Modular Refrigerator Door Assembly for Variable Width Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing process for refrigerator doors is complex and costly due to the need for specific molds for each door width, leading to disproportionately high prices for non-standard sizes and limited customer options.
Innovation Solution
A door design where corner finishing pieces can be used uniformly across different widths, with a simpler intermediate piece that adjusts width-specifically, and features like abutment surfaces, hooks, and cable recesses for precise placement and stability, allowing the outer and inner walls to be connected efficiently with few tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If specific molds are used for each door width, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a single standardized mold that can produce closing parts for multiple door widths. The closing part includes a standardized carrier portion and a variable closing portion that can be adjusted or selected for different widths, allowing one mold to serve multiple functions across different door size variants.
Solution Approach 2:
The closing part is segmented into a standardized carrier portion and a variable closing portion. This segmentation allows the standardized portion to be produced by a single mold while the variable portion can be adjusted or selected for different door widths, reducing the need for multiple complete molds.
2Ease of manufacture
If corner finishing pieces are standardized across widths, then manufacturing cost decreases, but manufacturing precision may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the corner finishing pieces standardized (same design for all widths) while allowing the intermediate piece to have width-specific dimensions. The abutment surfaces on the inner wall are positioned at specific locations that ensure precise corner placement regardless of the standardized corner piece design.
3Device complexity
If the intermediate piece is designed in one piece with the outer wall, then device complexity decreases, but manufacturing precision may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-forming abutment surfaces on the inner wall at specific positions before assembly. These pre-positioned abutment surfaces guide the standardized corner finishing pieces into precise alignment during assembly, ensuring accurate corner placement even though the intermediate piece is integrated with the outer wall.
Data Source
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AI summary
A door for a household appliance is disclosed, comprising an exterior wall (1), an interior wall, and top and bottom closing parts (5, 6), all of which jointly delimit a hollow space. A top face and/or a bottom face of the door is/are formed by two respective corner closing parts (5) and an intermediate piece (4) that is arranged between the corner closing parts (5).