Collapsible Cot with Telescoping Frame and Folding Support Mechanisms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Travelers often face the challenge of finding comfortable seating or lying areas, especially in airports where available seating is uncomfortable and restricts the ability to lie down comfortably.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight collapsible cot designed for easy transportation, weighing approximately 8 pounds and capable of supporting up to 300 pounds, which can be transformed from a collapsed to an expanded state using two pulling motions, featuring telescoping members and folding support mechanisms with retractable legs, allowing it to be used as a stand-alone item or integrated into luggage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a traditional suitcase design is used, then the suitcase is compact and easy to handle, but it cannot provide a comfortable seating or lying area for travelers
Solution Approach 1:
The suitcase is divided into functional segments: a telescoping member that forms the seat base, folding support mechanisms that provide structural stability, and retractable legs that enable ground contact. This segmentation allows the suitcase to transform from a simple storage container to a multifunctional seating device while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The suitcase is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as both a storage container and a seating device. The telescoping member and folding support mechanisms enable the suitcase to provide a stable seating surface, while the retractable legs allow it to function as a ground-supported seat or a suspended bed, making it universally applicable for rest during travel
2Adaptability or versatility
If a comfortable lying area is provided, then traveler comfort is improved, but the weight and size of the suitcase increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suitcase employs dynamic structures including a telescoping member that can extend and retract, folding support mechanisms that deploy and collapse, and retractable legs that extend and retract. These dynamic features allow the suitcase to provide a full-sized lying area when needed while collapsing to its original compact form for transport, avoiding the need to permanently carry excessive weight and volume
Solution Approach 2:
The folding support mechanisms and retractable legs are designed to nest within the suitcase body when not in use. The telescoping member can be retracted into the suitcase container, and the support structures fold into compact configurations, allowing the lying area components to be stored within the suitcase itself rather than adding external bulk
3Stability of the object's composition
If a stable support structure is added, then the seating comfort is improved, but the ease of transportation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into discrete folding mechanisms and retractable legs that can be independently deployed and collapsed. This segmentation allows the support structures to be quickly assembled for stable seating and easily disassembled for transport, maintaining both stability and transportation ease through modular operation
Solution Approach 2:
The folding support mechanisms and retractable legs provide dynamic stability: they can be deployed to create a stable seating surface when needed and collapsed to minimize obstruction during transportation. The telescoping member similarly extends to provide structural support for seating and retracts for compact transport, adapting the stability characteristics to match the operational context
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments for a collapsible cot are provided. A collapsible cot can include a first telescoping member, a second telescoping member, and folding support mechanisms. Each of the folding support mechanisms can include a crossmember, a first arm having a first end pivotably coupled to a first side of the crossmember and a second end slidably coupled to the first telescoping member, and a second arm having a first end pivotably coupled to a second side of the crossmember and a second end slidably coupled to the second telescoping member. The second end of the first arm and second arm can include a coupler having a cross-section having a shape and size similar to a cross-section of the first telescoping member and the second telescoping member.