A shelf
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shelves in service vehicles are heavy and expensive due to their thick metal construction, which is necessary to support weight but not optimized for reduced weight while maintaining durability.
Innovation Solution
A shelf design featuring a side wall with a partly closed channel structure, allowing for thinner sheet metal usage, reinforced by a second wall portion connected to the first wall portion, which enhances stability and prevents deformation under heavy loads, and can be made from high-strength steel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If thick metal is used to make shelves, then the shelf can carry heavy weight, but the shelf becomes heavy and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The side wall is formed with a curved channel structure that overlaps and connects to itself, creating a geometric reinforcement pattern. This curvature and overlapping geometry distributes stress more effectively through the material, allowing thinner sheet metal to achieve the same load-bearing capacity as thicker flat metal, thereby reducing shelf weight while maintaining strength
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a flat two-dimensional side wall to a three-dimensional channel structure by overlapping the side wall with itself and creating a closed or partly closed channel. This adds a third dimension to the structure, providing geometric reinforcement that increases strength without proportionally increasing material usage or weight
2Strength
If thick metal is used to make shelves, then the shelf can support heavy loads, but the material cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The curved channel geometry in the side wall creates structural reinforcement through shape alone, allowing the use of less material (thinner sheet metal) to achieve the required strength. This reduces the quantity of metal needed while maintaining load-bearing capability
Solution Approach 2:
By creating a three-dimensional channel structure from the side wall material, the invention maximizes the structural efficiency of the metal used. The overlapping and closing of the channel creates a more efficient use of material compared to flat sheet metal, reducing total material quantity required
Data Source
AI summary
The invention discloses a shelf system in a service vehicle (1) comprising a base (11) for arranging articles thereon and a first side wall (13a), wherein said first side wall (13a) comprises a first wall portion (21) connected to the base (11) and a second wall portion (22), wherein said first wall portion (21) continues into said second wall portion (22) and said second wall portion (22) overlaps at least partly said first wall portion (21) in such a way that said first and second wall portions (21, 22) form a channel (23) along the longitudinal direction of the first side wall, and said second wall portion (22) is at least in some locations connected to said first wall portion (21) along the longitudinal direction of the first side wall (21) so that said channel (23) is at least partly a closed channel (23) in the longitudinal direction of the first side wall (21).