Cooking device with a positioned door hinge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking appliances face challenges in aligning the user door parallel to the panel during assembly due to complex and costly tolerance chains, leading to assembly difficulties and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A cooking appliance design featuring a pin-based door hinge system where the pin is directly received by the walls, eliminating unnecessary long tolerance chains, allowing for precise alignment of the user door and panel without the need for readjustment, and reducing assembly complexity and costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If tightly tolerated door hinges are used to ensure precise alignment of the user door with the panel, then manufacturing precision is improved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The door hinge assembly is segmented into multiple components: a hinge body mounted on the door, a separate armature mounted on the panel, and a hinge pin connecting them. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured with standard tolerances while achieving precise overall alignment through the modular assembly structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge pin acts as an intermediary element that connects the hinge body and armature. By designing the pin with specific features (such as positioning protrusions or keyed connections), precise alignment is achieved at the connection interface without requiring tight tolerances on all mating surfaces, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.
2Manufacturing precision
If the user door is readjusted during assembly to achieve precise alignment with the panel, then manufacturing precision is improved, but assembly time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge components (hinge body, armature, and pin) are pre-designed and pre-positioned with built-in alignment features during the manufacturing stage. This preliminary action ensures that when the door is assembled to the panel, the components automatically align correctly without requiring time-consuming readjustment operations during final assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge assembly structure is designed to self-align during installation. The geometric relationships between the hinge body, armature, and pin create automatic positioning that guides the door into correct alignment with the panel, eliminating the need for manual measurement and adjustment by the assembler.
3Adaptability or versatility
If long tolerance chains are used in the door hinge assembly, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but alignment precision between user door and panel deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The critical alignment function is extracted from the overall door-panel assembly and concentrated in the hinge pin connection. By isolating the alignment requirement to this specific interface, the tolerance chain is effectively shortened at the critical location while other parts of the assembly can maintain manufacturing flexibility with looser tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
Tight tolerances are applied locally only at the hinge pin connection interface where alignment is critical, while other components in the door hinge assembly can be manufactured with more generous tolerances. This localized approach to quality control maintains alignment precision where needed while preserving manufacturing flexibility elsewhere in the system.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2~3a
Figure 3b~4
AI summary
A cooking appliance, in particular an oven, a microwave oven, a steamer, comprises a cooking appliance housing with walls, a panel and a user door. The user door is arranged on at least one wall of the cooking appliance via a door hinge. The door hinge has a pin (17) which forms the hinge axis of the door hinge, the pin (17) being rotatably mounted directly in at least one wall socket (14) of the walls of the cooking appliance housing. The panel is also arranged on these walls. This device enables a precise arrangement of the user door in relation to the panel on the front of the cooking appliance.