Removable Corner Light Inserts for Easy-to-Maintain Containers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container systems, such as insulated coolers and toolboxes, often require expensive and difficult-to-repair integrated lighting solutions, which can be impractical for users who need interior illumination without the hassle of electrical wiring and battery replacement.
Innovation Solution
A container apparatus with removable and battery-powered lighting assemblies that can be easily inserted and removed from the container, featuring elongate recesses and light members that provide illumination without being functionally connected to the container, allowing for easy maintenance and replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If lights are electrically wired to the container itself, then the lighting system is integrated and stable, but it becomes expensive, difficult to repair, and impractical for battery replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting system is divided into separate modular components: a removable light assembly with battery compartment that can be independently handled, and a container body with recesses for securing the light assembly. This segmentation allows battery replacement without affecting the container structure, resolving the contradiction between integration stability and repair ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery and light assembly are extracted from the container body as separate removable units. The light assembly can be completely removed from the container through the recesses, allowing users to replace batteries or repair lighting components without disassembling the container or dealing with permanent electrical wiring, thus maintaining reliability while enabling easy maintenance.
2Reliability
If lights are electrically wired to the container, then the lighting is permanently integrated, but it increases device complexity and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex electrical wiring systems with a simple mechanical insertion system. The light assembly secures into recesses in the container body through friction fit or simple mechanical engagement, eliminating the need for electrical connectors, wiring harnesses, and associated complexity while maintaining reliable integration during use.
Solution Approach 2:
The recesses in the container body serve multiple functions: they provide structural support for the light assembly, position the lights correctly for optimal illumination, and enable easy removal when needed. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate mounting mechanisms, brackets, or complex installation procedures.
3Ease of repair
If a removable light assembly is used, then ease of maintenance and replacement is improved, but the lighting may not be securely fixed during use
Solution Approach 1:
The light assembly transitions between two states: during use, it is securely fixed in the recesses providing stable illumination; when maintenance is needed, it can be easily removed. The recesses are designed to provide sufficient friction or mechanical retention during normal use but allow deliberate removal when needed, accommodating both stability and ease of repair requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A container apparatus can include a container and an insert assembly. The insert assembly can include four elongate members. The four elongate members can include light emitting devices for illuminating the interior of the container and/or temperature altering elements for cooling and/or heating the interior of the container. The container can have a rectangular base and a rectangular sidewall extending upwardly from the base. The sidewall can define four corners of the container, and four elongate recesses can be formed in the sidewall proximate the four corners of the sidewall to receive the elongate light members. The recesses can be sized and shaped to conform to the elongate insert members so that the insert members can be releasably retained within the elongate recesses.