Step with Legs | Useful Prototypes
The step with legs is a piece of furniture aimed at optimizing kitchen spaces. It is no secret that space in home environments is always limited, and in kitchens, overhead cabinets are common, with their upper partitions serving as obstacles for shorter individuals.
Taking IKEA's typical kitchen furniture as a reference, the challenge for our design team and mechanical engineering team was to design and manufacture a product consisting of a ladder system capable of folding and unfolding ergonomically in a single step.
In addition, the ladder system had to comply with the current CE regulations for ladders, which impose strict limitations on support surface and sturdiness. Combining these limitations with the space of a typical kitchen drawer and creating a functional product capable of folding to these dimensions presented a true mechanical engineering challenge. Currently, the innovative kitchen ladder system is an invention that holds a patent in the United States.
Features of the Step with Legs Prototype
The step with legs is a 3-step ladder that supports the weight and movements of individuals up to 150 kg. The height of kitchen cabinet drawers rarely exceeds 15 cm, so the main challenge was to design a ladder that was robust enough to fold into a module of these dimensions.
Using design software with mechanism simulation capabilities, we were able to optimize the mechanical reinforcement system at strategic points, while also selecting the specific materials and thicknesses to comply with the requirements outlined in the furniture and ladder regulations.
The system appears to be a standard drawer and can be installed using commercial drawer slides, while the ladder module is entirely independent, allowing for its portability and sale as a complementary item to kitchen furniture.
