Corner Cabinet Pull-Out Shelf With Rototranslation Guide

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing corner cabinet designs with pull-out shelves face challenges in accessibility due to constrained dimensions and excessive complexity, leading to jamming issues and limited usable surface area, especially when shelves are positioned in corner locations.

Innovation Solution

A corner cabinet with an L-shaped bracket and a column, featuring a pin that slides within a curved guide and a linear guide, allowing for a simple and reliable rototranslation movement of the shelf, enabling maximum surface usage without interference from uprights.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the shelf is joined to the door and rotates with door opening, then the shelf becomes accessible, but the cabinet dimensions are constrained and the shelf surface area is excessively smaller than the cabinet perimeter

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveshelf accessibilityVSAvoidcabinet usable area
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The shelf is made dynamically movable through a rototranslation mechanism rather than being fixed or simply rotating. The shelf can be pulled out along a curved guide path that combines rotation and translation, allowing it to extend beyond the cabinet door plane and maximize accessible area without constraining cabinet dimensions

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The shelf movement is extended from simple rotation in one dimension to rototranslation in multiple dimensions. The curved guide allows the shelf to move along a three-dimensional path that combines angular rotation with radial translation, effectively utilizing space in multiple dimensions to maximize shelf surface area relative to cabinet size

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Ease of operation

If a guide and support arm system is used for rototranslation, then the shelf can be pulled out, but the system becomes excessively cumbersome and complicated causing jamming

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveshelf pull-out capabilityVSAvoidmechanism complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The complex support arm mechanism from prior art is extracted and replaced with a simpler direct guide system. The shelf is guided directly by curved guides attached to the cabinet structure, eliminating the need for separate support arms and reducing the number of moving parts that could cause jamming

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The curved guide acts as an intermediary element that directly constrains and guides shelf movement. Instead of using multiple interconnected components (support arms, hinges, guides), the curved guide serves as a single mediating structure that defines the rototranslation path, simplifying the overall mechanism while preventing jamming through smooth continuous guidance

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Strength

If uprights are disposed in the front central wall, then structural support is provided, but the uprights hinder the rotation of the support of the pull-out shelf

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecabinet structural supportVSAvoidshelf rotation capability
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The support structure is segmented into separate functional elements: uprights for structural support and curved guides for shelf movement. The curved guides are positioned and designed to work around the uprights, dividing the support function from the guidance function to eliminate interference between structural elements and moving components

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP2229845B1Cabinet with pull-out shelf
Publication Date: 2011.05.18 SIGE SPA
  • EP2229845B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2229845B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2229845B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A cabinet (1) is described, comprising an opening (2) defined by an angular border (20) and an upright (21) and a shelf (5) that can be pulled out of said opening to pass from a retracted position inside the cabinet to an extracted position outside the cabinet. The cabinet comprises: a column (C) disposed inside the cabinet behind said upright (21), an L-shaped bracket (3) provided with a short arm (31) mounted to revolve around the column (C) and a long arm (32), a curved guide (4) joined with said shelf (5) wherein a pin (33) slides joined to said long arm (32) of the bracket, and a linear guide (6) joined to said long arm (32) of the bracket wherein a pin (8) slides and revolves joined to said shelf (5).