Thermoformed Deck Panel With Central Opening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing deck panels in cargo carrying vehicles face issues with stability, handling, and environmental impact due to their weight, tendency to shift, difficulty in stacking, and non-biodegradability, particularly with plywood and injection molded materials.
Innovation Solution
A deck panel design featuring a thermoformed body with discrete components and complementary projections and openings for stable engagement with load beams, a central gripping opening, and recyclable materials, allowing for secure stacking and easy handling, and incorporating different frictional properties and reinforcing ribs for enhanced stability and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If plywood panels are used to support heavy loads, then load-bearing capacity is improved, but weight increases and handling becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from traditional plywood to a composite structure consisting of a rigid outer shell and lightweight foam core. This parameter change maintains load-bearing capacity while significantly reducing weight, making panels easier to handle and maneuver during loading operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining a rigid outer shell (providing structural strength) with a lightweight foam core (reducing weight). This composite construction resolves the contradiction between needing high load-bearing capacity and minimizing panel weight for easier handling.
2Ease of manufacture
If plywood panels have smooth flat surfaces, then manufacturing is simplified, but stability deteriorates as panels and cargo tend to shift
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing raised edges only at the peripheral portions of the panel while maintaining smooth flat surfaces in the central loading areas. This localized feature addition improves stability by preventing cargo shift at the boundaries without complicating the overall manufacturing process or reducing the smooth surface area available for cargo placement.
3Area of stationary object
If plywood panels are stacked face-to-face for compact storage, then storage space is optimized, but handling becomes difficult as individual panels are hard to grasp
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary feature in the form of a centrally located opening that extends through the panel thickness. This opening serves as a mediator that enables easy grasping and separation of stacked panels while maintaining compact face-to-face stacking capability, as the opening provides a natural grip point without increasing the overall panel footprint.
4Reliability
If conventional injection molding materials are used, then panel durability is improved, but environmental impact worsens due to non-biodegradability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter by substituting conventional non-biodegradable injection molding materials with biodegradable alternatives. This parameter change maintains the durability and structural integrity required for panel performance while eliminating the harmful environmental impact of persistent plastic waste, allowing panels to decompose naturally at the end of their service life.
Data Source
AI summary
The combination of a cargo carrying vehicle and a deck panel. The cargo carrying vehicle has a storage space and a plurality of parallel elongate load beams in the space. A lower surface of the deck panel engages each of the first and second elongate load beams. The body has a plurality of discrete components depending from the lower surface that are abuttable to the load beams to thereby limit shifting of the deck panel. The upper surface has at least a first opening and the lower surface has at least a first complementary projection. A second deck panel, the same as the first deck panel, can be stacked on the first deck panel so that a corresponding at least first projection on the second deck panel extends into the at least first opening to maintain the first and second deck panels in a predetermined stacked relationship.