Plastic Door Guide Assembly for Precise, Low-Noise Appliance Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing household appliance door guide devices are not cost-effective and lack ease of manufacture, assembly, and stability while providing precise guidance and long service life.
Innovation Solution
A household appliance door guide device made from a single piece of plastic with a guide surface, incorporating a damping mechanism, locking means, and a rib structure for stability, using materials like polypropylene and long glass fibers, and featuring a rolling bearing with a metal outer ring for low-friction operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the door guide means is made from multiple components, then assembly flexibility is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional components (guide means, damping means, locking means, bearing means) into a single integrated door guide means made of plastic. This merging eliminates the need for separate components and assembly steps, directly reducing device complexity and manufacturing cost while maintaining all necessary functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The plastic door guide means is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: guiding the door, providing damping, enabling locking, and supporting bearing elements. This multi-functionality in a single component reduces the overall number of parts needed in the system, addressing the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and functional completeness.
2Reliability
If the guide surface is made from metal, then durability and precision are improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses plastic as the base material for the door guide means, which can be enhanced with glass fibers or other reinforcing materials to achieve the necessary durability and precision. This composite approach provides metal-like performance characteristics while maintaining the cost and manufacturing advantages of plastic, resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the physical and mechanical parameters of the plastic material (through material selection, fiber reinforcement, or plasticization) to achieve the required wear resistance and precision for the guide surface. This allows the plastic component to meet the durability requirements traditionally associated with metal while maintaining lower manufacturing costs.
3Device complexity
If the door guide means includes integrated damping and locking means, then assembly is simplified, but component design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The damping means and locking means are integrated into the door guide means as built-in features rather than separate components. The damping element is incorporated within the guide structure, and the locking mechanism is formed as part of the molded plastic component, simplifying assembly while the design complexity is managed through efficient integration.
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 achieves a cost-effective, stable, and durable door guide device that ensures precise movement and long service life with easy assembly and operation, while saving components and reducing noise.
Implementation Method 1
a rolling bearing with a metal outer ring for low-friction operation
Implementation Method 2
The household appliance door guide device advantageously has at least one damping means
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention is based on a domestic appliance door guide device with at least one door guide means (209) which has at least one guide surface (210). In order to achieve simple manufacturability, it is proposed that the guide surface (210) be formed at least partially from a plastic.