Bottle Crate Locking Receptacle Arrangement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container designs, such as bottle crates, face challenges in balancing mechanical strength with production costs and material usage, particularly in plastic materials, due to the need for recesses and increased material mass in locking mechanisms, which compromises structural compactness and ease of handling.
Innovation Solution
The locking receptacles are arranged next to each other in the locking position, allowing locking elements to pass through their own receptacle, eliminating the need for recesses in the container wall, increasing wall thickness, and reducing material usage, while enhancing mechanical load-bearing capacity and ease of handling through optimized web section designs and interlocking mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If locking receptacles are arranged one below the other with protruding designs, then locking functionality is achieved, but recesses in container walls are required reducing mechanical strength
Solution Approach 1:
The locking receptacles are rearranged from a vertical arrangement (one below the other) to a horizontal arrangement (next to each other) in the locking position. This dimensional change allows the locking elements to pass through the container wall without requiring recesses, thereby maintaining the mechanical strength of the container wall while preserving locking functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the locking receptacle protrude outward requiring a recess to accommodate it, the design inverts the approach by having the locking element pass through the wall and engage with the receptacle from the inside. This eliminates the need for wall recesses and maintains structural integrity.
2Reliability
If locking elements and receptacles are designed massively to withstand mechanical loads, then locking reliability is improved, but material usage and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the geometric parameters of the locking elements and receptacles to achieve the necessary mechanical strength with minimal material. By changing the dimensions, shapes, and distributions of material in these components, reliable locking is achieved without excessive material usage.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the entire container wall massive to accommodate heavy locking mechanisms, the design applies material and structural reinforcement only in the specific local areas where locking elements and receptacles are positioned. This localized approach maintains locking reliability while minimizing overall material consumption.
3Stability of the object's composition
If locking receptacles are arranged next to each other with web sections forming form fit, then torsional rigidity is increased, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking receptacle is segmented into multiple web sections that can be independently formed. These web sections create form-fit connections with corresponding protrusions on the locking element, providing torsional rigidity through distributed engagement points rather than a single complex structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The web sections are designed with curved or wavy profiles rather than straight lines. This curvature creates interlocking form-fit connections that resist torsional forces effectively while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure that can be manufactured using standard molding techniques.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 3
AI summary
The container (1) has locking retainers (7, 8) of a locking device (4) cooperating with bolt elements (5, 6) for locking and unlocking two separable and assembleable container parts (2, 3). The locking retainers are arranged adjacent to each other in a locking position, and attached together. The bolt elements of the container parts engage the locking retainers. The retainers include bar sections, which lie at each other in the locking position and form a form-closure. Each retainer form slots (18, 19) for linear guiding of the bolt elements.