Volute Spiral Spring for Household Appliance Cover Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing household appliances with cover bodies, such as rice cookers and electric pressure cookers, experience unbalancing and part wear due to rapid bounce speeds during cover opening, primarily attributed to excessive elastic force from torsion springs, leading to potential spills and safety concerns, and existing buffering solutions are complex and costly.
Innovation Solution
The use of a volute spiral spring with a ring-like or hook-like structure, mounted on a pivot arm and mounting base, provides a buffering effect by tightening as the cover body rotates, reducing vibration and eliminating the need for additional buffering apparatuses, allowing for stable cover opening without excessive force.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If torsion springs are used to provide elastic force for cover opening, then the cover body can be bounced off, but the bounce-off speed becomes excessively rapid causing unbalancing and spilling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the elastic force parameter by replacing the torsion spring with a volute spring. The volute spring provides a different force-displacement characteristic where the elastic force gradually decreases during extension, unlike the torsion spring whose force depends on rotation angle. This parameter change in the spring mechanism controls the cover opening speed to be moderate rather than excessively rapid, preventing unbalancing and spilling while still enabling cover opening.
2Speed
If buffering devices are added to decelerate the cover body, then the bounce speed can be controlled, but the design becomes complicated and extra costs are added
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for separate buffering devices by incorporating the speed control function directly into the spring mechanism. Instead of adding extra buffering components to a torsion spring system, the invention uses the inherent characteristics of the volute spring to provide both the opening force and the speed control, simplifying the overall structure and reducing costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The volute spring serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the elastic force to open the cover body and inherently controls the opening speed through its force-displacement characteristics. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate buffering devices, as the same spring component that opens the cover also regulates its speed, thereby reducing device complexity.
3Force
If torsion springs with large elastic force are used, then the cover body can be opened, but the contact surface wears due to excessive friction force
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the force parameter profile by replacing the torsion spring with a volute spring. The volute spring's elastic force gradually decreases as it extends, whereas a torsion spring maintains relatively high force throughout its rotation range. This parameter change in the force characteristic reduces the friction force at the contact surface during cover opening, thereby reducing wear and improving reliability without compromising the ability to open the cover.
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 volute spiral spring design stabilizes the cover opening process, preventing machine body vibration and reducing part wear, while simplifying the structure and eliminating the need for extra buffering components, enhancing safety and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a volute spiral spring connected to the mounting base and the pivot arm separately... The buffering effect is achieved by using the characteristic that the volute spiral spring tightens as the shaft rotates
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The present invention provides a household appliance (1) having a container (2). The household appliance has a cover body (3) that closes the container; a mounting base (4) disposed on the container, where the mounting base is provided thereon with a shaft (5); and a pivot arm (6) disposed on the cover body, where the pivot arm is in rotational connection with the mounting base through the shaft, and further includes: a volute spiral spring (7) connected to the mounting base and the pivot arm separately. The present utility model resolves the prior-art problems of unbalancing of a machine body caused by a rapid bounce speed during opening of a cover body of a household appliance having a container, and wearing of parts thereof during use. On the one hand, the cover body can be opened stably, and therefore the machine body does not vibrate. On the other hand, the design has a simple structure and reduces use of parts such as a buffering apparatus.