RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fitting system, and more specifically to an interlocking connection system that comprises at least two elements or two parts that can be joined together and separated from one another easily (interlocked and unlocked), in which all of the parts of said system must have at least one unit comprising a male connector and a female connector simultaneously in the same part, and must ideally have similar additional fasteners that are positioned inversely when connected (mirrored) and are also proposed in this application in order to improve the fastening and stability of the interlocking. This fitting system can be coupled to various products such as storage recipients or packages in various areas (cosmetics, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, etc.).

Claims

1. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM comprising at least two connecting pieces that fit together, the ends of which are connected to different objects, characterized by the fact that all the connecting pieces of this system must have at least one set composed of one male connector and one female connector simultaneously in the same part, with or without additional retainers.

2. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the connections are produced from polymeric materials, metals, metal alloys, wood and/or rubbery materials.

3. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM, according to claim 1 and 2, characterized by the set of connectors being manufactured together with the objects/packages or being coupled at the ends of these objects/packages, and for these two possibilities the set of connectors can be exposed only when required for use in the push button system.

4. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the male coupling and the female coupling of the pieces can adopt different geometric shapes as long as they are similar in dimensions, conformation and spatial configuration in a way that allows the fitting in different direction and way when there is more than one connector set on the part to be connected at different locations on the part.

5. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the male coupling is a shoulder with a measure equal to or less than d/2 (FIG. 9/a) and with height/depth of the male shoulder equal to or less than half the height of the female cavity (FIG. 9f′), with the angle of the external wall compensation c (FIG. 9c) varying between 0.5 degrees to 85 degrees (FIG. 9/c).

6. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the female coupling of the connecting parts is a recess with the inner portion of its hollow body with an angle of the inner wall (k) between 0.1 degree to 85 degrees (FIG. 9/b); depth of the female cavity equal to or greater than d/10 (FIG. 9/f), with the female coupling acting as the basis for the coupling of the male coupling of the second part and sealing of the fitting system.

7. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that on the internal wall of the female coupling (FIG. 9/k), it is possible to add an additional shoulder or retainer (FIG. 10) to lock the connection set, whose entry angle (FIG. 10 a″) should ideally be less than or equal to the exit angle (FIG. 10 b″).

8. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the additional retainer (FIG. 1/C) serves to lock the connection parts, being able to adopt the format according to FIG. 11/A with the measures: b>0; c=½ b a b; c≤r; e≥c; r>0.

9. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the additional retainer (FIG. 1/C) serves to lock the connection parts, being able to adopt the format according to FIG. 11/B with the measures: b>0; c=½ b a b; c≤r; 2c≤e; r>0.

10. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the additional retainer (FIG. 1/C) serves to lock the connection parts, being able to adopt the format according to FIG. 11/C with the measures: a=45° to 89°; b>0; c=½ b a b; d>0.

11. RECIPROCAL FITTING SYSTEM according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the additional retainer (FIG. 1/C) serves to lock the connection parts, being able to adopt the format according to FIG. 11/D with the measures: a=45° to 89°; b>0; c=½ b a b.

Description

[0025] The description that follows seeks to highlight the proposal and its principle, without being limited to the drawings or components mentioned, having as reference the following illustrations listed below:

[0026] FIG. 1: shows a modality of the connection element in which the male coupling (A), female coupling (B) conformations and the additional retainer in a triangular shape (C) are present;

[0027] FIGS. 1, 2 and 3: show the male and female fittings in a semi-circular shape

[0028] FIGS. 4, 5 and 6: show the sectional view of the separated and fitted pieces, with an opening to facilitate the disengagement of the pieces;

[0029] FIG. 5/A: shows the additional retainer of the parts when coupled;

[0030] FIG. 7: shows the perspective views of the connector parts in different formats of the male and female couplings, or of the parts of the fitting system;

[0031] FIG. 8: shows the fitting system attached and detached to objects of varying sizes;

[0032] FIG. 9: shows a model of the connection element seen in side section, with the slit/opening to facilitate the disconnection, without the additional reciprocal retainers, and the measures that compose it serve as a basis for other objects with applications of physical principles of the Reciprocal Fitting System:

[0033] a: measure of the coupling/shoulder or male lock≤d/2

[0034] b: angle of the inner wall (k) of the female coupling=0.1 degree to 85 degrees;

[0035] c: angle of external wall compensation=0.5 degrees to 85 degrees;

[0036] d: fitting measures=a+a′

[0037] e: external distance d=2 h

[0038] f: depth of fitting/coupling or female cavity≥d/10;

[0039] f′: height of the male socket f, and cannot be less than f/2

[0040] g: measures of the fit in the body d;

[0041] h: overall thickness, depending on the material strength and connector dimensions

[0042] i: height of fitting in the body≥d/10;

[0043] k: internal wall of the female coupling

[0044] FIG. 10: shows a model of the additional retainer that is attached to the inner side of each male and female coupling, in a triangular shape, being able to adopt other shapes, such as: trapezoidal, with the measures below:

[0045] FIG. 10/A: shoulder length

[0046] FIG. 10/B: shoulder height

[0047] FIG. 10/a″: entry angle

[0048] FIG. 10/b″: exit angle

[0049] FIG. 10: the entry angle a″≤to exit angle b″

[0050] FIG. 11: show additional retainer measures in different formats:

SUBTITLE

[0051] a=shoulder angle

[0052] b=space between walls

[0053] c=shoulder height

[0054] d=face parallel to the shoulder

[0055] e=Shoulder length

[0056] r=arc radius

[0057] FIG. 11/A

[0058] b>0

[0059] c=½ b a b

[0060] c≤r

[0061] e≥c

[0062] r>0

[0063] FIG. 11/B

[0064] b>0

[0065] c=½ b a b

[0066] c≤r

[0067] 2c≤e

[0068] r>0

[0069] FIG. 11/C

[0070] a=45° to 89°

[0071] b>0

[0072] c=½ b a b

[0073] d>0

[0074] FIG. 11/D

[0075] a=45° to 89°

[0076] b>0

[0077] c=½ b a b

[0078] In accordance with that illustrated by FIGS. 1 to 8, the present invention entitled “Reciprocal Fitting System” was developed in order to solve multiple problems currently faced by the state of the art.

