Assemblable Container with Modular Nesting Legs
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current containers for transporting perishable goods like fruit and vegetables lack ventilation and are either costly or logistically inefficient due to their design and material composition.
Innovation Solution
An assemblable container composed of three reusable or recyclable components: a plastic pallet-like platform, a wooden assembly frame, and a corrugated cardboard side cover, designed for easy assembly and stacking, providing high ventilation and resistance while being cost-effective.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a cardboard box with tubular pillars on a wooden pallet is used, then the container structure is simple and成本低, but ventilation is poor and structural resistance is low
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into separate modular components: a base platform, vertical stiles, and side panels. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the base platform provides structural support while the side panels with integrated ventilation gratings provide airflow, resolving the contradiction between simple construction and poor ventilation.
Solution Approach 2:
The side panels incorporate ventilation gratings (rejas de ventilación) that create porous structures allowing air flow through the container walls. This directly addresses the ventilation deficiency of traditional solid cardboard boxes while maintaining the simplicity of the overall container structure.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a folding container made completely out of plastic is used, then ventilation and structural resistance are improved, but cost increases and logistical efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The container uses a composite construction combining wood (stiles and cross beams), metal (ventilation gratings and fasteners), and possibly plastic (base platform). This composite approach achieves the ventilation and structural resistance of all-plastic containers while using cheaper, more logistically efficient materials like wood and metal, reducing both cost and return logistics requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The container features an adjustable and disassemblable structure where side panels can be attached or removed from the base platform. This dynamic configuration allows the container to be adapted to different transport needs and facilitates easy disassembly for storage or reuse of components, improving logistical efficiency compared to rigid all-plastic folding containers.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a robust platform with stacked design is used, then reusability and storage efficiency are improved, but assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The base platform is designed as a separate modular component with integrated stacking features (nested hollow legs). This segmentation allows the platform to function independently as a reusable base or to be stacked with identical platforms, providing versatility without requiring complex inter-component connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The support legs of the base platform are hollow and nested, with one leg inserted inside another. This nesting design provides structural reinforcement while enabling compact stacking of multiple platforms when not in use, improving storage efficiency without adding significant assembly complexity.
4Strength
If tightening straps and peripheral reinforcement are added, then structural stability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Tightening straps (cintas de apriete) are used as flexible elements to secure the side panels to the base platform and stiles. These thin film-like straps provide significant structural reinforcement and stability while being simple to manufacture and attach, minimizing the increase in manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The ventilation gratings are merged with the side panels as an integrated component rather than separate attachments. This combining of structural and ventilative functions into a single element improves structural stability while simplifying the manufacturing process by reducing the number of separate parts and assembly steps.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C
Figure 2
AI summary
Assemblable container, comprising a side cover (3), a lower platform (1) with corner support legs (4) and middle support legs (5,6), and an assembly frame (2) with stiles (11) that can be fitted and engaged into the corner support legs (4), two intermediate cross beams (12) situated on two facing sides of the container and two upper cross beams (13) situated facing and parallel to one another on the remaining two sides of the container, all of which are mounted by their ends between facing housings (18) in consecutive stiles (11), wherein the housings (18) of the upper cross beams (13) are cut from the top end section of said stiles (11). The support legs (4, 5, 6) are hollow and nest into one another, enabling the platforms to be stacked, and are closed on their bottom base and open on their top base, and have structures on said bottom base for support on top of the stiles (11) and upper cross beams (13), so that two or more containers can be stacked.