Molded plastic structures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tables with large tabletops and folding legs are heavy, expensive, and difficult to move or store due to their material weight, and often require additional reinforcing members and fasteners that increase manufacturing costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A tabletop constructed from molded plastic with a unitary, one-piece design featuring a lip with a compression edge and integrated supports, joints, and attachment portions that provide structural integrity and facilitate frame attachment, reducing weight and manufacturing complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional tables use wood, particleboard, or metal tabletops, then the tables have high strength and durability, but the tables become heavy and difficult to move
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the tabletop, reinforcing members, and attachment portions into a single integrated molded plastic component. This merging eliminates the need for separate reinforcing members and fasteners, achieving both weight reduction and structural integrity by creating a unified lightweight structure that maintains strength through integrated design rather than additive reinforcement.
2Strength
If additional reinforcing members and fasteners are added to plastic tabletops, then the tabletop strength increases, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates reinforcing members and attachment portions directly into the molded plastic tabletop as a single unitary structure. This merging eliminates the need for separate components and assembly steps, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining the structural strength provided by the integrated reinforcement design.
Solution Approach 2:
The molded plastic tabletop serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the structural base, includes integrated reinforcing members for strength, and incorporates attachment portions for connecting table legs. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components, simplifying manufacturing while achieving both strength and ease of assembly.
3Reliability
If conventional tables use traditional materials and construction methods, then the tables have high durability, but the manufacturing cost and shipping cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional elements (tabletop surface, reinforcing ribs, and attachment mechanisms) into a single molded plastic component. This integration reduces the number of parts that need to be manufactured, stored, and assembled, thereby lowering manufacturing costs and shipping expenses while maintaining durability through the integrated structural design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter from traditional heavy materials (wood, metal) to molded plastic, which offers a favorable strength-to-weight ratio. This parameter change enables cost-effective manufacturing through plastic molding processes and reduces shipping costs due to the lighter weight, while the integrated design ensures durability is maintained.
4Weight of moving object
If the tabletop is made from lightweight materials like plastic, then the table becomes easier to move, but the tabletop requires additional reinforcing members to maintain strength
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the reinforcing members with the tabletop structure itself, creating a unified molded plastic component where the reinforcement is integral to the tabletop design. This eliminates the need for separate reinforcing members while maintaining strength, achieving both lightweight construction and structural integrity through the integrated design.
Data Source
AI summary
A structure, such as a tabletop, may be constructed from plastic, such as blow-molded. The tabletop may include an upper surface, a lower surface, and a hollow interior portion disposed between the upper surface and the lower surface. A lip may extend downwardly relative to the lower surface of the tabletop, and the lip including an outer surface and an inner surface. A plurality of supports may be disposed in the inner surface of the lip, and a plurality of joints may be disposed in the inner surface of the lip. A joint may be disposed between adjacent supports. A distal portion of the lip may include a compression edge. A lower portion of the supports may contact the compression edge, and/or a lower portion of the joints may contact the compression edge.