Appliance Handle With Self-Aligning V-Guide and Spring Lock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing handle and handle attachment technologies require cumbersome and time-consuming manual alignment and locking, often necessitating two-handed operation, as they lack automatic centering and rotational alignment, making them inefficient and difficult to use.
Innovation Solution
A handle or handle attachment with a device that automatically aligns the sleeve and counterpart to a predetermined rotational position during insertion, allowing for easy and one-handed operation, featuring a V-shaped guide element and self-closing fixing device with a spring tongue, ensuring correct engagement of fixing elements without additional alignment or adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual alignment and locking methods are used, then the handle can be connected to the device, but the operation becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The handle attachment system performs alignment and locking automatically without user intervention. The V-shaped guide element and tapering guide nose self-align during insertion, and the spring tongue automatically engages with the recess to lock the connection, eliminating the need for manual alignment and locking operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The V-shaped guide element and tapering guide nose are pre-configured to automatically align the handle and device in the correct rotational position during insertion. The spring tongue is pre-positioned to engage with the recess once alignment is achieved, preparing the locking mechanism in advance before final connection is made.
2Ease of operation
If manual alignment is required, then rotational orientation can be controlled, but the operation requires two hands and becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment mechanism serves itself by using the V-shaped guide element and tapering guide nose to automatically orient the handle in the correct rotational position during insertion, eliminating the need for manual alignment operations and allowing one-handed operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The V-shaped guide element and tapering guide nose create an asymmetric geometric relationship that forces a specific rotational alignment during insertion. The asymmetric spring tongue and recess configuration ensures that locking only occurs at the correct rotational orientation, providing controlled rotational orientation without complex adjustment mechanisms.
3Reliability
If fixing elements are used to prevent detachment, then connection stability is improved, but the mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The spring tongue automatically engages with the recess to lock the handle to the device, and can be manually released by pressing. This self-closing fixing mechanism provides reliable connection stability without requiring complex multi-step locking procedures or additional fixing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixing mechanism concentrates the locking function at a single localized interface between the spring tongue and recess. This localized fixing point provides sufficient connection stability for the application while keeping the overall mechanism simple and easy to operate.
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
Enables quick, rotationally correct connection of the handle to the device, simplifying operation and preventing unintentional detachment, allowing for efficient and easy use, even with complex appliances like vacuum brooms or cordless sweepers.
Implementation Method 1
one of the fixing elements is designed as a spring tongue and the other of the fixing elements is designed as a cutout or recess or opening in which the spring tongue engages in the fixed position
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a handle or grip attachment for household appliances or garden devices, comprising a shell (2) into which a counterpart (3) – preferably in a largely arbitrary rotational position relative to the shell – can be introduced and can then be inserted farther. According to the invention, the handle attachment comprises a device (4) that during insertion automatically transfers the shell and the counterpart relative to each other into a predetermined rotational position. The counterpart and the shell can preferably be fixed nested in each other – preferably releasably – by way of a fixing device (8), wherein during the insertion the device automatically transfers the shell and the counterpart relative to each other into the rotational position that is required to bring the fixing elements of the fixing device into engagement and/or an operative position with each other.