Armrest Rotary Plate Locking Structure for Quiet Angle Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional armrests lack adjustable angle functionality, leading to discomfort and instability due to noise and lack of support during rotation and use.
Innovation Solution
A rotating device with a fixing mount disc and rotary plate, featuring a conical groove, toothed slot, and slidable retainers with springs, allowing smooth and quiet adjustment of the support plate's angle relative to the armrest seat, ensuring stable support during use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional rotating device uses a ball and locking trench mechanism, then the support plate can be rotated to adjust the angle, but noises occur during rotation and the device cannot provide stable support
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the ball from the locking mechanism and replaces it with a retainer that has a locking tab. This removes the sliding action that caused noise while maintaining the angle adjustment functionality through the same toothed slot engagement system.
Solution Approach 2:
The retainer acts as an intermediary component between the rotary plate and the toothed slot. The locking tab on the retainer engages with the toothed slot to provide stable support, while the retainer itself absorbs the rotational movement, eliminating the noise-generating sliding action of the ball.
2Ease of operation
If a conventional rotating device uses a ball and spring mechanism, then the support plate can rotate, but the abutting member cannot support the support plate when a user places their arms on it
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the ball from the mechanism and replaces it with a retainer that has a locking tab designed to engage with the toothed slot. This provides positive mechanical engagement that can support user weight, eliminating the inability to provide stable support while maintaining ease of rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical groove with curved surface provides a self-centering effect for the rotary plate, ensuring smooth rotational movement. The curved geometry guides the rotation and maintains consistent engagement between the locking tab and toothed slot, providing reliable support during use.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the support plate is rotated using a conventional mechanism, then angle adjustment is possible, but the rotation is not smooth due to tolerance and shake
Solution Approach 1:
The conical groove with its curved surface provides a self-centering effect that guides the rotary plate during rotation. This curved geometry compensates for manufacturing tolerances and eliminates shake, ensuring smooth rotational movement throughout the angle adjustment range.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical groove changes the geometric parameters of the engagement interface. The varying diameter of the conical groove creates a tapered fit that reduces clearance and eliminates play between components, providing smooth rotation without shake while maintaining angle adjustment capability.
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
Enables smooth and quiet adjustment of the armrest's angle, reducing noise and instability, and providing stable support for users when standing up.
Implementation Method 1
each slidable retainer is pushed by a spring
Implementation Method 2
the post and the extending fringe of the rotary plate for cooperating with and the conical groove and the toothed slot of the fixing mount disc so as to reduce tolerance and a shake
Data Source
AI summary
A rotating device for an armrest is connected with a fixing mount disc on a top surface of an armrest seat and is rotatably coupled with a rotary plate on a bottom surface of the support plate. The fixing mount disc includes a conical groove and a threaded orifice formed on the conical groove, and the conical groove has a toothed slot. The rotary plate includes a post corresponding to the conical groove and the toothed slot, the rotary plate also includes an extending fringe extending outwardly from an outer side thereof to contact with a peripheral side of the fixing mount disc, wherein the post has two recesses, each recess extends outwardly from each of two sides of the post to accommodate each of two slidable retainers, and each slidable retainer is pushed by a spring and has a locking tab for retaining with the toothed slot.