Appliance Door Hinge Assembly with Self-Retaining Pivot Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional appliance door hinge assemblies lack an effective mechanism for retaining the door in open positions, leading to instability and potential safety issues.
Innovation Solution
A self-retaining hinge assembly is designed with a lower hinge mount and pivot members featuring protrusions and inclined surfaces, allowing the lower hinge pin to be vertically translated and rotated, enabling secure positioning of the door in open and closed states through a combination of pin receptacles and stops.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional hinge assembly is used, then the door can rotate between open and closed positions, but the door cannot be retained in the open position leading to instability
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge assembly incorporates a pivot member that can dynamically transition between a rotated position (for door movement) and a retained position (for stable open position holding). The stop mechanism enables this dynamic behavior by allowing the pivot member to be positioned at different angles relative to the hinge mount, providing both rotation capability and retention stability without requiring a completely complex separate locking system
Solution Approach 2:
The stop acts as an intermediary element between the pivot member and the hinge mount. It provides a physical barrier that prevents the pivot member from rotating beyond a certain point, thereby enabling the door to be retained in the open position. This simple intermediary component resolves the contradiction by adding retention functionality without significantly increasing overall system complexity
2Ease of operation
If the hinge assembly allows free rotation, then the door can move between positions, but the door alignment becomes inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The stop is pre-positioned on the hinge mount at a specific location that corresponds to the desired door alignment when open. Before the door is fully opened, the pivot member rotates freely, but as it approaches the open position, the stop预先 (in advance) prevents further rotation, ensuring the door aligns consistently every time it is opened. This preliminary positioning action resolves the contradiction between movement freedom and alignment precision
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge assembly uses the door's own weight and the geometry of the pivot member and stop to automatically achieve correct alignment. When the door is opened, gravity and the mechanical interaction between the pivot member and stop naturally guide the door into the correct positioned without requiring additional actuators or complex control mechanisms, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring precision
Data Source
AI summary
An appliance includes a door with a plurality of panels spaced apart by a vertical support. A lower hinge mount is coupled with an appliance body. A first pivot member is coupled with the lower hinge mount and includes a first protrusion. A lower hinge support is fixedly coupled with the vertical support and includes an elongate coupling plate and a hinge arm that extends orthogonal relative to a longitudinal extent of the elongate coupling plate. A stop extends from the hinge arm. A second pivot member has a receiving space that receives the stop. The second pivot member includes a second protrusion that is in abutting contact with the first protrusion. A lower hinge pin extends through the lower hinge support and the second pivot member. The lower hinge pin is vertically translated when the second pivot member moves from a first position to a second position.