Electric drawer with gesture sensing
Patent No. US10413064 (titled "Electric drawer with gesture sensing") on Sep 26, 2018. The application was issued on Sep 17, 2019.
What is this patent about?
’064 is related to the field of automated furniture and smart home storage solutions. Specifically, it addresses the limitations of traditional manual drawers, which require physical contact to operate and are prone to mechanical wear or damage from improper force. The background context involves the integration of electronic controls into cabinetry to improve accessibility and user convenience.
The underlying idea behind ’064 is the replacement of physical handles with a non-contact gesture interface coupled to a motorized drive and a fail-safe locking mechanism. By utilizing a sensor to trigger a motor-driven rack-and-pinion system, the invention allows for hands-free operation while ensuring the drawer remains securely positioned at its travel limits through an electronically controlled physical stop.
The claims of ’064 focus on a specific mechanical assembly comprising a cabinet, a motorized driving device, and a gesture sensor, characterized by a dual-purpose stopper system. This stopper interacts with positioning recesses located at both ends of the drawer's slide rails to lock the drawer in either a fully open or fully closed state, preventing unintended movement during operation.
In practice, the system employs a controller that coordinates the release of the stopper with the activation of the motor. When a gesture is detected, the stopper is de-energized to retract from a recess, allowing the rack and gear assembly to translate the drawer along its lateral rails. A position sensor monitors the travel, and once the drawer reaches its destination, the stopper re-engages to fix the drawer in place.
This design differentiates itself from prior art by incorporating a fail-safe manual override linked to the power state of the stopper. Because the stopper is designed to disengage from the positioning recesses whenever it is in a de-energized condition, the drawer remains fully functional as a standard manual drawer during power outages, ensuring that the automation does not compromise basic utility.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical Landscape
In the late 2010s when ’064 was filed, residential and commercial storage systems were typically implemented using manual mechanical slides that required physical force to actuate. At a time when furniture automation was often limited to basic motorized lifts or push-to-open mechanisms, systems commonly relied on physical contact or proximity switches rather than non-contact interface modules for motion control. Hardware constraints related to the integration of sensing electronics into cabinetry made the transition from manual operation to automated, touchless actuation non-trivial, particularly regarding the synchronization of external sensors with internal drive assemblies.
Prosecution Position
The disclosed invention achieves a technical advancement in furniture automation through the integration of a non-contact gesture sensing interface with a rack-and-pinion drive architecture. By mounting a gesture sensor externally on the cabinet body and linking it to a controller-governed motor, the system enables hands-free operation that overcomes the mechanical wear and user inconvenience associated with manual push-pull drawers. The architectural shift involves the use of a specific positioning assembly, where a stopper engages recesses in the slide rails to provide precise travel limits, combined with a position sensor on the motor to ensure controlled movement of the drawer body relative to the cabinet opening.
Claims
The patent contains a total of 4 claims, with claim 1 serving as the sole independent claim. This independent claim focuses on the structural assembly of an electric drawer system featuring a gesture sensor, a controller, and a specific stopper mechanism designed to engage positioning recesses on the drawer rails while allowing for manual operation during power failures. The dependent claims serve to further define the mechanical components of the driving device, such as the motor and rack assembly, and specify the integration of position sensors and the physical placement of the gesture sensor on the cabinet body.
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US10413064
- Application Number
- US16141988A
- Filing Date
- Sep 26, 2018
- Publication Date
- Sep 17, 2019
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO , Google Patents