Modular Storage Structure With Adjustable Ballast Bladder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Boating equipment is often left in boats for extended periods, risking damage from weather and theft, and transporting it to and from secure locations is time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A modular storage structure that can be assembled in a body of water, featuring a frame with adjustable legs and a bladder for buoyancy, allowing it to be secured above or floated on the water line, with a secure interior for equipment storage and adjustable legs for stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If equipment is left in the boat for extended periods, then accessibility to equipment is improved, but the equipment is exposed to weather damage and theft
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is divided into modular components including a frame, bladder, floor panels, and walls that can be assembled and disassembled. This allows the storage structure to be positioned in the water near the boat while maintaining secure enclosed storage, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and protection from harmful factors.
Solution Approach 2:
The storage structure acts as an intermediary between the boat and secure land-based storage. It provides a protected storage environment in the water that is accessible to boat users without requiring equipment to be left in the boat or transported to land, thus protecting from weather and theft while maintaining accessibility.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If equipment is transported to and from secure locations, then protection from weather and theft is improved, but time and effort are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The storage structure moves the storage function from the traditional land-based dimension to the water dimension, positioning it in the body of water near the boat. This dimensional change allows equipment to be protected from weather and theft while being immediately accessible from the boat, eliminating transportation time and effort.
3Ease of operation
If the storage structure uses a bladder for buoyancy, then ease of positioning in water is improved, but structural complexity is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The bladder serves multiple functions: providing buoyancy to keep the storage structure afloat, enabling easy positioning in the water, and potentially adjusting ballast for stability. This multi-functionality justifies the added component while improving ease of positioning without proportionally increasing complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides a secure, convenient storage solution for boating equipment, protecting it from weather and theft while reducing the need for frequent transportation.
Implementation Method 1
a bladder configured to be positioned through the interior space though the opening wherein the bladder is sized to be retained within the interior space whether the storage structure is above the water line or buoyant, the bladder including a vent, a fill port and a drain wherein an amount of water within the bladder is manipulated to provide ballast or buoyancy to the storage structure
Data Source
AI summary
A storage structure is configured to be buoyant or retained above a water line. The storage structure includes a frame having a back beam, a left beam attached to the back beam, a right beam attached to the back beam and a front beam attached to the left beam and the right beam to form a substantially rectangular configuration, wherein prior to a last of the beams being secured together an interior space accessible through an opening. The storage structure includes a bladder configured to be positioned through the interior space though the opening wherein the bladder is sized to be retained within the interior space whether the storage structure is above the water line or buoyant, the bladder including a vent, a fill port and a drain wherein an amount of water within the bladder is manipulated to provide ballast or buoyancy to the storage structure. The storage structure includes at least one floor panel secured to the frame over the bladder, side walls extending from a perimeter of the floor panel, wherein one side wall includes a door for ingress and egress to the storage structure. The storage structure includes a roof attached to the side walls.