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What is the customer's context and application?
Our customer assembles car doors. As part of this process, clevises are installed in the assembly plant, enabling the door hinges to articulate. The customer therefore required an extremely reliable and robust solution for this end-user application, where safety and reliability are paramount.
The hinges enable the door to open and close. The clevis secures the hinges to the vehicle body and to the inside of the door, enabling smooth, controlled movement.
What was the customer's fastening project before coming to see us?
The customer came to us with a solution for a ground pin or a retaining clip to restrict the movement of a pin that passes through the clevis allowing hinge movement. He consults us as a fastening expert and also asks us to explore other possibilities.
What study have we carried out?
Once the project has been brought to the attention of our design officewe immediately began working on the possibility of eliminating one element from the whole.
The axle that needs a pin to restrict its movement could easily be reduced to a single pin clamped in the clevis hole using spline technology.
Our study focused mainly on the clevis hole diameter and pull-out resistance tests on the splined nail we were proposing. We had to ensure that the reduction of one part in the overall assembly did not compromise the safety of the assembly.
What did we recommend?
We recommended a splined nail with an end spline between an ISO8741 and an ISO8745. This pin meets the clevis fixing requirements for the door, and we worked on the surface finish so that it fits perfectly into the steel clevis and retains its stress-resistant properties.
What are the quantifiable benefits for our customer?
For our customer, we have eliminated a manufacturing step and a part in the assembly.
The proposed pin is 80% less expensive than the previous assembly, while using the best alloys and treatments and retaining 100% of the expected pull-out strength.
In this example, we have an extremely competitive part, since the elimination of a part in the industrial process enables us to maximize the value of the proposed solution.
