Fixing mechanism

A fixing mechanism disclosed in the present invention includes a body, a contact portion and an airtight sealing component. The body has a hollow structure and a first end and a second end. The first end is opposite to the second end. The first end passes through an open hole formed on a first object to insert into a positioning portion disposed on a second object, and an outer surface of the body is engaged with an inner surface of the positioning portion in a linear contacting manner. The contact portion is disposed on the second end. The contact portion contacts against a side of the first object opposite to the second object when the body passes through the first object and the second object. The airtight sealing component is disposed on the second end to seal the hollow structure, to prevent external gas from flowing into the hollow structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a fixing mechanism, and more particularly, to a fixing mechanism without screws and having advantages of low cost and great yield.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A screw and a nut are generally utilized to assemble objects in conventional fixing technique. For assembly of a first object and a second object, an open hole is formed on the first object, a positioning portion is disposed on the second object, and a bridging component (such as a boss) is installed on the positioning portion. The screw passes through the open hole on the first object, and rotatably inserts into the boss on the positioning portion. A thread structure is formed on an inner wall of the boss, so that the screw can be tightly engaged with the boss via the thread structure to constrain a relative movement between the first object and the second object. The conventional screw fixing technique has drawbacks of expensive manufacturing cost due to the screw and the bridging component, high-priced assembly cost of disposing the bridging component on the positioning portion, long working hours and low product yield.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a fixing mechanism without screws and having advantages of low cost and great yield for solving above drawbacks.

According to the claimed invention, a fixing mechanism for fixing a first object on a second object is disclosed. An open hole is formed on the first object, and a positioning portion is disposed on the second object. The fixing mechanism includes a body, a contact portion and an airtight sealing component. A hollow structure is disposed inside the body. The body includes a first end and a second end opposite to each other. The first end passes through the open hole to insert into the positioning portion, and an outer surface of the body is engaged with an inner surface of the positioning portion in a linear contacting manner. The contact portion is disposed on the second end. The contact portion contacts against a side of the first object opposite to the second object when the body passes through the first object and the second object. The airtight sealing component is disposed on the second end to seal the hollow structure, so as to prevent external gas from flowing into the hollow structure.

According to the claimed invention, the airtight sealing component is adapted to seal the hollow structure when the body inserts into the positioning portion.

According to the claimed invention, an outer diameter of the body is substantially equal to or greater than an inner diameter of the positioning portion.

According to the claimed invention, the fixing mechanism further includes an airtight buffering component disposed on the outer surface of the body and filled between the body and the positioning portion in a resilient deformable manner.

According to the claimed invention, an annular protruding portion is disposed on the outer surface of the body, and the airtight buffering component is disposed on the annular protruding portion.

According to the claimed invention, the fixing mechanism further includes an airtight isolating component located between the first object and the second object, and further disposed around the positioning portion.

According to the claimed invention, the body and the positioning portion respectively are straight-tubed structures or funnel-shaped structures. An upper dimension of the funnel-shaped structure is substantially greater than a low dimension of the funnel-shaped structure.

According to the claimed invention, the fixing mechanism further includes an exhausting module for exhausting gas inside the hollow structure when the hollow structure is sealed by the airtight sealing component.

The present invention does not have components with any thread structure (such as a screw and a nut). The fixing mechanism of the present invention forms the hermetically sealed space to generate assembly force for fixing the objects by the atmospheric pressure and the vacuum suction force. The present invention economizes amounts and expense of the screw and the boss, has advantages of rapid assembly hour, low manufacturing cost and great product yield.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer toFIG. 1.FIG. 1is a diagram of a fixing mechanism10according to an embodiment of the present invention. The fixing mechanism10can be utilized to fix objects without screws. The fixing mechanism10includes a body12, a contact portion14and an airtight sealing component16. An outer surface of the body12is flat and has no thread structure. The body12includes a hollow structure18, and the hollow structure18can be formed by arbitrary shapes. The body12further includes a first end20and a second end22opposite to each other. Openings of the hollow structure18are respectively formed on the first end20and the second end22, so the body12has a penetrating space. The contact portion14is disposed on the second end22of the body12. Radial dimension R1of the contact portion14is substantially greater than an outer diameter R2of the body12. The aright sealing component16is made of airtight material capable of isolating gas, such as rubber. The airtight sealing component16is disposed on the second end22of the body12for sealing the opening of the hollow structure18on the second end22.

As shown inFIG. 1, the fixing mechanism10is utilized to fix a first object24on a second object26. An open hole28is formed on the first object24. The second object26includes a positioning portion30. In this embodiment, the body12and the positioning portion30respectively are straight-tubed structures. Dimension of the body12is matched with dimensions of the open hole28and the positioning portion30. For assembly of the first object24and the second object26, the first end20of the body12passes through the open hole28on the first object24to insert into the positioning portion30of the second object26. Because the outer diameter R2of the body12is substantially equal to or greater than (which means not smaller than) an inner diameter R3of the positioning portion30, the outer surface of the body12can be engaged with an inner surface of the positioning portion30in a linear contacting manner, there is no gap formed between the body12and the positioning portion30for gas flowage.

