Concealed Door Hinge With Deep-Drawn Thin-Sheet Supports
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing invisible door hinges require complex geometric shapes and high precision components made from materials like zinc-aluminum alloys or steel, leading to material wastage and increased costs due to thick sections, and often have open structures that are aesthetically unpleasing and prone to foaming material intrusion.
Innovation Solution
The hinge design uses a single concave metal sheet for the support structure and movable inserts, shaped by deep drawing, which reduces material thickness and complexity, ensuring mechanical strength while allowing for a compact, aesthetically pleasing, and protected articulation mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If complex geometric shapes and high precision components are used to ensure mechanical strength and precise operation, then the hinge can support heavy doors and operate accurately, but material consumption increases and manufacturing costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by using thin metal sheets (0.5-1.5mm thickness) instead of thick solid metal components. The metal sheets are formed into box-shaped structures with welded seams, creating hollow thin-walled components that provide high strength-to-weight ratio and adequate mechanical strength while dramatically reducing material consumption compared to solid metal parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines metal sheets with foam filling material to create a composite structure. The metal box provides structural framework and strength, while the foam filling (inserted through through-openings) provides additional structural support, insulation, and seals the hollow spaces. This composite approach enhances mechanical strength without increasing metal material consumption.
2Strength
If thick sections of metal material are used to ensure mechanical resistance, then the hinge can support considerable door weight, but material wastage increases and production costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs thin metal sheets (0.5-1.5mm) formed into box-shaped hollow structures with welded seams. These thin-walled boxes provide adequate mechanical resistance for supporting door weight while using significantly less material than thick solid sections would require.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow metal box structures are filled with foam material through provided through-openings, creating a composite structure where the metal framework provides structural integrity and the foam provides additional support. This allows the use of thinner metal sections while maintaining or enhancing mechanical resistance.
3Ease of manufacture
If an open structure is used to simplify manufacturing, then production steps are reduced, but the hinge becomes aesthetically unpleasing and vulnerable to foaming material intrusion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses metal sheets formed into closed box-shaped structures with welded seams, creating enclosed hollow spaces that prevent foaming material intrusion while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through sheet metal forming and welding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the foam filling material from the manufacturing process and inserts it as a separate step through through-openings after the metal box structure is assembled. This separates the structural fabrication (metal boxing) from the filling operation, allowing the metal structure to be manufactured simply as a closed box without foam present during welding or assembly.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate components are used to achieve adjustment functionality, then position adjustment along multiple directions is possible, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple adjustment functions into a single integrated support structure. The support structure incorporates movable elements (such as movable arms or adjustable brackets) that can be positioned along multiple axes, allowing adjustment in width, length, and depth directions without requiring separate adjustment mechanisms for each direction. This reduces the number of discrete components while maintaining versatility.
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
This design achieves significant material savings and improved aesthetic appeal while maintaining mechanical integrity, preventing foaming material intrusion and simplifying installation.
Implementation Method 1
shaped by deep drawing
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~2
Figure 3(a)
Figure 4(a)~4(d)
AI summary
In a invisible hidden door hinge (1), a first connecting body (2a) and a second connecting body (2b) are connected together by an articulation device (3) which allows the relative movement between a condition of opening and a closed condition in which the first (2a) and the second (2b) connecting body define a seat in which the articulation device (3) is enclosed. At least one of the connection bodies (2a, 2b) comprises a support structure (4a, 4b) shaped from a respective single metal sheet in a single concave piece having concavity facing a direction opposite to the depth direction (X1, X2) of the connecting body (2a, 2b) and defined by a bottom (42a, 42b) of the support structure (4a,4b) and by side walls (43a, 43b) of the support structure (4a,4b) that realize a continuous peripheral edge of the bottom (42a, 42b), joined to the bottom (42a, 42b) without solution of continuity of the material of which said single metal sheet consists of and completely surrounding the bottom (42a, 42b) according to a closed curve around the depth direction (Xt, X2) of the connecting body (2a, 2b).