Foldable Crate Locking Mechanism with Overload Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Foldable crates face challenges in maintaining stability, ease of operation, and preventing damage during incorrect use, particularly in transporting perishable goods like fruit and vegetables, where they must be robust, lightweight, and easy to clean while avoiding destruction of mechanical components.
Innovation Solution
A foldable crate design featuring paired longitudinal and transverse outer walls hinged to a base, with a spring-loaded locking mechanism allowing vertical latching and emergency release, and a cam-based hinge arrangement for easy detachment and enhanced stability, ensuring the crate remains stable and secure during normal and incorrect operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the locking mechanism is made robust to prevent destruction during incorrect operation, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism incorporates a yieldable locking element that can deform elastically under excessive force. This beforehand cushioning allows the mechanism to absorb incorrect operation forces without destruction, while maintaining structural integrity through the resilient element's ability to return to its original position after stress removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking element's mechanical properties are changed by selecting materials with specific elastic characteristics. The yieldable nature of the locking element allows it to change its stiffness parameter dynamically - appearing rigid during normal operation but becoming compliant under excessive force, thereby protecting the mechanism without complex additional components.
2Ease of operation
If the side walls are made easy to detach for cleaning and maintenance, then ease of operation is improved, but stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between side walls and base transitions from a static permanent connection to a dynamic controllable connection. The locking mechanism allows the connection state to change between locked (stable) and unlocked (detachable) states, providing both stability during use and ease of detachment for cleaning through simple manual operation.
3Weight of moving object
If the crate is made lightweight by using less material, then weight is reduced, but strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The crate utilizes thin-walled construction with optimized wall thickness that provides sufficient strength for the intended load while minimizing material usage. The flexible shell design allows the thin walls to deform elastically under load and return to shape, maintaining strength without requiring thick heavy walls.
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
The design provides a stable, lightweight, and easy-to-clean crate that prevents damage during incorrect operation, maintaining structural integrity and facilitating efficient handling and cleaning processes.
Implementation Method 1
a spring element (14) arranged on the inside of the transverse outer wall (4a, 4b)
Implementation Method 2
yieldable locking element (100) which, in the unfolded state, can be latched with the projection (22)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a foldable box (1) comprising a base (2) and respectively two outer walls on the longitudinal sides (6a, 6b) and on the lateral sides (4a, 4b) which are arranged in pairs opposite each other and which can collapse in relation to the base (2). Each outer wall on the longitudinal sides (6a, 6b) comprises, on at least one lateral side end, a projection (22) which extends, in the unfolded state, in the direction of the outer walls on the lateral sides (4a, 4b), said projection outwardly defining the collapsibility of the outer walls on the lateral sides (4a, 4b). Each outer wall of the lateral sides (4a, 4b) comprises a spring-loaded locking mechanism which is arranged on the outer side of the outer wall of the lateral side (4a, 4b), which comprises, in the unfolded state, a catch element (100) which can be displaced in the vertical direction (8) in relation to the surface of the base (2), said catch element being in contact with the projection (22) of the outer wall on the longitudinal sides (6a, 6b). The projection (22) and/or the catch element (100) comprise contact surfaces (110, 112) which are inclined in relation to the vertical direction (8) in the unfolded state in such a manner that said locking mechanism opens counter to the spring-load when an inwardly directed predetermined force acts upon the outer wall on the lateral side (4b).