Latching mechanism 1- AD

grabcad

NASA Challenge - Latching mechanismIn this mechanism, the claws are driven towards the pin via the cables pulling the antennas together. Once contact is made between the claws and the pin, the claw arms deform elastically around the pin’s sloped diameter until they reach the groove and securely lock into place. The force required to bring the two parts together render unintentional activation impossible. Components:Each panel has 2 latching mechanisms composed of:1. A claw. Made from Titanium, it deforms under the force of the pin and then locks the pin in place once it overcomes the slope.2. A pin. Made from Titanium, it has a 1/8-inch deep groove to allow the claw arms to lock in place.3. 3 Raisers. Made from Titanium, their role is to hold the claw. All components are constructed from Grade 5 Titanium, resulting in a weight of 120 grams per mechanism or 240 grams in total.Activation:175N of applied force is needed to deform each arm of the claw by the 1/8 inch needed to overcome the pin slope, therefore, with 3 arms, a total force of 525N is needed. Since there was no information about the cables pulling strength, it was assumed that they are strong enough to provide this force but if not, the claw’s thickness can be reduced.With the groove’s walls being angled at 95 degrees from the horizontal, de-latching the pin from the claws necessitates a force 8.11 times greater than the force required for insertion. For instance, if the latching force is set at 525N, a force of 4258N would be needed to disengage the pin from the claws.To fulfill the bonus challenge, one rope can be pulled faster than the second one, locking one pin ¼ second later, generating the desired 9N shocks.Thank you for considering my entry,Andrea Devulder