WO2015026308A2

WO2015026308A2 - Smart assembly - disassembly hardware

Info

Publication number: WO2015026308A2
Application number: PCT/TR2014/000321
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tunc BILGINCAN; Cetin Ozgur BALTACI
Original assignee: Bilgincan Tunc; Baltaci Cetin Ozgur
Priority date: 2013-08-22
Filing date: 2014-08-22
Publication date: 2015-02-26
Also published as: WO2015026308A3

Abstract

The invention is related to a coupling system that can replace screws, bolts,, pins, rivets, welded, adhered, etc. coupling hardware, used in order to assemble electric and/or electronic, and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electro hydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic devices, that can be dismantled and/or that are not dismountable; wherein said coupling means subject to the invention can increase the aesthetical view by eliminating the negative effects of the mounting means to the design of devices in which it is used; can lower the mounting, dismounting costs by providing easier mounting, dismounting and design simplicity, can prevent the unnecessary change of parts during maintenance and repair procedures by providing easy maintenance and repair, and if desired can allow the mounting and dismounting of said device by persons and/or companies that have been authorized to do so.

Description

DESCRIPTION

SMART ASSEMBLY - DISASSEMBLY HARDWARE TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention is related to an assembly system that can replace screws, bolts, pins, rivets, welded, adhered, etc. coupling hardware, used in order to assemble electric and/or electronic, and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electro hydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic devices (electronic devices; calculators, computers, cell phones etc, mechanical and/or electro mechanic devices; refrigerators, automobiles, sewing machines etc), that can be dismantled and/or that are not dismountable; wherein said assembly means subject to the invention can increase the aesthetical view by eliminating the negative effects of the mounting means to the design of devices in which it is used; can lower the mounting, dismounting costs by providing easier mounting, dismounting and design simplicity, can prevent the unnecessary change of parts during maintenance and repair procedures by providing easy maintenance and repair, and if desired can allow the mounting and dismounting of said device by persons and/or companies that have been authorized to do so.

KNOWN STATE OF THE ART (PRIOR ART)

Nowadays, devices are formed of several different parts and coupling means are used in order to bring the parts of said devices together and for them to work in harmony with each other.

The devices [especially in electronic devices (cell phone, computer etc)] whose parts are assembled by means of connection technologies (screws, bolts, pin, etc.) are usually placed at the non visible sections in order to ensure that the aesthetics of the design are not disrupted. For this reason very high amounts of energy is wasted during the mounting stage of the production of devices and the design of said devices are more complex. Such types of said assembly can be seen in the designs of lap tops, cell phones, televisions etc. All screw connections are placed at the bottom parts of the computers and many parts of the computer needs to be dismantled in order to perform even the smallest repair process.

The assembly and disassembly procedures gain importance due to production costs in multi parted designed produced using the known coupling methods (screws, nuts, cantilever hooks, pins, rivets, welding, etc). For this reason, the effects of the assembly technologies to production costs have been a subject that has been studied in several sources and (Sheng-Hsien Gary Teng and Soma S. Garimella, Manufacturing

Cost Modeling in Printed Wiring Board Assembly, Journal of Manufacturing Systems,

Vol.17/No.2, 1998) modeling of mounting costs are performed.

Similarly, the products that will be obtained through recycling also are significant due to the workmanship costs of dismounting procedures. (Shu-Kai S.Fan et al.

Disassembly and recycling cost analysis of waste notebook and the efficiency improvement by re-design process, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol.39, pp.209-219,

2013). The complex products that shall be recycled (such as computers, mobile phones) usually need to be dismantled by hand, and each part is classified according to the recycling procedure they will be subjected to, and such procedural steps increase the costs of recycling.

The usage of the automation system instead of manpower has gained importance during assembly and/or disassembly stages and said automation systems are widely used in the production lines where clean room production and/or fast mass production is carried out. However due to the difficulty of the kinematic motion (e.g. relative rotational and translational motion for screws) that needs to be carried out by automation systems in order to perform the mounting by known technologies (screw, bolts, cantilever hooks, pins etc) the investment and operational costs of the automation systems, increases.

