Angle-Adjustable Hinge with Floating Wedge for Low-Wear Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing angle-adjustable hinges face issues such as high contact pressure leading to abrasion, complex assembly, limited versatility, fixed oscillation angles, and dimensional accuracy challenges, making them unsuitable for various furniture types.
Innovation Solution
An angle-adjustable hinge design featuring a disc-shaped gear member with concavo-convex gear teeth and a floating wedge member, allowing for adjustable oscillation angles and simplified assembly, with a sliding peripheral face on a circular low protrusion that reduces contact pressure and enhances durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the gear teeth of the gear portion and the gear teeth of the wedge member engage when two independent parts are assembled with the small pin, then the hinge structure is formed, but dimensional errors are accumulated and contact pressure on the gear teeth becomes high causing early abrasion and cutting
Solution Approach 1:
The gear portion and wedge member are integrated into a single piece, eliminating the need for assembly with a small pin. This merging prevents dimensional error accumulation and ensures proper engagement geometry, thereby reducing contact pressure and preventing early gear tooth abrasion while maintaining reliable operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The single-piece structure combines the functions of the gear portion and wedge member into one component, allowing the hinge to accommodate various furniture types and configurations without requiring separate parts for each application, thus improving both reliability and manufacturing precision.
2Reliability
If many small parts are assembled as shown in Figure 18, then the hinge structure is complete, but the assembly work becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple small parts (gear portion, wedge member, and small pin) are merged into a single integrated component. This eliminates complex assembly steps while maintaining the complete hinge structure, significantly improving ease of manufacture and reducing assembly difficulty.
3Ease of manufacture
If the first member and the second member have circular pipe portions formed by plastic work, then they can be assembled as shown in Figure 17, but use is limited exclusively to chairs and new design and production are required for other furniture configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The single-piece hinge structure with integrated gear portion and wedge member is designed to be universally applicable to various furniture types (chairs, sofas, beds, etc.) and configurations. This eliminates the limitation of circular pipe portions and enables adaptability across different furniture applications while maintaining standardized production benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge design allows for flexible configuration adjustments to suit different furniture types and applications. The integrated structure can be adapted to various mounting requirements and geometries without requiring new design and production for each furniture type, enhancing versatility while preserving manufacturing efficiency.
4Ease of manufacture
If the oscillation start angle and oscillation end angle are determined and unchanged, then the hinge structure is simple, but different design and production are required for use requiring another oscillation start angle and end angle
Solution Approach 1:
The single-piece hinge structure with integrated gear portion and wedge member provides adjustable oscillation angles suitable for various furniture applications. The design accommodates different oscillation start and end angles without requiring new design and production, enabling universal application across chairs, sofas, beds, and other furniture types with varying angle requirements.
5Ease of manufacture
If main functional parts requiring high accuracy are separated into the first arm and the second arm, then the hinge can be assembled, but it is difficult to keep dimensional accuracy and assembly defection may be generated
Solution Approach 1:
The main functional parts (gear portion and wedge member) that require high accuracy are merged into a single piece. This eliminates the need for precise assembly between separate first arm and second arm components, making it easier to maintain dimensional accuracy and prevent assembly defection while still allowing for practical manufacturing and assembly.
6Device complexity
If the entire load works on the small pin, then the hinge structure is simple, but early abrasion and crush on the small pin and the small hole tend to be generated
Solution Approach 1:
The small pin connection is merged into the integrated single-piece structure. The load is now distributed through the integrated gear portion and wedge member rather than concentrating entirely on the small pin, eliminating early abrasion and crush issues while maintaining structural simplicity and reliability.
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 design enables flexible adjustment of oscillation angles, reduces assembly complexity, and prevents early abrasion, making the hinge suitable for diverse furniture applications while maintaining high accuracy and durability.
Implementation Method 1
a gear member (4) having an arc-shaped outer toothed face (Y) is held within the case portion (3) as to rotate around a first axis (C1)
Implementation Method 2
a wedge-shaped window portion (5) is formed on each of the facing plate portions (17), and a floating wedge member (6) is inserted as to bridge the left and right wedge-shaped window portions (5)
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
An angle-adjustable hinge provided with a first member (1) provided with a case portion (3) holding an approximately disc-shaped gear member having a non-circular through hole (23) as to freely rotate, a second member (2) having a fitting shaft portion (20) detachably inserted to the through hole (23) of the gear member, a wedge-shaped window portion (5) formed on the case portion (3), and a floating wedge member (6), movably disposed within the wedge-shaped window portion (5), in which one side face is a toothed face to engage with the gear member and another side is a contact face to contact a wedge face of the wedge-shaped window portion (5), to restrict the gear member (4) from oscillation in one direction against the case portion (3) by the engagement of the toothed face with the gear member and the contact of the contact face and the wedge face.