Collapsible Shipping Container with Articulating Segmented Walls
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Collapsible shipping containers are not widely used in intermodal transport due to durability issues and safety concerns for workers collapsing and expanding them.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible shipping container design featuring opposing door frames with articulating sidewalls, roller skates, and a toggle mechanism that allows for safe and efficient collapse and expansion, with latches and tension latches to maintain the container in both states, ensuring safety and stability under load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If prior art collapsible containers are designed to be collapsible, then they reduce storage space and improve transport efficiency, but they lack durability and pose safety risks to workers
Solution Approach 1:
The container employs dynamic hinge joints at corners and along sidewalls that allow the structure to transition between expanded and collapsed states. The hinges enable controlled folding motion while maintaining structural integrity during transformation, resolving the contradiction between collapsibility and durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is divided into modular sections with segmented sidewalls and door frames connected by hinges. This segmentation allows the structure to collapse in a controlled manner through sequential folding of individual segments, improving both safety and reliability during the collapse process.
2Reliability
If the container structure is made more robust to ensure durability, then strength and reliability improve, but the complexity of collapsing and expanding mechanisms increases
Solution Approach 1:
The container's collapse and expansion mechanisms are designed to be self-servicing through gravity-assisted folding and spring-loaded hinge systems. The structural weight itself drives the collapse process, eliminating the need for complex external actuation systems and reducing overall mechanism complexity while maintaining durability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the container is designed for easy collapse to improve worker safety, then operational safety improves, but the structural integrity under load may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The container incorporates pre-positioned latch mechanisms and guided hinge paths that ensure controlled, predictable collapse motion. These preliminary arrangements prevent uncontrolled folding that could endanger workers, while the guided paths maintain structural alignment and integrity throughout the collapse process.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge joints and connection points are designed with built-in shock absorption and stress distribution features that protect workers during collapse while maintaining structural integrity. The design anticipates load forces and distributes them through multiple hinge points, preventing sudden failures that could harm workers.
Data Source
AI summary
A collapsible intermodal shipping container is provided. The container includes door frame posts and sidewalls that are each segmented into long and short portions that enable the door frames and sidewalls to articulate. When collapsed, the long portions of the door frame posts lie folded at right angles to the short portions of the door frame posts and the long portions of the sidewalls lie folded at right angles to the short portions of the sidewalls.