In designs where coupling with screws are not particularly desired the adhesive bonding protrusions (exemplary bonding: the rear cover of the "Xperia Z" smart phone by Sony) and/or mechanical cantilever hooks (click fit connection), are found on the bottom and/or top cover of the device that has been designed and the mounting of the designed device is performed using mentioned coupling means. These types of assembly methods are usually used in portable computers, mobile phones, refrigerators and automobiles wherein visual quality is at the forefront; however when it is necessary to dismantle these devices for repair, it is usually not possible to dismantle parts without damaging some parts of the device. When trying to open a click fit device under guarantee, for repair, most of the time the parts that are damaged (usually broken) need to be replaced by the producer and for this reason the parts that are damaged lead to financial loss as they are changed before the end of their real expected lifespan.

The invention subject to the patent numbered US2007003827A1 describes a click fit battery cover for mobile electronic devices. The front (30) and rear battery protection (10) covers according to the design subject to the invention are attached to the main body (20) by means of cantilever hooks (244, 1 12, 1 13, 131 ). For this reason it has been thought that said tabs should be flexed in order to reach the inner side of the device, when the battery inside the device needs changing. Similarly in order to remove the top cover (30), the cantilever hooks (341 ,342) need to be flexed, and if excess strain is applied these cantilever hooks (341 ,342,244, 1 12, 1 13, 131 ) may break, and thus the parts (10, 20, 30) having these cantilever hooks can no longer be used.

Another disadvantage of the known coupling method (screws, bolts, cantilever hooks, pins, rivets welding etc) can be defined such that they can be dismantled by people who are not specialized and/or authorized. The devices are handled without the authorization of the producers and the unauthorized people can open both screws and snap fit connections. In order to prevent such a situation from arising in devices within the scope of guarantee, the producers have placed seals that are only available from the producers on to the outer protecting covers of said devices and as a result said sealing shows if the device has been tampered with by unauthorized people. By doing so the producers are trying to prevent unauthorized people from having access to the technological information of the device by the device being dismounted by unauthorized people and/or are trying to prevent injuries that the unauthorized people can have while trying to open the device. In the patent document numbered US7005206B2 a fuel cell installation is described. As the devices can comprise such chemical materials, the dismounting of such parts by unauthorized people could lead to hazards that are harmful for human health. The present or known coupling methods have not been able to solve any of the problems mentioned above and the system hardware that is to be described have not been used in the field subject to the invention. Aim of the Invention

The technology that is being invented is a novel mounting technology which can be controlled by ID and/or may not be controlled by ID, or can be controlled centrally and/or regionally, wherein said hardware is aimed to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art, caused by the usage of the known methods (screws, bolts, pin, rives, cantilever hooks, welded, adhered etc) to mount parts of electric and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electro hydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic devices (electronic devices; calculators, computers, cell phones etc, mechanical and/or electro mechanic devices; refrigerators, automobiles, sewing machines etc) having more than one detachable and/or non detachable parts.

The invention can eliminate the non aesthetic image that is caused by the known coupling technologies (screws, nuts, pins etc) and can also eliminate the design complexity that is caused by the coupling means that are hidden by the designer to provide an aesthetical display. The energy loss can be decreased during the mounting stage within the production step of the devices that the invention is applied to.

Similarly, by means of the design simplicity the invention has provided, workmanship costs for the recycled goods that will be retrieved during the dismounting procedures can also be decreased.

The usage of automated systems instead of manpower has gained importance during mounting and/or dismounting stages, as the invention simplifies the necessary kinematic movement (e.g. rotational and translational motion for screws), that needs to be carried out for mounting and dismounting procedures especially in production lines where clean room and and/or fast mass production is carried out.

