Coplanar Door Opening Mechanism with Rotating Slide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing opening mechanisms for coplanar doors with combined movement are costly and inefficient due to the need for mechanical processing and varying lengths to accommodate different door sizes, leading to increased production and stock management challenges.
Innovation Solution
An opening mechanism where the second slide rotates around a pin integral with the first slide, featuring a curved cam and holding means that lock the second slide in an extracted position, eliminating the need for mechanical processing and allowing for a single length design that accommodates doors of varying lengths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If deflector means are applied to the longitudinal guide by mechanical processing, then the opening mechanism can function, but production time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the deflector means from the longitudinal guide structure entirely. Instead, the second slide is brought into the working position by its own appendix engaging with the guide means on the first slide, eliminating the need for mechanically processed deflector means and reducing production time and costs.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the longitudinal guide provide the deflection function through processed tracks, the invention inverts the approach by having the second slide's appendix engage with the guide means on the first slide to achieve the same deflection effect, reversing the traditional design logic.
2Adaptability or versatility
If opening mechanisms of different lengths are produced to accommodate doors of different lengths, then doors of various sizes can be opened, but production costs and stock management complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal opening mechanism design where the second slide can rotate around a pin integral with the first slide and features a curved cam that accommodates doors of various lengths. This single design serves multiple functions by adapting to different door sizes without requiring different mechanism lengths, thereby reducing production variants and stock management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces dynamic elements including the rotatable second slide around a pin and the curved cam profile, which allow the mechanism to adapt its geometry during operation to accommodate different door lengths, replacing the need for static, fixed-length mechanisms for each door size.
Data Source
AI summary
An opening mechanism (1) includes a longitudinal guide (3) fixed to the frame of a furniture unit and, for each door (2), a first slide (4) sliding along the longitudinal guide (3), a second slide (5) which carries the door (2) and which slides transversally on the first slide (4) from a retracted position to an extracted position and vice versa and return elements to bring the second slide (5) back to the retracted position. The second slide (5) is able to rotate with respect to the first slide (4) and presents a curved space (8) in which guide elements (7), integral with the first slide (4). The first slide (4) further includes holding elements (10), controlled by a control surface (51) situated in the longitudinal guide (3), able to lock the second slide (5) in the extracted position when the door (2) is open to prevent the second slide (5) from being brought back to the retracted position by the return elements.