Modular Booth Seating with Cleat Assembly for Flat-Pack Shipping

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing modular booth seating is often bulky, heavy, and costly to ship due to being pre-assembled, making it inaccessible and unaffordable for many businesses, while also posing challenges in providing both ease of assembly and durability.

Innovation Solution

A modular seating system featuring a cleat system with angled cleats and recesses that allows for disassembly and reassembly, enabling cost-effective, durable, and aesthetically pleasing seating arrangements that can be shipped in kit form for assembly at the customer location, using a top cap to secure the back panel segments without additional fixtures.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If booth seating is pre-assembled and shipped ready to install, then installation convenience is improved, but shipping costs and weight increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinstallation convenienceVSAvoidshipping weight

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The booth seating is divided into multiple modular components including back panel segments, seat sections, and base elements that can be shipped separately and assembled on-site. This segmentation reduces shipping weight and costs while maintaining ease of installation through standardized connection mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Connection elements such as cleats, receptors, and alignment features are pre-configured on each modular component during manufacturing. This preliminary preparation of connection interfaces ensures that assembly at the destination is simple and straightforward, equivalent to pre-assembled convenience without the shipping burden.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Ease of operation

If modular seating is designed for easy assembly, then ease of operation is improved, but structural strength and durability may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of assemblyVSAvoidstructural durability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The connection functionality is extracted into separate, dedicated components such as cleats and receptors that are integrated onto the modular sections. This allows the main structural elements to remain simple and easy to assemble while the specialized connection components provide robust joining capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Connection elements are nested within or integrated onto the modular components during manufacturing. For example, cleats are attached to back panel segments and seat sections, and receptors are built into the corresponding mating surfaces. This nesting ensures strong structural connections while keeping the assembly process simple for the end user.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Data Source

PatentUS10524580B1Seating devices, methods, and assemblies

Publication Date: 2020.01.07 BEAUFURN LLC

AI summary

A seating arrangement may include a rear panel, a back panel adjoining the rear panel, a base box mating with the back panel, a seat supported by the base box, at least one removable back panel segment; and a top cap covering and/or securing the at least one back panel. The seating arrangement may also include a cleat system for adjoining the back panel segments to the back panel.