Bottle Chime Transfer Tool for Fast Refrigerator Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Transferring bottles out of a box is a laborious and time-consuming process, often requiring repetitive strain and wasting energy due to the need to keep the refrigerator door open, especially in low-level installations like bars and restaurants where staff must bend or kneel to handle multiple bottles.
Innovation Solution
A handle-adjacent bottle-engagement mechanism with slots that fit around the bottle's chime, allowing four bottles to be lifted and transferred at once, with the bottles hanging by their necks, enabling quick and organized placement in a refrigerator without threading each bottle individually.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If bottles are transferred one at a time manually, then the transfer process is simple and requires minimal equipment, but the process is laborious, time-consuming, and causes repetitive strain injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The bottle transfer apparatus divides the gripping function into multiple fingers (typically three or four) that can independently engage with individual bottles. Each finger acts as a separate element that can be positioned to match the spacing of bottles in the package, allowing simultaneous engagement with multiple bottles while maintaining a manageable structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus combines multiple bottle-gripping functions into a single integrated tool. The fingers, support surface, and handle are merged into one cohesive apparatus that can lift and transfer multiple bottles simultaneously, eliminating the need for repeated manual handling operations.
2Ease of operation
If the refrigerator door is kept open during bottle transfer, then staff can access the refrigerator to place bottles, but energy is wasted due to prolonged door opening
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus enables staff to preliminarily gather multiple bottles at the box location before opening the refrigerator door. By pre-assembling a load of four bottles on the apparatus, staff can minimize the duration of door opening, performing the transfer action quickly once access is obtained.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus allows staff to rush through the transfer operation by enabling rapid pickup and placement of multiple bottles in a single motion. The ergonomic handle and pre-positioned fingers allow for quick loading and unloading actions, minimizing the time the refrigerator door remains open.
3Ease of operation
If staff bend or kneel to transfer bottles to floor-level refrigerators, then bottles can be placed in the refrigerator, but repetitive strain injuries occur
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus extends the staff's reaching capability into a new spatial dimension. The extended reach allows staff to place bottles on lower shelves without bending or kneeling, effectively changing the vertical dimension of accessible storage space and eliminating the need for awkward body positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus acts as an intermediary tool that mediates between the staff and the bottles. By providing mechanical support and extended reach, it eliminates the direct physical strain that would otherwise be imposed on the staff's body during the transfer operation.
4Ease of operation
If a handle is positioned over the top of bottle heads, then bottles can be carried in one hand, but bottles cannot be delivered into the furthest corner of the refrigerator
Solution Approach 1:
The handle is repositioned from a vertical orientation over the bottle heads to a horizontal or angled configuration adjacent to the bottle heads. This dimensional change in handle positioning extends the operational reach forward, allowing staff to deliver bottles into the furthest corners of the refrigerator while maintaining one-handed operation.
5Reliability
If bottles are threaded into slots one by one, then bottles can be secured in the apparatus, but the process is time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus combines multiple bottle-securing functions into a single scooping motion. The fingers and support surface work together as an integrated gripping mechanism that secures multiple bottles simultaneously, eliminating the need for repeated threading operations for each individual bottle.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus is designed with pre-positioned fingers and support surfaces that are already configured to match the spacing and orientation of bottles in the package. This preliminary configuration allows bottles to be picked up and secured in a single scooping motion without requiring individual adjustment or threading of each bottle.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a device for transferring a plurality of bottles provided with chimes from a box to a storage facility. The device has a handle adjacent to bottle engagement fingers forming slots or gaps between the fingers to scoop the plurality of bottles and transfer the bottles into a designated storage facility such as a refrigerator. The bottle engagement fingers slidingly engage the bottles under their chimes, the user lifts the scooped bottles using the handle, transferring and slidingly unloading the bottles into the storage facility.