Modular Container Assembly for Confined Oil Platform Spaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shipping containers are rigid and difficult to maneuver in the deck, topside, and hood areas of oil platforms due to interference with structures, piping, and equipment, limiting their installation to strategic storage locations and causing inefficiencies in mobility and ergonomics.
Innovation Solution
A disassemble and configurable modular container with vertical sliding features and 90° crossheads that allow expansion and configuration changes, enabling easy assembly and disassembly by two employees without the need for cranes, and can be adjusted in height and layout to fit various environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional rigid containers are used, then structural strength and stability are ensured, but mobility and ease of installation in confined spaces deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into modular segments that can be easily assembled and disassembled. The modular design allows the container to be broken down into smaller components for easy manual handling and reconfiguration, resolving the contradiction between structural integrity and ease of installation in confined spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The container employs dynamic adjustment mechanisms including telescopic walls and adjustable height configurations. These features allow the container to adapt its dimensions and shape during installation and operation, enabling easy maneuverability in confined spaces while maintaining structural strength when assembled.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional fixed-size containers are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different storage locations and configurations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container uses standardized modular segments that can be manufactured using simple, repeatable processes. These modular units can be assembled in various configurations to adapt to different storage locations and space requirements, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving high adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The container design incorporates universal connection interfaces and standardized components that enable the same modular units to serve multiple functions and be configured in various arrangements. This universality allows a single manufacturing process to produce containers adaptable to diverse installation locations and operational requirements.
3Stability of the object's composition
If conventional containers with unique structure are used, then structural stability is achieved, but ease of manual assembly and disassembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container is segmented into modular units with standardized connection points designed for easy manual assembly. The segmentation allows two employees to assemble or disassemble the entire container without requiring cranes or complex equipment, while the modular connections maintain structural stability when assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
The container incorporates dynamic assembly features including telescopic walls and adjustable components that can be easily manipulated by hand. These dynamic elements allow for simple manual assembly and disassembly while maintaining structural integrity during operation through proper engagement of connection mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention refers to a disassemble and configurable modular container for strategic areas that have the potential for using space of oil platforms. The disassemble and configurable modular container of the present application is made of plates that allow expansion and variation in height due to the vertical sliding feature, in addition to changing its configuration through fitting crossheads, without the need to use a crane for mobilizing the container in the unit, as it can be easily assembled/disassembled by two employees. Furthermore, the detachable and configurable modular container as described herein, is molded to the layout of the environment available due to its height adjustment and configuration variation (single piece or “L”, “T” or “U” shaped), and hence, it overcomes the difficulties that aerial interference, such as lines, gutters and pipes from equipment and structures inherent to the site, can cause.