Silent spring hinge
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spring hinges in household appliances generate high noise and vibration when closing cabinet doors due to rapid acceleration, which affects the product's lifetime.
Innovation Solution
A silent spring hinge design featuring a fixing base, hinge arm, rotating wheel, spring assembly, and damping assembly, including a sleeve body, steel ball, spring, and lock nut, with deceleration and self-locking grooves on the rotating wheel to control the closing speed and self-lock the door, reducing noise and impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spring and eccentric cam combination mechanism is used to assist closing the cabinet door, then the cabinet door can be kept in an open and stationary state during use, but relatively high noise is generated during closing and the product is greatly vibrated
Solution Approach 1:
A damping assembly is introduced as an intermediary component between the spring mechanism and the cabinet door. This damping assembly includes a damping element that absorbs and dissipates the impact energy during door closing, acting as a mediator that reduces the transmission of vibrations and noise to the product body while maintaining the door closing assistance function.
Solution Approach 2:
The damping assembly is pre-installed and positioned to provide cushioning before the door fully closes. The damping element is designed to engage with the door or frame at the moment of impact, providing prior cushioning that reduces the shock and vibration during the closing process, thereby lowering noise levels.
2Device complexity
If the cabinet door is freely closed under spring action, then the closing process is simple, but the cabinet door closes at relatively large acceleration generating high noise
Solution Approach 1:
The damping assembly serves as an intermediary that is integrated into the existing simple spring closing mechanism. It adds minimal complexity by introducing a damping element that can be positioned between moving parts, effectively reducing noise without significantly complicating the overall closing mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The damping assembly changes the physical parameters of the closing process by introducing energy dissipation through the damping element. This modifies the acceleration and velocity profiles during door closing, reducing the peak acceleration and associated noise while maintaining the overall simplicity of the spring-driven mechanism.
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
The design effectively reduces noise and vibration by decelerating the cabinet door's closure and self-locking it, ensuring stable and quiet operation, particularly suitable for appliances like ovens and microwave ovens.
Implementation Method 1
a spring and an eccentric cam combination mechanism are generally adopted
Implementation Method 2
a damping assembly corresponding to a side edge of the rotating wheel is further provided on the fixing base, the damping assembly including a sleeve body, a steel ball, a spring and a lock nut
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The present invention relates to the technical field of spring hinges, and to a silent spring hinge, which addresses the technical shortcoming that relatively high noise is generated when an existing spring hinge used in a household appliance drives a cabinet door to close. The silent spring hinge includes a fixing base, a hinge arm and a spring assembly, a damping assembly corresponding to a side edge of a rotating wheel being further provided on the fixing base, the damping assembly including a sleeve body, a steel ball, a spring and a lock nut, an outer wall of the sleeve body being snap-fitted on the fixing base, the steel ball, the spring and the lock nut being mounted within the sleeve body in sequence, a portion of the steel ball being exposed from the sleeve body and being elastically connected to the side edge of the rotating wheel, and a deceleration groove and a self-locking groove mated with the steel ball at a final stage of the process of closing a cabinet door being provided on a gear edge of the rotating wheel. By means of the present invention, the closing speed of the cabinet door is effectively reduced, and an effect of damping is achieved, such that the cabinet door is closed in a more stable manner, and a force of the spring assembly is not affected after the spring assembly drives the cabinet door to close. The present invention is particularly suitable for use on such products as ovens and microwave ovens.