SINK TAP STRUCTURE MOVING UP AND DOWN THROUGH COOPERATIVE OPERATION WITH SHELF MOVING UP AND DOWN

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sink tap structure moving up and down through a cooperative operation with a shelf moving up and down, including: shelf frames coupled to a screw bar in the form of male/female screws in such a manner as to move up and down along rails attached to the inner surface of a cupboard by means of the rotation of the screw bar, the screw bar being rotatably coupled to a servo motor disposed inside a cupboard frame; a first stage shelf located close to a user when pulls by means of sliding members slidingly coupled to casing members disposed on the lower portions of the shelf frames and returned to the original position thereof when pushes by means of the sliding members; and a tap coupled to an elevating bar in such a manner as to move up and down by means of the up and down movements of the elevating bar.

Claims

1. A sink tap structure moving up and down through a cooperative operation with a shelf moving up and down, the sink tap structure comprising: shelf frames 200 coupled to a screw bar 115 in the form of male/female screws in such a manner as to move up and down along rails 120 attached to the inner surface 105 of a cupboard by means of the rotation of the screw bar 115, the screw bar 115 being rotatably coupled to a servo motor 110 disposed inside a cupboard frame 100; a first stage shelf 230 slidingly moving forward and backward by means of sliding members 232 and 235 disposed on the lower portions of the shelf frames 200; and a tap 400 operating cooperatively with the shelf frames 200 moving up and down and coupled to an elevating bar 430 in such a manner as to move up and down by means of the up and down movements of the elevating bar 430, the elevating bar 430 being coupled to a gear 425 of a rotary shaft of a servo motor 420 located under a sink 300 in such a manner as to move up and down through the rotation of the gear 425.

2. The sink tap structure according to claim 1, wherein the height of the tap 400 located on the sink 300 is decreased by means of the up and down movements of the sink 300 coupled to a screw bar 330 in the form of male/female screws through the rotation of the screw bar 330, the screw bar 330 being rotatably coupled to a servo motor 320 located under the sink 300.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] FIG. 1 is a front photograph showing a sink tap structure moving up and down through a cooperative operation with a shelf moving up and down according to the present invention;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a photograph showing the parts for moving a tap up and down in the sink tap structure according to the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a photograph showing the parts for moving a sink up and down in the sink tap structure according to the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 4 is a photograph showing the forward and backward sliding of a three-stage shelf in the sink tap structure according to the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 5 is a photograph showing the use state of the sink tap structure according to the present invention by a user who sits in a wheelchair; and

[0017] FIG. 6 is a photograph showing a control box and an operating switch applied to the sink tap structure according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, an explanation on a sink tap structure moving up and down through a cooperative operation with a shelf moving up and down according to the present invention will be in detail given with reference to the attached drawings.

[0019] According to the present invention, a shelf for a cupboard located above a sink can be sufficiently close to the disabled or the aged sitting in a wheelchair in a safe manner, and further, a tap can move up and down through a cooperative operation with the up and down movements of the shelf. Of course, a first stage shelf can be pullingly closer to the user, and the upper stage shelf located above the first stage shelf can much more move down. Furthermore, the sink at which the tap is located moves down, thereby permitting the shelf to much more move down.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a front photograph showing a sink tap structure moving up and down through a cooperative operation with a shelf moving up and down according to the present invention. A servo motor 110 rotates by means of a switching operation, and thus, a screw bar 115, which is coupled to gears of the servo motor 110, rotates, so that shelf frames 200 coupled to the screw bar 115 in the form of male and female screws move down. Accordingly, if the lower portion of a first stage shelf 230 becomes close to a tap 400, the movement to the tap 400 is sensed by means of a sensor (not shown), and accordingly, a servo motor 420 located under a sink 300 rotates. As a result, an elevating bar 430 (See FIG. 2) coupled to a gear 425 of a rotary shaft of the servo motor 420 moves down, and thus, the tap 400 moves down. The tap 400 moves up and down through a hole formed on the sink 300, and the tap 400 is coupled to the elevating bar 430 on the lower portion thereof. The elevating bar 430 and the gear 425 of the rotary shaft of the servo motor 420 are engagedly coupled to each other, and the servo motor 420 is located under the sink 300.

