Retractable Table Screen and Keyboard With Flush Stowage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retractable screen and keyboard assemblies for tables face practical implementation challenges due to complex connections and gaps that can harbor dirt, affecting aesthetics and usability.
Innovation Solution
A retractable screen and keyboard assembly featuring a rotating base with actuating mechanism using cams and braces, allowing for smooth vertical movement of the platform and screen, minimizing gaps, and incorporating a single motor for actuation, with optional features like additional motors for screen rotation and angular position encoders for obstacle detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a retractable screen and keyboard assembly is implemented with conventional mechanisms, then the screen can be raised and lowered, but complex connections and gaps are created that can harbor dirt and affect aesthetics
Solution Approach 1:
The screen is nested within the housing structure, with the base rotating about a fixed axis to allow the screen to be stored inside the housing and presented flush with the supporting frame. This nesting approach eliminates external gaps and connection points where dirt could accumulate, while still enabling the screen to be raised and lowered through the rotation mechanism
2Ease of operation
If conventional kinematic connections are used for raising the platform, then the screen can be positioned, but the mechanism is difficult to practically implement
Solution Approach 1:
The base is designed to rotate dynamically about a fixed axis, transitioning between different positions to raise and lower the screen. This dynamic rotation mechanism simplifies the kinematic connections compared to conventional multi-link mechanisms, making the system easier to manufacture and implement while maintaining full positioning capability
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating base serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as the mounting structure for the screen, provides the raising and lowering mechanism through rotation, and ensures flush positioning when stowed. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components and complex connections, improving manufacturability
3Adaptability or versatility
If the screen and platform are positioned with conventional mechanisms, then movement is possible, but spaces or gaps are created that are poorly attractive and allow dirt to fall through
Solution Approach 1:
The screen is nested within the housing structure, with the base rotating about a fixed axis to allow the screen to be stored inside the housing and presented flush with the supporting frame. This nesting approach eliminates external gaps and connection points where dirt could accumulate, while still enabling the screen to be raised and lowered through the rotation mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The base is designed with an asymmetric cross-section featuring a first side adjacently arranged to the inner surface of the screen, a second side perpendicularly arranged to the first side that is flush to the screen and frame when stowed, and a third side forming an obtuse angle with the first side. This asymmetric design ensures that in both stowed and use positions, the assembly presents flat, continuous surfaces without gaps, while still allowing full movement capability
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~7
AI summary
Retractable screen (1) and keyboard (2) assembly for tables, comprising a supporting structure provided with a frame (3) defining a housing (4), and with a supporting frame (5) on the table, the screen (1) being able to rotate from a position in which it is stowed inside the housing (4) and flush with the supporting frame (5) to an elevated use position, a platform (6) arranged in the housing (4) on which the keyboard (2) rests, means for guiding (G) the platform (6) vertically from a lower position which leaves space for the stowed screen (1) and an upper use position, and further comprising a base (7) for the screen (1) which can rotate about a fixed axis (Γ) in relation to said frame (3), the screen (1) being mounted on said base (7), the screen (1) and base (7) assembly being able to rotate about said axis (Γ) from the stowed position to the use position.