In adhesive and/or click fit connections the damage that can be caused to the devices using the known connection methods during dismantling procedures can be prevented and unnecessary replacement of parts can also be avoided. The invention prevents the devices that have been assembled with the known connection methods (nuts, screws, click fit, pin, rivet welding etc.) from being dismantled by unauthorized and/or unwanted persons as well as securing the technological information within device from unauthorized persons and/or preventing any kind of injuries that could occur due to the operations carried out by said unauthorized persons.

Moreover the information relating to the production of devices (mounting, testing etc) assembled by means of the developed smart mounting/dismounting hardware and/or data relating to device maintenance can be recorded within the mounting hardware.

Description of the drawings

The structural and characteristic features of the invention and all its advantages shall be understood better by means of the drawings, and by the detailed explanations written and the references made to said figures and for this reason the evaluation must also be made by taking into consideration these figures and the detailed descriptions. Figure 1 - Is the general diagram of the smart mounting-dismounting hardware subject to the invention

Figure 2- Is the bottom view of the electronic device box mounted using smart assembly-disassembly hardware.

Figure 3- Is the top view of the electronic device box mounted using the smart assembly-disassembly hardware.

Figure 4- Is the close-up view of the smart assembly-disassembly hardware

Description of the references in the drawings:

1. S) Hardware

1 ) Contact and/or contactless recognition system

1 ,1 ) Encrypted recognition unit

1.1.1 ) Identifier section

1.1.2) Identified section

1.1.2.1 ) Identified section power and control unit

1.2) Power and control unit

1.3) Contact and/or contactless defining system cabled and/or wireless connection unit 2) Locking system

2.1) Drive unit

2.2) Coupling unit

2.3) Feedback unit

2.4) Locking system cabled and/or wireless connection unit

3) Exemplary device wherein the hardware subject to the invention is used

3.1) Upper mounting part

3.2) Lower mounting part

3.3) Electronic hardware of the device embodied with the invention

Detailed description of the invention

The invention can be applied in many ways, and can be used to assemble at least a part that is dependent (at least a part related previously from at least a point, with each other during mounting, which has been coupled or not coupled using a technology developed by the invention) and/or at least a part that is independent (at least two parts previously not related to each other during mounting which has been coupled or not coupled with each other using the technology developed by the invention) in several different ways and applications installation of machinery parts, general hardware mounting, electronic device case mounting, electronic circuit mounting etc Figure 1 , basically shows the operation of the system schematically. The exemplary device (3) shown in Figures 2, 3 and Figure 4 shows the assembly of a hardware (1.S) having an electronic device case (3) formed of two independent, bottom (3.1) and top (3.2) parts, wherein said case comprises a contact and/or contactless recognition system (1), four locking systems (2) and a cabled and/or wireless connection unit (2.4.1 ,3).

The basic operational stages of the system are as follows:

1- interacting by contact and/or contactless the identifier part (1.1.1 ) and the identified part (1.1.2) that are located in the encrypted identification unit (1.1) in order to assemble and/or disassemble the bottom (3.1) and top (3.2) parts that are separate and/or coupled with each other;2- carrying out the identification verification when desired, by the power and control unit (1 .2), 3- Transmitting the necessary information received by the power and control unit (1.2) by means of the cabled and/or wireless connection unit (1 .3 and 2.4) to the locking system (2),4-thereby, assembling and/or disassembling the drive unit (2.1 ) to and from the coupling unit (2.2) 5- controlling the physical condition (position, speed/ momentum, angle, force, pressure etc.) of the drive unit (2.1 ) and the coupling unit (2.2) for the applications that may be needed by the power and control unit (1.2) via the feedback unit (2.3),6- and assembling and/or disassemblingthe bottom (3.1) and the top (3.2) parts that are not assembled and/or assembled. The hardware ( S) procedural steps that can be changed according to the application they will be used with, can be different to the procedural steps that have been defined in the example and the process steps can change in sequence.

