Housing with integral thin film resistive snap-fits
US5536917A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 23, 1994 |
| Grant date | Jul 16, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 23, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T156/1911
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An assembly (5) has two or more plastic parts joined together. One of the plastic parts (20) has an electrical heating element (31) whose function is to soften a portion of the plastic when the heating element is electrically energized. Once the plastic is softened, the two parts can be separated and the assembly disassembled. When the two parts are joined together with snap-fit joints, the snap-fits have a heating element to soften a portion of the snap-fit (24) when the heating element is electrically energized, thereby allowing the housing to be opened and separated. If the two parts are ultrasonically welded together to form a housing, a heating element is located therein to soften the ultrasonically welded portion (44), thereby allowing the two halves of the housing to be separated. The heating element can be a nichrome or thin film resistor that is energized by a source (33) located within the housing, or by an power source external to the housing, or it may be inductively coupled to the power source.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.