Die Cut Tray Insert for Live Sample Shipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shipping containers for live insects and eggs face challenges in securely transporting live plants without causing damage to the plant or harm to the eggs, leading to reduced viability during shipment.
Innovation Solution
A die-cut tray insert with swinging side assemblies and a top cover to secure pots, prevent tipping, and reduce spillage, combined with a partition set and optional gift box, ensures safe transport of live samples by stabilizing the pot and protecting the plant from environmental elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional shipping containers are used for live samples, then the structure is simple, but the live samples are not securely protected and suffer damage during shipment
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into multiple functional components: a base tray, swingable side assemblies (first and second), and a top cover (third face). Each segment performs a specific protective function, allowing the system to provide comprehensive protection while maintaining modularity and ease of assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The side assemblies are designed to swing between open and closed positions, allowing dynamic adaptation during loading and securing phases. This dynamic mechanism enables easy placement of live samples while ensuring secure confinement during transport, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and protection.
2Ease of manufacture
If the container structure is simplified for ease of manufacture, then manufacturing is easier, but the container cannot prevent tipping and spillage of live samples
Solution Approach 1:
The hemispherical margin portions on the top surfaces of the side assemblies create conformal contact with the cylindrical pots containing live samples. This curved geometry naturally cradles and secures the pots, preventing tipping and spillage while using simple geometric forms that are easy to manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The radial slits in the hemispherical margin portions create flexible fingers that can adapt to slight variations in pot dimensions. This flexibility allows the structure to conform to different pot sizes while maintaining secure contact, preventing spillage without requiring complex adjustable mechanisms.
3Reliability
If secure confinement is implemented to prevent spillage, then live samples are protected, but the container becomes more complex and difficult to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The swingable side assemblies transition between open and closed positions, providing easy access during loading and unloading operations. When closed, they secure the live samples; when open, they facilitate quick loading and unloading, thus maintaining ease of operation while ensuring spillage prevention during transport.
4Reliability
If the container provides comprehensive protection against handling abuses, then live sample viability is maintained, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The radial slits creating flexible fingers in the hemispherical margin portions allow the structure to absorb handling shocks and vibrations through slight deformations. This flexibility provides protection against handling abuses while using simple geometric forms that are easy to manufacture.
Data Source
AI summary
A die cut tray insert is provided including a first face and a second face, opposite and parallel to the first face; first and second assemblies secured at one end to one of the first and second faces and configured to swing between an open position and a closed position such that a pot associated with a live sample is secured on two sides; and a third face and a fourth face, perpendicular to the first and second faces and opposite and parallel to one another, the third face configured to cover a top portion of the pot associated with the live sample and the fourth face configured to contain the pot within the first, second and third faces. The third face covering the top portion of the pot is configured to reduce spillage from the pot when the first and second assemblies are in a closed position.