Looking for a name of a clamp or latch

Tim Wescott · 2014-12-31T20:13:07+00:00

I can visualize this, but have no clue what one may call it, so I can't do web searches. So please bear with the long explanation, and then make suggestions. Better yet, suggestions with part numbers! This is going into a product with small production runs but (hopefully) a long production life. Hence, I'm primarily interested in things that I can buy off the shelf, from known, established manufacturers (i.e., no "Honest Chen's eBay Special", nor even stuff from McMaster-Carr). If I absolutely must I can have stuff made to print, but I have to believe that there's something suitable out there. Imagine a plastic board, 1" by 10" by big. It has a 1/4" deep pocket milled into the top (the 10" by big part) of it. Now imagine a box, 6" x 3" x 3" on a 1/4" thick plastic plate. The plate overhangs the box, and just fits into the pocket in the board. Put the box into the board, and notice how well it's located from side to side, and fore and aft, thanks to the fit between the plate and pocket. Now turn the board over -- damn, the box fell off. This just won't do. I'm looking for some suitable gizmo to clamp the plate onto the board, either with 1/4-turn clamps (the sort that have a tongue that sticks out to engage the plate), or some sort of overcenter latch. The box will weigh in at less than two pounds, probably less than one. So the worst loading that the latches will see is accidental. If someone doesn't quite disengage them before pulling on the box, for instance, or if someone drops the assembly on the floor (from waist height). It has to look good, be made of materials that can stand salt spray, and be fairly easy to use by the mechanically inept -- if the user can open a door, they should be able to work the latches. Some users will need to unclip the box from the board once every few years. Other users will need to do so on a daily basis. So the clamp/ latches need to be able to withstand both hard use and neglect, and still work in...

Dec 31, 2014 21 Replies

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George Herold 11 years ago

The few times I've called McM-C with a part that had gone away, they were happy to give me the supplier's name.

George H.

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Spehro Pefhany 11 years ago

Also, they don't generally obscure the manufacturer's markings and name on the part when you get it, so you can simply source it elsewhere if you want. I do wish they'd be up-front like electronics disties with where the stuff is coming from (especially on more complex products) but it's tolerable for some useful subset of products.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

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