Modular shelving and step assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shelving systems lack flexibility and adaptability to fit various spaces and configurations, particularly in limited areas like dormitories with bunk beds, where they fail to provide both storage and step functionality efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A modular shelving assembly comprising interlocking components with adjustable dimensions and locking features, allowing for customizable configurations without the need for tools, using a combination of male and female portions with specific apertures and posts that can be assembled into different shapes and sizes to accommodate various spaces and uses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional shelving systems are used, then basic storage functionality is provided, but flexibility and adaptability to fit various spaces and configurations are lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The shelving system is divided into modular components including shelf units, support legs, connectors, and optional step modules. Each component can be independently configured and reconfigured, allowing the system to adapt to various spaces while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized interfaces
Solution Approach 2:
The shelving components are designed with universal features such as standardized apertures, male and female portions, and locking mechanisms that enable the same basic components to serve multiple functions - creating shelves, steps, or combinations thereof - thereby improving adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity
2Ease of operation
If modular components with interlocking features are used, then ease of assembly and customization is improved, but the number of components and assembly steps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connector design features nested male and female portions that fit within each other, allowing components to interlock in a space-efficient manner. The male portion of one connector nests into the female portion of another, reducing the overall number of separate parts needed while maintaining ease of assembly through simple insertion and locking actions
3Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable shelving components are used, then versatility for different configurations is improved, but structural integrity and stability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanisms are pre-designed and pre-positioned on the connectors and support legs. The locking features (protrusions and recesses) are manufactured in predetermined locations, allowing users to assemble various configurations without requiring field modifications or compromising structural integrity - the stability is built into the design before assembly
Data Source
Figure 1A~1D
Figure 1E~1H
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
An assembly includes a plurality of shelving components and posts. The shelving components include a body, a male portion that extends from a first end of the body and a female portion that defines a void in an opposite, second end. The male portion is narrower and shorter than the body. The female portion is sized and shaped to receive the male portion of another shelving component. The shelving components also include first apertures defined by and extending through the male portion, and second apertures defined by and extending through the female portion. The posts are sized and shaped to be inserted into overlapping apertures of first and second shelving components, the overlapping apertures comprising (i) a first aperture in a male portion of the first component inserted into a female portion of the second component and (ii) a second aperture in the female portion of the second component.