Concealed Shelf Joint with Pinion Access for Thin Furniture Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing joining devices for furniture are structurally complex, costly, and difficult to maintain, with high aesthetic impact, requiring extensive machining and preassembly, and are not suitable for low-thickness panels, leading to complications in assembly and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A compact joining device with a cylindrical body composed of two half-shells or a single shell, featuring a screw with a crown-shaped head and a pinion that can be easily assembled and maintained, allowing for concealed installation and operation, with a pinion that can be rotated through a hole in the shelf to engage with a threaded bushing in the wall, minimizing panel impact and enabling simple activation and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the accommodation body is divided into two components to clamp the crown gear and fixing element, then assembly flexibility is improved, but the device complexity increases and manufacturing precision requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The accommodation body is divided into two separable components (first and second components) that can be assembled around the crown gear and fixing element. This segmentation allows for easier manufacturing and assembly of individual components while maintaining the clamping function through the combined structure.
2Stability of the object's composition
If high clamping force is applied to the crown gear and fixing element, then connection stability is improved, but the interaction between gears deteriorates due to excessive compression
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping mechanism incorporates a spring element that provides dynamic, elastic clamping force. The spring allows the connection to remain stable while accommodating variations in gear positioning and maintaining optimal contact pressure for reliable gear interaction without excessive compression.
3Device complexity
If the crown gear and fixing element are embedded in the accommodation body, then structural compactness is improved, but maintenance accessibility worsens requiring complete disassembly
Solution Approach 1:
The accommodation body is segmented into removable components, allowing the crown gear and fixing element to be accessed by separating the first and second components. This maintains structural compactness during operation while enabling easy maintenance without complete disassembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The crown gear and fixing element are designed to be extractable from the accommodation body by removing the first component. This allows maintenance personnel to access and replace worn components while keeping the overall structure compact during normal use.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the joint is designed for various panel thicknesses, then adaptability is improved, but the device complexity and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The accommodation body components are designed with adjustable parameters, particularly the length of the first component, which can be modified to accommodate different panel thicknesses. This allows a single basic design to adapt to various applications without requiring completely different joint configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The joining device is designed as a universal solution that can be applied to panels of various thicknesses through parameter adjustments rather than requiring multiple specialized designs. The same basic structure serves multiple functions across different application scenarios.
5Reliability
If extensive machining is performed on the panel for joint installation, then connection reliability is improved, but the aesthetic impact and panel integrity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The joining device is extracted from the panel face, with the accommodation body components positioned within the panel thickness rather than requiring surface-mounted hardware. This minimizes the visible impact on the panel's aesthetic appearance while maintaining secure connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The joining device components are nested within the panel structure, with the first and second components of the accommodation body positioned within the panel thickness. This conceals the joining mechanism within the panel itself, preserving aesthetic appearance while ensuring reliable connections.
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 solution provides a structurally compact, cost-effective, and easily maintainable joining device that can be used on low-thickness panels with minimal panel machining, ensuring efficient assembly and activation, while allowing rapid and easy maintenance of the pinion without disassembling the joint, thus overcoming the limitations of existing technologies.
Implementation Method 1
a spring, acting on the pinion, in order to maintain the contact between the pinion and the crown-shaped head
Implementation Method 2
a threaded bushing (33) that can be arranged within a third hole (32) adapted to be provided in the wall (3), for securing the joining device (1) to the wall (3) by means of a screw stem (9)
Implementation Method 3
a pinion (21) provided with a second head (22) that protrudes outside said cylindrical body (4) and is adapted to couple kinematically with the first head (11)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A joining device (1), particularly for joining a shelf (2) to a wall (3) of a piece of furniture, comprising a cylindrical body (4) that can be associated in a first hole (5) adapted to be provided transversely in the shelf (2) and provided with a first axial seat (8) for the rotatable coupling of the first stem (9) of a screw (10) provided with a first crown-shaped head (11) that can be arranged rotatably within a second seat (12) that is adjacent to the first seat (8). The cylindrical body (4) is provided with a third seat (18), which is perpendicular and connected to the second seat (12), for the temporary coupling of a pinion (21), which interacts with the first crown-shaped head (11), which protrudes externally to the cylindrical body (4) and is accommodated within a second hole (28) adapted to be provided in the shelf (2).