Ceiling Panel Corner Cover Self-Alignment Using Guide Slot and Walls
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing ceiling panel designs for air conditioners face issues with corner cover alignment, leading to gaps and a compromised appearance when screws are tightened improperly, and require cumbersome manual adjustments for proper positioning.
Innovation Solution
The ceiling panel incorporates corner covers with engaging claws and a screw-fixing part featuring a guide slot and guide walls, ensuring accurate alignment and secure fixing by guiding the cover-fixing screw to maintain the corner covers in their regular positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the corner cover is manually adjusted to the appropriate position before fixing, then the appearance quality is improved, but the workability is deteriorated due to the cumbersome adjustment process
Solution Approach 1:
The guide slot and guide walls are pre-formed on the corner cover, creating a preliminary guiding structure that automatically aligns the corner cover with the corner part during the fixing process, eliminating the need for manual position adjustment
Solution Approach 2:
The guide slot and guide walls act as an intermediary mechanism between the corner cover and corner part, providing a physical path that guides the screw and ensures proper alignment during the fixing operation
2Ease of operation
If the screw is tightened without proper alignment guidance, then the workability is improved, but the appearance quality is deteriorated due to gaps and shifts at the juncture
Solution Approach 1:
The guide slot and guide walls serve as an intermediary guiding structure that automatically ensures proper alignment of the corner cover with the corner part during screw tightening, eliminating the need for careful manual positioning while maintaining high alignment precision
Solution Approach 2:
The corner cover's guide slot and guide walls enable the component to self-align with the corner part during the fixing process, allowing the worker to simply tighten the screw without needing to manually adjust or monitor the alignment
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A ceiling panel includes a frame body having corner parts, and corner covers which detachably cover the corner parts. Each of the corner parts includes an outer circumferential part including engaging holes, a screw-receiving part positioned on the inner side of the outer circumferential part, and a cover-fixing screw screwed into the screw-receiving part. Each of the corner covers includes engaging claws, and a screw-fixing part protruded toward the screw-receiving part. The screw-fixing part includes a guide slot which is opened at a tip of the screw-fixing part, and guide walls protruded from the screw-fixing part so as to surround the guide slot. The guide walls move the corner cover toward a regular position on the corner part when the cover-fixing screw is tightened.