SITUATION
A leading automotive manufacturer requested engineering assistance from Driv-Lok to solve an assembly problem on one of their transmission lines. The problem was defined as an occasional mis-feed of threaded fasteners during the assembly of a wear plate to the housing. The mis-feed caused the fasteners to fall into the gears and cause failure of the entire assembly. The threaded fastener’s only function was to hold the wear plate to the housing so it could be inverted for assembly completion.
SOLUTION
This application was already using Driv-Lok split hollow dowel pins as a partial holding system. Driv-Lok’s ENGINOMICS team reviewed the situation and added a locking feature to the center of the split hollow dowel, which held the wear plate in place. This feature was then patented under patent #US 7,241,095 B2. This upgrade eliminated the use of the threaded fastener, provided the customer with cost savings, solved the problem, and prevented future defects.
ADVANTAGES
• IMPROVED ASSEMBLY METHODS
• REDUCED COSTS OF OVERALL ASSEMBLY
• ELIMINATION OF ASSEMBLY PROBLEM
• REDUCED NUMBER OF THREADED FASTENERS REQUIRED