Stowable Table Assembly With Wedge Members for Smooth Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stowable tables often require high torque to rotate between horizontal and vertical positions, making controlled movement difficult, especially when actuated, and can result in liquid spillage due to abrupt deployment or stowage.
Innovation Solution
A stowable table assembly featuring elongate wedge-shaped members with tapering side surfaces that allow smooth and gradual deployment or stowage, coupled with a carrier and actuator system, ensuring controlled movement and preventing spillage through a rotating cup holder mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional actuator system is used to rotate the table between horizontal and vertical positions, then the table can be moved between positions, but high torque is required and controlled movement becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The table assembly is segmented into multiple components: a table portion, a carrier, and multiple elongate members arranged in series. This segmentation allows the rotation motion to be distributed across multiple joints and wedge interfaces, reducing the torque requirement at any single point and enabling smoother controlled movement.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple elongate members with wedge-shaped cross-sections act as intermediary elements between the carrier and the table portion. These intermediaries transform the linear sliding motion of the carrier into gradual rotational movement of the table, mediating the force transmission and enabling controlled movement with reduced torque.
2Productivity
If the table moves abruptly between positions, then deployment is quick, but liquid spillage occurs due to sudden movement
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic motion control through the wedge-shaped elongate members that gradually transform linear motion into rotational motion. This dynamic mechanism ensures the table moves smoothly and gradually between positions, preventing abrupt movements that would cause liquid spillage while maintaining reasonable deployment speed.
3Force
If manual movement is used, then torque requirements are reduced, but the table cannot be precisely controlled and positioned
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge-shaped elongate members provide inherent feedback through their geometric constraints. As the carrier slides linearly, the wedge geometry naturally controls the rotational position of the table, providing precise positioning without requiring complex feedback mechanisms. The physical geometry itself acts as the control feedback system.
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
Enables smooth and controlled deployment or stowage of the table, reducing the effort required for rotation and minimizing the risk of liquid spillage by utilizing wedge-shaped members that facilitate gradual movement and a linear force application.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of elongate members provided between the table portion and the carrier, each of the elongate members having a wedge-shaped cross-section such that the elongate members comprise side surfaces that taper towards each other from an upper surface to an underside surface of the elongate members
Data Source
AI summary
A stowable table assembly includes: a table portion rotatable between a deployed position and a stowed position; a carrier configured to be slidably received in a recess; and a plurality of elongate members provided between the table portion and the carrier. Each of the elongate members has a wedge-shaped cross-section such that the elongate members comprise side surfaces that taper towards each other from an upper surface to an underside surface of the elongate members. A first elongate member is coupled to the table portion and a last elongate member is coupled to the carrier. The elongate members are movably coupled to one another such that the side surfaces of neighboring elongate members abut when the table portion is in the deployed position.