Adjustable Anti-sag Hinge for Commercial Refrigerator Doors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial refrigerator and freezer doors often experience sag due to hinge wear, structural shifting, and poor design, leading to operational issues like difficulty in opening and sealing, which existing solutions like anti-sag and adjustable hinges do not adequately address without extensive repair.
Innovation Solution
An anti-sag hinge with a mounting flange assembly and strap assembly, featuring an adjustment bracket and threaded bolt system that allows for relative movement and easy alignment, enabling the door to be lifted off for cleaning and adjustment without requiring extensive repair.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional hinges are used for heavy commercial refrigerator doors, then the door can be supported, but door sag occurs over time causing operational issues
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge incorporates an adjustable mechanism that allows dynamic correction of door sag. The adjustment bracket with threaded bolt enables the hinge to adapt to changing door positions over time, maintaining reliability while compensating for sagging tendencies through controlled movement and repositioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge allows change in positional parameters through the adjustment mechanism. The threaded bolt can be rotated to move the adjustment bracket along the strap, changing the hinge's effective mounting position to counteract door sag and maintain proper door alignment.
2Stability of the object's composition
If adjustable hinges are used to prevent sag, then door position can be corrected, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge is divided into distinct functional components: the strap assembly, adjustment bracket, and threaded bolt mechanism. This segmentation allows the adjustment function to be isolated in a separate module that can be independently manufactured and assembled, reducing overall structural complexity while maintaining adjustability.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment bracket serves as an intermediary component between the fixed strap and the movable door assembly. It provides a simple mechanical interface with the threaded bolt that enables position correction without requiring complex mechanisms, acting as a mediator that translates rotational motion into linear adjustment.
3Strength
If heavy-duty hinges are used for commercial doors, then load capacity is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge structure is segmented into separately manufacturable components including the strap assembly, adjustment bracket, and mounting flange. Each component can be produced using standard manufacturing processes and then assembled together, reducing the complexity of manufacturing heavy-duty components while maintaining the required load capacity.
4Ease of manufacture
If hinges are fixed in position, then manufacturing is simpler, but adjustment capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge transitions from a fixed structure to a dynamically adjustable one through the threaded bolt mechanism. The adjustment bracket can be moved along the strap by rotating the threaded bolt, providing adaptability for position correction while maintaining a simple overall structure that is easy to manufacture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution prevents door sag by allowing for easy alignment and adjustment, ensuring proper sealing and operation, and simplifies manufacturing by reducing the complexity of threading on heavy components, with the ability to replace only the adjustment bracket if threads become damaged.
Implementation Method 1
a threaded bolt coupled to the first flange for rotatable movement but preventing lateral movement of the threaded bolt along a longitudinal axis and threadably coupled to the second flange bolt mounting hole. With this construction, threaded movement of the threaded bolt causes relative movement between the first and second flanges, and thereby relative movement between the adjustment bracket and the strap.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~7
AI summary
There is disclosed an anti-sag hinge (10) which includes a mounting flange assembly (12) pivotally coupled to a strap assembly (15). The strap assembly includes a strap (31) extending from a cylinder portion (32). The strap includes elongated mounting holes (69), an adjustment screw boss (70) having a passageway (71), and a moveable adjustment bracket (77) having an adjustment screw mounting flange (78) with a threaded screw hole (79) therein in which is threadably mounted an adjustment screw (80). The adjustment screw has a head (81), a bearing flange (82), a neck (83), and a threaded shaft (84). A removable spacer (86) has a U-shaped gripping portion (87) which is snap fitted onto a portion of the threaded shaft between the bearing flange and the adjustment bracket screw flange. The adjustment bracket includes four mounting holes (88) extending therethrough and generally in alignment with strap elongated mounting holes.