Table with removable legs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture designs with permanently attached legs face challenges in achieving stable and secure connections while minimizing structural loads and plastic deformation, particularly due to misalignment issues during assembly and use, which can lead to increased shipping costs and reduced durability.
Innovation Solution
A removable leg attachment mechanism featuring a socket with a bolt that can pivot and twist slightly, allowing for limited movement and anti-rotation registration, along with a retainer clip to maintain alignment, enabling a snug fit between the leg and socket for improved load transfer and reduced deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the bolt is rigidly fixed at the center of the socket bottom, then the connection structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but collimation problems arise making it difficult to align the bolt and nut accurately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the bolt movable within the socket rather than rigidly fixed. The bolt is allowed to move laterally and rotate within a limited range, enabling it to self-align with the nut during assembly. This dynamic capability resolves the collimation problem while maintaining a simple fixed-center mounting structure, thus preserving ease of manufacture while improving alignment precision.
2Reliability
If the inner surface of the socket is close-fitting with the leg outer surface, then load transfer is improved and connection stability increases, but accurate collimation between bolt and nut becomes more difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by combining a close-fitting socket-leg interface with a movable bolt mechanism. The close fit between the leg outer surface and socket inner surface provides stable load transfer and connection reliability, while the bolt's ability to move and rotate within the socket allows it to self-align with the nut despite the tight tolerances required for the close fit.
3Strength
If the bolt is permanently attached to the socket, then structural loads on the bolt are reduced, but misalignment can cause plastic deformation of the bolt or damage to the connection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by allowing the bolt to move within the socket rather than being permanently fixed. This movement capability enables the bolt to accommodate misalignment between the socket and leg, preventing plastic deformation and connection damage. The bolt remains structurally sound while the connection maintains high reliability through this controlled mobility.
4Reliability
If legs are permanently attached to furniture, then connection stability is maximized, but volumetric space increases significantly increasing shipping charges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the furniture into separable components: the leg assembly and the furniture body with socket. The leg can be detached from the furniture, allowing for compact packaging during shipping. The movable bolt mechanism ensures that when the leg is attached, it achieves connection stability comparable to permanent attachment, thus reducing shipping volume while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A furniture assembly can include a tabletop with removable legs. The removable legs can be attached to the tabletop with a socket having a threaded member mounted in a non-fixed and anti-rotation registration at the bottom of the socket. The legs can be mounted to the socket by insertion and turning for threaded engagement. The floating engagement mechanism can allow the threaded fastener member to move during installation to provide for enhanced alignability between the leg and the threaded fastener member.