Bio-based Funeral Tray with Segmented Rigid Structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solution to provide decorum during final viewings or burials without using traditional caskets, which also allows for safe carrying and exposure of the deceased with adequate rigidity and minimal weight.
Innovation Solution
A funeral tray made of bio-based materials, such as press-moulded fiberboard, designed with an elongated bottom and upwardly projecting walls, offering a unibody structure for rigidity and integrality, with a cover that can be selectively engaged or disengaged to expose or cover the corpse, and featuring handles for carrying and grooves for air circulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a traditional casket is used to provide decorum during final viewings or burials, then the level of decorum and respect is improved, but the cost and environmental impact increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the disposable principle by designing a funeral tray made from bio-based materials that can be used once and then disposed of or cremated with the deceased. This eliminates the need for expensive traditional caskets while maintaining the necessary decorum for final viewings and burials. The tray is intentionally designed as a single-use alternative that reduces both cost and environmental impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter from traditional wooden or metal casket materials to bio-based materials such as molded fiberboard, cardboard, or other biodegradable substances. This material substitution maintains the structural integrity needed for carrying and displaying the deceased while significantly reducing cost and environmental harm.
2Weight of moving object
If a lightweight funeral tray is used to reduce carrying burden, then the ease of transport is improved, but the rigidity and structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material construction by using molded fiberboard or layered bio-based materials that combine lightness with structural rigidity. These composite structures provide the necessary strength to support and transport the deceased while maintaining a lightweight profile that ease, of carrying.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray incorporates curved and rounded structural elements in its design, which provide structural strength and rigidity without requiring additional material weight. The curved geometry of the tray body and supporting ribs distributes loads efficiently, maintaining rigidity while keeping the overall weight low for easy transport.
3Ease of manufacture
If a simple funeral tray design is used to reduce cost, then the manufacturing simplicity is improved, but the ability to provide adequate decorum and protection may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The funeral tray is segmented into functional components including a base tray, side walls, and an optional cover. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall manufacturing simplicity. The modular design provides adequate decorum through proper configuration without requiring complex construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray design incorporates multiple functions within a simple structure: it serves as a carrying platform, a display surface for final viewings, and a container that can be cremated with the deceased. The optional cover provides both decorative function and protection when needed. This multi-functionality achieves adequate decorum without requiring complex manufacturing.
Data Source
AI summary
The funeral tray can have an elongated bottom and an upwardly projecting wall peripheral to the bottom and leading to a raised rim, defining a concave shape sized and configured to receive the body of a deceased person, the upwardly projecting wall and the bottom being integral to one another and made of bio-based material.