Modular Office Storage Assembly With Universal Hanger Brackets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modular office storage systems often require specific configurations, limiting their versatility and compatibility with different furniture systems, making them difficult to design and costly to produce.
Innovation Solution
A storage unit assembly with slotted hangers and modular components, including a bottom panel, top panel, end panels, hanger brackets, and a removable back panel, that can be easily attached and detached to various office furniture units, allowing for versatile installation in multiple configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If storage units are designed with specific configurations for different furniture systems, then compatibility with various office furniture units is improved, but device complexity and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The storage unit is designed with universal mounting brackets featuring slots that can accommodate different furniture hanger systems. The brackets can be configured in multiple ways (single bracket, dual brackets, stacked arrangements) to work with various furniture unit types and sizes, allowing one basic storage unit design to serve multiple furniture systems without requiring system-specific components.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system is divided into separable components: the basic storage unit case, universal mounting brackets, and optional reinforcement brackets. These segmented components can be selectively assembled and configured depending on the specific furniture system being used, reducing the need for completely different storage unit designs for each furniture type.
2Ease of operation
If storage units are designed to be easily rearranged and reconfigured, then ease of operation is improved, but structural stability may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The storage unit employs a dynamic mounting system where brackets can be easily detached and repositioned on slotted hangers, allowing frequent rearrangement. The modular design enables quick assembly and disassembly without permanent fastening, facilitating easy reconfiguration of office layouts while maintaining stability during each configured state.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting brackets are pre-designed with slot configurations that align with standard furniture hanger patterns. This preliminary design allows the brackets to be universally applicable and quickly installed without requiring complex alignment or adjustment during rearrangement, maintaining both ease of operation and structural integrity.
3Ease of manufacture
If storage units use standardized components across different systems, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but adaptability to specific furniture configurations may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The universal mounting bracket incorporates adjustable parameters including slot positions, bracket spacing, and orientation options. By changing these parameters through simple reconfiguration rather than redesign, the same standardized component can adapt to different furniture configurations, maintaining both manufacturing efficiency and configuration flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting bracket serves as an intermediary component between the standardized storage unit case and the various furniture hanger systems. This mediator translates between different furniture interface requirements and the uniform storage unit mounting points, allowing standardized production of storage units while maintaining adaptability to specific furniture configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
An office furniture unit has an outer face with slotted hangers, and a removable storage unit assembly including a bottom panel positioned in a generally horizontal orientation along the office furniture unit, and a top panel disposed above and generally parallel with the bottom panel. First and second panels are disposed at opposite ends of the top and bottom panels and are connected therewith to define a rigid, box-shaped case having an open back portion. The first and second end panels have rear portions with multiple vertically spaced slots. First and second hanger brackets have a rear portion with first hooks selectively received in the slotted hangers of the office furniture units, and a forward portion with second hooks selectively received in the slots in the rear portions of the first and second end panels to detachably support the case against the outer face of the office furniture unit.