Modular Cigarette Urn Assembly for Odor Control and Compact Shipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cigarette disposal solutions fail to effectively prevent litter, unpleasant odors, and fires while allowing for easy cleanup, and are often bulky and difficult to package and ship.
Innovation Solution
A modular cigarette urn design with multiple components that assemble into a self-standing upright position for use and disassemble for compact shipping, featuring a fire-resistant liner to prevent fires and odors, and easy cleaning and replacement of components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional ashtrays are used to extinguish cigarettes, then cigarette disposal is enabled, but unpleasant smells spread to the surrounding environment and fire hazards remain
Solution Approach 1:
The urn is divided into multiple separable components including a removable liner, base, and cover. This segmentation allows the liner to be easily removed for cleaning or replacement, enabling effective cigarette disposal while managing odors and fire hazards through proper material selection and design
Solution Approach 2:
The liner is designed as a disposable or easily replaceable component made from fire-retardant material. Once filled with cigarette waste, the liner can be discarded or replaced, eliminating the need for complex cleaning processes and ensuring continuous protection against smells and fire hazards
2Object-affected harmful factors
If containers are designed to prevent litter and odors, then environmental protection is improved, but clean-up becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The urn structure separates the waste-containing liner from the permanent base and cover components. This segmentation allows users to simply remove and replace the liner rather than cleaning the entire urn, maintaining effective litter and odor prevention while dramatically simplifying clean-up operations
Solution Approach 2:
The liner is extracted as a separate, removable component from the urn assembly. This extraction enables the liner to be easily removed for disposal or cleaning purposes while the main urn structure remains in place, solving the contradiction between preventing harmful factors and enabling easy clean-up
3Object-affected harmful factors
If cigarette urns are designed for effective waste containment, then litter and odor prevention is improved, but the containers become bulky and difficult to package and ship
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the urn into separate components (base, liner, cover), the design maintains effective waste containment when assembled while allowing compact packaging when disassembled. Each component can be efficiently packaged separately, reducing overall shipping volume compared to a solid monolithic container
Solution Approach 2:
The removable liner is designed to nest within the base when not in use, and the cover nests onto the assembly. This nesting capability allows the urn components to occupy minimal space during storage and shipping while providing full waste containment functionality when assembled for use
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
The design effectively prevents litter, odors, and fires by containing cigarette debris and smoke, allowing for easy cleanup and compact shipping, addressing the limitations of existing solutions.
Implementation Method 1
A fire retardant or heat resistant material may be lining an interior contour of a base of the multiple components
Implementation Method 2
heat resistant material may be lining an interior contour of a base
Data Source
AI summary
A cigarette urn and method of assembly of same that defines an interior passage for smoking debris to travel when multiple components of the urn are assembled into a self-standing, upright assembly condition. A top one of the multiple components has a sidewall opening. The multiple components may be disassembled from the self-standing, upright assembly condition into an overlapping assembly condition with the multiple components overlapping and taking up less overall volume that in the self-standing, upright assembly condition. A fire retardant or heat resistant material may be lining an interior contour of a base of the multiple components. The top one of the multiple components may be of substantially uniform diameter along a majority of its length.