Hidden Furniture Panel Joint With Front-Access Activation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture joints require visible holes and complex mechanisms, making them aesthetically unappealing, difficult to access, and creating obstacles on furniture surfaces, especially when activating lower joints in tight spaces.
Innovation Solution
A joint system with a container and casing that uses snap-in plugs and a blind hole for hidden interconnection, allowing front activation without visible holes, featuring a pin and butt mechanism with a grub screw for secure attachment between panels, minimizing holes and encumbrance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If visible holes and caps are used for joining panels, then the joint can be securely connected, but the aesthetic appearance deteriorates and user accessibility is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the visible cap and activation mechanism from the front view of the furniture piece. The joining mechanism is relocated to the rear or side edges of the panels, where it remains functional but invisible from the front, thus maintaining aesthetic appearance while preserving connection security.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary positioning system that allows the joint components to be precisely located at the rear or side edges of panels. This intermediary mechanism enables the joining elements to be positioned optimally for both aesthetic concealment and functional accessibility during assembly.
2Ease of operation
If activation mechanism is positioned at the front, then ease of operation improves, but visible holes and caps create aesthetic deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the conventional approach by positioning the activation mechanism at the rear or side edges of the panels rather than at the front. This inversion allows the mechanism to be easily accessible for assembly while remaining concealed from the front view, thus maintaining aesthetic appearance.
3Reliability
If complex mechanisms with multiple components are used, then joint reliability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple joint components into an integrated assembly that can be positioned as a single unit at the rear or side edge of panels. This merging reduces the number of separate parts that need to be handled during assembly while maintaining the functional reliability of the connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the joint mechanism into modular components that can be independently positioned and assembled. This segmentation allows for simplified manufacturing and assembly processes while maintaining connection reliability through precise modular integration.
Data Source
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AI summary
A joint for firmly interconnecting a first panel (12) and a second panel (11) of furniture and other furnishing items positioned perpendicular to each other, wherein said joint is provided with at least one fixing element (18) to the first panel (12) and comprises a plurality of interconnection and blocking components for joining and firmly blocking the two panels (11, 12) together, wherein, in the joint, the plurality of components lie on the same plane (A) which is parallel and interspaced with respect to the first panel (12) and perpendicular with respect to the second panel (11).