Corner Cupboard Fitting With Coupled Pivot-and-Pull-Out Tray Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing corner cupboard fittings do not effectively combine pivoting and pulling-out movements to allow trays to be fully extended through the door opening, limiting the area of the tray that can be moved out and loaded/unloaded efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A fitting with a support arm and coupling device that allows the tray to pivot and pull out along a horizontal axis, where the pivoting movement of the support arm is coupled with the pull-out movement of the tray using a control arm with multiple pivot axes, enabling the tray to be fully extended through the door opening without striking the cupboard corpus.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the tray is designed to pivot and pull out using existing fittings, then the tray can be moved out of the cupboard, but only a limited area of the tray can be extended through the door opening
Solution Approach 1:
The fitting employs a dynamic coupling mechanism between the support arm pivoting movement and the tray pull-out movement. The control arm with multiple pivot axes enables the system to adapt its configuration during movement, allowing the tray to follow an optimized trajectory that maximizes the area extended through the door opening while maintaining operational smoothness.
Solution Approach 2:
The control arm acts as an intermediary element between the support arm and the tray. It couples the pivoting movement of the support arm with the linear pull-out movement of the tray, enabling coordinated motion that allows the tray to be fully extended through the door opening without striking the cupboard corpus.
2Productivity
If the tray is fully extended through the door opening, then loading and unloading efficiency is improved, but the tray may strike against the cupboard corpus
Solution Approach 1:
The control arm's multi-pivot configuration creates a curved movement trajectory for the tray, allowing it to navigate around the cupboard corpus. The arc-shaped path enabled by the multiple pivot axes prevents direct collision while achieving full extension through the door opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling device preemptively coordinates the support arm pivoting with the tray pull-out motion, preventing the tray from striking the cupboard corpus before collision can occur. The control arm's geometry is designed to anticipate and avoid potential collision points during the extension trajectory.
3Device complexity
If a simple pivoting mechanism is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the tray cannot be fully extended through the door opening
Solution Approach 1:
The control arm serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a structural support, a movement coupler, and a trajectory controller. By integrating these functions into a single multi-pivot component, the design achieves full tray extension capability without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A fitting for a corner cupboard comprises a support arm mounted to a basis such that it can be pivoted in a pivoting movement about a first vertical pivot axis; an elongated tray supported on the support arm such that it can be pulled out in a pull-out movement along a horizontal axis. A coupling device coupling the pivoting movement of the support arm to the pull-out movement of the tray comprises a control arm which, at its one end, is mounted to the basis such that it can be pivoted about a second vertical pivot axis and which, at its other end, is mounted to the tray such that it can be pivoted about a third vertical pivot axis. In a pushed-in position of the tray the second pivot axis, when viewing along the horizontal axis, is arranged between the first and third pivot axes.