Second generation of pressure sensitive fasteners for active disassembly

Reversible fasteners suited for Active Disassembly (AD), which can be simultaneously released by an increase in ambient air pressure, have been developed in prior research. However, the implementation of these active fasteners in electronic consumer products is hampered as a result of the ongoing trend of miniaturization. Therefore, a second generation of pressure based fasteners was developed in line with the evolutionary TRIZ trends. This paper presents a novel pressure sensitive snap-fit for electronic products which makes use of closed cell elastomer foam and releases at an overpressure of 2 bar. (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V.