Collapsible Container With Support Brackets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rigid containers for flowable materials are bulky, heavy, and require complex and costly reinforcements to prevent deformation, while collapsible containers with interlocking flaps are time-consuming to assemble and disassemble.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible container made of corrugated cardboard with a continuous sheet and support brackets that can be easily assembled and disassembled, maintaining a flat orientation and preventing deformation during filling and storage, using a stairstep configuration and orthogonal corrugations to secure panels and provide stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional rigid containers are used, then structural strength is maintained, but weight and storage space efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs corrugated cardboard panels as flexible yet structurally adequate container walls, replacing heavy rigid materials. The corrugated structure provides necessary strength while maintaining lightness and collapsibility for efficient storage and transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is divided into multiple panels connected by hinges, allowing the structure to be segmented for collapse and storage while maintaining strength during use. This segmentation enables the container to transition between rigid operational state and compact storage state.
2Stability of the object's composition
If reinforcements are added to prevent cardboard deformation, then structural stability is improved, but complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies localized reinforcement through bracing elements positioned at critical corners and edges of the container panels. This targeted approach provides necessary structural stability to prevent deformation during filling and transport without adding complex reinforcement systems throughout the entire container.
3Strength
If interlocking flaps are used to prevent deformation, then structural integrity is maintained, but assembly and disassembly time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the interlocking mechanism from complex multi-step flaps and simplifies it to basic bracing elements that can be quickly positioned and secured. This extraction of the essential stabilizing function while removing unnecessary complexity dramatically reduces assembly and disassembly time.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracing elements are designed to be pre-positioned or easily attachable at critical locations before the container is put into service. This preliminary placement of structural supports ensures integrity is established quickly without requiring time-consuming assembly procedures.
4Area of stationary object
If the container is made collapsible for space efficiency, then storage efficiency is improved, but structural stability during operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container is designed with dynamic characteristics, allowing it to transition between collapsed storage state and expanded operational state. The hinge connections and bracing system enable this dynamic transformation while maintaining structural stability during the filled and operational phase through properly positioned support elements.
Data Source
AI summary
A collapsible container for the storage and transport of flowable material. The container is provided with a continuous sheet of side panels secured into stepped engagement with itself to define an interior. Foldable support brackets are secured to the side panels to maintain the side panels at an angled orientation relative to the side panels of the container and to prevent distortion of the side panels by hydrostatic pressure toward a circular orientation. The support brackets define an opening in the top of the collapsible container through which a fill head may engage a top cap of a flexible liner provided within the collapsible container, to fill the liner with flowable material.