snap fastening loading force of the snap fastening unit, and the force required for triggering the automatic locking device is smaller. Secondly, the first locking member 41 of the automatic locking device is a movable component, and both the first locking member and the part (triggering member) that applies action to the first locking member are arranged on the snap block, achieving an integrated assembly which is assembled on the head portion, which facilitates the assembly; furthermore, the assembly structural form is a combination of a channel with a waist-shaped hole and a transverse pin on the snap block, or the anti-drop protrusion inside the channel, making assembly operation simple and convenient. Thirdly, since the snap block 2 can be pre-locked in the releasing position, the inclined surface formed on traditional snap blocks can be omitted and a flat end surface can be used, making it easier for operators to directly pinch the snap block to complete the retraction operation of the snap block 2. Such configuration further facilitates using the snap fastener in some situations.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202311003927.6 | Aug 2023 | CN | national |
