Foldable Container Side Wall Hinge-Free Pivot Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transport and storage containers with hinges in the side walls suffer from dirt accumulation and damage risks to film inliners due to irregular inner surfaces, particularly when protecting sensitive goods or liquids.
Innovation Solution
The design replaces hinges with connecting elements that fit precisely, forming a continuous lip transition between side walls and the floor pan, allowing for secure fixation and pivoting without hinges, using elements like pins or tongue-and-groove connections, and incorporating latching lugs and locking elements for stability and ease of use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hinges are used to connect side walls to the base tray, then the side walls can be fixed and pivoted, but openings around the hinges provide space for dirt accumulation and create irregular inner surfaces that risk damaging film liners
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the hinge elements from the connection between side walls and base tray. Instead of using traditional hinges that create openings and irregular surfaces, the patent employs connecting elements that form a continuous, smooth transition, eliminating the source of dirt accumulation and film damage risk while maintaining the fixation and pivoting function
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than using hinges that create openings in the container walls, the invention inverts the approach by using connecting elements that maintain the continuity of the inner surface. The connecting elements are designed to be integrated into the wall structure, reversing the conventional hinge design that disrupts the surface continuity
2Ease of operation
If traditional hinges are used for connecting side walls, then pivoting is enabled, but the irregular inner surfaces at hinge locations create cleaning difficulties and increase costs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the problematic hinge components that create irregular surfaces and replaces them with smooth connecting elements. This extraction of the harmful hinge mechanism eliminates cleaning difficulties while preserving the essential pivoting capability through the alternative connecting element design
Solution Approach 2:
The connecting elements are merged with the continuous lip structure of the container walls, creating a unified, smooth surface that eliminates the separate hinge components. This merging approach ensures that the connection structure becomes an integral part of the wall, maintaining surface continuity and ease of cleaning
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a transport and storage container (1) that can be folded open from a collapsed non-used position into an open position, the side wall (3, 4a) thereof being able to be folded in toward the floor (6) of a floor tray (8) and being disposed above walls (4, 5) of the floor tray (8). In order to provide a container (1) in which the side walls (3, 4a) can be fixed and the pivot mechanism can be ensured even without hinges being disposed in the side walls (3, 4a), according to the invention, at least one side wall (3, 4a) and at least one wall (4, 5) of the floor pan (8) comprise connecting elements (14, 15) corresponding to each other, wherein one connecting element (14, 15) can be precisely fit into the corresponding connecting element (14, 15) when the side wall (3, 4a) is folded open.