Rolling Cooler Wheel Assembly for Ground Clearance and Flat Seating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing portable coolers with integrated seats lack high ground clearance and adequate support for seating, making them difficult to move and store, and the typical wheeled designs have low ground clearance and are not suitable for compact storage.
Innovation Solution
A portable insulated cooler with a hinged, rotatable wheel set and a two-part swivel seat mount that allows the wheels to be rotated from a rolling position to a non-obstructive position for flat surface contact, enabling high ground clearance and compact storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a seat is integrated on the cooler top, then seating comfort is improved, but the cooler profile is raised making it difficult to move and store
Solution Approach 1:
The seat is made rotatable about a vertical axis, allowing it to dynamically change orientation. This enables the seat to be positioned at different angles, including a position where it does not increase the cooler's profile height, thus resolving the contradiction between seating comfort and compact storage/mobility
2Shape
If larger wheels are used to provide high ground clearance, then ground clearance is improved, but the cooler requires legs to prevent tilting which prevents flat ground contact and adequate seating support
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel assembly is made rotatable about a horizontal axis, allowing the wheels to dynamically change position. When rotated to a horizontal orientation, the wheels extend outward to provide high ground clearance for rolling. When rotated to a vertical orientation, the wheels retract inward, allowing the cooler bottom to contact the ground flatly, providing stable support for seating without requiring additional legs
3Volume of moving object
If the cooler is designed for compact storage with rotated wheels, then storage convenience is improved, but the ability to provide high ground clearance for rolling is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable wheel assembly allows the cooler to dynamically adjust its configuration. For compact storage, the wheels are rotated inward to reduce the cooler's footprint. For rolling operations requiring high ground clearance, the wheels are rotated outward to extend below the cooler bottom, thus resolving the contradiction between compact storage and rolling capability
Data Source
AI summary
A portable insulated cooler having a seat and a hinged mount that secures a set of wheels to the cooler provides easy cooled transport of food and beverages, along with a cooling agent such as ice. The hinged mount secures an axle, to which the wheels are mounted, underneath the cooler in a first position for transport, and is releasable so that in a second position, the wheels rest alongside the cooler, permitting the bottom of the cooler to completely rest on the ground. A seat is rotatably affixed to the top of the cooler, providing a long-term and movable sitting location, and may be releasable from the top of the cooler for easy stowage and transport. A bottom portion of a swivel mounting the seat to the cooler may be formed on the top of the cooler as a raised circular projection with an undercut reducing the cooler height.