Cooking appliance having a load-bearing door
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cooking appliances, such as ranges and wall ovens, pose challenges for elderly or disabled users due to the difficulty of maneuvering heavy and awkward items, which can be exacerbated by the need to bend or twist when placing or removing items from these appliances.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a vertically translating door mechanism in cooking appliances, enabled by a linear actuator, allows the door to pivot between horizontal and vertical positions, facilitating the movement of objects between different heights, thereby reducing the need for users to lift or bend when placing or removing items.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional hinged door is used, then the appliance structure is simple, but users must bend or twist to access heavy items
Solution Approach 1:
The door is transformed from a static hinged structure to a dynamic system that can pivot between horizontal and vertical positions, and translate vertically along a guide rail. This dynamic capability allows the door to adapt its position to reduce user bending and twisting while accessing items.
Solution Approach 2:
A linear actuator serves as an intermediary mechanism between the user's control input and the door's heavy lifting motion. The actuator translates electrical signals into mechanical linear motion, enabling precise vertical positioning of the heavy door without requiring direct manual effort from the user.
2Strength
If the door is made heavy-duty to support loads, then load-bearing capacity increases, but the door becomes harder to maneuver
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a linear actuator that generates counteracting force to balance the heavy door's weight and the additional load on the door. This allows the door to support heavy items while the actuator compensates for the weight, making the door easy to maneuver despite its strength and load-bearing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The traditional mechanical hinge system that relies on user strength is replaced with an electromechanical linear actuator system. This substitution enables the heavy-duty door to be maneuvered electronically with minimal user input, resolving the contradiction between strength and ease of operation.
3Ease of operation
If the door pivots to horizontal position, then item transfer is facilitated, but the door occupies more space
Solution Approach 1:
The door transitions from a static vertical position to a dynamic horizontal position only when needed for item transfer. The ability to pivot and translate on demand allows the door to occupy minimal space during normal operation while facilitating easy item transfer when activated, resolving the space occupation contradiction.
Data Source
AI summary
Cooking appliances described herein may include an oven and a cooktop disposed above the oven. The oven may have an oven cavity and an oven door configured to open and close the oven cavity by pivoting about a horizontal axis. A linear actuator may be coupled to the oven door and configured to reposition the oven door in a vertical direction. Using this apparatus, a user may be assisted by the vertically-repositionable oven door when lifting and lowering objects.