Telescopic leg for a table
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing height-adjustable table legs face challenges in providing structural strength and stability while maintaining a minimalist design, especially when supporting a table-top in a cantilevered manner near an edge, which leads to bending stress, jamming, and reduced safety due to the need to hide actuators within hollow legs.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates asymmetric reinforcement ribs within the telescopic leg, oriented to withstand bending torque, and a flattened cross-section to distribute load effectively, allowing the leg to function as a tie-rod and support the table-top securely, while housing actuation components for smooth operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the leg supports the table-top near its edge in a cantilevered manner, then the space below the table is freed for user comfort and the aesthetic line is simplified, but the leg is subjected to high bending stress causing malfunctions, instability, and reduced safety
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by positioning the reinforcement ribs asymmetrically on the outer side of the tubular member rather than distributing them uniformly. This asymmetric arrangement concentrates structural reinforcement precisely where the bending stress from cantilevered loading is highest, allowing the leg to support table-tops near edges while maintaining structural integrity and safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent addresses the bending stress problem by adding reinforcement ribs that extend in the radial dimension of the tubular member. This dimensional addition creates a composite cross-sectional structure that significantly increases the moment of inertia and bending resistance without substantially increasing the overall leg diameter, thus maintaining the minimalist aesthetic while improving strength.
2Shape
If actuators are hidden inside hollow legs, then the design achieves a linear and minimalist appearance, but the mechanical strength of the leg is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material principles by combining the hollow tubular member with internally positioned reinforcement ribs. This creates a hybrid structure where the hollow tube provides the aesthetic minimalist appearance and houses the actuator, while the integrated reinforcement ribs restore and enhance the bending strength that would otherwise be compromised by the hollow configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement ribs are strategically positioned on the outer side of the tubular member where bending stresses are highest. This localized reinforcement approach ensures that structural strength is enhanced precisely where needed, while the rest of the hollow tubular structure maintains its aesthetic and functional properties for housing actuators.
3Device complexity
If a single leg is used to support the table-top, then the number of components is minimized and the aesthetic line is simplified, but the structural solidity and stability are compromised under lateral loads
Solution Approach 1:
The asymmetric arrangement of reinforcement ribs on the outer side of the tubular member provides targeted structural reinforcement that enables a single leg to reliably support cantilevered table-tops. This asymmetric reinforcement pattern allows the leg to resist lateral loads and bending moments effectively, achieving both simplicity and reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A telescopic leg for supporting a table-top of a table, the leg defining an extension axis, a first end of the leg, and a second end of the leg, opposite the first end, wherein the length of the leg between the first end and the second end is adjustable between a minimum length and a maximum length, wherein the telescopic leg includes: a plurality of leg members slidingly engaged with each other along the extension axis; the plurality of leg members including a first leg member terminating with the first end, suitable to rest on the floor or be fixed to a base, and a last leg member terminating with the second end and suitable to be fixed to the table-top; wherein the last leg member is an extruded tubular member internally defined by a tubular member inner surface.