Integrated Rocker Door Lock for Stable Emergency Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door lock apparatuses for electronic products, such as drum washing machines, are prone to failures and complex maintenance due to their structure, leading to incorrect operations and the need for frequent replacements, especially when users attempt to forcibly open the door during emergencies or power failures.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a position fixing rod into the rocker of the door lock apparatus simplifies its structure, reduces assembly steps, and stabilizes the coupled or separated state of the rocker and hook, preventing incorrect operations and allowing for easy manual release during emergencies, while maintaining high reliability and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the door lock apparatus uses a separate position fixing mechanism, then the positioning stability is improved, but the device complexity and number of assembly steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The position fixing rod is integrated directly into the rocker body, forming an unified component. This merging of the position fixing function into the rocker itself eliminates the need for separate positioning mechanisms, thereby maintaining positioning stability while reducing device complexity and assembly steps
2Device complexity
If the rocker structure is simplified, then the number of assembly steps is reduced, but the reliability may deteriorate due to potential incorrect operations
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the position fixing rod into the rocker, the design achieves simplification without sacrificing reliability. The integrated structure inherently maintains the coupled or separated states through its geometric design, preventing incorrect operations while reducing assembly complexity
3Ease of operation
If the hook can be forcibly detached from the rocker, then emergency release is improved, but the risk of hook detachment and subsequent failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The position fixing rod is designed to allow dynamic transition between locked and unlocked states. During emergency release, the rod can be manually moved to release the hook, but under normal operation, it maintains stable positioning to prevent accidental detachment, thus balancing ease of emergency release with operational reliability
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a door lock apparatus (100) which is adopted in an electronic product to lock or release a door of the door lock apparatus (100). The door lock apparatus (100) includes a rocker (110), a rocker supporting member (120), a door lock main body (130) and a locking unit (140). The rocker (110) rotates when the hook (10) of the door enters or withdraws from the door lock apparatus (100), to be coupled with or separated away from the hook (10). A rocker hinge rod (116) and a position fixing rod (117) positioned in parallel to the rocker hinge rod (116) are integrated into the rocker (110). The rocker supporting member (120) is hinge-coupled with the rocker hinge rod (116) to rotatably support the rocker (110), reciprocatingly moves in a direction in which the hook (10) enters or withdraws when the rocker (110) is rotated, and receives an elastic force from a first elastic member (151) in the direction in which the hook (10) enters. The door lock main body (130) supports the reciprocating movement of the rocker supporting member (120), and includes position fixing holes (132) to guide movement of the rocker (110) while being coupled with the position fixing rod (117) when the rocker (110) rotates and to fix the rocker (110) while the rocker (110) is coupled with or separated from the hook (10). The locking unit locks the rocker (110) while the rocker (110) is coupled with the hook (10). Accordingly, the door lock apparatus (100) has a simple, compact structure, which has fewer failures, ensures convenience in maintenance and repair and reduces the number of assembly steps.