Bottle rack and kit for bottle-supporting assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bottle racks face challenges in manufacturing, transportation, and assembly efficiency, while also requiring custom fabrication and installation, which increases costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A modular, wall-mountable bottle rack design featuring an elongate portion with support bars and panels, where the support bars are cantilevered and secured through apertures or grooves, allowing for easy assembly and adjustable configurations, and a kit for assembling the bottle-supporting assembly with fasteners, enabling versatile and space-efficient storage solutions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional bottle racks are custom fabricated and installed, then structural soundness and customization are improved, but manufacturing efficiency and assembly complexity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The bottle rack is divided into separate modular components including panels, support bars, and mounting brackets that can be manufactured independently and assembled together. The panels contain pre-formed apertures, support bars are separate elements, and mounting brackets are distinct components, allowing each part to be produced efficiently through standardized processes rather than custom fabrication.
Solution Approach 2:
The panels are designed with multiple apertures that can accommodate different configurations of support bars, allowing the same panel to serve multiple bottle rack arrangements. The mounting brackets can be positioned at various locations on the panel, providing universal adaptability for different installation scenarios without requiring custom fabrication.
2Strength
If conventional bottle racks require custom fabrication and installation, then structural soundness is improved, but assembly complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support bars are pre-attached to the panels during panel manufacturing, creating a pre-assembled unit that maintains structural integrity. The mounting brackets are also pre-positioned on the panels with alignment features, so that field installation simply requires attaching the pre-configured panel assembly to the wall, dramatically reducing on-site assembly complexity while preserving structural soundness.
Solution Approach 2:
The panel serves as an intermediary component that combines the mounting brackets and support bar attachments in a single manufactured element. This intermediate assembly acts as a mediator between the wall mounting system and the bottle support function, simplifying the overall assembly process while maintaining structural integrity through controlled manufacturing joints.
3Reliability
If support bars are securely fastened to the elongate portion, then stability and reliability are improved, but manufacturing precision and assembly difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves are pre-formed on the elongate portion during manufacturing, establishing precise alignment features before assembly. The support bars are designed with corresponding engagement features that fit into these grooves, ensuring proper alignment is achieved through the pre-configured geometry rather than requiring high-precision alignment during assembly operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove geometry is designed to automatically guide and align the support bars during insertion, allowing the components to self-align through their inherent geometric features. The tapered or shaped grooves create a self-aligning mechanism where the support bar naturally positions itself correctly as it is inserted and secured, eliminating the need for complex alignment procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
A bottle rack includes a bottle-supporting assembly having an elongate portion and support bars connected to the elongate portion, with the support bars being spaced longitudinally along the elongate portion and suitable to support bottles therebetween; and a panel having support bar apertures suitable for the support bars of the bottle-supporting assembly to extend through. The bottle-supporting assembly is secured onto the panel with the support bars extending through the apertures of the panel and the support bars are suitable to support the bottles such that the bottles are substantially perpendicular to the support panel. The bottle supporting assembly may be supplied in the form of a kit.