Interlocking Shipping Container With Adjustable Cross Members
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in efficiently shipping glass panels of varying sizes and quantities, particularly in custom window and door manufacturing, where standard shipping container dimensions do not align with customer demands, leading to increased packaging and handling costs and potential breakage.
Innovation Solution
An interlocking, self-supporting shipping container system with adjustable cross members and interlocking features such as tongue-in-groove, tabs, and castellations allows for easy assembly and disassembly without mechanical fasteners, accommodating non-standard unit sizes and quantities by restraining shipping units against vertical motion and distributing external loads effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If standard shipping container dimensions are used, then shipping efficiency and cost are optimized for standard quantities, but accommodation of non-standard unit sizes and quantities is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into modular panels (front, rear, left, right, top, bottom) that can be independently assembled and disassembled. Each panel can be configured with different numbers and positions of recesses, allowing the container to be segmented into various internal configurations to accommodate different quantities and sizes of glass units.
Solution Approach 2:
The container structure transitions from a fixed, rigid design to a dynamic, reconfigurable system. Panels can be added or removed, and recesses can be positioned at different heights and locations, enabling the container to adapt its internal geometry to match varying shipping requirements for glass units of different sizes and quantities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If custom packaging is created for each order, then customer-specific requirements are met, but packaging and handling time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The container panels are pre-manufactured with standardized interlocking features and can be stored in a disassembled state. When an order needs to be packaged, the appropriate panels are quickly assembled into the required configuration using the pre-designed recesses and protrusions, significantly reducing packaging time compared to creating custom packaging from scratch for each order.
Solution Approach 2:
The same set of modular panels can be used to create multiple different container configurations for various customer orders. The panels are universal components that can be arranged differently to accommodate different quantities and sizes of glass units, eliminating the need to create entirely new packaging for each order.
3Productivity
If glass units are stacked vertically in fixed-quantity sets, then container capacity is fully utilized, but flexibility to accommodate varying customer demands is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the container interior can have different characteristics through the strategic placement of recesses in specific panels at specific heights. This allows certain areas to be optimized for holding larger quantities of standard-sized units while other areas can be configured for smaller or non-standard units, enabling the container to maintain high capacity utilization while adapting to varying customer demands.
Data Source
AI summary
A shipping container system comprises a bottom panel, a plurality of side panels, and a top panel, each with interlocking features. The side panels interlock with the bottom panel to assemble a self-supporting shipping container. A plurality of horizontally oriented slots are formed in an opposing pair of the side panels, and arranged at different heights between the bottom panel and a top edge of the side panels. A cross member is positioned at a selected height by insertion into an opposing pair of the slots, in order to restrain one or more shipping units against vertical motion inside the shipping container. The top panel interlocks with the side panels to cover the shipping container, and is spaced above the plurality of shipping units at a clearance maintained by the cross member.