Connector for modular rack assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shoe racks are inflexible and lack stability due to insecure connectors, requiring additional back frames that increase material and manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A modular rack design with connecting assemblies featuring hooks and connectors that provide secure, tool-free assembly and disassembly, eliminating the need for a back frame by using resiliently biased wings and bumps for securement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional connectors are used to join shelves to support frames, then the rack can be assembled and disassembled, but the connection is not sufficiently secure or stable
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into multiple functional segments: a body portion that receives the shelf, a wing that engages with the support frame, and a lip that provides additional securing. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function optimally while working together to achieve both ease of assembly and connection stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The wing is designed to be resilient and movable, allowing it to flex during assembly and disassembly operations. The wing can be pushed inward to release the shelf and returns to its original position to secure the connection, providing dynamic adaptability that ensures both easy operation and reliable connection.
2Reliability
If a back frame is added to increase rack stability, then the connection becomes more secure, but material usage and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the back frame component from the traditional rack structure. Instead of adding a back frame for stability, the design achieves stability through the improved connector mechanism that directly joins shelves to support frames, thereby reducing material usage while maintaining or improving rack stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector acts as an intermediary element that provides the stabilizing function previously achieved by the back frame. The connector's wing and lip structures create secure mechanical engagement between shelves and support frames, serving as the mediating mechanism that eliminates the need for additional support structures.
3Device complexity
If traditional connectors are used, then the rack structure is simple, but the connection does not provide sufficient security
Solution Approach 1:
The connector merges multiple securing functions into a single integrated component. The body, wing, and lip are combined in one piece that simultaneously provides shelf reception, frame engagement, and additional securing through the lip structure, achieving enhanced connection security without proportionally increasing device complexity.
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
Enables flexible shape configuration and reduced material usage, lowering manufacturing and shipping costs while ensuring stability without additional support frames.
Implementation Method 1
Each wing resiliently biased against an inner wall of the well to secure the connector inside the well
Implementation Method 2
each hook having an opening extending therethrough... each wing has a bump positioned in the center of the inner surface of each wing that faces the space. Each hook is inserted through the elongated opening of a corresponding connector with the bump on each wing fitted inside the opening of the hook to retain the hook inside the body of the connector
Data Source
AI summary
A rack assembly has two support frames and at least one shelf that are secured to the support frames by connecting assemblies. Each connecting assembly comprises a well secured to a medial surface of each vertical tube of the support frame, and a hook that extends from each end of each shelf, with each hook having an opening extending therethrough. The connecting assembly also includes a connector that is seated inside each well, each connector having a top plate that has an elongated opening, the connector also having a body that is sized and configured to fit inside a well, the body defining two wings with a space between the wings, and wherein each wing has a bump positioned in the center of the inner surface of each wing that faces the space. Each hook is inserted through the elongated opening of a corresponding connector with the bump on each wing fitted inside the opening of the hook to retain the hook inside the body of the connector.