Sliding Showcase Shelf Locking for Easy Article Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional showcases require salesclerks to insert their fingers inside the case to retrieve or replenish articles, making the process cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
The showcase design features slidingly movable article mounting shelves with brackets and shelf columns, where the brackets are locked into place using locking pieces and notches, allowing the shelves to be drawn rearward for easy access without manual insertion, and includes a limiting unit to prevent bracket movement towards the side faces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If glass doors are used to open and close the rear face opening, then the storage room is accessible for replenishing articles, but salesclerks must insert their fingers inside the case main body making the work troublesome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a shelf board as an intermediary component that can be drawn rearward out of the case main body. This allows salesclerks to retrieve articles by pulling the shelf board outward rather than inserting fingers inside the case, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and sanitation contamination
Solution Approach 2:
The shelf board is designed to be manually drawn rearward by the user themselves, enabling self-service article retrieval without needing to reach inside the case. The shelf board acts as a self-contained interface that brings the storage contents within easy reach
2Reliability
If locking pieces are inserted into inner face locking holes to support brackets, then the brackets are securely locked, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having the bracket actively engage with the locking hole, the design inverts the mechanism: the locking hole's lower edge actively enters the notch on the bracket, causing the locking pieces to be locked to the inner face locking holes. This passive locking approach simplifies the overall structure while maintaining reliability
3Stability of the object's composition
If a limiting unit is added to prevent brackets from approaching side faces, then bracket movement is controlled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The limiting unit is merged with the existing bracket structure rather than being a separate component. The limiting unit comprises a limiting plate and limiting rod that are integrated into the bracket assembly, thus providing position stability without significantly increasing device complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A showcase includes: a case main body; and article mounting shelves that mount articles as objects to be stored. The showcase causes the articles to be visually recognized through a customer serving face. Each of the article mounting shelves includes: a pair of brackets supported by a pair of shelf columns; and a shelf board. Each of the brackets includes locking pieces that are provided with respective notches at lower ends of predetermined areas. The showcase is supported by each of the shelf columns by causing the locking pieces to be inserted into corresponding inner face locking holes formed on an inner face of each of the shelf columns and causing lower edges of the inner face locking holes to relatively enter the notches, to cause the locking pieces to be locked to the inner face locking holes.