Vertical Sliding Extractor Hood Rack Guidance Against Swerving
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Solution Overview
Problem
Motorized vertical sliding extractor hoods in kitchens often experience lateral swerving and unstable sliding when fully extended, leading to vibrations and potential jamming due to inadequate guidance by the internal tracks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an opposite pair of identical vertical racks fixed on the compartment walls engaging with sprocket wheels coupled to a horizontal shaft on the hood, ensuring synchronized and vertical travel trajectories by translating the horizontal shaft with the hood, preventing swerving.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the hood is fully extended from the housing compartment, then the extraction efficiency is improved, but lateral swerving and unstable sliding occur causing vibrations and potential jamming
Solution Approach 1:
A horizontal shaft acts as an intermediary element connecting the hood to the housing compartment through sprocket wheels and racks. This shaft translates the hood's vertical movement into synchronized rotation of the sprocket wheels, which engage with vertical racks fixed on the housing walls, thereby guiding the hood along a stable vertical trajectory and preventing lateral swerving during full extension
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a horizontal dimension (the horizontal shaft) to control vertical movement. By coupling the hood's vertical translation to the rotation of a horizontal shaft through sprocket wheels, the system adds a rotational degree of freedom that constrains the hood's path, preventing lateral deviation while maintaining vertical sliding motion
2Device complexity
If traditional internal tracks are used to guide the hood, then the structure is simple, but the tracks cannot effectively prevent lateral swerving when the hood is fully extended
Solution Approach 1:
The horizontal shaft with sprocket wheels serves as a mediating mechanism between the hood and the housing compartment walls. This intermediary converts simple vertical tracking into a constrained motion system where the shaft's translation and the sprocket wheels' rotation work together to maintain precise vertical alignment, achieving high trajectory accuracy without complex guidance structures
Solution Approach 2:
The guidance function is segmented into multiple independent components: the horizontal shaft, the sprocket wheels, and the vertical racks. Each component performs a specific function (translation, rotation, and vertical guidance respectively), and their combination achieves precise trajectory control while keeping individual components simple and easy to manufacture
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
This solution stabilizes the hood's movement, eliminating lateral swerving and vibrations, while being cost-effective and easily installable on both new and existing models without modifying the traditional structure.
Implementation Method 1
an actuator, generally composed of a hydraulic jack with vertical axis, with relevant motor-drive pump, which is designed to drive the extractor hood in ascending and descending travels
Implementation Method 2
The extractor hood is equipped with an electrical fan assembly that extracts air from the internal compartment of the hood and directs it towards a discharge pipe
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a motorized extractor hood for kitchens, of the type housed and vertically sliding inside a vertical compartment (2) obtained on the back of the cabinet (M) in which the oven and/or stove is installed. An actuator (3) is designed to move the hood. A specularly opposite pair of identical vertical racks (5), respectively fixed onto the lateral walls (2b) of the compartment (2) engage with corresponding sprocket wheels (6) coupled at the two ends of a horizontal shaft (7) revolvingly supported by the hood (1).