[0079] In one of the possible representations, the present invention comprises two or more connecting pieces (FIG. 1) with each piece (male coupling—FIG. 1/A) having a shoulder with a shape and size similar to the recess (female coupling—FIG. 1/B) with the hollow internal part of the body, where the male coupling will be coupled. The spatial configurations (size and shape) of the male and female couplings must be compatible for fitting, locking and stability. The connection stability between parts is possible because it contains an additional retainer coupled to the couplings, as the reciprocal additional retentions proposed in this Patent Application.

[0080] The female coupling, which is hollow inside, has the following measures: angle of the inner wall (k) between 0.1 degree to 85 degrees (FIG. 9/b); depth equal to or greater than d/10 (FIG. 9/f). This female coupling acts as a base for the coupling of the male coupling of the second part, in addition to acting on the sealing of the coupling system.

[0081] Consequently, the male coupling has compatible measures (with the female coupling/cavity): measure equal to or less than d/2 (FIG. 9/a); angle of the external socket between 0.5 degrees to 85 degrees (FIG. 9/c).

[0082] In this representation, the base of the connector part corresponds to a+a′, that is, it is the sum measure between the internal walls of the female cavity added to the measure of the male coupling (Note: the total width of the male connector includes the width of its external walls) (FIG. 9/d); the external distance of the connector piece is equal to (d+2h) (FIG. 9/e); distance from the piece is equal to or greater than d (FIG. 9/g) and height of the fitting is equal to or greater than d/10 (FIG. 9/i).

[0083] The proposed additional retainer is an important complementary feature to the fitting system, as it results in a more stable connection, without causing disconnection difficulties. Despite being extremely small compared to the size of the connectors, the additional retainer is especially important to reduce the amount of raw material in the connectors and serves to easily correct the smallest measures necessary to ensure the stability of the fit of materials such as plastic that would have connections inefficient in practice, making its use unfeasible and may even cause the loss of products that would be united by this connection. A possible spatial representation is shown in FIG. 7 in triangular, semicircular or trapezoidal formats, located on the internal side of the male connector coupling FIG. 8 with different sizes. The proposed reciprocal additional retainers are pairs, with similar sizes and spatial configuration and inversely positioned on the internal side of the male coupling. The additional retainers are different from the retainers of the current state of the art, as they are not presented in pairs (they are presented in only one of the pieces) and, this does not have the same advantages and specificities mentioned. Each of the complementary retainers must be in the opposite position of their respective pair of the part to be connected and serves to fit the second part.

[0084] Positioned on the inner wall of the male coupling, the additional retainer can be presented in several formats, such as triangle, semicircular, trapezoid (FIG. 11) that will fit the second piece made of rigid material such as plastic, wood, metal, resins and even flexible materials such as silicone and rubber, with the measures presented according to FIG. 11.

[0085] The variation in the angles of the reciprocal retainers (fitting and disengagement angles) is large due to the fact that they are directly related to the material used, the geometry of the retentions (semicircle, triangle, etc.) and the size of the measurement correction that is necessary for the reciprocal fitting system to be effective in its holding force and ease of disconnection (without tools), as recommended by the principles of this system.

[0086] Thus, such constructivity allows the fitting between the male coupling and the female coupling, and this additional retainer serves as a safety and stability lock and facilitated disconnection, due to the fact that the following relationship is respected: the fitting or entry angle is at least equal or smaller than the disengagement or exit angle, in addition to following the specifications of the relationship of the geometries reported in each case. For example, if the entry angle is 30 degrees, the exit angle must be at least 30 degrees or a little higher, so that the disconnection is facilitated and at the same time there is a kind of barrier that prevents unintentional disconnection and causes greater stability of connection to the system.

[0087] The objects that must be fitted and detached more frequently, must have the inclination of the said retainer for the fitting equal or slightly softer than the inclination of the wall for the fitting. The retaining release wall should be slightly more accentuated to prevent attached objects from loosening easily, but at the same time to facilitate disconnection without the aid of tools. The retainer works as a kind of ramp that can have rounded angles like the semicircle shape, adapting the angles for each material and object. As the object requires greater strength and retention stability in the fitting, the shape and configuration of the retainer can be of a scalene triangle, a trapezoid with different angles, equilateral triangle or other conformation such as the drawings and correlated measures in FIG. 11 according to the material used and need for disconnection more or less facilitated. The proposed fitting system has the ability to connect to various parts, as long as the fitting of the pieces is correctly positioned so that the male fitting is coupled to the female fitting and vice versa. Then, the same procedure is performed on the second part to be connected and so on. Once the connector parts are attached to the desired products, the two ends of the connector parts are manually inserted, until the male and female coupling are engaged, ending with the additional retainer lock for greater stability in the fitting.