Damped Horizontal-Axis Appliance Door Hinge for Soft Opening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Household appliances with doors that open by rotating around a horizontal axis often experience uncontrollable forward motion due to their weight, leading to issues like door breakage, damaged surfaces, and hinge impairment.
Innovation Solution
A hinge system comprising a shaft, pin, gear, toothed rack, and damper, where the damper slows down the door's opening motion using a fluid-filled box or resilient/spring configuration to prevent abrupt falling, allowing controlled rotation and safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a door opens by rotating forward around a horizontal axis, then access to the interior is enabled, but the door falls uncontrollably due to weight and gravity
Solution Approach 1:
A damper is introduced as an intermediary element between the door and the hinge mechanism. The damper includes a piston moving within a cylinder filled with viscous fluid, creating resistance that controls the door's motion. This intermediary component mediates the uncontrolled gravitational force and transforms it into a controlled opening motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The damper utilizes hydraulic principles by filling the cylinder with viscous fluid. As the piston moves during door opening, the fluid creates hydraulic resistance that dampens the motion. This hydraulic mechanism provides smooth, controlled deceleration of the door without requiring complex mechanical linkages.
2Productivity
If the door is allowed to open freely, then loading and unloading is facilitated, but damage occurs to the door, surfaces, and hinges
Solution Approach 1:
The damper provides beforehand cushioning by creating progressive resistance during the door's opening motion. As the door approaches its fully open position, the damper's hydraulic resistance increases, cushioning the final motion and preventing impact damage to the door, surrounding surfaces, and hinge components.
Solution Approach 2:
The damper converts the harmful effect of the door's weight and momentum into a beneficial controlled motion. The gravitational force that causes uncontrollable falling is transformed through the damper's hydraulic resistance into a smooth, controlled opening action that protects against damage while maintaining productivity.
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
The solution enables controllable and soft operation of the door, preventing it from falling abruptly and ensuring safe utilization by transferring the damping force to the toothed rack, thus protecting the appliance's contents and maintaining hinge integrity.
Implementation Method 1
A box filled with a fluid, for example oil, is used as the damper in the household appliance. One wall of the box is the movable wall that is pushed by the toothed rack.
Implementation Method 2
In another embodiment not being part of the present invention, the damper is configured as a spring. The wall compresses the spring in the falling direction of the door. The spring, in turn, pushes the wall hence the gears for returning to its free state and prevents the door from falling abruptly.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a household appliance (1) comprising a body (2), an opening (3) arranged on the body (2), allowing access to the interior space, a door (4) that covers the opening (3) when closed and allows access to the interior from the opening (3) when opened by rotating around the horizontal and a hinge (5) for securing the door (4) movably to the body (2).