Portable Ball Rack With Spring Lift for Vertical Storage Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sports equipment storage solutions, such as sports bags and racks, are inadequate for storing multiple large or bulky items like basketballs, volleyballs, and footballs in a compact, organized manner, especially when vertical storage and easy retrieval are required, and they often lack portability and facilitate training use.
Innovation Solution
A portable sports rack and delivery system with an elongate rack enclosure, a base member, a release component, and a training component, allowing vertical storage and easy access to sports equipment, featuring a delivery opening, stopper elements, and a compression spring mechanism for elevating balls, along with wheels and handles for mobility, and a training component for simulated obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional heavy cage-type sports racks are used for stationary storage of multiple balls, then storage capacity is improved, but portability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The rack is divided into multiple vertical compartments, each capable of holding multiple balls stacked vertically. This segmentation allows the rack to maintain large storage capacity while using lighter materials for each individual compartment, improving overall portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The rack transitions from horizontal ball storage to vertical ball stacking, utilizing the vertical dimension to maximize storage capacity. This dimensional change allows multiple balls to be stored in a compact vertical space, reducing the rack's footprint and improving portability while maintaining high storage capacity.
2Device complexity
If balls are stored horizontally in conventional sports bags or racks, then storage is simplified, but accessibility to lower balls deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Balls are stacked vertically one above another in each compartment instead of being stored horizontally. This vertical arrangement allows users to access any ball by simply reaching upward, dramatically improving accessibility while maintaining storage simplicity through the organized vertical stacking system.
3Reliability
If conventional sports bags with fastening mechanisms are used, then ball retention is improved, but ease of retrieval deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening mechanisms are completely removed from the design. Instead of using zippers, flaps, or straps to retain balls, the rack relies on the vertical stacking configuration and compartment structure to naturally hold balls in place, allowing users to simply lift a ball out without any fastening operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The vertical stacking system itself provides the retention function that fastening mechanisms would otherwise provide. The weight of balls naturally keeps them in position within the vertical stack, and the compartment structure prevents balls from rolling away, eliminating the need for additional fastening components while maintaining reliable ball retention.
4Stability of the object's composition
If conventional sports racks are designed for stationary storage, then storage stability is improved, but mobility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The rack is designed with dynamic characteristics, incorporating wheels or movable bases that allow it to be easily relocated across the sports court. The vertical compartment structure maintains storage stability when the rack is stationary, while the mobile base enables easy movement when needed, providing both stability and mobility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables convenient, organized storage and retrieval of multiple sports equipment in a vertical position, facilitating transport and training, with enhanced accessibility and usability on sports courts.
Implementation Method 1
a release component configured to elevate and release the uppermost ball from the storage space of the elongate rack enclosure for delivery through the delivery opening
Data Source
AI summary
A portable sports rack and delivery system including an elongate rack casing, and a method of use thereof are provided. The elongate rack casing defines a storage space for accommodating balls stacked one above the other. A delivery opening, disposed at a first end of the elongate rack casing, receives, accommodates, and delivers an uppermost ball from the storage space. A base member, attached to a second end of the elongate rack casing, supports the stacked balls within the storage space. A release mechanism disposed within the elongated rack casing elevates the uppermost ball from the storage space for delivery through the delivery opening. A training component, operably and adjustably coupled to a rear section of the elongate rack casing, extends above the first end of the elongate rack casing to assist in training a sportsperson.