Bucket Caddy With Elastic Bands and Collapsible Legs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Baseball and softball coaches and players experience back strain from repetitive bending to retrieve balls from a bucket placed on the ground during practice, as existing stands do not effectively support buckets against movement or tilting.
Innovation Solution
A bucket caddy with three legs and elastic bands that securely hold a bucket above a horizontal surface, preventing tilting and movement, and allowing for easy storage and transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a bucket is placed on the ground for ball practice, then it is easily accessible and stable, but the coach or player must bend down repeatedly causing back strain
Solution Approach 1:
The bucket is elevated from the ground level to an elevated position using a stand with legs extending downward. This dimensional change in vertical positioning allows the bucket to be accessed at waist level rather than ground level, eliminating the need for repeated bending while maintaining stability through the ground-engaging legs
2Ease of operation
If a bucket is placed in a canvas container reservoir, then it is held above the ground, but the bucket is not supported against movement or tilting
Solution Approach 1:
Elastic bands wrap around the bucket to provide flexible restraint. These elastic bands conform to the bucket's shape and provide continuous pressure to prevent movement and tilting, while allowing for easy attachment and removal. The flexible nature of the elastic bands adapts to the bucket's position and prevents unwanted motion without requiring rigid constraints
3Stability of the object's composition
If a stand with rigid support structure is used to hold the bucket, then the bucket is stable, but the stand is difficult to store and transport
Solution Approach 1:
The legs of the stand are designed to be flexible rather than rigid, allowing them to bend and collapse when not in use. This dynamic structure enables the stand to transition from a stable, extended configuration during use to a compact, collapsed configuration for storage and transport. The flexibility of the legs maintains stability during operation while enabling easy collapse for portability
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The bucket caddy reduces back strain by keeping the bucket stable and elevated, allowing coaches and players to retrieve balls without bending, improving comfort and safety during practice.
Implementation Method 1
elastic bands removably connect at one end to a respective generally U-shaped hook and at their opposite end to a rim of the bucket
Data Source
AI summary
A bucket caddy stably holds a bucket above a horizontal support surface or ground for easier access to the contents of the bucket. The bucket caddy has a retainer with slots into which at least three legs are movably joined. The legs each have a shelf surface and a U-shaped hook disposed at their proximal ends. When splayed apart, the shelf surfaces point radially inwardly toward the retainer with their top surfaces in a common plane onto which the bottom of the bucket may be positioned. The U-shaped hooks receive elastic bands, each of which has an S-shaped hook at its opposite end adapted to join a portion of a rim of the bucket. After the bucket is separated from the caddy, the legs rotate so that their central axes are parallel or substantially parallel to one another in a storage configuration. A hook and loop fastener tape wraps around the legs in the storage configuration.