Appliance Cover Section Mounting for Frame-Safe Height Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Screw heads protruding from domestic appliances when vertically fixed to furniture frames can damage the frame and prevent adjustment for height inaccuracies, leading to unattractive differences in cover section heights.
Innovation Solution
The domestic appliance features a depression in the body for screw heads, allowing vertical adjustment of cover sections and preventing contact with the furniture frame, along with a plastic profile element for thermal insulation and a rib for gap concealment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If countersunk head screws are used to affix cover sections, then the screw heads do not contact the furniture frame, but the exact position of cover sections is predefined and height adjustment is impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The hole in the cover section is divided into two functional parts: a wide upper section that allows the screw head to pass through freely, and a narrow lower section that guides and centers the screw shaft. This segmentation enables the screw head to be positioned independently from the screw shaft, allowing height adjustment while maintaining secure fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The depression in the cover section acts as an intermediary structure that receives and accommodates the screw head. This depression allows the screw head to be positioned at different heights relative to the screw shaft, enabling adjustment while preventing contact with the furniture frame.
2Ease of manufacture
If standard screws are used for fixing cover sections, then easy installation is achieved, but screw heads protrude and could damage the furniture niche
Solution Approach 1:
The screw head is extracted from the traditional protruding position and relocated into the depression in the cover section. This extraction removes the harmful protruding element while maintaining the fastening function, as the screw shaft still passes through the hole to secure the cover section.
3Device complexity
If cover sections are fixed before installation, then positioning is simplified, but tolerances in screw hole positioning cannot be compensated
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing mechanism is made dynamic by allowing the cover section to be temporarily attached and then adjusted vertically before final tightening. The hole design permits the cover section to move vertically along the screw shaft, enabling compensation for positioning tolerances before the screw is fully tightened to fix the final position.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design minimizes risk of damage to the furniture frame and allows for height adjustments of cover sections, while providing effective thermal insulation and concealing irregularities, ensuring a secure and aesthetically pleasing installation.
Implementation Method 1
the metallic cover section is preferably thermally insulated from a metallic bearing structure of the body by a plastic profile element
Data Source
AI summary
A domestic appliance for installation in a furniture frame. The appliance includes an essentially rectangular body and a vertical cover section fixed to a front vertical edge of the body and extending laterally beyond the vertical edge onto the furniture frame. A leg of the section adjacent to a lateral wall of the body has a hole for a fixing screw and a head of the fixing screw is accommodated at least partially in a depression surrounding the hole. A floor of a depression surrounding the hole is level, and a shaft of the fixing screw maintains clearance as it passes through the hole.