Cooking Appliance Door Guideway for Smooth Pivot-to-Insertion Motion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking appliance doors face challenges in ease of use, with undesirable engagement and disengagement of guide systems during operation, leading to inefficient transition between swivel and insertion movements, and lack of space-efficient design.
Innovation Solution
A guide system with a static and movable coupling to the door, featuring a curved guideway and an energy-storage unit, such as a spring unit, to facilitate smooth operation by utilizing weight for decelerated opening and assisted closing, while minimizing friction through rolling elements and a spatially-fixed swivel axis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional guide system is used for the door, then the door can be lowered into storage space, but undesirable engagement and disengagement occurs during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The guideway incorporates a curved guide surface that guides the door from the pivoting position through a smooth transition into the insertion movement. This curved path eliminates abrupt engagement and disengagement, providing continuous smooth motion throughout the door's movement cycle.
2Volume of moving object
If the door is lowered into storage space, then space utilization is improved, but the transition between swivel and insertion movement becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The curved guide surface integrates the swivel and insertion movements into a single continuous guideway path. This eliminates the need for separate mechanisms to handle the transition between movement types, reducing overall system complexity while enabling efficient space utilization.
3Ease of operation
If friction is reduced in the guide system, then ease of operation is improved, but additional components are required
Solution Approach 1:
The energy-storage unit is pre-loaded during the opening operation when the door's weight provides the charging force. This preliminary energy storage enables the closing operation to be assisted without requiring external power sources or complex actuation systems.
Solution Approach 2:
Rolling elements are introduced as intermediary components between the guide means and the door. These rolling elements replace sliding friction with rolling friction, significantly reducing resistance while maintaining simple guide system architecture.
4Ease of operation
If an energy-storage unit is added to assist closing operation, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The energy-storage unit is automatically charged during the opening operation by utilizing the door's own weight and motion. This self-charging mechanism eliminates the need for external power sources, motors, or complex control systems, providing assisted closing with minimal additional complexity.
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 enhances ease of operation with harmonious door movement, reduces friction, and achieves a space-saving construction by allowing seamless transitions and efficient energy utilization for opening and closing operations.
Implementation Method 1
a mechanical storage unit, in particular a spring unit, is particularly advantageous
Implementation Method 2
the device has at least one rolling element by means of which the guide means is coupled to the door in a movable manner, thereby enabling an advantageously low friction to be achieved
Implementation Method 3
the guideway has a curved guide surface in at least one area
Data Source
AI summary
A device with a door, in particular a door of a cooking appliance, supported for pivoting movement in a pivoting direction, for closing a useable space and with a guide system for at least partially lowering the door into a storage space in a guided manner, the device comprising at least one guide assembly operatively associated with the guide system and coupled to the door in a static manner in the pivoting direction and coupled to the door in a movable manner in at least one surface extension of the door.