Bottle Crate With Size-Selective Openings for Bottle Returns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumers often return incorrect bottle sizes to beverage manufacturers, leading to unusable bottles and unnecessary disposal or transfer costs, due to existing crates accommodating both larger and smaller bottles, causing stacking issues and inefficiencies in return deposit systems.
Innovation Solution
A crate design with compartment walls and a crate frame forming bottle receptacles that exclude bottles with a nominal diameter smaller than the specified diameter, using centrally arranged circular openings to secure bottles of a predetermined size, and incorporating projections to stabilize and clamp the bottles in place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the crate base uses a continuous base or dense network of base struts to hold bottles, then the bottles are securely held in place, but smaller bottles can also be held which causes stacking issues and inefficiencies in return deposit systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating bottle holders with centrally arranged circular openings of specific diameters that selectively accommodate only certain bottle sizes. Each opening is designed with a diameter that matches the maximum outer diameter of the intended bottle format, allowing the crate to hold only the correct bottle size while rejecting smaller bottles, thus resolving the contradiction between secure holding and system efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of the bottle holder structure by transitioning from a continuous base or dense network of base struts to discrete bottle holders with circular openings. This parameter change allows selective bottle acceptance based on diameter, ensuring that only bottles of the predetermined size are held securely while smaller bottles pass through, thereby improving return deposit system efficiency without compromising holding reliability for the correct bottle format
2Adaptability or versatility
If the crate is designed to accommodate various bottle sizes, then versatility is improved, but stacking problems and waste occur due to incorrect bottles being accepted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by designing each bottle holder with a circular opening of a specific diameter that corresponds to the maximum outer diameter of the intended bottle format. This localized dimensional specification ensures that only bottles of the correct size are accommodated, preventing smaller bottles from being accepted and thus eliminating bottle waste while maintaining versatility for the specific bottle format
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of bottle holder design from generic support structures to precision-engineered circular openings with diameters matched to specific bottle formats. This parameter optimization allows the crate to be versatile for its intended bottle size while automatically rejecting incorrect sizes, preventing waste without requiring complex multi-size accommodation mechanisms
3Ease of manufacture
If the crate base structure is simplified, then manufacturing ease is improved, but crate stability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the crate base into discrete bottle holder units that are integrally formed with the crate base. Each bottle holder is a separate functional element with a circular opening, making the overall structure simpler to manufacture than continuous bases or dense strut networks while maintaining stability through the distributed arrangement of these segmented holders
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the bottle holder function directly into the crate base structure by integrally forming the bottle holders with the base. This combination eliminates the need for separate base structures or additional components, simplifying manufacturing while maintaining crate stability through the unified structural design where the bottle holders themselves provide support
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
According to the invention, a crate 10 is provided for receiving bottles 40 to be received therein with a predetermined nominal diameter, wherein the crate 10 is adapted not to receive bottles with a nominal diameter that is smaller than the predetermined nominal diameter of the bottles 40 to be received. The crate comprises a crate frame 12, a crate base 6, and compartment walls 18, wherein the crate frame 12 forms side walls 14 of the crate 10 and the compartment walls 18, together with the side walls 14 of the crate frame 12, form a compartment with bottle receptacles 11 in the interior, and wherein each bottle receptacle 11 is designed to receive an individual bottle 40 to be received by the crate 10.Each area of the box bottom 16 corresponding to a bottle receptacle 11 has a circular opening 17 arranged centrally therein, the diameter Dopening of which is designed such that a bottle 40 to be received in the corresponding bottle receptacle 11 is held in this bottle receptacle 11, and that a bottle with a nominal diameter which is smaller than the predetermined nominal diameter of the bottles 40 to be received passes through the opening 17 and is not held by the bottle receptacle 11.