Household Appliance Door Hinge Shimming for Precise Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
In built-in household appliances, especially those with visible doors, precise adjustment of the door's position relative to the body is necessary to maintain aesthetic alignment and prevent stress on hinges, which can lead to premature wear due to misaligned hinge axes during opening and closing.
Innovation Solution
The use of multiple-articulation hinges with shims between the door and supporting surfaces allows for adjustable alignment, and additional adjustment freedom through screws and lugs, ensuring stress-free suspension and concealment of hinges with a heat-insulating glass panel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple-articulation hinges are used to achieve desired door opening movement, then the door can open without hitting adjacent walls, but the hinge axes may deflect from parallel orientation causing precessional movement and shortened hinge lifetime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces shims as intermediary elements between the door and the hinge supporting surfaces. These shims act as mediators to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and prevent direct stress transmission to the hinge axes, thereby eliminating precessional movement while maintaining the desired door opening movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the hinge system by introducing adjustable shims that modify the spacing and alignment between the door and hinge mounting surfaces. This parameter adjustment allows for precise control of hinge axis orientation, ensuring parallel alignment and preventing wear.
2Shape
If the door is made adjustable to align edges with adjacent cabinet doors, then aesthetic appearance is improved, but the complexity of installation and adjustment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shims serve as simple intermediary elements that facilitate door position adjustment without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms. By placing shims between the door and hinge supporting surfaces, users can easily adjust door alignment with adjacent cabinet doors while maintaining a straightforward installation process.
3Ease of manufacture
If fixing points of hinges are not exactly matched on body and door, then manufacturing tolerances are accommodated, but internal stress arises causing hinge axis deflection
Solution Approach 1:
The shims act as intermediary elements that absorb and compensate for mismatches in fixing point positions between the door and body. This allows manufacturing tolerances to be accommodated without transmitting internal stresses to the hinge axes, thereby maintaining precise hinge axis alignment despite variations in fixing point locations.
Data Source
AI summary
A housing for a cabinet-like household appliance has a body and at least one door, which is connected to the body in a manner that enables it to swivel due to the provision of at least one first and one second multiple-articulation hinge. The door is supported on an upper supporting surface of the first multiple-articulation hinge and on a lower supporting surface of the second multiple-articulation hinge by means of at least one shim inserted between the door and at least one of the supporting surfaces.