Telescopic Furniture Leg Locking With Pins for Compact Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vertically adjustable furniture items, such as tables, face challenges with large telescopic leg dimensions and locking mechanisms that provide only limited flexibility and stability due to the use of roller guides, resulting in a bulky design.
Innovation Solution
A vertically adjustable leg system featuring a hollow first telescopic element and a linearly displaceable second telescopic element, with a locking device that includes movable pins for form-fitting or force-fitting connections, allowing for compact and flexible adjustment, and a mechanism to compensate for the weight of the furniture using springs or an electric motor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If roller guides are used in telescopic legs, then the telescopic elements can be mounted next to one another with reduced friction, but the leg dimensions become large and bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the roller guides from the telescopic leg structure entirely. Instead of using rollers mounted on the telescopic elements, the invention uses a locking device with pins that engage directly with the telescopic elements, eliminating the need for bulky roller guide mechanisms while maintaining smooth adjustment capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than using rollers to enable movement and then adding separate locking mechanisms, the patent inverts the approach by using a locking device that inherently enables smooth movement through its pin engagement mechanism, combining both functions in a more compact structure.
2Reliability
If traditional locking devices are used, then the telescopic legs can be fixed at a certain length, but the locking provides only limited flexibility and stability
Solution Approach 1:
The locking device features movable pins that can dynamically transition between locked and unlocked positions. The pins are designed to engage with different positions on the telescopic elements, providing both stable locking when engaged and flexible adjustment when disengaged, adapting to the user's needs for either firm fixation or smooth movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking device is segmented into multiple pins that can engage at different positions along the telescopic elements. This segmentation allows for both stable locking at specific intervals and the flexibility to lock at multiple different height positions, enhancing both reliability and adaptability.
3Volume of moving object
If the telescopic elements are made compact with narrow dimensions, then the furniture item has a narrow profile, but the locking mechanism has reduced stability
Solution Approach 1:
The locking device uses a composite approach combining multiple pins made of different materials or with different properties. The pins are designed with specific geometric features that engage with corresponding features on the telescopic elements, creating a stable locking mechanism within a compact structure through the synergistic combination of multiple components.
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 a compact, flexible, and sturdy locking mechanism that allows for smooth vertical adjustment of furniture items, reducing the need for large leg dimensions and enhancing stability while maintaining a narrow profile.
Implementation Method 1
a mechanism to compensate for the weight of the furniture using springs or an electric motor
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to an item of furniture, in particular a table, having at least one length-adjustable leg. The length-adjustable leg includes a first telescopic element which is realized as a hollow body, as well as a second telescopic element which is mounted inside the first telescopic element so as to linearly displaceable along a first axis. A locking device which is arranged on the second telescopic element comprises at least one first pin which is movable using an actuating device from a first position, in which the at least one first pin prevents the movement of the first telescopic element relative to the second telescopic element as a result of a force-fitting connection or form-fitting connection, into a second position in which the displacement is not prevented. In addition, the locking device has at least one second pin which is movable by the actuating device from a first state, where the at least one second pin is pressed against an inside surface of a wall of the first telescopic element in order to brace the second telescopic element in relation to the first telescopic element, and a second state where the at least one second pin is at a spacing from the wall of the first telescopic element.