The hardware (1.S) that has been invented basically is formed of two different parts (1 , 2) and the devices [similar to the device (3) shown in the example] where the hardware (1 .S) of the invention is applied, comprises at least a locking system (2) and/or at least a contact and/or contactless recognition system (1).

The contact and/or contactless recognition system (1 ) present inside the hardware (1 .S), can comprise the encrypted identification unit (1 .1 ) that can enable the realization of the identification verification and can house the power and control unit (1 .2) that provides internal input to the system, which can also perform the control of the voltage and current balance, carry out logical processes for identification verification and can also house the cabled and/or wireless connection unit (1 .3) which provides cable and/or wireless communication.

The at least one encrypted identification unit (1 .1 ) inside the contact and/or contactless recognition system (1), is a unit that can carry out basically the identification verification, via an electrical and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electrohydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic encrypted identification system (1 .1 ).

The encrypted identification unit (1 .1 ) can be formed of two sections; at least one identifier (1.1.2) and/or at least one identified (1.1.1 ). After the, authorized and/or unauthorized person performs the contact and/or contactless interaction between the identified part (1.1.2), and the identifier part (1.1.1), when necessary, authorized and/or unauthorized person identification can be carried out by the controls performed by the power and control unit (1.2) using electrical and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electrohydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic encryption. According to the application that shall be used for the identified part (1 .1 .2), said part can comprise the power and control unit (1 .1.2.1) which can in turn comprise the electrical and electronic parts (voltage regulator, memory unit, actuator unit driver, analogue digital converter etc) of the hardware (1.S); said power and control unit (1 .1 .2.1 ) being able to provide system control, carry out logical processes, perform the voltage and current balance situation control in case external feeding cannot be made to the system and/or energy is needed, and/or said unit can provide internal energy and/or can ensure balance said energy.

The at least one power and control unit (1.2) present inside the contact and/or contactless identification system (1 ), is a unit that can comprise the electrical and electronic parts (voltage regulator, memory unit, driver unit driver, analogous digital converter etc) of the hardware ( S), that can provide system control, carry out logical processes, control and balance the voltage and current balance condition. Said unit can comprise an internal energy unit (charged battery etc) that can provide energy to the hardware subject to the invention, under conditions where the power supply inside said devices embodied with the invention cannot carry out external feeding. The power and control unit (1.2) can comprise the hardware (1.S) [separate from the electronic hardware (3.3) of the device according to the example] used in the device either separately and/or as an integrated hardware.

The at least one wired and/or wireless connection unit (1.3) that can be present in the contact and/or contactless identification system (1 ), is a unit that can carry out the energy transfer and the wired and/or wireless communication between the locking system (2) and the contact and/or contactless identification system (1 ) via the communication protocols and energy transfer lines that may be required in accordance with the application that uses the hardware (1.S) subject to the invention.

The at least one locking system (2) present in the hardware (1 .S) is controlled by the power and control unit (1.2) that is a part of the contact and/or contactless identification system (1 ). The locking system (2) can comprise the drive unit (2.1) that is one of the hardware that can assemble and/or disassemble the devices [as it can be seen in the illustrated example (3)] embodied with the technology subject to the invention, can house the coupling unit (2.2) that can perform the assembly and/or dismantling of the top (3.1 ) and/or the bottom mounting parts (3.2) and can comprise the feedback unit (2.3) in order to determine the physical condition (position, speed, acceleration, angle, force, pressure etc.) of the drive unit (2.1 ) and the coupling unit (2.2). The system (2) can carry out the wired and/or wireless communication with the contact and/or contactless identification system (1), using the wired and/or wireless connection unit (2.4).

