Modular Animal Cage Base With Interlocking Transverse Constraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional cages for pets, such as rabbits, lack flexibility in terms of dimensions and formats, making it difficult to adapt the size of the cage to specific needs, such as accommodating more animals or larger animals, without requiring significant space or leading to excessive dimensions when needs change.
Innovation Solution
A modular base and bottom for animal cages featuring interchangeable base modules with constraining elements that provide high dimensional stability, flexibility, and ease of assembly and disassembly, allowing for customizable sizes and secure containment of animals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional cages are replaced with larger ones to accommodate more animals or larger animals, then the cage can hold more animals, but the space requirement increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The cage base is divided into multiple interchangeable modular units that can be connected together. Each module has a standardized coupling mechanism allowing them to be assembled in different configurations. This segmentation enables the cage capacity to be adjusted by adding or removing modules without requiring a completely different cage design, thus resolving the contradiction between accommodating more animals and maintaining reasonable space requirements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the cage size is increased to accommodate more animals, then the cage can hold more animals, but the difficulty of cleaning increases
Solution Approach 1:
The base is segmented into separate modular units with standardized coupling mechanisms. This segmentation allows the cage to be disassembled into individual modules for cleaning, making it easier to access and clean different areas compared to a monolithic cage structure. Each module can be removed and cleaned independently, improving ease of cleaning while maintaining the ability to accommodate more animals through modular expansion.
3Adaptability or versatility
If modular base modules are used to provide flexibility in size, then the cage can be adapted to different needs, but the complexity of assembly and disassembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The modular base units are designed with universal coupling mechanisms that work the same way regardless of which modules are being connected. The coupling system is standardized across all modules, allowing any module to connect to any other module using the same procedure. This universality simplifies assembly and disassembly operations despite the increased number of potential configurations, resolving the contradiction between dimensional adaptability and assembly complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular base for an animal's cage comprises a first base module, a second base module and constraining elements configured to stably constrain the first base module and the second base module. In particular, the constraining elements extend mainly along a transverse direction, preferably perpendicular, to a main lying plane of the modular base so as to generate a geometric interference to a mutual movement between the first base module and the second base module along a direction parallel to the lying plane.