IKEA Wedge Dowel Joint

I just learned that IKEA introduced something called the wedge dowel joint. Does anyone know how this joint works? It's supposed to "click" together solidly and yet disassemble many times. I am curious how that could be.

I googled > ikea wedge dowel < , and several videos came up. I even found a download of their patent in one search. Looks interesting.

So, I've looked at some of those sites and videos, and while I can see how the table legs are set up, I cant quite figure out how the two round dowel assembly works. Is it like a keyhole slot?

Seems to be like a tapered tenon, except the mortise is tapered and the wedge dowel is fixed, a pair provide the width required. The wave surface increases the surface area to prevent pull out, it keeps the tenon short for strength and minimal machining. The joint strength is much less than a traditional tapered tenon, the shoulder provides rigidity but the strength comes down to the base of the wedge dowel pair and the contact area of the wave surface. Adequate for some tables but don’t take shelter under it in an earthquake zone!

Thanks! Apparently the joint "clicks" together and apart many times. Any ideas about that?

It's not that I want to use this joint myself. I would just like to understand how it works. You never know when such information might be useful.

We have an Ikea coffee table and a couple of side tables in our basement with this type of joint. Ours aren't "dowels," but each leg has a rounded v-shaped tenon, with shallow horizontal grooves, like a finger joint, that slide into a similarly grooved mortise. They are locked in place with a bracket that has a cam screw device in it. Five years in, the leg-to-table top joints are very solid. I think I've tightened the screws once.

I disassembled one of the tables one time. Easy disassembly and re-assembly, and still very solid. I don't know whether things would get loose with multiple disassembly/re-assembly cycles.