Expandable storage structure
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional furniture and storage structures are often rigid and inflexible, making it difficult to fit them into specific spaces, resulting in inefficient gaps and limited adjustability.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates an extendable wall system with slidably engaged panels and a linkage mechanism that allows for infinite adjustment within a defined range, maintaining panel co-planarity and stability, enabling the structure to be adapted to various dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional rigid furniture dimensions are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different spaces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The wall is divided into multiple panels (first panel, second panel, third panel) that can slide relative to each other. This segmentation allows the wall to change its overall dimension while maintaining a relatively simple construction of individual panel components.
Solution Approach 2:
The first and second panels are positioned within the hollow third panel, creating a nested configuration. This nesting allows the panels to slide in and out of the third panel to adjust the wall dimension, while the hollow third panel provides the structural framework.
2Adaptability or versatility
If panels are made movable to adjust dimension, then adaptability improves, but structural stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The wall structure transitions from a static fixed-dimension design to a dynamic adjustable design. The first and second panels can slide within the third panel along defined paths, allowing the wall dimension to be adjusted while maintaining structural integrity through guided movement.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the wall have different properties: the third panel is hollow to accommodate the sliding mechanism, while the first and second panels are designed to slide within specific planes. The linkage mechanism provides localized connectivity between panels to maintain overall stability during adjustment.
3Shape
If linkage mechanism is added to maintain panel co-planarity, then panel alignment is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The linkage mechanism acts as an intermediary element that connects the first and second panels to the third panel. This linkage ensures that when panels slide, they maintain co-planarity and proper alignment without requiring complex external adjustment mechanisms.
4Stability of the object's composition
If hollow panels are used to receive other panels, then structural integration is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow third panel is designed to receive and accommodate the first and second panels within its hollow space. This nesting configuration integrates the panels into a unified structure where the hollow third panel serves as both a structural element and a housing for the sliding mechanism.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
An expandable storage structure (10) comprises at least one extendable wall. The extendable wall comprises at least three slidably engaged panels (30, 32, 36), and at least a first and second panel (30, 32) are co-planar. At least one of the panels (30, 32, 36) is hollow and receives at least a part of at least one of the other panels (30, 32, 36). The first and second panels (30, 32) are movable relative to each other panel (30, 32, 36) in order to adjust a dimension of the wall. A linkage mechanism (34) connects the first and second panels (30, 32) and is configured to allow relative movement between the panels (30, 32, 36) while maintaining the first and second panels (30, 32) in the same plane as each other.