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From LEGOs to Ziploc: The Science of the Snap Fit
- davros 6y agoI love this style of physics using simple clever experiments to get new insights into seemingly understood systems. To my delight the original paper appears not be be paywalled: https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.194301 https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.194... now I just need to find time to read it.
- scoot 6y agoStrange choice of title, since LEGO doesn't snap-fit. LEGO blocks join by press-fit, where tight tolerances ensure friction between the connecting surfaces. This as opposed to the expansion and contraction of intentionally miss-sized joining surfaces – causing the snap of snap-fit.
- hypertele-Xii 6y agoSome pieces do, like minifig hands on poles. The iconic bricks friction fit though.
- jumboshrimp 6y agoI'm not smart enough to understand the math in the paper, but I'm able to see that the illustrations match the minifig hand example. This snap fit is present in a lot of LEGO pieces. I'm sitting next to SF, Shanghai, and Kyoto architecture sets, and the 3-in-1 deep sea creatures set, all of which use different snap fit pieces. However, I can understand the confusion given most people's first image of a LEGO piece.
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- gcanyon 6y agoThis was bugging me as well. It left me wondering if there was something I didn't know about how legos stick together.
- lostgame 6y agoBionicle, Throwbots; etc - would like a strong word with you. ;) Some LEGO doesn’t snap-fit. The average blocks don’t. There’s a good portion of pieces that do.
- app4soft 6y agoAccording news title photo, I guess the topic is clicks of LEGO® Duplo™ bricks, not a "classic" bricks.
- vanderZwan 6y agoTrue, but that is also friction fit, with even lower friction because it's made for toddlers without much grip strength
- lmilcin 6y agoHaving small kids I just went to fact check. Neither regular no Duplo Lego bricks snap-fit. They all have very smooth friction-fit and at no point the force needed to bring them together changes.
- bryan0 6y ago> Wada is also interested in investigating what he calls the "type-II snap" which has the opposite qualities: it’s easier to pull apart and challenging to push together. What is a good real world example of this? Maybe something like a spring loaded system which takes force to load but then is released with simple trigger.
- joncrane 6y agoA very powerful weapon? Should be difficult to arm but easy to defuse.
- double0jimb0 6y agoSome of the latches on expensive coolers are intentionally hard to close, leading users to slam them, which leaves the user with the feeling of the cooler/latch being rugged (and hopefully worth the extra price of admission). These slam latches are much easier to open than to close.
- dandelany 6y agoSurely it’s not just to “feel rugged”. The rubber seal of a cooler lid is essentially a deformable spring which must be compressed in order to form an effective seal.
- chrisseaton 6y agoWhen you're closing a cooler you're compressing the gasket. When you open it you're releasing the gasket. It's not a cynical marketing ploy like you describe - it's functional.
- double0jimb0 6y agoI encourage you to validate your assertion at your local sporting goods store (comparing tactile feedback against price point). Don't worry, that Yeti is still a great cooler (I jest, I jest) Source: I engineer tactile mechanisms to price points for a living.
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- lopmotr 6y agoI just skimmed the paper but I don't see what's novel here. Engineers design clips all the time. My company produces off the shelf software to help them to this - modelling the geometry, friction and elasticity. It looks like this is just a fun investigation into something that's novel to the author but not to the world. Shouldn't it be a blog and not something with a DOI?
- timpattinson 6y agoit seems like the usual occurrence of tech people reinventing established fields and calling it novel.
- sitkack 6y agoFolks that like this might like CNC joinery and compliant mechanisms. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cnc+joinery&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cnc+joinery&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=i... Why Machines That Bend Are Better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97t7Xj_iBv0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97t7Xj_iBv0
- Gravityloss 6y agoCNC Joinery - today I learned, thank you for your post.
- sitkack 6y agoSometimes I feel like I am an Internet Concierge. You are welcome, I am happy to help. http://www.bridgesmathart.org/ http://www.bridgesmathart.org/
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