Touch Button Spring Housing for Precise Appliance Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
During the assembly of household appliances with touch buttons, connection errors can cause the spring to deform, leading to misalignment and incorrect detection, resulting in precision changes and improper control of the appliance.
Innovation Solution
A housing system comprising a cover and guide with recesses, protrusions, claws, channels, and pins is used to securely position the spring, preventing deformation and ensuring accurate alignment with the designated area on the control panel, thereby enhancing assembly precision and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the spring is positioned close to the edge of the circuit board to simplify assembly, then assembly ease is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to misalignment and deformation
Solution Approach 1:
A guide structure is introduced as an intermediary component between the spring and the circuit board. The guide includes positioning features such as recesses, protrusions, claws, channels, and pins that precisely locate the spring during assembly, eliminating misalignment issues while maintaining the simplified edge positioning approach
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure is pre-formed with specific geometric features (recesses, protrusions, claws, channels, pins) that establish the correct spring position before assembly occurs. This preliminary positioning action prevents deformation and ensures accurate alignment during the subsequent assembly process
2Device complexity
If the spring is fixed directly to the circuit board without additional positioning structures, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to deformation from connection errors
Solution Approach 1:
The guide acts as a mediator between the spring and circuit board, providing a simple yet effective positioning mechanism that prevents deformation. The guide's geometric features (recesses, protrusions, claws, channels, pins) ensure reliable spring positioning without requiring complex assembly procedures or additional active components
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning function is segmented into distinct geometric features of the guide structure (recesses for lateral positioning, protrusions for vertical positioning, claws for securing, channels for alignment, pins for fixation). This segmentation allows each feature to perform a specific positioning task, ensuring reliability while maintaining structural simplicity
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 proposed solution effectively prevents connection errors and maintains the spring's initial position, ensuring reliable capacitive detection and extending the lifespan of the touch buttons by preventing damage during assembly and transportation.
Implementation Method 1
detection by means of capacitive change is one of these methods. Detection of the touch movement by the circuit boards is realized by means of springs
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a household appliance (1) comprising a control panel (2) having an area (A) designated thereon which provides the user to select the desired program parameters by touching, a board holder (3) situated behind the control panel (2), a circuit board (4) situated in the board holder (3), at least one touch button (7) having at least one spring (5) one end of which is fixed to the circuit board (4) and which transmits to the circuit board (4) the capacitive difference that is formed when the designated area (A) is touched and having a plate (6) which is fixed to the free end of the spring (5) so as to contact the control panel (2), and a cover (8) mounted onto the circuit holder (3) and providing the circuit board (4) to be fixed in the board holder (3). The household appliance further comprises a first element (9) that is situated on the cover (8) and that extends outwards from the cover (8) in parallel to the spring (5), and a guide (11) that provides the cover (8) to be fixed on the board holder (3) by being mounted onto the cover (8) and that has a second element (10) that forms a housing (Y) surrounding the spring (5) by joining with the first element (9) when mounted onto the cover (8).