Hardware bar assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hardware bar assemblies for cabinetry and furniture face challenges in compatibility with various fastener mounting patterns, leading to difficulties in finding replacement handles that match and securely mount to non-standard pre-drilled holes, and they wear out over time.
Innovation Solution
A bar assembly with a guide and adjustable posts that can be manually grasped, featuring a plurality of posts and sleeves with radially asymmetrical profiles to secure the bar to a support surface, allowing for tension and compression to lock the assembly in place, enabling adjustable center-to-center mounting and linear adjustment without requiring additional tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a bar assembly uses fixed fastener mounting patterns, then it simplifies the manufacturing process, but it reduces compatibility with various fastener mounting patterns and makes replacement difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The bar assembly employs adjustable posts that can be positioned at multiple locations along the bar, allowing the mounting pattern to be dynamically changed to match different hole configurations in various cabinetry. The posts can be relocated along the bar length to accommodate different fastener spacing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The bar assembly is divided into separate components including the bar body, adjustable posts, sleeves, and fasteners. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and enables flexible reconfiguration to match different mounting patterns without replacing the entire assembly.
2Reliability
If the bar assembly uses precise alignment requirements for adjustable posts, then it ensures secure mounting, but it increases installation complexity and time
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable posts are designed with self-aligning features that allow them to automatically position themselves correctly during installation. The posts can slide along the bar and self-center into the appropriate positions without requiring precise manual alignment, reducing installation complexity while maintaining secure mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
Sleeves are introduced as intermediary components between the adjustable posts and the bar. These sleeves facilitate easy adjustment and positioning of the posts by providing a sliding interface that guides the posts into their correct positions without requiring precise alignment by the installer.
3Strength
If the bar assembly uses tension and compression to lock the posts, then it increases the security and durability of the mounting, but it adds complexity to the locking mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism combines tension and compression forces into a unified system where the adjustable posts are secured to the bar through a single integrated mechanism. The posts experience both tension from the fasteners and compression from the bar structure, creating a robust locked position without requiring separate locking components.
Solution Approach 2:
The design converts the potential harmful effect of excessive force during installation into a beneficial self-locking mechanism. As the fasteners are tightened, the resulting compression and tension forces automatically lock the posts in place, preventing loosening during use without requiring additional locking hardware.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the bar assembly uses radially asymmetrical profiles for posts and sleeves, then it prevents rotation and ensures proper orientation, but it increases manufacturing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The posts and sleeves are designed with radially asymmetrical profiles that prevent rotation during installation and use. The asymmetrical shape ensures that the posts can only be inserted in the correct orientation, providing inherent alignment and orientation control without requiring additional marking or alignment features.
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
The solution provides an adjustable and secure handle assembly that can be easily installed on various mounting patterns, offering improved durability and ease of installation by eliminating the need for precise alignment of adjustable posts, allowing for secure mounting on both new and existing cabinetry.
Implementation Method 1
the fastened first plurality of posts apply compression to the second plurality of posts between the support surface and the bar or the first plurality of posts
Implementation Method 2
each of the plurality of pins includes an enlarged surface relative to a body of the pin to contact the support surface to distribute a compression load upon the support surface
Implementation Method 3
The posts each have a corresponding radially asymmetrical profile sized to extend through the bores in the sleeves and prevent rotation of the sleeves relative to the posts
Implementation Method 4
Upon installation of the plurality of fasteners, the plurality of posts is under tension and the plurality of sleeves are under compression, to thereby lock the plurality of posts along the guide
Data Source
AI summary
A bar assembly is provided with a bar sized to be grasped manually with a guide formed at least partially along a length. A plurality of posts is provided, each in cooperation with the guide of the bar to fasten the bar to a support surface at various fastener mounting patterns. A method to install a bar assembly aligns a post with an aperture in a support surface. A bar is provided that is sized to be grasped manually. The bar is slid into engagement with the post. A fastener is installed to the post from an inside of the support surface. The fastener is tightened until the bar is secured in the post and the post is secured to the support surface.