Fold-in-half table having planar cross brace
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fold-in-half tables with interlocking and overlapping features on the tabletop halves introduce complexity and cost in manufacturing, and make it difficult to remove plastic burs at the mold separation line, necessitating a design with straight surfaces and no molded interlocking features for improved efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible table design featuring a tabletop with parallel inner edges, side rails, pivotally connected leg assemblies, hinge assemblies, a tubular cross brace, and a planar cross brace that provides lateral support without interlocking features, using blow-molded plastic for the tabletop and steel for the structural components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If interlocking and overlapping features are integrated into the molded tabletop halves, then the tabletop rigidity is improved, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase, and bur removal becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The tabletop is divided into two separate halves that are molded independently without integrated interlocking features. The segmentation allows each half to have a simple, clean mold separation line that coincides with the straight edge, making bur removal easy while maintaining overall tabletop rigidity through the assembly of both halves with support braces.
Solution Approach 2:
The interlocking and overlapping features are extracted from the molded tabletop halves and replaced with separate attachment mechanisms. This extraction eliminates the complexity and bur removal difficulties associated with molded features while preserving the rigidity function through alternative structural solutions.
2Strength
If interlocking and overlapping features are integrated into the molded tabletop halves, then the tabletop rigidity is improved, but the ease of manufacture decreases due to difficult bur removal
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the tabletop into two halves with clean separation lines that coincide with straight edges, the design enables easy bur removal during manufacturing. The segmentation strategy ensures that no complex features are located at the mold separation line, significantly improving ease of manufacture while maintaining rigidity through the overall structural design.
3Ease of manufacture
If the tabletop halves are designed with straight edges and no interlocking features, then the manufacturing process is simplified and bur removal is easier, but the tabletop rigidity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The two tabletop halves are merged through a combination of support braces and attachment mechanisms that restore and maintain tabletop rigidity. The merging strategy uses external structural elements rather than integrated molded features, achieving both manufacturing simplicity and structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of achieving rigidity through complex features in the planar dimension, the design uses vertical dimension elements such as support braces and attachment mechanisms. This dimensional transition provides the necessary rigidity while keeping the tabletop edges simple and straight for easy manufacturing.
Data Source
AI summary
A planar cross brace for stiffening a tabletop of a fold-in-half collapsible table includes an elongate rectangular planar portion having elongate opposing side edges and narrow opposing end edges that are perpendicular to the side edges. A pair of opposing tabs extend from the opposing end edges in a direction perpendicular to the rectangular planar portion. A pair of opposing ribs extend from the opposing side edges in a direction perpendicular to the rectangular planar portion, thereby forming an elongate channel having a U-shaped cross section. The planar cross brace stiffens the inner edge of the tabletop portion to which it is attached, and the stiffening is independent of any connection to the inner edge of the other tabletop portion. This eliminates any need for interlocking features on the inner edges of the tabletop portions, such as those required by prior art tables.