[0021] According to the present invention, two rails 120 are attached up and down to the inner wall 105 of a cupboard, and the shelf frames 200 move up and down along the rails 120. In this case, the shelf frames 200 have rail grooves (not shown) fitted to the rails. Accordingly, even if the shelf has a heavy weight by the objects put thereon, such as dishes, washing tools, foods and the like, the shelf can move up and down safely through the coupling with the rails 120, without being shaken.

[0022] If the shelf frames 200 move up and down by winding wires up, like the conventional practice, the wires may cut by the weight of the shelf, but according to the present invention, even if a failure occurs, the shelf can stop at a given position by means of the use of the screw bar 115, thereby basically preventing the shelf from falling down.

[0023] If the shelf frames 200 and the tap 400 reach given positions, they stop, which is of course set by means of a controller. FIG. 6 is a photograph showing a control box and an operating switch applied to the sink tap structure according to the present invention. A control technology for controlling the elevating operation and the elevating height through a position sensor and a servo motor is typically adopted in various technological fields, and therefore, a detailed explanation on the control technology will be avoided for the brevity of the description.

[0024] The shelf is multi-staged up and down. However, actually, it is hard to sufficiently move the uppermost stage shelf down only through the downward movements of the first state shelf 230, the tap 400 and the sink 300, and according to the present invention, the sink 300 on which the tap 400 moving up and down is located can move up and down so as to allow the shelf frames 200 to much more move up and down. Accordingly, if the sink 300 moves down, the shelf frames 200 can move down.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 3, a drain pipe 340 and a servo motor 320 are located under the sink 300, and a screw bar 330 is rotatably coupled to the servo motor 320. The screw bar 320 is coupled to the sink 300 in the form of male/female screws, so that the sink 300 moves up and down through the rotation of the screw bar 320.

[0026] Further, a sink frame (not shown) is provided to locate the servo motor 320 and the screw bar 330 on the bottom thereof and to supportingly hold the sink 300, and through the rotation of the screw bar 320, the sink 300 comes into contact with the sink frame and thus moves up and down.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 4, the first stage shelf 230 is connected to the upper stage shelf located thereabove by means of the shelf frames 200, and sliding members 232 and 235 are located on the lower ends of the shelf frames 200 so as to allow the shelf to slidingly move forward and backward (wherein the position at which the user is located is the front side and the wall position to which the shelf is attached is the back side). If the first stage shelf 230 pulls toward the user, the hands of the user sitting in the wheelchair become closer to the objects put on the first stage shelf 230 that pulls forward and to the objects put on the upper stage shelf located above the first stage shelf 230 that more move down.

[0028] So as to allow the shelf to be closer to the user who sits in the wheelchair, as shown in FIG. 4, the first stage shelf 230 pulls forward, and in the state where the first stage shelf 230 pulls forward, if the upper stage shelf located above the first stage shelf 230 moves down, a second stage shelf 240 moves down to the position where the first stage shelf 230 is located, so that the hands of the user sitting in the wheelchair can be closer to the objects put on the second stage shelf 240 located above the first stage shelf 230.

[0029] FIG. 5 shows the use state of the sink tap structure according to the present invention wherein the shelf, the tap and the sink move down, thereby allowing the hands of the user sitting in the wheelchair to reach the objects put on the shelf.

[0030] As described above, the sink tap structure moving up and down through the cooperative operation with the shelf moving up and down according to the present invention is configured wherein the tap moves up and down through the cooperative operation with the shelf, the first stage shelf is pullingly closer to the user to allow the second stage shelf to move down to the original position of the first stage shelf, and the sink on which the tap is located moves up and down to allow the first stage shelf just thereabove, on which dishwashing liquids, washing tools, seasoning containers, foods, dishes and so on are put, to move down to a sufficient height, so that the shelf is close to the user sitting in the wheelchair, such as the disabled, the aged and so on through the switching manipulation, thereby allowing the objects on the shelf to be taken and used conveniently and safely by the user, and, unlike the conventional practice wherein the shelf frames move up and down by winding up the wires, but undesirably, the wires may be cut by the weight of the shelf to cause the shelf to fall down, the shelf frames move up and down by means of the screw bar according to the present invention to basically prevent the shelf from falling down, thereby providing the convenient and safe use thereof for the disabled or the aged sitting in the wheelchair.

[0031] While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.