Furniture Door Guide System for Coplanar Surface and Hinge Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture designs with hinged door leaves face issues such as unsightly steps and gaps that allow dirt penetration and hinder cleaning, along with increased manufacturing costs due to the need for matching materials, and visible hinges that can be damaged by objects.
Innovation Solution
The furniture features door leaves that can pivotally connect via a system of levers and guide rails, allowing them to cover the side wall end face, creating a smooth surface, and a guide device that enables the door leaves to move between parallel and coplanar positions, hiding the hinges and preventing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If door leaves are hinged to the cabinet in a conventional manner, then the door leaves can be mounted and moved, but steps and gaps form between the door leaves and cabinet end face, promoting dirt penetration and hindering cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The door leaf mounting system transitions from a static conventional hinge to a dynamic mechanism where the door leaf can move between covering and uncovered positions relative to the cabinet end face. The guide system enables the door leaf to be pushed into a position where it covers the end face during closed state, eliminating steps and gaps, while allowing the door to pivot freely during operation.
2Shape
If door leaves and cabinet are made of the same material to maintain uniform visual impression, then aesthetic appearance is improved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the visual appearance into two distinct zones: the cabinet body and the door leaf. By allowing the door leaf to cover the cabinet end face when closed, the design accepts visual differentiation between door and cabinet materials, enabling cost-effective manufacturing with different materials while maintaining aesthetic appeal through the covered end face design.
3Reliability
If hinges are mounted conventionally for pivotable mounting of door leaf, then the door leaf can be attached and moved, but the hinge becomes visible from outside and can be damaged by objects introduced into the gap
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge system is integrated into a dynamic guide mechanism that allows the door leaf to move between a closed position where it covers the cabinet end face (hiding the hinge) and an open position where it pivots freely. This dynamic positioning protects the hinge from external damage while maintaining functional mobility.
4Ease of operation
If door leaves are pushed into side opening by scissor mechanism, then the door leaves can be moved into parallel position, but the mechanism adds complexity to the furniture structure
Solution Approach 1:
The complex scissor mechanism is extracted and replaced with a simpler guide system consisting of guide rails and a guide device. This extraction maintains the essential functionality of moving door leaves into parallel position while significantly reducing structural complexity and improving ease of manufacture.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The invention relates to a guide system (2) for guiding at least one movably mounted door leaf (3b) relative to a lateral wall (71) of a furniture body (36), comprising the following: a support (11), which is movably mounted relative to the furniture body (36) in a depth direction (Z) of the lateral wall (71) in the assembled state; and at least one hinge (74) for movably supporting the at least one door leaf (3b) relative to the furniture body (36), wherein the hinge (74) has a first fitting part (75) for securing on the support (11) and a second fitting part (76) for securing on the at least one door leaf (3b), and the first fitting part (75) and the second fitting part (76) are connected together in a pivotal manner. The first fitting part (75) and the second fitting part (76) can be moved relative to each other between a first position in which the at least one door leaf (3b) is substantially parallel to the lateral wall (71) in the assembled state and can be moved together with the support (11) in the depth direction (Z) of the furniture body (36), and the first fitting part (75) and the second fitting part (76) can be moved relative to each other into at least one second position, in which the at least one door leaf (3b) at least partly covers an end face (71a) of the lateral wall (71) in the assembled state.