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Description:

STEP1

• There were two design goals for this system when it started. First, everything had to fit inside an existing antique Art Deco drawer cabinet from the 1930ʼs. This meant that a cabinet that is only 24” deep would have to hold the TV and the stereo/DVD components when closed. To save a few inches the TV was mounted directly to a piece of 3/4” plywood. The plywood is then attached to a pair of linear slides (drawer guides) to keep everything on track.

STEP2

• The Firgelli actuator is mounted on the back side of the cabinet and raises/lowers the TV

STEP3

• The cabinet itself was completely disassembled and a new, stronger internal frame was fabricated to withstand the stress of the TV raising and lowering. The drawer boxes were removed but the drawer fronts were kept.

STEP4

• The upper drawer is now just a false front with magnetic catches and is removable (along with the cabinet top) for access to the internal mechanism. The middle drawer front is attached to linear guides and is raised when the TV is raised so there is access to the DVD system when the TV is in use (more on this later in the details). The lower drawer is hinged for access as well.

STEP5

• A home theater/DVD system was found that is only 14” deep which leaves just enough room for the TV to lower behind it.

STEP6

• This brings us to the second design goal. The entire operation of the system which includes raising the TV, turning on the TV and turning on the cable converter box had to be accomplished with just one button on one remote.

STEP7

• Most cable/satellite converter boxes have a powered outlet that turns on the TV using the cable/satellite remote. Operation of the TV lift starts with pushing the power button on the remote to turn on the converter box.

STEP8

• Since the cabinet is closed an infrared repeater had to be used. This consists of the infrared receiver and the repeater.

STEP9

• The signal from the remote is passed through the repeater to the converter box. Power is then sent from the converter box to the TV to turn it on. It is this power that is used to also trigger a simple double-pole, double-throw relay. When power is applied to the relay it sends + and - 12 volt power to the linear actuator which raises the TV. When power is released from the relay (turning the converter box off) the polarity is reversed and the actuator lowers the TV.

STEP10

• Since the power from the converter box is 110 volt a small transformer had to be installed. This converts the 110 volt to 12 volt to trigger the relay and is mounted on the back of the cabinet. A larger 110 volt to 12 volt converter to power the actuator is mounted inside the cabinet below the DVD system.

STEP11

• Access to the DVD system is possible by having the middle drawer front raise up as the TV is raised. To make this possible two “Z” shaped brackets were fabricated (photos to the right). The front of the bracket is attached to the drawer front and the back is attached to a block of wood (contact point).

STEP12

• The series of photos on the right show that as the TV is raised a set of brackets under the TV lift pick up the contact points on the Z brackets lifting the drawer front.

STEP13

• The linear actuator is mounted on the back of the cabinet along with a gas strut (spring). The gas strut was used in addition to the linear actuator to allow for a faster actuator. The actuator has a load/ force capacity of 57 lbs. but the TV weighs 70 lbs. A stronger linear actuator could have been used but would have increased the time it takes to lift the TV. All of the mounting brackets and hardware were custom fabricated for this project from parts available at any home improvement store. T

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