Fire Pit Snap-On Assembly to Eliminate Screws and Improve Portability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional fire pits are cumbersome and difficult to assemble/disassemble due to their fixed structure and reliance on screws, limiting their portability and adaptability.
Innovation Solution
A fire pit design featuring a top plate with snap-on connections to upright poles and side plates, utilizing mounting grooves and limiting members for secure assembly without screws, allowing for easy disassembly and reconfiguration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If traditional fire pits are built with bricks and cement and fixed on the ground, then structural stability is improved, but portability and adaptability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The fire pit is divided into multiple separable components including a top plate, upright poles, side plates, and limiting members. Each component can be independently assembled and disassembled through snap-on connections, enabling the structure to be configured in different arrangements or stored compactly while maintaining stability when assembled.
2Strength
If improved fire pits use metal plates and poles welded together, then structural strength is improved, but weight and portability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The structure uses separate metal components (top plate, upright poles, side plates) connected through snap-on mechanisms rather than welded joints. This segmentation reduces overall weight while maintaining structural integrity through the interlocking design of mounting grooves and limiting members.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection system allows the fire pit to transition between assembled and disassembled states dynamically. The snap-on connections with limiting members provide stable structural strength when assembled, while enabling easy disassembly for portability when needed.
3Reliability
If fire pit components are locked by screws, then connection reliability is improved, but ease of assembly and disassembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The screw fastening mechanism is completely removed from the design. Instead, the patent uses snap-on connections where the upright pole's upper end face connects to the top plate's connecting part, and side plates connect to mounting grooves on the upright poles. Limiting members prevent disengagement without requiring screws, achieving reliable connections that are easy to assemble and disassemble.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection system is self-locking through the snap-on mechanism and limiting members. When components are assembled, the limiting members automatically engage to prevent accidental disassembly, while allowing intentional disassembly by overcoming the snap-on resistance, eliminating the need for tools or complex fastening procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
A fire pit includes a top plate, upright poles, side plates, and limiting members. The top plate has a central through hole and connecting parts on its lower surface. An upper end face of each upright pole is rotably connected to a corresponding one of the connecting parts in a snap-on manner. Each upright pole has mounting grooves its sides. The mounting grooves extend downwardly along an axial direction of the upright pole and pass a lower end face of the upright pole. Two ends of each side plate are insertedly connected to the mounting grooves of corresponding two of the upright poles from lower ends of the corresponding upright poles. The limiting members are movably connected to lower end portions of the sides of the respective upright poles for limiting and preventing the side plates from falling out of the mounting grooves of the upright poles.