Pivoting Table Leg Assembly With Sliding Lock for Compact Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional banquet tables are cumbersome and costly due to heavy, expensive materials like wood and metal, and lightweight alternatives require reinforcing members that increase weight and manufacturing complexity, while their leg structures can bend or detach under load, restricting space usage.
Innovation Solution
A table design featuring a blow-molded plastic tabletop with a leg assembly that includes a support element, translation mechanism, and lock device, allowing the legs to pivot between storage and use positions, reducing volume occupied and enhancing space utilization by moving brace members outside the table's base area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional tables use heavy materials like wood and metal for tabletops, then structural strength is improved, but weight increases making the table difficult to move and store
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional heavy wood and metal tabletops with a lighter plastic tabletop that can be easily moved and stored. The plastic material provides sufficient strength for its intended use while dramatically reducing weight, allowing the table to be repositioned and stored without excessive effort.
2Weight of moving object
If lightweight materials like plastic are used for tabletops, then weight is reduced making the table easier to move, but structural strength decreases requiring additional reinforcing members
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the tabletop and leg assembly into a unified structure where the legs are pivotally attached directly to the tabletop perimeter. This merging eliminates the need for separate reinforcing members, brackets, or support structures that would add weight, while the pivotal connection provides both strength and mobility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If banquet tables are designed with standard dimensions (6-10 feet length, 3-4 feet width), then they can accommodate large groups, but storage area required increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a pivotal leg assembly that allows the legs to rotate between a deployed position (supporting the table for use) and a retracted position (folded against the tabletop for storage). This dynamic mechanism enables the table to transition from a functional state to a compact storage state, dramatically reducing the space required when the table is not in use.
4Strength
If conventional leg assemblies are used with multiple fasteners to connect frame to tabletop, then connection strength is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the complex multi-fastener connection system traditionally used to attach the frame to the tabletop. Instead, the leg assembly is pivotally attached directly to the tabletop perimeter with simplified hardware, eliminating the need for separate frame structures, multiple fasteners, and complex assembly procedures while maintaining adequate connection strength.
Data Source
AI summary
A table may include a tabletop, a frame, and a leg assembly. The leg assembly may include a support element, a translation mechanism, and a lock device. The support element may include an end structure attached to an elongated structure. The end structure may be rotatably coupled to the frame such that the support element is rotatable relative to the frame between a first position and a second position. The translation mechanism may be retained relative to the support element and the frame. The translation mechanism may be configured to translate along the support element as the support element rotates. The lock device may be configurable in an engaged arrangement in which the lock device fixes the translation mechanism to the support element and in a disengaged arrangement in which the translation mechanism is not fixed relative to the support element.