Oven Tray Elevating Mechanism for Ergonomic Loading and Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooking apparatuses, such as ovens, require users to bend significantly when handling heavy cooking targets due to limited adjustable height, which is inconvenient and poses safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A cooking apparatus with an elevating device that includes a fixed rail, a moveable rail, support links, and a manipulator, allowing the tray to be raised and lowered within the oven chamber without removing it, ensuring the tray can be elevated to a sufficient height without straining the user and incorporating safety features to prevent accidental movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the rack height is adjusted within the cooking chamber only, then the device complexity is kept simple, but the tray cannot be raised to a sufficient height for user convenience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic height adjustment mechanism where the tray can be raised and lowered along guide rails both horizontally and vertically. The support links connect the movable rail to the tray, enabling the tray to reach a height sufficient for user convenience while maintaining structural stability through the coordinated movement of multiple mechanical components.
2Length of stationary object
If a complex elevating mechanism with multiple links and rails is added, then the tray can be raised to sufficient height, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The elevating mechanism is segmented into distinct functional components: guide rails for horizontal and vertical movement, support links for structural connection, and a manipulator for control. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while simplifying the overall design and maintenance of the complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends the height adjustment from a single vertical dimension to a two-dimensional movement system combining horizontal sliding along guide rails and vertical lifting through support links. This dimensional expansion enables the tray to reach sufficient height while distributing the mechanical complexity across multiple coordinated movements rather than a single complex vertical mechanism.
3Ease of operation
If the tray is raised to a higher position, then user convenience is improved, but the risk of accidental tray movement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The manipulator provides feedback control for the tray elevation process, allowing the user to precisely control the raising and lowering movements. The mechanism responds to user input with controlled motion, preventing accidental movements while maintaining the ability to reach convenient heights. The coordinated action of multiple links and rails ensures stable positioning at elevated positions.
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 allows for easy loading and unloading of heavy cooking targets without bending, enhances user safety by preventing accidental tray movement, and prevents food from colliding with the tray during elevation.
Implementation Method 1
a manipulator connected to the moveable rail and the support link
Implementation Method 2
The support link may include a front link, a rear link disposed at a point spaced apart backwards from the front link
Implementation Method 3
a moveable rail configured to slide and move in forward and backward directions in a state where the moveable rail is coupled to the fixed rail
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking apparatus includes a case including an inner case having a cooking chamber formed therein and an outer case configured to surround the inner case, and having an open front surface, a tray put on the cooking chamber, a door coupled to the front surface of the case and configured to selectively open and close the open front surface, an elevating device installed at left and right internal surfaces of the inner case and configured to move the tray in forward and backward directions and upward and downward directions, wherein the elevating device includes a fixed rail fixed to an internal side surface of the inner case, a moveable rail configured to slide and move in forward and backward directions in a state where the moveable rail is coupled to the fixed rail, a support link configured to connect a side surface of the tray and the moveable rail, and a manipulator connected to the moveable rail and the support link.