Slide out door bin
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerator door bins are difficult to access and use, as they require opening the main door, and their design can lead to items falling when the door is opened or closed due to the solid base being perceived as a shelf, causing spills or breakage.
Innovation Solution
A door bin system that can be pulled out through a secondary auxiliary door, featuring a substantially planar main base portion with upwardly extending walls and a downwardly extending perimeter lip to engage with the door frame, preventing movement during door operation, and a removable bottom surface cover for easy cleaning and access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the door bin is accessed through the main door, then the door bin is accessible, but the user must open the main door which causes items to fall and break
Solution Approach 1:
The door assembly is segmented into a main door and a separate auxiliary door. The auxiliary door provides independent access to the door bin, allowing users to retrieve items without opening the main door, thus preventing items from falling due to main door movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary door acts as an intermediary mechanism between the user and the door bin contents. It provides a controlled access path that isolates the door bin from the mechanical movements of the main door, eliminating the harmful effect of items falling during main door operation.
2Reliability
If the door bin has a solid base with upright projections for engagement, then the door bin is securely mounted, but the mating indentations take up storage space and make cleaning difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement projections are extracted from the door bin body and relocated to the door frame structure. This allows the door bin interior to be completely smooth and flat, maximizing storage volume and eliminating cleaning difficulties, while the door frame projections provide the necessary secure mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the door bin contain the engagement features, the door frame contains the engagement projections and the door bin has corresponding recesses. This inversion places the complex engagement structure outside the storage space, preserving interior volume and cleanability.
3Reliability
If the door bin is securely engaged with the door frame, then the door bin remains stable, but the engagement structure prevents easy removal for cleaning or relocation
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement system is designed with dynamic characteristics - the door bin can be firmly held during normal door operation through the projection-recess engagement, but can be easily removed by applying slight upward force. This dynamic behavior provides both stability during use and ease of removal for cleaning.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement force parameter is designed to be state-dependent: under normal conditions, the gravitational and operational forces maintain secure engagement, but when a small upward force is applied, the engagement disengages easily. This parameter change allows the system to transition between stable and removable states.
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigeration appliance door bin assembly that includes: a refrigeration appliance door bin having a substantially planar main base portion, at least one upwardly extending wall that is free of an indentation, apertures or recesses extending upward from the main base portion and a downwardly extending perimeter lip portion where the main base portion and the downwardly extending lip portion define a downwardly facing door bin frame engagement space, the door bin engagement space engages a door bin frame of a refrigerator spaced within the door of a refrigerator such that the downwardly extending lip portion surrounds an exterior portion of the door bin frame and prevents substantial movement of the door bin when the door bin is engaged with the door bin frame caused by a refrigeration appliance door opening force or a refrigeration appliance door closing force; and a refrigeration appliance door bin bottom surface cover.