Blastattack
Plastic
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2012
- Location
- Calgary AB, Canada
So, normally I am really good at finding stuff, but this time I have run into a roadblock.
I am designing/trying to improve a thing. This thing reciprocates, is made of steel, and has 3/8" diameter by 1/4" deep pockets on it, and this pocket has a steel handle stud that fits into it and has an Aluminum housing around it that prevents the handle from falling out completely. The factory design uses a tiny magnet to hold the handle stud against the reciprocating steel component. However, the magnet is very weak, and the handle tends to separate from the reciprocating steel part during operation, and marr/gouge/burr the aluminum housing. The handle needs to be able to be pulled out for servicing and preferably without tools. An "improved version" was released by the factory, but it was crap, and instead of marring outer housing (which is mostly aesthetic, tbh), the handles were threaded in and had a nasty tendency of breaking off and leaving behind a difficult-to-remove threaded stud in the reciprocating bit.
I want to solve that, and I have come up with a solution, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it would be called to get parts for making the changes. However, I have found something that does exactly what I want to do:
Are you all familiar with the drive end of an impact driver? Generically speaking, you have a shaft (the square drive) that has a groove in the end. In this groove you will find a steel split friction/detent ring that is larger than the shaft, and sometimes backed up by an o-ring (for extra springiness, or just to center it?). It mates with a housing (the socket) that also has a groove in it, that the split friction/detent ring seats into. When the housing and shaft are pressed together, the ring compresses until it reaches the groove in the housing, then springs open and hold the two parts together, firmly enough that they don't fall apart, but light enough that the shaft can easily be removed from the housing.
Another example of the exact same principle is a snap button on clothes. You have housing that contains a split ring, and a shaft is pressed into it, spreading the ring over the tip, and into a groove, fastening the two parts together, but still easy to detach.
That. I want that to be the solution. Does that kind of assembly/system have a name? Can you buy off-the-shelf parts from someone to achieve exactly that principle for given sizes? I've searched every type of ring-like detent, friction, retention, holdy thing I can think of, but I just can't find that application. Most "snap rings" are meant for "permanent" installation, and not for people being able to yank stuff apart readily without tools. Fortunately, the size I am working with is 3/8", so I could actually just get the 3/8" impact driver retaining ring and apply that, but it would be nice to be able to apply it to other sizes for other purposes if need be, and for lower cost.
It's for the charging handle of a WK180 rifle up here in Canada, for anyone interested on what I'm on about.
I am designing/trying to improve a thing. This thing reciprocates, is made of steel, and has 3/8" diameter by 1/4" deep pockets on it, and this pocket has a steel handle stud that fits into it and has an Aluminum housing around it that prevents the handle from falling out completely. The factory design uses a tiny magnet to hold the handle stud against the reciprocating steel component. However, the magnet is very weak, and the handle tends to separate from the reciprocating steel part during operation, and marr/gouge/burr the aluminum housing. The handle needs to be able to be pulled out for servicing and preferably without tools. An "improved version" was released by the factory, but it was crap, and instead of marring outer housing (which is mostly aesthetic, tbh), the handles were threaded in and had a nasty tendency of breaking off and leaving behind a difficult-to-remove threaded stud in the reciprocating bit.
I want to solve that, and I have come up with a solution, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it would be called to get parts for making the changes. However, I have found something that does exactly what I want to do:
Are you all familiar with the drive end of an impact driver? Generically speaking, you have a shaft (the square drive) that has a groove in the end. In this groove you will find a steel split friction/detent ring that is larger than the shaft, and sometimes backed up by an o-ring (for extra springiness, or just to center it?). It mates with a housing (the socket) that also has a groove in it, that the split friction/detent ring seats into. When the housing and shaft are pressed together, the ring compresses until it reaches the groove in the housing, then springs open and hold the two parts together, firmly enough that they don't fall apart, but light enough that the shaft can easily be removed from the housing.
Another example of the exact same principle is a snap button on clothes. You have housing that contains a split ring, and a shaft is pressed into it, spreading the ring over the tip, and into a groove, fastening the two parts together, but still easy to detach.
That. I want that to be the solution. Does that kind of assembly/system have a name? Can you buy off-the-shelf parts from someone to achieve exactly that principle for given sizes? I've searched every type of ring-like detent, friction, retention, holdy thing I can think of, but I just can't find that application. Most "snap rings" are meant for "permanent" installation, and not for people being able to yank stuff apart readily without tools. Fortunately, the size I am working with is 3/8", so I could actually just get the 3/8" impact driver retaining ring and apply that, but it would be nice to be able to apply it to other sizes for other purposes if need be, and for lower cost.
It's for the charging handle of a WK180 rifle up here in Canada, for anyone interested on what I'm on about.