Cooking appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking appliances suffer from assembly errors due to tolerance issues between parts, causing the knob unit to be biased arbitrarily, which affects the appearance quality and operational functionality.
Innovation Solution
A cooking appliance with a coupling structure that includes a bracket to fix the knob unit's position, featuring a knob coupling section and a valve coupling section, along with a flexible fixing member to prevent the knob unit from being biased, ensuring proper alignment and operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the knob unit is directly coupled to the control panel without a bracket, then the device complexity is reduced, but the manufacturing precision and appearance quality deteriorate due to assembly errors and bias in arbitrary directions
Solution Approach 1:
A bracket is introduced as an intermediary component between the knob unit and the control panel. The bracket includes a knob coupling section that couples to the knob unit and a valve coupling section that couples to the valve, serving as a mediator to fix the coupling position and prevent bias in arbitrary directions, thereby resolving the alignment precision issue without significantly increasing overall device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling structure is segmented into distinct functional sections: the bracket is divided into a knob coupling section and a valve coupling section. This segmentation allows each section to independently handle specific coupling tasks, improving manufacturing precision by enabling separate adjustment and fixation of the knob unit position relative to the control panel
2Ease of manufacture
If tolerance between parts is not controlled during coupling, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the appearance quality and operational functionality deteriorate due to assembly errors
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is designed with preliminary anti-action features that prevent bias in arbitrary directions before assembly errors can affect operational functionality. The bracket's structure pre-establishes correct alignment and positioning, counteracting potential tolerance accumulation and ensuring reliable operation even when part tolerances vary during manufacturing
3Device complexity
If the knob unit is biased in an arbitrary direction, then the device complexity remains simple, but the appearance quality and user experience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket serves as a mediator that maintains the correct shape and position of the knob unit relative to the control panel. By fixing the coupling position through the bracket's structured design, the appearance quality is maintained without requiring complex fixing mechanisms, as the bracket itself provides the necessary positional constraint
Data Source
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AI summary
A cooking appliance having a coupling structure of components to a control panel. The cooking appliance includes a main body (2) provided with a heating unit (11), a control panel (20) on at least a portion of the main body (2), a coupled knob unit (30) for controlling a condition of the heating unit (11), the knob unit (30) coupled to the control panel (20), and a bracket (40) coupled to the knob unit (30) to fix a coupling position of the knob unit (30). Accordingly, during a manufacturing process or a use process, the knob unit (30) can be prevented from being biased with respect to the control panel (20) in an arbitrary one direction.