For many manufacturers, Joinlox can solve a problem that they hadn't previously been able to overcome.

Advantages of Joinlox over other joins

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Limitations of bolted joins:

  • Slow and fiddly
  • Requires torque tensioning for critical joins
  • Requires bolts, nuts or locking nuts, and washers or locking washers
  • Point loading stresses
  • Cannot be used with brittle materials
  • Bolts and nuts relatively slow to make and can only be made out of a limited range of materials
  • Requires relatively thick bolting flange

Limitations of clipped joins:

  • Chiefly used because it is fast to join and suited to mass production, particularly of consumer electronic or electrical products and toys
  • Materials selection is limited to flexible materials such as thermoplastics

  • Suited to short lifespan parts with designed obsolescence

  • Clip-type seals are cheaper to make but only have a limited number of open and close cycles
  • When used for pail lids the size is limited because of the forces required to open and close seals

Limitations of glue joins:

  • Chemical incompatibility between materials
  • Required bond strength sometimes takes some time to achieve

  • Bond can weaken or fail over time or in different environment

  • Can not be easily reversed once bonded
  • Volatile Organic Compounds and off-gases can be a health/environmental hazard
  • Bond is sometimes rapid. Precise alignment often difficult to achieve
  • Preparation can be vital

Limitations of riveted joints

  • Time consuming
  • Material wastage on some types of rivets
  • Usually restricted to flat sheets or through holes
  • Difficult to remove and replace

  • Pop rivet shaft can break before parts are drawn together correctly

  • Must be made of ductile material (metals)
  • Subject to shear stress during part flexing
  • Limited control over joint tension
  • Point loading stress where rivets are used
  • Can crack brittle materials such as perspex as rivets expand

Limitations of threaded joints

  • Over-tightening can cause jumped or stripped thread joint failure

  • Large and expensive spanners and tension wrenches are often needed to tighten threads to the correct torque
  • Limited to use on circular parts
  • Can undo on driven shafts which rotate in both directions
  • Grit and debris problematic, especially for plastic threads

  • Radial alignment of parts is difficult to achieve with precision

  • Friction is a problem on large parts and limits the maximum thread diameter
  • Multistart threads are difficult to make and engage
  • Not suitable for soft, compressible or elastic materials (ie rubber)

  • Threads more difficult to machine or mould


Limitations of clamped joints

  • Slower to fit
  • Need more access around clamp for fitting
  • Requires correct tensioning
  • Suitable for limited materials

Limitations of crimped joints

  • Used to join metal to incompatible materials, like ceramic or insulated plastic
  • Joints not designed to be serviced. Non serviceable assembles are discarded.

Limitations of pressed joints

  • Requires a press and specialized jigs
  • One-use joint. Generally not reversible

  • Compact joint with minimal visual impact

  • Good for only some types of materials that are not prone to crack or relax over time
  • Good for permanent non-reversible factory-made joints in flexible or ductile materials
  • Usually not suitable for gas-tight joints

Limitations of screwed joints

  • Screw must be carefully tensioned to avoid stripping thread
  • Self tapping screw joints can be used limited times as the part threads wear out
  • Requires multiple screws
  • Time-consuming and fiddly
  • Point loads can lead to joint or seal failure under load

Limitations of welded joints

  • Requires specialist equipment and skills
  • Heat affected distortion of materials is always difficult to maintain required tolerances
  • Burring on inside of pipe or vessel can be problematic

  • Slower and more difficult to apply in the field

  • Tricky to automate for odd-shaped parts
  • Cannot be easily taken apart

  • Soldered joints make replacement difficult

Joinlox Advantages:

  • Typically many times faster to make a join
  • Torque tensioning is automatic and set by the design
  • Usually only one joining key per seam
  • Even load
  • Suitable for a range of materials, including ceramics and glass
  • Key or parts can be made of rubber, plastic, steel, aluminium and more to suit desired joint properties
  • Less material needed

Joinlox Advantages:

  • Easy to disassemble joins without damage to parts (but less applicable to this application)
  • Suitable for a wider range of materials
  • More applicable to durable long lifecycle products where the extra cost of tooling can be justified

  • Can be opened and closed many times without reducing effectiveness

  • Can be used for much larger and non-circular sealed joints, such as 200-litre drums or shipping container panels

Joinlox advantages

  • Can work with wide range of materials
  • Joint strength is immediate
  • Mechanical bond should typically retain its original properties for a longer life
  • Reusable joints can be disassembled easily and quickly
  • None or significantly less off-gassing depending on the materials
    involved
  • Self aligning and easily adjusted
  • Little or no preparation required

Joinlox advantages

  • Quick to fit
  • Virtually no wastage.
  • Can be used on a variety of join types
  • Easy to replace worn or damaged parts
  • Joinlox key always pulls the parts tightly together in the correct alignment when locked up
  • Variety of materials can be used
  • Reduced shear stress by creating tensile and bending stresses
  • Can be designed to give the calculated pre-tension
  • Load spread more evenly along the join
  • Can be safely designed for brittle materials

Joinlox Advantages

  • Joins are made to a preset designed tension and cannot be over-tightened

  • Can be as simple as hammering a key into position

  • Can be used on multitude of join shapes
  • Can take large torsional stresses without unlocking
  • Suitable for both soft and hard materials. Can tolerate dirt and debris
  • Contacts, wires or hoses on one part can be aligned with mating features on the other. No twisting alignment issues
  • Joinlox keys can be made in suitable length segments to avoid friction limitations
  • Easy to engage mating parts, no crossed threads
  • Can be used to join hard parts to soft or brittle to elastic materials
  • Typically can be extruded, moulded, punched or automated easily. Typically has no undercuts

Joinlox advantages

  • Faster to secure joints
  • Usually does not need much access for fitting
  • Pre-tensioning is automatic
  • Suitable for wide range of materials

Joinlox advantages

  • Can be used for most materials

  • Solenoids and other composite electrical assemblies can be easily serviced so lower lifecycle cost

Joinlox advantages

  • Joints can be made in the field without specialized tools
  • Parts can be easily disassembled
  • Can be made with low visual impact but typically not as compact as pressed joints

  • Suited to a wide range of materials

  • More suitable for post-production serviceable joins in almost any combination of materials
  • Good for gas-tight joints

Joinlox advantages

  • Joint pre-tension is set by the key design

  • Can be locked and unlocked many times without damage

  • Typically only one part per edge
  • Fast, easy joins
  • Spread loads give a more secure and reliable join and seal

Joinlox advantages

  • Requires only basic tools and low skill level

  • No heat required and therefore very tight tolerances can be achieved.

  • Can be made without burrs
  • Fast to complete and no NDT needed. Joints have predictable strength properties
  • Compound curves no real obstacle
  • Joints usually easily reversible
  • Electrical components easily exchanged, and can still achieve reliable electrical contact