Adjustable Refrigerator Door Tray Rail With Self-Locking Guide Slots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigeration appliances face complexity in simplifying the height adjustment and locking of door racks, often requiring separate movable locking mechanisms and being susceptible to faults.
Innovation Solution
A link guide with a slotted design allows for easy adjustment and locking of the door rack through a change in position, utilizing grooves and sliding blocks to convert movement into a rigid mounting, preventing tipping and ensuring reliable locking without additional mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate movable locking mechanisms are used to lock the door rack at different heights, then the door rack can be securely locked at predetermined positions, but the device complexity increases and the system becomes more susceptible to faults
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the guidance function and locking function into a single integrated link guide structure. The grooves in the link guide serve dual purposes: guiding the sliding blocks during movement and automatically locking them at predetermined heights through the branching pockets. This eliminates the need for separate locking mechanisms while maintaining secure positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The link guide structure automatically locks the sliding blocks at predetermined heights without requiring external locking mechanisms. When the door rack is moved to a desired height, the sliding block automatically engages with the branching pocket in the groove, providing self-locking functionality that reduces system complexity and fault susceptibility.
2Reliability
If a rigid design of grooves and sliding blocks is used to create a fault-resistant locking device, then the reliability improves, but the ease of operation for height adjustment may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The link guide structure incorporates dynamic characteristics that allow easy adjustment during movement while maintaining rigid locking at destination positions. The grooves provide smooth guidance during the adjustment process, and the branching pockets provide automatic rigid locking when the sliding block reaches the predetermined height, achieving both ease of operation and reliability.
3Ease of operation
If the door rack requires manual pivoting to unlock and lock, then the ease of operation improves, but additional mechanisms beyond simple position change are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically locks and unlocks through simple position changes of the door rack. When the door rack is moved to a new height, the sliding block automatically disengages from one branching pocket and engages with another, providing self-service locking without requiring manual pivoting or additional unlocking mechanisms.
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 easy height adjustment and locking of the door rack without separate locking mechanisms, providing a reliable and fault-resistant design that automatically locks the door rack at a predetermined height using gravity, ensuring stability and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
The link guide (16) has a second groove section (19) with a large number of groove branches (19') that run in particular obliquely downwards in the direction of the inner wall
Implementation Method 2
The routing of the connecting link follows such a course that, when the hand of a user of the refrigerator releases the door rack, the door rack pivots into such a position solely due to gravity
Data Source
Figure 1a~1d
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3d
AI summary
The invention relates to a refrigerating device, in particular a domestic refrigerating device (3), having a door (1) with an inner door face, on which a door rack (1) is guided in a height-adjustable manner. The refrigerating device also has a detent device, by means of which the door rack (1) can be locked at the adjusted height. A slotted guide system (14, 16) is provided on the inner door face, said slotted guide system having at least one slot into which at least one sliding block (5, 6) that is connected to the door rack (1) engages and which has at least one first slot section for guiding the door rack (1) in a height-adjustable manner and at least one second slot section that forms the detent device. The sliding block (5, 6) that is connected to the door rack (1) engages into said second slot section in order to lock the door rack (1) at a specified height.