Highly compliant retention mechanism for attaching and quickly releasing components

A retention mechanism, comprising:

• a body having a body attachment feature that is adapted to secure a first component to the body, an element having a generally cone-like shape extending from the body, and a tip having a generally spherical shape on a distal end of the element;
• a base having a base attachment feature that is adapted to secure a second component to the base, and an opening having a generally cone-like shape for receiving the tip and the element of the body;
• wherein
• the body is adapted to releasably join the first component to the second component via the base by inserting the tip of the body into the opening in the base such that a highly compliant fit is achieved therebetween;
• and further comprising:
• a neck on the body located between the element and the tip;
• a throat in the opening in the base;
• and wherein
• when the body is joined to the base, the neck and the throat substantially register such that the tip of the body is located beyond the opening and the throat in the base.

A retention mechanism comprising:

• a body having a body attachment feature that is adapted to secure a first component to the body, an element having a generally cone-like shape extending from the body, and a tip having a generally spherical shape on a distal end of the element, wherein the element has a minor diameter that is less than a diameter of the tip;
• a base having a base attachment feature that is adapted to secure a second component to the base, and an opening having a generally cone-like shape for receiving the tip and the element of the body;
• wherein
• the retention mechanism has a released position wherein the body is separated from the base, a transition phase wherein the tip is inserted into the opening in the base such that at least one of the base and the tip is temporarily and elastically deformed, and an engaged position wherein the body joins the first component to the second component via the base while the body and the base are free of elastic deformation to avoid creep;
• and further comprising:
• a neck on the body located between the element and the tip and defined at the minor diameter of the element;
• a throat in the opening in the base defined at a minor diameter of the opening;
• and wherein
• when the body is joined to the base, the neck and the throat substantially register such that the tip is located beyond the opening and the throat.