Modular Stackable Merchandise Trays With Vertical Flute Orientation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing merchandise trays made from corrugated cardboard have weak side panels due to horizontal flute orientation, leading to low resistance against external forces, and are cumbersome to transport and stack, resulting in high shipping costs and potential damage.
Innovation Solution
Designing merchandise trays with modular construction and universal lateral insert units, where all side panels have vertically oriented flutes for enhanced strength, and incorporating upstanding U-shaped mounting tabs and complementary openings to secure trays together, allowing for secure stacking without adhesives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If trays are made from one-piece blank construction with length over 100 inches, then the trays can be fabricated with standard corrugators, but the blanks become difficult to load and unload from transport trucks, requiring expensive equipment and increasing shipping costs
Solution Approach 1:
The tray blank is divided into multiple smaller blanks, each under 100 inches in length. These segmented blanks are then assembled together using corner templates and fasteners to form the complete tray structure, making them easier to handle during loading and unloading while maintaining fabrication feasibility
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple tray blanks are nested within each other during storage and transport, with smaller blanks placed inside larger ones. This nesting arrangement maximizes space utilization in the transport vehicle and simplifies loading/unloading operations while preserving the ability to fabricate trays from standard-sized blanks
2Ease of manufacture
If corrugated board is fed into corrugator with flutes oriented horizontally to match tray side panels, then the trays can be fabricated with standard equipment, but the side panels have low strength to resist external forces
Solution Approach 1:
The tray structure uses asymmetric reinforcement where corner templates and vertical support members are strategically positioned at critical locations rather than uniformly distributed. This asymmetric arrangement provides enhanced strength where needed while maintaining compatibility with standard corrugator fabrication
Solution Approach 2:
The tray construction combines multiple materials and structures: corrugated board for base panels, additional reinforcement layers at corners and edges, and metal or rigid plastic fasteners and templates. This composite approach creates side panels with superior strength to resist external forces while still using standard horizontal flute orientation
3Ease of operation
If mounting tabs are located at the four corners of the tray, then trays can be stacked securely, but the mounting construction provides weak resistance to lateral impact forces
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting tab structure incorporates local reinforcement at strategic positions along the tray edges, not just at the corners. Additional mounting tabs or reinforced edges are placed at intermediate locations to provide distributed impact resistance while maintaining secure stacking capability through the corner tabs
Data Source
AI summary
A stackable merchandise tray is formed in a modular fashion with a rectangular base casing having a selected width and two identical insert units are mounted within the left and right sides of the base casing. The tray has two horizontal U-shaped upstanding mounting tabs located at the top edge of each of its two side panels and four complementary rectangular mounting openings formed adjacent to the lower lateral edges of its bottom panel. A reinforcing tab extend juxtapose to a side of each of the U-shaped upstanding mounting tabs to provide additional strength in resisting external lateral force exert on a plurality of the trays stacked together.