Electrified Wall Shelf With Embedded Groove Conductors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Horizontally-oriented shelves lack adaptability and flexibility in accommodating various accessories and lighting, limiting their functionality and appearance, while also being restricted by modular construction and manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A monolithic, extruded shelf with grooves for electrical accessories and lighting, featuring embedded low-voltage conductors and undercut grooves for mounting brackets, allowing for flexible placement and connection of accessories and lights, and adaptable mounting options independent of wall panel sizes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional modular shelf constructions are used with hooks and slotted uprights, then the shelf can be secured to wall panels, but the shelf length and location are restricted by the wall panel construction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mounting functionality from the shelf body by providing separate mounting brackets that attach to the wall independently. These brackets have elongated slots that allow the shelf to be positioned at various locations and lengths along the wall, decoupling the shelf from fixed wall panel constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The shelf system is divided into separate components: wall-mounted brackets with elongated slots, and the shelf unit itself with attachment means. This segmentation allows independent optimization of mounting flexibility and shelf functionality, enabling the shelf to be positioned anywhere along the elongated slot range.
2Adaptability or versatility
If lights are secured to the underside of traditional shelves, then illumination is provided, but the type of light is limited and the overall appearance is interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vertical groove dimension on the underside of the shelf that receives lighting accessories. This groove provides a dedicated dimensional space that allows various lighting types to be mounted without interfering with the shelf's external appearance, as the accessories are contained within the groove structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove structure on the shelf underside is designed to accommodate multiple types of lighting accessories universally. The groove can receive different lighting configurations and types, providing multi-functionality while maintaining a consistent, clean appearance from the front view of the shelf.
3Adaptability or versatility
If shelves are constructed with additional functionality for accessories, then adaptability increases, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the accessory mounting groove and the structural shelf body into a single integrated extrusion. This merging allows the groove features to be incorporated during the extrusion process itself, rather than requiring separate manufacturing steps or assembly operations, thereby minimizing additional manufacturing costs while providing enhanced functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The shelf is constructed as an extruded member where the groove parameters (depth, width, position) can be varied along the length of the shelf to accommodate different accessory types. This parameter flexibility is built into the extrusion process, allowing cost-effective customization of groove configurations without requiring complex multi-step manufacturing.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the shelf is constructed as a monolithic extruded member with grooves, then flexibility and adaptability increase, but the construction complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The extrusion process allows for variation of groove parameters (depth, width, spacing, position) along the length of the shelf to create different configurations. This parametric flexibility enables a single extrusion design to accommodate multiple shelf functions and accessory arrangements without requiring different physical components.
Solution Approach 2:
The monolithic extruded shelf incorporates multiple groove types and mounting features within a single component structure. This universal design allows the same shelf body to support various accessories, lighting configurations, and mounting arrangements, reducing the need for multiple specialized components while maintaining flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An elongate horizontally-oriented shelf unit which is preferably constructed as a monolithic one-piece member, and is provided with a groove which opens upwardly from a bottom surface thereof and which extends lengthwise of the shelf for accommodating a detachable electrical accessory at any location therealong for downward suspension from the shelf. The groove has a pair of low-voltage conductors embedded in the opposite side walls thereof to extend lengthwise of the groove, and accessible from the interior of the groove to provide electrical contact with an accessory which is inserted into the groove and moved into contact with the conductors. The conductors at one end of the groove, or at one end of a plurality of shelf units which are serially connected together, are joined to a suitable flexible electrical connector which joins to a conventional transformer plug for engagement with a conventional electrical outlet.