Refrigerator Door Hinge with Detent Socket for Tool-Free Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigeration appliances require skilled users to correctly position bearing bushes to change the door hinge, leading to potential misinstallation, air exchange issues, and increased energy consumption due to manufacturing tolerances and user error.
Innovation Solution
The design eliminates the need for a bearing bush by using sockets with detent positions that allow the door pins to be locked without adapters, ensuring precise positioning and easy installation, even for inexperienced users, through a projection mechanism that alerts users of incorrect installation and facilitates correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a bearing bush is used to precisely position the hinge pin, then the pivot axis is precisely defined, but the device complexity increases and requires skilled installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the bearing bush from the door hinge structure. Instead of using a separate bearing bush component to precisely position the hinge pin, the socket itself is designed with a detent position that directly provides precise positioning. This extraction of the bearing bush simplifies the overall structure while maintaining positioning precision through the socket's geometric design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a detent position mechanism within the socket as an intermediary feature. This detent position acts as a built-in positioning intermediary that guides the hinge pin into the correct position without requiring a separate bearing bush. The detent position serves as the mediating element that ensures precise pivot axis definition through geometric constraints rather than additional components.
2Reliability
If a bearing bush is required for precise hinge positioning, then reliable door latching is achieved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to complex installation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The socket is designed with an integrated detent position that automatically guides and positions the hinge pin during installation. The geometric features of the socket and pin work together such that correct positioning occurs naturally through the interaction of their shapes, without requiring the installer to perform additional actions or have specialized skills. The system serves itself by using its own geometric constraints to ensure proper installation.
Solution Approach 2:
By removing the bearing bush, the patent eliminates the step of installing and positioning this separate component. The hinge pin can be directly inserted into the socket, and the detent position automatically ensures correct alignment. This simplification maintains latching reliability while dramatically improving ease of operation by reducing installation complexity to a simple insert-and-lock action.
3Ease of manufacture
If the door hinge structure is simplified by removing the bearing bush, then ease of manufacture improves, but manufacturing precision may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the bearing bush component, simplifying the manufacturing process by reducing the number of parts that need to be produced and assembled. The socket is designed with integrated geometric features (detent position) that provide precise positioning functionality without requiring separate precision-manufactured components. This extraction maintains positioning precision while improving manufacturing ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the positioning function previously provided by the separate bearing bush into the socket itself through the detent position feature. By merging these functions into a single integrated component, the design reduces the number of parts while maintaining the precision positioning capability. The socket now performs both the bearing function and the precise positioning function that were previously separated.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the door can be easily reconfigured by moving the bearing bush, then adaptability improves, but reliability deteriorates due to potential user error
Solution Approach 1:
The socket with its detent position provides automatic self-alignment and self-positioning of the hinge pin. When the door is installed or reconfigured, the geometric features guide the pin into the correct position without requiring the user to perform precise manual alignment or to move separate components like a bearing bush. This self-service mechanism ensures reliable positioning while allowing easy reconfiguration through simple pin removal and reinsertion.
Solution Approach 2:
By removing the bearing bush, the patent eliminates the component that users would need to move to reconfigure the door hinge. The hinge pin itself becomes the movable element, which can be easily removed and reinserted into the same socket. This simplification maintains adaptability for reconfiguration while improving reliability by eliminating the risk of losing or misplacing a separate bearing bush component.
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A refrigerating appliance, in particular a domestic refrigerating appliance, comprises an inner container (1) surrounding a storage compartment (3), a door (4) which carries two axially displaceable pins (12) on the same narrow side (10), and two on the inner container (1) arranged sockets for the pins (12). The sockets each have a locking position (34) with little play and a locking position (33) with a lot of play, in which the pin (12) assigned to them can be locked.