Compact Angle-Adjustable Hinge With Floating Wedges for Load Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional angle-adjustable hinges with large gear and toothed pieces are limited in attachment positions, causing design issues and potential stress concentration, and making it difficult to support loads without slipping or damage, especially when embedded in furniture like sofas or chairs.
Innovation Solution
A small and thin angle-adjustable hinge design featuring a pair of arc-shaped gear portions and floating wedge members, with spring wires and wedge-shaped window portions that distribute load evenly and restrict oscillation, allowing for adjustable reclining angles without stress concentration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If large gear portion and toothed piece are used to support the load, then the load capacity is improved, but the hinge size increases and attachment positions are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The gear portion is divided into multiple gear teeth distributed around the gear circumference, allowing the load to be distributed across multiple engagement points rather than concentrated on a single large gear portion. This segmentation enables the use of smaller individual gear teeth while maintaining overall load capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The toothed piece is designed with multiple localized engagement points (teeth) that engage with corresponding gear teeth at different positions around the gear circumference. This distributes the load across multiple local regions rather than requiring a single large engagement area, reducing the overall hinge size while maintaining load support capability.
2Strength
If large gear portion and toothed piece are used to support the load, then the load capacity is improved, but stress concentration on the engaged portion occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The gear portion is segmented into multiple gear teeth around the circumference, distributing the load across multiple engagement points. This segmentation prevents stress concentration by spreading the force applied to the toothed piece across several smaller contact areas rather than one large concentrated area.
Solution Approach 2:
The load distribution is extended from a single-plane engagement to a multi-dimensional arrangement where gear teeth are distributed around the circular circumference. This dimensional change allows the load to be spread across multiple angular positions, reducing stress concentration at any single engaged portion.
3Volume of moving object
If the gear portion is made thin to reduce size, then the hinge compactness is improved, but the gear portion cannot support the load and slip or damage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The gear portion is designed with multiple gear teeth segments around its circumference. Even though the overall gear portion can be made thin to reduce hinge size, the segmented tooth structure provides multiple load-bearing engagement points that collectively support the full load, preventing slip or damage that would occur with a single thin engagement point.
Solution Approach 2:
The toothed piece incorporates multiple localized teeth with appropriate thickness and strength at each engagement point. These locally optimized teeth can engage with the thin gear portion effectively, distributing the load across multiple points so that the thin gear portion can support the load without slipping or damaging.
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 effectively supports loads by distributing pressure evenly across the gear and wedge members, preventing stress concentration and damage, while maintaining a compact and thin profile suitable for various applications, including furniture, and ensuring durability and ease of assembly.
Implementation Method 1
spring wires (5) elastically pushing the floating wedge members (3) to the gear portions (4)
Implementation Method 2
engagement of a toothed piece to a gear portion
Implementation Method 3
restrict an oscillation in an inclining direction of the back portion by engagement
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An angle-adjustable hinge in which a pair of floating wedge members (3) are disposed as to be rotation symmetric for 180° around a first axis (C 1 ) as an axis of symmetry, and each of wedge faces (21a) of four wedge-shaped window portions (21) is serially formed on an arc around a second axis (C 2 ) as a center, eccentric from the first axis (C 1 and rotation symmetric for every 90 ° around the first axis (C 1 ) as the axis of symmetry.