Cooking Appliance Door Assembly with Integrated Spring Centering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing domestic cooking appliance doors are difficult to disassemble and reassemble, leading to assembly challenges, noise, and potential manufacturing tolerances issues, which affect the door's stability and appearance.
Innovation Solution
A door design featuring two door profiles with an end panel that includes spring elements and snap hooks, allowing for automatic centering and secure engagement, eliminating the need for additional components and simplifying assembly and disassembly, while compensating for manufacturing tolerances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional door designs with separate components are used, then assembly and disassembly become complex and difficult, but using integrated spring elements and snap hooks simplifies the process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the spring element and snap hook into a single integrated component that is formed as one piece with the end panel. This merging of functions reduces the number of separate parts, simplifies assembly and disassembly operations, and eliminates the need for additional fastening components while maintaining secure engagement of the door profiles.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual alignment methods are used during assembly, then positioning precision is difficult to achieve, but spring elements automatically center the cover plate
Solution Approach 1:
The spring elements are designed to automatically center the cover plate between the door profiles during assembly without requiring external alignment tools or manual adjustment. The elastic deformation of the spring elements provides self-aligning force that ensures correct positioning, making the assembly process self-correcting and eliminating the need for complex alignment procedures.
3Stability of the object's composition
If rigid connections are used, then manufacturing tolerances cause misalignment and noise, but elastic spring elements compensate for tolerances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the mechanical parameter of the connection from rigid to elastic by incorporating spring elements. These spring elements can deform elastically to accommodate manufacturing tolerances and dimensional variations in the door profiles, maintaining stable engagement while preventing misalignment and noise that would occur with rigid connections.
4Manufacturing precision
If multiple separate components are used for the end panel, then assembly precision improves, but the number of parts and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions (centering, securing, and engagement) into a single integrated end panel component that includes built-in spring elements and snap hooks. This reduces the total number of separate components while maintaining assembly precision through the self-aligning properties of the integrated spring mechanism.
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
Ensures correct component positioning, reduces noise, and enhances the door's appearance and feel by providing a smooth assembly process and tolerance compensation, all while reducing production costs and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
the spring elements are elastically deformable to center the cover plate between the door profiles
Implementation Method 2
the cover plate has two elastically deformable snap hooks which are configured to positively engage with the door profiles
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a household cooking appliance (1) with a cooking chamber (2) and a door (3) for closing the cooking chamber (2), the door (3) having two door profiles (17, 18) arranged at a distance from one another and one on an upper edge ( 4) the door (3) has an end panel (19) which is positively connected to the door profiles (17, 18), the end panel (19) having two spring elements (26, 27), each spring element (26, 27) is assigned to one of the door profiles (17, 18) and contacts it, the spring elements (26, 27) being resiliently deformable in order to center the end panel (19) between the door profiles (17, 18), and the end panel (19) and the spring elements (26, 27) are formed in one piece.