Flexible Pail With Odor Barrier and Upright Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional waste pails are inflexible, bulky, and cumbersome, making them difficult to transport and use in multiple locations, particularly for parents and pet owners who need a compact and portable solution for waste disposal.
Innovation Solution
A flexible pail with a semi-rigid container that can stand upright, featuring a cover with a flap and an odor barrier, made from materials like polyethylene and polypropylene, which can be compressed for storage and expanded for use, allowing for easy handling and odor containment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional rigid waste pails are used, then structural stability and odor containment are improved, but portability and storage convenience deteriorate due to bulkiness
Solution Approach 1:
The pail transitions from a rigid static structure to a dynamic flexible structure that can adapt its form. The flexible container body can be collapsed to a compact size for portability and expanded to a functional size for use, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and portability through dynamic shape change.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a flexible container body made of pliable material that can be collapsed and expanded. This flexible shell maintains structural integrity when needed while allowing compact storage when collapsed, directly addressing the contradiction between rigidity for stability and flexibility for portability.
2Strength
If traditional rigid waste pails are used, then durability and reusability are improved, but weight and bulkiness increase making them cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible container body uses thin, pliable material that is both lightweight and durable. This flexible shell provides the necessary strength for repeated use while minimizing weight, resolving the contradiction between durability and lightness.
Solution Approach 2:
The pail is designed as a disposable product that can be used once and then discarded. This approach eliminates the need for heavy, durable materials required for reusable containers, achieving lightweight design while maintaining adequate durability for single-use applications.
3Volume of moving object
If the pail is designed to be flexible and collapsible, then portability and storage convenience are improved, but structural stability and ability to stand upright deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The pail dynamically changes its structural properties based on its state. When collapsed for storage, it occupies minimal space. When expanded for use, the flexible material forms a stable, upright structure capable of supporting its contents, resolving the contradiction between compact storage volume and upright stability.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If a cover with flap and odor barrier is added, then odor containment is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cover, flap, and odor barrier are merged into a single integrated component rather than separate parts. This unified cover structure provides odor containment functionality while minimizing the number of components, resolving the contradiction between odor protection and structural simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible pail having a container that is adapted to stand upright. The container may have a flexible sheet, a cover, a base, a flap and an odor barrier. The cover may be attached to a first upper end of the flexible sheet, while the base may be attached to a second lower end of the flexible sheet. The cover may have a flap pivotably attached thereto, such that the flap is adapted to pivot between an open position and a closed position. The cover may further have an opening and an odor barrier disposed in the opening.