Secure mobile food storage device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for carrying and storing supplies during camping, such as cardboard boxes and insulated coolers, are prone to damage from wild animals and inclement weather, offer no protection from rodents, and require separate transport of a table for food preparation, making them inconvenient and unstable.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible storage device with a hinged front side, extendible legs for stability, and a counter-top height working surface, featuring locking mechanisms and shelves for additional storage, which can be padlocked and easily transported.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional storage containers (cardboard boxes, plastic bins, coolers) are used, then they are simple and easy to manufacture, but they offer no protection from wild animals and inclement weather
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple protective functions into a single container structure. The container integrates animal-proof locking mechanisms (padlock hasps, latch assemblies), weather protection (removable roof, walls), and workspace functionality (hinged front side creating counter-top surface) into one unified structure, eliminating the need for separate protective measures and tables
Solution Approach 2:
The container serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides secure storage for supplies, protection from animals and weather, a stable counter-top height workspace when the front side is opened horizontally, and portable transport capability. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by making the container structure serve both protective and operational roles
2Ease of operation
If a separate table is transported for food preparation, then a working surface is provided, but it is cumbersome to transport and requires separate transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the table function into the container structure itself. When the front side is opened horizontally, it creates a counter-top height working surface (32-38 inches high when supported by extendible legs), eliminating the need for a separate table. The container structure thus serves both storage and workspace functions
Solution Approach 2:
The container provides dual functionality: secure closed storage and open workspace. The hinged front side enables transformation between these states, allowing the same structure to serve as both a protected storage container and a stable counter-top surface for food preparation, resolving the contradiction between transport ease and workspace versatility
3Stability of the object's composition
If the container provides a stable wide base for counter-top height workspace, then stability is improved, but the device becomes more complex and less portable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic, adjustable extendible legs that can be extended to provide stable support when the container is in use as a workspace, and retracted or collapsed when portability is needed. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by providing stability only when required, maintaining portability during transport
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is segmented into multiple extendible legs rather than a fixed base. This segmentation allows the legs to be independently adjusted and collapsed, providing stability when extended and ease of transport when collapsed, thus resolving the contradiction between stability and portability
4Object-affected harmful factors
If locking mechanisms (latches and padlocks) are added to secure the container, then protection from animals is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple locking mechanisms (door latch for the hinged front side and padlock hasps for additional security) into the container structure in an integrated manner. These locking features are built into the design rather than added as separate components, providing animal-proof security while minimizing additional complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A storage device for use on a ground surface includes a container that has top, bottom, rear, left, right, and front sides. The front side includes at least one hinge at a lower edge thereof such that the front side can move between an upright closed position and a horizontal open position. At least three extendable legs are fixed with the container and are movable between retracted and extended configurations. Two handles may be included, preferably fixed with two extendable arms, each arm and the handle moveable between retracted and extended configurations. An internal storage volume of the container may include shelf grooves formed on inside surfaces of the left and right sides, at least one shelf being adapted to fit within each shelf groove to provide additional storage surface area within the internal storage volume of the storge device.