Bin Riser for Stable Shipping Bin Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vertically stacked shipping bins often topple over during transit due to differences in height and design, such as upwardly extending lid clips on plastic bins, which prevent stable stacking with conventional wood pallets, leading to potential falls during loading and unloading.
Innovation Solution
A bin riser system comprising a first and second deck with a spacer assembly that allows for stable stacking by engaging upwardly extending stacking guides, enabling the bins to be positioned such that the spacer assembly partially deforms and supports the bins, preventing toppling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional wood pallets are used to stack shipping bins, then the stacking process is simple and cost-effective, but bins with upwardly extending lid clips cannot be properly stacked, leading to instability and toppling during transit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (a specialized pallet or stacking device with receptacles) that mediates between the bin's lid clips and the stacking structure. This intermediary has upwardly extending receptacles that engage with the lid clips, allowing stable stacking of bins with clips without requiring modification to the bins themselves.
Solution Approach 2:
The stacking structure is segmented into multiple functional components: a base platform, upwardly extending receptacles for engaging lid clips, and support surfaces. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function - the receptacles engage the clips while the base provides stable support, solving the incompatibility issue.
2Quantity of substance
If shipping bins are vertically stacked to maximize payload capacity, then space utilization improves, but the bins become unstable and prone to toppling over during transit
Solution Approach 1:
The specialized stacking device acts as an intermediary between stacked bins, providing a stable connection point through its receptacles that engage the lid clips. This intermediary structure prevents lateral movement and toppling while enabling vertical stacking to maximize payload capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The stacking device is designed in advance with pre-positioned receptacles and support surfaces that are configured to engage the bin lid clips and provide stable support before transit begins. This preliminary configuration ensures stability is built into the stacking structure itself, preventing toppling during transport.
3Adaptability or versatility
If bins of different types are stacked together to optimize cargo space, then space utilization improves, but bins with lid clips cannot be properly supported by conventional pallets
Solution Approach 1:
The stacking device is designed with universal compatibility - its receptacles are configured to engage with lid clips on various bin types while also providing support for bins without clips. This multi-functionality allows different types of bins to be stacked together using the same device, optimizing cargo space while maintaining ease of operation through a standardized stacking process.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a bin riser positionable between different types of shipping bins to enable these shipping bins to stably stack atop one another in a way that inhibits an adjacent stack of shipping bins from toppling over during transit.