Autonomous Wall-Mounted Guide System for Furniture Door Storage

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing furniture systems with swing or sliding doors often protrude into the room or do not allow full opening, limiting the flexibility in closing and opening the front of furniture, and require special modifications to the furniture body for door storage solutions.

Innovation Solution

A furnishing arrangement where at least one furnishing item is placed directly against the wall or fastened to it, using an autonomous, self-supporting guide system that allows for independent assembly of the door arrangement and furniture, enabling full coverage of standardized furniture bodies and electrical devices without needing special training or modifications to the furniture body, and allowing for two different assembly methods.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If doors are integrated into furniture bodies with receiving shafts, then door storage is improved, but furniture body design complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedoor storageVSAvoidfurniture body design
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The guide system is extracted from the furniture body and implemented as a standalone structure mounted on the wall. The receiving shaft is positioned laterally adjacent to the furniture rather than being integrated into it, allowing the furniture body to maintain its simple standardized design while still providing door storage functionality through the separate guide system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The door closing system is segmented into independent components: the furniture body remains simple and standardized, while the guide system with receiving shaft is implemented as a separate wall-mounted structure. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the furniture for storage capacity and the guide system for door storage functionality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Ease of manufacture

If standardized furniture bodies are used, then manufacturing ease is improved, but adaptability to different door configurations decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefurniture body productionVSAvoiddoor configuration flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The guide system is designed as a universal solution that can accommodate various door types and configurations. The lateral receiving shaft and guide mechanism can handle different door widths, heights, and styles while working with standardized furniture bodies, making the system adaptable to multiple door configurations without requiring custom furniture designs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The guide system acts as an intermediary between the standardized furniture body and the door. It provides the necessary adaptation interface that allows standardized furniture to work with various door configurations, translating between the fixed furniture dimensions and the variable door requirements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Ease of operation

If doors are hinged or sliding, then closing function is provided, but space occupation in the room increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveclosing functionVSAvoidroom space occupation
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of moving doors horizontally (sliding) or rotating them within the room footprint (hinged), the invention utilizes the lateral dimension adjacent to the furniture body. The receiving shaft is positioned in a lateral slot perpendicular to the front of the cabinet, allowing doors to be stored in a direction that does not occupy additional room space.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Solution Approach 2:

The door is nested within the lateral receiving shaft when in the closed or stored position. This nesting arrangement allows the door to be contained within the vertical profile of the furniture body rather than extending into the room space, effectively hiding the door when not in use.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Data Source

PatentEP4134507B1Guide system for a door assembly, and door assembly and device assembly
Publication Date: 2024.12.04 JULIUS BLUM GMBH
  • EP4134507B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4134507B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4134507B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Guide system for a door arrangement with a door that can be pivotally attached to the guide system, with a closed position in which at least one piece of furniture can be covered from the front, and with a park position in which the door can be moved, preferably slid, by means of the guide system in a direction transverse to the front of the at least one piece of furniture - preferably into a lateral receiving shaft - wherein the guide system for the door is mounted or designed on a support structure separate from the piece of furniture to be covered, which has at least one contact surface for standing on the floor of a room and/or at least one mounting device for mounting on the wall of a room.