Multilink Hinge with Protective Plate and Adjustable Cam
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multilink hinges for refrigerator doors, particularly those with scissor-type articulated levers, pose safety risks due to varying gaps that can increase and decrease, potentially causing injury, and lack adjustable closing force and swiveling range when equipped with a spring-mounted closing device.
Innovation Solution
The multilink hinge incorporates lateral protective plates to prevent injury from clamping and features a radial cam with a roller on a rocker arm, adjustable via an adjusting screw, allowing for customizable closing force and swiveling range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If long articulated levers are used to achieve the desired radius for thick refrigerator doors, then the door can be opened to the required extent, but gaps between the articulated levers vary with door position, creating safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
A protective plate is introduced as an intermediary element between the articulated levers and the external environment. This plate covers the varying gaps created by the scissor-type mechanism, preventing direct contact with the hazardous moving parts while allowing the long articulated levers to maintain the required door opening radius
Solution Approach 2:
The protective plate is designed as a separate component that can be independently adjusted and positioned. It segments the hazard zone (varying gaps between levers) from the safe zone, allowing the hinge mechanism to operate independently while the protective plate provides continuous coverage throughout the door's range of motion
2Extent of automation
If a spring-mounted closing device is added to the hinge, then automatic door closure is achieved, but the closing force and swiveling range cannot be adjusted
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge system incorporates adjustable elements that allow the static spring force to be dynamically adapted to different requirements. The adjusting screw mechanism enables the spring's effective作用 range and force magnitude to be modified, transforming a fixed automatic closure system into an adaptable one that can accommodate different door weights and desired closing characteristics
Solution Approach 2:
The closing force and swiveling range parameters of the spring-mounted device are made variable through the adjusting screw mechanism. By changing the physical parameters of the spring's engagement point and rotation limit, the system can be tuned to provide appropriate closing force for different door configurations while maintaining automatic closure functionality
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 enhances safety by eliminating injury risks from the hinge's operation and provides adjustable closing force and swiveling range, ensuring effective and safe door closure.
Implementation Method 1
a rocker arm pressing the roller against the radial cam under the force of the spring, thereby forcing the multilink hinge forced into the closed and/or open position
Implementation Method 2
one of the articulated levers is equipped with a radial cam, and said radial cam interacts with a roller disposed on a rocker arm
Implementation Method 3
the rocker arm is equipped with an adjusting screw, which strikes the same articulated lever on which the rocker arm is disposed
Data Source
AI summary
A hinge includes a first mounting part defining first and second ends, a second mounting part defining third and fourth ends, a first articulated lever defining fifth and sixth ends, a second articulated lever defining seventh and eighth ends, a third articulated lever defining ninth and tenth ends, and a fourth articulated lever defining eleventh and twelfth ends. The fifth end pivotally connects between the first end and the second end. The sixth end pivotally connects to the tenth end. The ninth end pivotally connects to the fourth end. The third end pivotally connects to the eleventh end. The second end pivotally connects to the seventh end. The eighth end pivotally connects between the ninth end and the tenth end. The twelfth end pivotally connects between the seventh end and the eighth end. A protective plate covers at least a portion of the plates and levers.