Sliding Door Guide Device with Changeover Switch
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide devices for slidable wardrobe doors are aesthetically unpleasing as they are visible from the outside, hinder door movement due to pin-based mechanisms, cause manufacturing standardization issues due to differing pin sizes, and do not allow for easy adjustment or use in multi-door configurations.
Innovation Solution
A guide device featuring two guides with single rectilinear tracks and double changeover switches, along with carriages and wheels, that allows smooth door movement, hides the guides from view, standardizes components, and enables easy adjustment and use in multi-door wardrobes by incorporating a double changeover switch mechanism and rubber-coated wheels for reduced friction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If pin-based guide mechanisms are used for door movement, then the doors can be positioned and guided, but the movement becomes difficult and friction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the pin-based mechanical guide system with a wheel-based rolling mechanism. Wheels are mounted on the doors and roll along tracks incorporated into the top and bottom of the wardrobe structure, substituting sliding friction with rolling friction to enable smooth door movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of contact interaction from sliding (pin-on-track) to rolling (wheel-on-track). This parameter change dramatically reduces friction and makes door operation easy, allowing doors to move smoothly between closed and open positions.
2Ease of operation
If guides are applied to the front edge of top and bottom, then the doors can be guided, but the guides become visible from outside
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds the guides within the structure of the wardrobe top and bottom, incorporating them so that they are hidden from external view. The guides are nested inside the wardrobe framework rather than being mounted on the front surface, maintaining aesthetic appearance while preserving guidance function.
3Manufacturing precision
If different pins are applied to different doors, then each door can be properly positioned, but manufacturing standardization becomes problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs universal, identical wheels for all doors instead of different pins for each door. The same wheel design and track configuration work for every door in the wardrobe system, enabling standardization of manufacturing while maintaining precise positioning and guidance functionality for all doors.
4Weight of moving object
If heavy doors are used, then storage capacity increases, but pin-based guides cannot support the weight effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the pin-based support system with a wheel-and-track system that is better suited for supporting heavy doors. The rolling mechanism distributes the door weight more effectively along the tracks incorporated into the top and bottom, providing adequate support capacity for heavy doors while enabling smooth operation.
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 solution enables smooth and easy door operation, hides the guides, standardizes manufacturing, allows precise horizontality adjustment, and prevents door interference, making it suitable for both two and three-door wardrobes.
Implementation Method 1
lower guide (12) to be incorporated into the bottom (8), both at a short distance from the front edge of the top and bottom. The device also comprises two pairs of carriages for each door (4, 4') and more precisely an outer upper carriage (14), an inner upper carriage (14'), an outer lower carriage (16), and an inner lower carriage (16').
Data Source
Figure 1~4
Figure 2
Figure 5~8
AI summary
A guide device for a pair of slidable doors of a container, particularly of a wardrobe, in which said doors (4, 4') are contained between a top (6) and a bottom (8) of the container, characterised by comprising: - a pair of guides (10, 12) to be applied to the lower surface of said top (6) and to the upper surface of said bottom (8), each guide comprising a track with a rectilinear portion (1 8) and with two end portions (20, 20') inclined forwards with respect to said rectilinear portion (18), and a two way double changeover switch element (22) inserted into the centre of said rectilinear portion (18) and comprising a rectilinear branch (24), creating continuity with the rectilinear portion (18) of the track of said guide (10, 12), a pair of deviated branches (26, 26') inclined forwards in the opposite direction to said rectilinear branch (24), and a pair of tongues (30, 30') associated with elastic means to maintain them independently in the deviated position and each provided with an appendix (34) interfering with the respective deviated branch (26, 26') when the tongue (30, 30') is in the deviated position and not interfering with said deviated portion when the tongue is in the non- deviated position, - a first pair of carriages (14, 14') applied in proximity to the ends of the upper edge of each door (4, 4') and each provided with a pin (38, 38') engagable in the track of said upper guide (10), - a second pair of carriages (16, 16') applied in proximity to the ends of the lower edge of each door (4, 4') and each provided with a pin (40, 40') engagable in the track of said lower guide (12), and with a wheel (42) to rest on and slIdable on said lower guide.