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How the Heck Does This Work? Julien Vidame's Convention-Defying Extendable Table

By Rain Noe - November 13, 2012

in Furniture Design

If this works as advertised, it will be quite the design coup. France-based designer Julien Vidame has posted a link for his Extendable Table, which amazingly doubles its length (and halves its thickness) by an unspecified action that rotates each individual slat comprising the tabletop surface. While Vidame claims a prototype is available, no video exists; all we have to go on is the tiny GIF file below.

Anyone want to venture a guess on how this works? (My first thought was magnets, but that probably wouldn't jive with metal tableware.)

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Steven Sobel

8 years ago

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Simple works on the same concept of a roll desk more than likely using linen tape to control individual slats as the move.

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Paul Lewis

8 years ago

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I call bullshit. This flaky gif has been making the rounds for years.

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Andrew

12 years ago

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1.) Isn't it blog SOP to post a link?
2.) Who says he knows how it works? Obviously all the images of the table are renderings.
3.) Has anyone asked him?
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Ken J

12 years ago

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Also, instead of an elastic, I think he may have hardware interlocking each individual slat to another. This hardware would make it
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Ken J

12 years ago

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A cam and toggle mechanism is required to get the slats to flip up when the table is going from long to short. Looks like he's incorporated a pull procedure before collapsing the table which activates the cam/toggle mechanism.

me likey
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Anthony

12 years ago

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Let's get some mechanical engineers on this shit.
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product tank

12 years ago

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I had a quick look at it and I don't think it's that hard to do, but I would suggest the designer has not fully resolved the design or the gif isn't quite true. As the table is slid out in close up, you see the sliders underneath come apart (there's light between them).
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powers

12 years ago

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Although, going on the animated gif, the designer has not figured out the details of the mechanics just yet.
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powers

12 years ago

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I imagine that could be accomplished with a pretty simple mechanical hinge in the bottom right corner of each slat.
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Zed

12 years ago

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Definitely some sort of spring-loaded mechanism.
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Paul Munoz

12 years ago

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Hmm... stretching phones next?
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Julia Garner

12 years ago

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I try to guess that it was an accordion mechanics under the wooden plank.

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Anirudh

12 years ago

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My first guess would be elastic bands that run along the length of the table holding the slats together.
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drcable

12 years ago

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If you look closely at the last frames of the gif, there's a metal base under it. You could tie into that with flexibe plastic(or even stainless wire), and have them remain stuck down. To lock them in place, use a tensioner on all the wires/strips to pull them into a solid surface.
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benjymous

12 years ago

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Elastic could work, if each of the sections is drilled diagonally, then that would let it transform as shown, as long as you got the tension right.
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