The at least one drive unit (2.1 ) present within the locking system (2), is an electrical and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electrohydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic drive system that can form a preloaded and/or non pre loaded force (mechanical, magnetic etc), such that the parts [as in the bottom (3.1 ) and top (3.2) parts of the illustrated device] are coupled with each other inseparably by performing a rotational and/or transiational motion having at least a degree of freedom in at least one axis; wherein said drive unit obtains the position and motion information for the energy it requires and the motion it is to carry out from the power and control unit (1.2). The drive unit (2.1) can be used [Figure 3 shows 4 of the drive units mounted beforehand to the bottom part (3.2) of the illustrated device (3)] by fixing it beforehand to at least one of the parts that are to be assembled to and/or disassembled from the devices embodied with the hardware (1.S) subject to the invention.

The at least one coupling unit (2.2) present inside the locking system (2), is a counter support element, having a degree of freedom in at least one axis, operating at least in one mode together with the drive unit (2.1) that can be perform a rotational and/or transiational motion in at least one axis, and which can form separable and/or inseparable parts [ as it can be seen in the bottom (3.1 ) and top (3.2) parts of the illustrated device] to create a pre loaded and/or non preloaded force (mechanical, magnetic etc.). The coupling unit (2.2), can be used [As it can be seen in Figure 3, wherein 4 of them are previously fixed to the top part (3.1) of the device (3)] by fixing it to at least one of the parts to be assembled and/or disassembled to the devices wherein the hardware (1.S) subject to the invention is applied.

The at least one feedback unit (2.3) that is present inside the locking system (2), can be used in the applications required, and it can be defined as a unit which can sense the physical condition (position, speed, acceleration, angle, force, pressure etc.) of the interaction of the drive unit (2.1 ) and the coupling unit (2.2) with each other and the physical condition (position, speed, acceleration, angle, force, pressure etc.) of the at least a degree of freedom in at least one axis, and which can carry out a rotational and/or translational motion having a degree of freedom in at least one axis.

The at least one wired and/or wireless connection unit (2.4) present in the locking system (2) can carry out the wired and/or wireless communication and energy transfer between the contact and/or contactless identification system (1 ) and the locking system (2) using the energy transfer lines and communication protocols that may be required according to the application for which the hardware (1.S) of the invention is used.

The hardware (1.S) that is described can be physically designed as a complete structure and/or such that it is formed from several different parts; it can carry out one or more than one of its functional tasks according to the requirements of the hardware by means of said different parts, and/or said different parts can be mounted to the device separably or inseparably.

Claims

1. The invention is a smart assembly-disassembly hardware that can replace connection means such as screws, bolts, pins, cantilever hooks, welded and adhered connection means, used in order to couple at least a dependent and/or at least an independent, separable and/or inseparable parts of electrical and/or electronic, and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electrohydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic devices; characterized in that it comprises;

• At least a locking system (2) and/or at least a contact and/or contactless identification system (1 ) belonging to devices embodied with the hardware (1.S) subject to the invention,

• A encrypted identification unit (1.1 ) that can carry out at least one identification verification present inside said contact and/or contactless identification system (1), a power and control unit (1.2) that internally feeds the system and can carry out logical processes for identification verification and control the balance of voltage and current; and a cabled and/or wireless connection unit (1.3) that can form cabled and/or wireless communication;

• At least an electrical and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electrohydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic encrypted identification unit (1.1) present in said contact and/or contactless identification system (1 ) that can primarily verify identification;

• at least an identified part (1 .1.2) that can comprise the identified part power and control unit (1 .1.2.1), which is present in said encrypted identification unit (1.1), which can be interacted with the identifying unit (1.1.1) by the authorized and/or unauthorized person, as a contact and/or contactless procedure by using an electrical and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electrohydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic encryption if required, according to the application it shall be used with, in order to provide voltage and current balance controls and/or internal energy and/or balance, in the case that the electronic parts (voltage regulator, memory unit, drive unit driver, analogue to digital converter etc.) which control the system, and carry out logical processes, needs energy to be fed to the system and/or cannot carry out internal feeding to the system;

• at least an identifier part (1.1.1) present inside said encrypted identification unit (1.1), which can be interacted with the unit (1.1.2) defined as a contact and/or contactless unit, by the authorized and/or unauthorized person, by using an electrical and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electrohydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic encryption if required, and wherein the authorized and/or unauthorized person identification can be controlled by the power and control unit (1.2);

