Drawer Functional Unit Mounting with Detachable Side-Wall Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture and domestic appliances with drawer elements require complex assembly processes to determine and mount functional units, limiting convenience and flexibility in installation.
Innovation Solution
A design where a functional unit is detachably arranged in the side wall of the drawer element, coupled with pullout guides, and a counter element is fixed on the body rail, allowing for simple and later installation, with options for mounting from the rear, side, or top, and featuring a self-retractor device, ejection device, or locking unit for enhanced functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the functional unit is attached to the pullout guide, then the functional unit is securely mounted, but the drawer bottom cannot protrude deeper and the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The functional unit is extracted from the pullout guide structure and relocated to the drawer element side wall. This separation allows the pullout guide to maintain only its essential guiding function with a simpler, more compact structure, while the functional unit is independently mounted on the drawer element, enabling the drawer bottom to extend deeper without structural interference.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the functional unit is integrated with other components in the body, then the desired function is achieved, but the assembly process becomes complex and requires determining component types during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into independent modular components: the pullout guide, the functional unit, and the counter element. The functional unit is detachably mounted on the drawer element side wall with standardized mounting interfaces, allowing it to be independently selected, installed, or replaced without affecting other components. This modularity eliminates the need to determine functional unit types during assembly and enables flexible configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The counter element is pre-mounted on the body rail during manufacturing, establishing a predetermined operational connection point. This preliminary action simplifies the final assembly process, as the functional unit can be directly attached to the drawer element side wall and will automatically engage with the pre-positioned counter element, eliminating the need for complex assembly determinations.
3Reliability
If the functional unit is mounted on the pullout guide, then the functional unit is securely positioned, but the pullout guide structure becomes larger and more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The functional unit is extracted from the pullout guide structure and relocated to the drawer element side wall. This separation allows the pullout guide to maintain only its essential guiding function with a simpler, more compact structure, while the functional unit is independently mounted on the drawer element, enabling the drawer bottom to extend deeper without structural interference.
Data Source
AI summary
A piece of furniture or domestic appliance includes a body, a drawer element slidably arranged in the body and having two side walls. Respective pull-out guides are arranged between the side panels and side walls of the body. Each of the pull-out guides has at least one body rail fastenable to a side wall of the body and one running rail fastenable to the side panel. The piece of furniture or domestic appliance also includes at least one functional unit, which is coupled to one of the pull-out guides. A functional unit is detachably arranged in at least one of the side walls at distance from the pull-out guide, which functional unit, in a predefined position of the drawer element relative to the body, is operatively connected to a counter-element stationarily mounted on the body or on the body rail.