Lawn Refuse Bag Insert with Hinged Walls for Easy Filling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Lawn refuse bags often collapse or tip over, making them difficult to fill, and require both hands to lift and close, especially when using a rake, which not all users have.
Innovation Solution
A lawn refuse bag insert with a detachable rake and bag stand that holds the bag open, allowing one-handed operation and easy filling, and a handle assembly for secure closure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a flexible refuse bag is used, then the bag is easy to manufacture and dispose, but the bag collapses or tips over making it difficult to fill
Solution Approach 1:
A rigid support structure (insert) is introduced as an intermediary element between the flexible bag and the external environment. This insert provides structural stability and prevents collapsing while the flexible bag maintains its manufacturing and disposal advantages. The insert acts as a mediator that resolves the contradiction between flexibility and structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into two functional segments: the flexible disposable bag and the rigid reusable support structure. This segmentation allows each component to optimize its specific function - the bag for containment and disposal while the insert for structural support and stability during filling operations.
2Reliability
If both hands are used to carry and close the refuse bag, then secure closure is achieved, but the user cannot use hands to provide support to the bag during filling
Solution Approach 1:
The support function is moved from the horizontal plane (hands carrying the bag) to the vertical dimension (rigid insert providing internal support structure). This dimensional shift allows hands to be freed for filling operations while the insert maintains bag stability and orientation in the vertical axis.
Solution Approach 2:
The rigid insert provides self-supporting capability to the bag structure, eliminating the need for manual support during filling. The insert automatically maintains bag openness and stability, allowing the system to support itself without requiring continuous manual intervention.
3Productivity
If a long-handled rake is used, then lawn refuse can be gathered and lifted, but both hands are occupied navigating the rake
Solution Approach 1:
The rake is extracted from the filling operation entirely. The system separates the refuse gathering function (performed with rake) from the filling function (performed by dumping into the supported bag). This extraction eliminates the conflict of needing to navigate the rake while simultaneously filling the bag, as these become sequential rather than concurrent operations.
4Reliability
If sufficient space is left at the top end for closing, then the bag can be properly closed, but the bag cannot be filled to full capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The bag structure transitions from a static flexible form to a dynamically supported structure. The rigid insert provides a stable framework that maintains the bag's top end in an open, accessible position throughout the filling process, enabling both full capacity utilization and proper closure without the trade-off present in purely flexible bags.
Data Source
AI summary
A lawn refuse bag insert includes a rear wall disposed at a rear end of the lawn refuse bag insert; a first side wall hingedly coupled to the rear wall at a first side of the lawn refuse bag insert; and a second side wall hingedly coupled to the rear wall at a second side of the lawn refuse bag insert opposite the first side wherein a top edge of the lawn refuse bag insert is disposed at a top end of the lawn refuse bag insert, and wherein the top edge is substantially U-shaped.