Bottle Tray Grid With Freestanding Fins for Collision Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing trays for transporting bottles, particularly those designed for multipacks, lack adequate stability and noise reduction during transport, as they rely on a second tray for centering and do not effectively prevent breakage.
Innovation Solution
A tray design featuring a frame with freestanding fins and/or flat pins that form bottle holders in a grid, providing lateral support and centering for individual bottles and multipacks, ensuring they are surrounded on multiple sides and preventing collision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If existing trays use a second tray placed on top for centering, then bottle centering is achieved, but device complexity increases and stability is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is segmented into a base structure with integrated fins and flat pins that form individual bottle holders in a grid pattern. Each fin and flat pin acts as an independent centering element, eliminating the need for a second tray while providing stable bottle positioning through distributed support points.
Solution Approach 2:
The fins and flat pins serve multiple functions: they provide lateral support, enable centering, prevent bottle movement, and accommodate both individual bottles and multipacks simultaneously. This multi-functionality replaces the need for separate centering mechanisms.
2Productivity
If bottles are transported in existing trays without adequate separation, then transport space is optimized, but noise increases and breakage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tray divides the transport space into discrete bottle holders using fins and flat pins, creating individual compartments for each bottle. This segmentation prevents bottles from contacting each other during transport, reducing noise and breakage risk while maintaining high transport efficiency through compact grid arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
The fins and flat pins act as intermediary elements between adjacent bottles, providing physical separation and cushioning. These intermediaries prevent direct contact between bottles, thereby eliminating collision-induced noise and breakage while allowing tight packing.
3Weight of moving object
If trays are designed as open structures with low sides, then weight is reduced and empty space requirement is reduced, but bottle stability and noise reduction are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using high side walls for stability, the tray uses segmented vertical elements (fins and flat pins) distributed throughout the tray interior. These segmented support elements provide localized stability to each bottle while keeping the overall tray structure open and lightweight.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray provides localized support quality at each bottle position through fins and flat pins, rather than relying on global structural rigidity from high sides. Each bottle receives tailored lateral support from surrounding fins, enabling stability with minimal material usage.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a tray for holding bottles, in which an internal structure with bottle recesses arranged in a grid is formed by the frame and fins, each bottle recess being designed to hold a single bottle, and each bottle, once placed in a bottle recess, being surrounded by at least two fins. Furthermore, the fins are spaced apart both from the frame and from each other and are not laterally connected to the frame or to each other, the fins being arranged such that at least two fins, which together with the frame and/or at least one further fin form a bottle recess, are at right angles to each other, and the fins being arranged such that they are each located at the point of tangency between two bottles when these are placed in two adjacent bottle recesses.The present invention also relates to a system for the storage and/or transport of bottles, comprising at least one tray according to the invention and a floor roller.