Household appliance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing household appliances, such as dishwashers, face challenges in achieving a reliable and easy-to-assemble latching connection between the base panel and the base panel support, often resulting in damage to thin plastic latching elements during assembly.
Innovation Solution
The base panel features a flexible bottom wall section with recesses or material reductions to allow for elastic deflection, enabling solid latching elements that can be made thicker and more robust, while also serving as an insertion slot for device feet, and includes a trough-shaped top wall with a tapering undercut for additional locking, ensuring a secure and damage-free assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If thin plastic latching lugs are used to reduce material consumption and simplify manufacturing, then manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but the latching elements become prone to damage or breakage during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom wall section is designed to be flexibly deflectable during assembly, allowing the latching elements to be pressed into the locking lugs without breaking. The bottom wall springs back after assembly to provide a secure connection, transforming a static rigid structure into a dynamic adaptive one that resolves the contradiction between thin material usage and assembly durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the bottom wall from rigid to flexibly deflectable by providing recesses or reducing material in specific areas. This parameter change allows the bottom wall to temporarily deform during assembly to accommodate the latching elements, then returns to its original state to provide a secure connection, resolving the contradiction between material thickness and assembly reliability.
2Reliability
If solid latching elements with large material thickness are used to prevent damage during assembly, then reliability and strength are improved, but the base panel structure becomes more complex and manufacturing more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the bottom wall into different zones: a deflectable section with recesses that allows elastic deformation, and the latching elements themselves that remain solid and robust. This segmentation allows the structure to be simple overall while providing localized flexibility where needed, resolving the contradiction between solid latching elements and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different properties to different parts of the base panel: the bottom wall section is made flexibly deflectable through recesses or material reduction, while the latching elements maintain solid construction with adequate material thickness. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing flexibility only where needed for assembly, keeping the rest of the structure simple and solid.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the bottom wall is made rigid to maintain dimensional stability, then structural integrity is improved, but the latching elements cannot be properly inserted without causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic flexibility to the bottom wall through recesses or material reduction, allowing it to deflect elastically during assembly when latching elements are inserted. After assembly, the bottom wall springs back to its original position, maintaining dimensional stability. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between rigidity for stability and flexibility for ease of assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanical parameters of the bottom wall by providing recesses or reducing material in specific areas, creating a deflectable section that can temporarily deform during assembly. This parameter change allows easy insertion of latching elements while the rest of the base panel maintains its rigid dimensional stability, resolving the contradiction between rigidity and assembly ease.
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
This solution provides a structurally simple and reliable latching connection that prevents damage to latching elements during assembly, ensuring the base panel is securely attached to the support without play, maintaining appliance stability and ease of assembly.
Implementation Method 1
The deflectable bottom wall section (27) of the base panel (1) can be elastically bent open in a deflection direction (II) when the base panel (1) is pushed onto the base panel carrier (3)
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a plinth lining for a household appliance, in particular for a dish-washing machine, with a plinth panel (1) and at least one plinth-panel support (3) which holds the plinth panel(1) by means of at least one latching connection, which has a front wall (23) and a base wall (19) extending below the household appliance. According to the invention, the base wall (19) of the plinth panel (1) is at least partly elastically deflectable with one section (27) to which a latching element (17) is provided for the latching connection to the plinth-panel support (3).