Frangible detent pin
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsRobert D. Travis, Justin Powell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A frangible detent pin comprising a base a pin head and an elastic member. The base is configured to be secured within a bore. The pin head and the base are interconnected through a frangible connection. The elastic member is configured to bias the pin head away from the base. The frangible detent pin has a rigid stage in which the pin head is rigidly positioned relative to the base and a spring-loaded stage in which the pin head is moveable relative to the base under a compression load between pin head and the base. The frangible detent pin is configured to transition from the rigid stage to the spring-loaded stage in response to the compression load exceeding a predetermined threshold sufficient to cause the frangible connection to fail.
Claims21
A frangible detent pin comprising:
- a base configured to be secured within a bore, the base comprising an outer portion and an inner portion;
- a pin head, wherein the pin head and the base are interconnected through a frangible connection;
- and
- an elastic member configured to bias the pin head away from the base,
- wherein the frangible detent pin has a rigid stage in which the pin head is rigidly positioned relative to the base and a spring-loaded stage in which the pin head is moveable relative to the base under a compression load between the pin head and the base,
- wherein the frangible detent pin is configured to transition from the rigid stage to the spring-loaded stage in response to the compression load exceeding a predetermined threshold sufficient to cause the frangible connection to fail, and
- wherein the frangible connection comprises a connection between the outer portion and the inner portion that is configured to fail upon the compression load exceeding the predetermined threshold.
A system for securing a movable member, the system comprising:
- a first member having a bore;
- a second member moveably secured to the first member, the second member having a first detent for securing the second member in a first configuration and a second detent for securing the second member in a second configuration;
- and
- a frangible detent pin, the frangible detent pin comprising:
- a base secured within the bore, the base comprising an outer portion and an inner portion;
- a pin head positioned at least partially within the bore and interconnected with the base through a frangible connection;
- and
- an elastic member configured to bias the pin head away from the base,
- wherein the frangible detent pin has a rigid stage in which the pin head is rigidly positioned relative to the base and a spring-loaded stage in which the pin head is moveable relative to the base under a compression load between the pin head and the base,
- wherein the frangible detent pin is configured to transition from the rigid stage to the spring-loaded stage in response to the compression load exceeding a predetermined threshold sufficient to cause the frangible connection to fail, and
- wherein the frangible connection comprises a connection between the outer portion and the inner portion that is configured to fail upon the compression load exceeding the predetermined threshold.
A method comprising:
- forming a frangible detent pin, the frangible detent pin comprising:
- a base configured to be secured within a bore, the base comprising an outer portion and an inner portion;
- a pin head, wherein the pin head and the base are interconnected through a frangible connection;
- and
- an elastic member configured to bias the pin head away from the base,
- wherein the frangible detent pin has a rigid stage in which the pin head is rigidly positioned relative to the base and a spring-loaded stage in which the pin head is moveable relative to the base under a compression load between the pin head and the base,
- wherein the frangible detent pin is configured to transition from the rigid stage to the spring-loaded stage in response to the compression load exceeding a predetermined threshold sufficient to cause the frangible connection to fail, and
- wherein the frangible connection comprises a connection between the outer portion and the inner portion that is configured to fail upon the compression load exceeding the predetermined threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.