Insulated Container Support With Drainage Ridges for Dry Food Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice chests fail to keep food items above the melted ice level, causing them to become soaked and inedible as the ice melts, and existing solutions are either ineffective or costly to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
A removable support with inflatable semi-cylindrical ridges and apertures that separates melted ice water from food items, allowing it to drain below while keeping the food above the ice, made from flexible and stretchable materials for ease of use and manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a removable support with drainage apertures is used to keep food above melted ice level, then food items remain dry and edible, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into multiple legs with apertures, allowing melted ice water to drain through specific points while maintaining food elevation. This segmentation enables the support to perform dual functions: keeping food above ice water level and facilitating drainage, thereby resolving the contradiction between food protection and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure acts as an intermediary element between the food items and the melted ice water. By positioning the support between these two elements and incorporating drainage apertures, it mediates the interaction by allowing controlled water passage while maintaining food elevation, thus protecting food without requiring complex active mechanisms.
2Stability of the object's composition
If rigid support legs are used to maintain space for ice water collection, then structural stability is improved, but ease of manufacture and storage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support legs are designed to be flexible rather than rigid, allowing them to bend and conform during placement while maintaining structural stability when in use. This dynamic design enables the support to achieve both stability during operation and ease of manufacture/storage, as the flexible material can be easily formed and stored in compact configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure utilizes flexible material that can be easily manufactured and stored, yet maintains sufficient stability to keep food items elevated. The flexibility of the material allows for simple manufacturing processes and compact storage, while the design geometry ensures adequate structural support during use, resolving the contradiction between stability and ease of manufacture.
3Ease of manufacture
If support structure is made flexible for ease of manufacture, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but structural strength to support food items deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support employs flexible material that balances manufacturability with adequate strength. The flexibility enables simple manufacturing processes while the material properties and structural geometry ensure sufficient bearing capacity to support food items, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The support is divided into multiple discrete legs rather than a single rigid structure. This segmentation allows each leg to be independently manufactured using simple processes, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while the distributed leg structure provides adequate collective strength to support food items, addressing the contradiction between manufacturing ease and support strength.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively keeps food items dry by draining melted ice water below the support, maintaining them in close proximity to the coldest part of the ice chest, thus preventing spoilage and improving the functionality of ice chests at a modest cost.
Implementation Method 1
The hollow bladder is adapted to be compressed under lack of internal pressure, and alternately, to expand when inflated. The first input port is disposed along the outer surface of the first cylindrical-sectional ridge for exchange of either gas or liquid to form and release internal pressures within the hollow bladder.
Implementation Method 2
The flexible and stretchable material of the bladder may comprise a resting size such that when the bladder is filled with liquid water and the seal is closed, the liquid water may be frozen and the material stretches to contain the expanded volume of the frozen water.
Data Source
AI summary
The insulated container having a support that separates the ice, food, and drinks from the melted ice water to prevent damage to the food items. The ice, food, and drinks are placed on top of the flat upper surface of the removable support. The removable support has an inflatable bladder on the underside designed to look like downwardly positioned semi-cylindrical ridges, having apertures between the ridges in a foldable spine that allows the melting ice water to drain past the top surface, at the edges of the bladder and through the apertures of the removable support into the voids between the semi-cylindrical ridges below.