Fold-Flat Food Box Handle for Stackable Carrying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food boxes with handles for single-handed carrying prevent stacking, necessitating the use of plastic bags for multiple deliveries, which contributes to environmental issues.
Innovation Solution
A food box design featuring a tray with a perimeter wall, a pivotally connected cover, securing mechanisms, and a rotatable handle, allowing for stacking while enabling single-handed carrying without plastic bags.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a handle is added to the food box for single-handed carrying, then ease of operation is improved, but the ability to stack boxes is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The handle is designed to be rotatable between an upright position (for carrying) and a flat position (for stacking). This dynamic transformation allows the handle to adapt its configuration based on whether the box needs to be carried or stacked, resolving the contradiction between ease of carrying and stacking capability
Solution Approach 2:
The handle transitions from a three-dimensional protruding structure (when upright for carrying) to a two-dimensional flat structure (when folded against the cover for stacking). This dimensional change allows the handle to occupy minimal space during stacking while maintaining full functionality during carrying
2Adaptability or versatility
If the handle is made rotatable between upright and flat positions, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The handle mechanism is merged with the cover structure through pivotal connections. The handle is pivotally connected to the cover at specific locations, integrating the handle's mounting function into the existing cover structure rather than adding separate mounting mechanisms, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The cover serves multiple functions: it protects the food, provides structural support, and acts as the mounting base for the rotatable handle. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional components, resolving the complexity issue while maintaining handle positioning flexibility
Data Source
AI summary
A food box comprising a tray having a base and a perimeter wall extending from the base, the perimeter wall includes a front wall portion and a rear wall portion opposite thereof, a cover adapted to cover the tray, the cover includes a proximal cover panel pivotally connected to the front wall portion and a distal cover panel pivotally connected to the rear wall portion such that the proximal cover panel and the distal cover panel are rotatable to cover the tray in a covering position, a securing mechanism adapted to secure the proximal cover panel to the tray, such that in the covering position, the proximal cover panel retains the distal cover panel in the covering position and is secured to the tray by the securing mechanism, and a handle pivotally connected to the cover, such that the handle is rotatable between an upright position perpendicular to the cover and a flat position onto and parallel to the cover.