As the body12inserts into the positioning portion30, the contact portion14contacts against aside (which means an upper side) of the first object24opposite to the second object26, so as to constrain a movement of the first object24relative to the second object26. Then, the airtight sealing component16is disposed on the body12to seal the hollow structure18. The airtight sealing component16is preferably adhered to the body12. Method capable of assembling the airtight sealing component16with the body12in an airtight manner belongs to scope of the present invention, and a detailed description is omitted herein for simplicity. A hermetically sealed space is formed inside the hollow structure18by the airtight sealing component16and the linear contact between the body12and the positioning portion30, to prevent external gas from flowing into the hollow structure18. Thus, atmospheric pressure is applied to press the fixing mechanism10in the present invention, to firmly fix the first object24on the second object26.

Besides, the body12further can include at least one annular protruding portion32disposed on the outer surface of the body12and adjacent to the first end20. The annular protruding portion32is utilized to generate structural interference in the linear contacting manner between the body12and the positioning portion30, to effectively prevent the gap from being formed. The annular protruding portion32is a selective unit, and an amount of the annular protruding portion32can be equal to one or more. The plurality of annular protruding portions32can be respectively adjacent to the first end20and the second end22, so the body12is engaged with the positioning portion30and an inner wall of the open hole28on the first object24in the linear contacting manner via the annular protruding portions32located at different positions. The fixing mechanism10further can include at least one airtight buffering component34disposed on the outer surface of the body12, and preferably covering the annular protruding portion32. The airtight buffering component34is made of resilient deformable material, such as the rubber or sponge. The airtight buffering component34is filled between the body12and the positioning portion30in a resilient deformable manner, the annular protruding portion32can be engaged with the positioning portion30and the open hole28tightly via the airtight buffering component34.

Please refer toFIG. 2toFIG. 4.FIG. 2toFIG. 4respectively are sectional views of the fixing mechanism10, the first object24and the second object26in different assembly modes according to the embodiment of the present invention. The annular protruding portion32and the airtight buffering component34are omitted herein for simplicity. As shown inFIG. 2, the first object24is put on the second object26, and the open hole28aligns with the opening on the positioning portion30. The body12of the fixing mechanism10passes through the open hole28to insert into the positioning portion30, and the gas inside the positioning portion30is exhausted through the hollow structure18. As shown inFIG. 3, the first end20of the body12contacts a bottom of the positioning portion30, and the contact portion14contacts against the upper side of the first object24accordingly. As shown inFIG. 4, the airtight sealing component16is utilized to seal the upper opening on the hollow structure to prevent the external gas from flowing into the hollow structure18. Due to theory of pressure balance, the atmospheric pressure can be applied to the fixing mechanism10to press the first object24on the second object26.

The fixing mechanism10further can include an airtight isolating component36disposed around the positioning portion30before the first object24is put on the second object26, as shown inFIG. 1toFIG. 4. The airtight isolating component36is filled between the first object24and the second object26to prevent any gap from be formed. The airtight isolating component36, the airtight sealing component16and the airtight buffering component34are utilized to engage the body12with the first object24and the second object26in the airtight manner. The fixing mechanism10further includes an exhausting module38, as shown inFIG. 4. The exhausting module38is utilized to exhaust the gas inside the hollow structure18, so as to generate vacuum suction force to fix the body12and the second object26. An air needle40of the exhausting module38can pierce through the airtight sealing component16to exhaust the gas inside the hollow structure18. The airtight sealing component16is made of resilient recoverable material. As the air needle40is pulled out of an aperture on the airtight sealing component16, the aperture is automatically repaired by recovery function of the airtight sealing component16. An external tool can be selectively utilized to coat airtight stuff on the aperture. Application of recovering the aperture on the airtight sealing component16is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. The air needle40further can insert into the hollow structure18to exhaust the gas through a joint between the airtight sealing component16and the body12. Application of exhausting the gas inside the hollow structure18is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. The airtight sealing component16can be made of rigid material. The rigid airtight sealing component16is not easily deformed by pressure difference between inner space of the hollow structure18and ambient environment, to ensure that the fixing mechanism10can provide stable force to assemble the first object with the second object.

Please refer toFIG. 5.FIG. 5is a sectional view of the fixing mechanism10and the second object26according to the other embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the body12and the positioning portion30can respectively be funnel-shaped structures with similar dimension scale. An upper dimension D1of the funnel-shaped structure is substantially greater than a low dimension D2of the funnel-shaped structure. The body12can be tightly engaged inside the positioning portion30in the linear contacting manner via the funnel-shaped structure. It should be mentioned that the body12, which inserts into the hollow structure18, can directly contact or suspend above the bottom of the positioning portion30. As the fixing mechanism10utilizes the airtight sealing component16to stably form the hermetically sealed space between the body12and the positioning portion30, the atmospheric pressure can be applied to the fixing mechanism10for pressing the first object24and the second object26.

Comparing to the prior art, the present invention does not have components with any thread structure (such as a screw and a nut). The fixing mechanism of the present invention forms the hermetically sealed space to generate assembly force for fixing the objects by the atmospheric pressure and the vacuum suction force. The present invention economizes amounts and expense of the screw and the boss, has advantages of rapid assembly hour, low manufacturing cost and great product yield.