Proof of Concept of an Elastomer based Fastener Enabling Rapid Disassembly

Design, management and control of demanufacturing and remanufacturing systems

“…More recently, a number of small-scale pressure sensitive active fastener designs, using closed-cell elastomer foams, were developed and their robustness has been demonstrated in electronic equipment applications [212]. Also, low-cost elastomer fasteners have been developed that can be released with standard disassembly tools by applying a sufficiently high force over a sufficiently long period of time, typically around one second [282]. The concept behind these elastomer-based fasteners is that they will not release but only deform to a limited extent during a product drop, since the elastomer will absorb the released energy.…”