Home appliance including a drawer rail
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drawer rail systems in home appliances, such as dishwashers, face issues with rail separation, difficulty in engaging and disengaging the basket, and noise due to the design of sub-rails and mounting mechanisms, especially when handling heavy loads and long movement distances.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a three-rail system with vertically perforated surfaces and stopper flanges, ball accommodation portions, and retainer stoppers to prevent rail separation and enhance stability, along with bracket-perforated portions for secure mounting and noise reduction, allowing for easy engagement and disengagement of the basket and rail.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If sufficient gaps are designed between rails to allow relative movement, then the drawer rail can accommodate heavy loads and long movement distances, but the rails may separate from one another due to increased gap beyond allowable range
Solution Approach 1:
A retainer is introduced as an intermediary component between the first and second rails. The retainer includes a body portion connecting the rails and a stopper protruding from the body portion to limit the gap between rails. This intermediary structure maintains reliable connection between rails while accommodating the necessary movement distance for heavy loads.
2Ease of operation
If the position of the second rail is not fixed to allow basket separation, then the basket can be easily removed, but it is not easy to mount or separate the basket to or from the second rail
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between the second rail and the basket is designed to be dynamically changeable. The second rail includes a rail hole that can selectively receive a bracket, transitioning between a fixed state (when bracket is inserted) and a movable state (when bracket is removed). This dynamic connection enables easy basket removal while maintaining stability during operation.
3Reliability
If the drawer rail is mounted inside the tub, then it can be securely fixed to the home appliance, but it is not easy to mount or separate the drawer rail to or from the tub
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system is segmented into separate components: the first rail, the rail bracket, and the tub. The rail bracket acts as an intermediate mounting component that connects the first rail to the tub. This segmentation allows the drawer rail to be easily mounted or separated from the tub by simply attaching or detaching the rail bracket, while still achieving secure fixation when assembled.
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 provides improved reliability by preventing rail separation, facilitating easy assembly and disassembly, and reducing noise, ensuring stable and secure operation even with heavy loads and long movement distances.
Implementation Method 1
The inner rail slides relative to the outer rails using ball bearings, which are provided in a retainer.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
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Figure 6
AI summary
A home appliance including a drawer rail (100) is disclosed. The home appliance includes a drawer rail (100) configured to withdraw an item accommodation unit provided in a storage chamber. The drawer rail (100) includes a first rail (200) mounted to the storage chamber, a second rail (300) coupled to the item accommodation unit, a third rail (400) disposed between the first rail (200) and the second rail (300), a first retainer (500a) disposed between the first rail (200) and the third rail (400) to allow relative sliding movement, a second retainer (500b) disposed between the second rail (300) and the third rail (400) to allow relative sliding movement, a first stopper (800a) for limiting an allowable relative sliding distance between the first rail (200) and the third rail (400), and a second stopper (800b) for limiting an allowable relative sliding distance between the second rail (300) and the third rail (400).