Collapsible Container Band Plate Hinge Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional collapsible containers face issues with easy piling and preventing smaller containers from falling into larger ones due to reduced sidewall thickness and concavoconvex engagement difficulties, leading to instability during stacking.
Innovation Solution
The collapsible container features band plate members that pivot between horizontal and rising states, providing support and stability by protruding inside the top opening, and are reinforced to prevent lateral slipping and deformation, allowing for easier stacking and handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If sidewalls are made thinner to reduce folded state height, then the folded state height is reduced, but the upper container falls into the lower container during piling work
Solution Approach 1:
The container structure is segmented into functional components: thin sidewalls for compact folding, and separate protrusion structures for stacking stability. The protrusions extend from the top opening to provide mechanical interlocking between containers during piling, compensating for the reduced structural rigidity of thin sidewalls.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusions act as intermediary elements between the thin sidewalls and the upper container. These protrusions extend into the top opening and provide the necessary mechanical support and stability during piling work, mediating between the thin sidewall structure and the stacking requirement.
2Stability of the object's composition
If concavoconvex engagement structures are added to prevent spreading, then the top opening stability is improved, but the piling operation becomes troublesome
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using concavoconvex engagement where the lower container has recesses and the upper container has projections, this invention inverts the approach by having protrusions extend from the lower container's top opening upward. This inverted configuration naturally guides the upper container into place during piling, making the operation easier while maintaining top opening stability.
3Stability of the object's composition
If protrusions are formed on sidewalls to prevent spreading, then the top opening is prevented from spreading, but the container becomes difficult to pile up easily
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusions are preliminarily positioned extending from the top opening in a direction toward the upper container before piling occurs. This preliminary configuration creates a natural guide that facilitates the piling operation, allowing the upper container to be easily placed while the protrusions simultaneously provide the necessary stability to prevent top opening spreading.
Data Source
AI summary
A collapsible container which includes a rectangular bottom wall and sidewalls pivotally joined to respective outer edges of the bottom wall and is changeable between an assembled state in which the sidewalls are raised from the bottom wall and a folded state in which the sidewalls are folded to be superimposed on the bottom wall comprises a pair of band plate members extending along upper edges of a pair of first sidewalls opposed to each other and a band plate hinge mechanism joining the band plate members near to top surfaces of the first sidewalls so that the band plate members are pivotable between a horizontal posture of protruding from the first sidewalls horizontally inward and a rising posture of rising from the first sidewalls vertically upward. The band plate hinge mechanism is capable of positioning the band plate members in the horizontal posture. The band plate members assuming the horizontal posture are arranged as displaced lower relative to the top surfaces of the first sidewalls.