Pivoting Appliance Door Handle Assembly for Safer Recessed Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing household appliance doors require large, protruding door handles that can tilt or rub against adjacent elements during operation, leading to instability and increased risk of injury and dirt accumulation, while also being cumbersome to install.
Innovation Solution
A pivotable door handle system with internal shafts and rollers, where the handle is designed to pivot opposite to the door movement, reducing width and allowing for easier installation, with a recessed handle plate that automatically changes positions for enhanced safety and cleanliness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the door handle extends over a large part of the door width to ensure stable operation without tilting or rubbing, then the door handle stability is improved, but the device complexity and risk of injury increase
Solution Approach 1:
The door handle is nested within a recess in the door surface, with the shaft and control gear components arranged within the door thickness rather than extending outward. This allows the handle to be stable during operation while minimizing protrusion and injury risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves the handle mechanism from a two-dimensional surface extension into the third dimension by utilizing the door thickness. The shaft and control gear are positioned within the door body, allowing the handle to pivot stablely without requiring excessive width.
2Reliability
If the door handle extends over a large part of the door width to prevent tilting or rubbing, then the door handle stability is improved, but the ease of manufacture and installation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The door handle assembly is divided into separate components: the handle element, the shaft, the control gear, and the mounting part. These can be manufactured independently and assembled, simplifying production while maintaining stability through precise internal positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple components are nested within the door thickness - the shaft within the mounting part, the control gear within the door body - creating a compact arrangement that is stable yet simple to manufacture and install as integrated units.
3Ease of operation
If the door handle is designed to pivot opposite to door movement for user-friendly operation, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control gear is designed to pivot the door handle in the opposite direction to door movement. When the door opens in one direction, the handle pivots in the opposite direction, maintaining an ergonomic grip orientation for the user. This inverted motion is achieved through the mechanical arrangement of the shaft and control gear connection.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
The household appliance door, in particular the cooking appliance door, is pivoted about a door axis and is provided with a door handle which can be pivoted about an axis of rotation running parallel to the door axis. wherein two shafts of the control gear are mounted on the inside in a mounting part so as to be rotatable about the axis of rotation and hold the door handle between them. The method for assembling a household appliance door has at least the following steps: (a) pushing in the shafts from a handle cutout of the bearing base through the respective bushings to the outside; (b) inserting the door handle into the handle cutout; and (c) sliding the shafts back towards the door handle until the shafts seat in respective handle bearing openings of the door handle.