• At least a power and control unit (1.2) present inside said encrypted identification unit (1.1), that operates the electrical and electronic parts (voltage regulator, memory unit, drive unit driver, analogue digital converter etc) of the hardware (1.S), comprising a unit (1.1.2.1) that can control and balance the voltage and current balance, that can carry out logical processes and control the system, that can provide energy to the hardware subject to the invention when internal feeding cannot be performed by the power supply (if) present inside the devices subject to the invention, such that the said hardware (1.S) that may comprise the said internal energy unit (charged, battery, etc.) is integrated and/or separate from the hardware of the device itself.

• A wired and/or wireless connection unit (1.3) present inside said contact and/or contactless identification system (1); comprising at least a locking system (2); wherein said unit provides wired and/or wireless communication between the contact and/or contactless identification system (1); and wherein said unit can carry out the energy transfer, using the communication protocols and energy transfer lines, that may be required according to the application that uses the hardware (1.S) subject to the invention;

• At least a unit (2.4) present inside said locking system (2); that can carry out the wired and/or wireless communication with the contact and/or contactless identification system (1), via a wired and/or wireless communication unit; comprising a drive unit (2.1) which is one of the hardware that can be used to assemble and/or disassemble the devices embodied with the present invention, which can be controlled by the power and control unit (1.2) that is a part of the contact and/or contactless identification system (1); at least a coupling unit (2.2) that can assemble and/or disassemble at least a dependent and/or independent part belonging to devices embodied with the invention; at least a feedback unit (2.3) used to determine the physical condition (position, speed, acceleration, angle, force, pressure etc) of the drive unit (2.1) and the coupling unit (2.2);

• At least a drive unit (2.1) present inside said locking system (2), that provides a rotational and/or translational motion having a degree of freedom at at least an axis; that can form a preloaded and/or non preloaded force (mechanical, magnetic etc) such that at least a dependent and/or at least an independent part of the devices embodied with the invention are assembled with each other inseparably having a drive system which is electrical and/or electronic and/or mechanical and/or electromechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electro hydraulic and/or pneumatic and/or electro pneumatic; and which receives the position and motion information, and the energy it requires to perform the motion from the power and control unit (1.2);

• At least a coupling unit (2.2), that carries out a rotational and/or translational motion, that is a counter support means of at least a drive unit (2.1) that can form a pre loaded and/or non pre-loaded force (mechanical, magnetic etc ) such that at least a dependent and/or at least an independent part of devices embodied with the invention are assembled with each other in a way that they can be dismantled or that they cannot be dismantled; by working together with the drive unit (2.1);

• At least one feedback unit (2.3) located inside the above mentioned locking system (2),which can be used in applications that requires it to be used, which can carry out a rotational and/or translational movement in at least one axis having at least a degree of freedom, which can sense the physical condition (position speed, acceleration, angle, force, pressure etc.) of the at least one degree of freedom in at least one axis and which can sense the physical condition (position speed, acceleration, angle, force, pressure etc.) of the interactions of the coupling unit (2.2) with the drive unit (2.1).

• At least one wired and/or wireless connection unit (2.4) present inside said locking system (2), providing the wired and/or wireless communication and energy transfer between the locking system , (2) and the contact and/or contactless identification system (1), using the communication protocols and energy transfer lines that may be required according to the embodiment used in the hardware (1 ,S) subject to the invention.

2. A smart assembly-disassembly hardware according to claim 1 , characterized in that; at least one of said hardware is present inside the devices embodied with the technology developed according to the invention; and that the hardware can be designed to be formed of a single structure physically and/or of multiple parts that are different from each other; and that the functional duties according to requirement can be carried out by one and/or a plurality of said different parts; and or that said different parts can be mounted to the device subject to the invention such that they are integrated to and/or inseparable from said device.