Modular Storage Device with Plant Cover Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing street furniture for storing and recharging portable personal transport means, such as electric scooters and bicycles, lacks integration in natural environments and has limited modularity and high maintenance costs, particularly in parks and other plant-filled areas.
Innovation Solution
A device with a modular design featuring individual compartments equipped with access doors, an integrated electrical recharging circuit, photovoltaic panels, and a plant cover system, along with an irrigation system, allowing for better integration into urban environments and adaptable to various formats of transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual storage compartments with access doors are provided for each portable transport means, then secure storage and recharging capability is improved, but integration into natural environments such as parks with lawns and hedges deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies plant covers (hedges, lawns, or other vegetation) that conform to and cover the storage device envelope, allowing the rigid structure to integrate seamlessly into natural park environments. The plant covers act as flexible biological shells that hide the industrial structure while maintaining its functional integrity underneath.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs plant covers with varying green hues and natural vegetation that can change appearance based on season, growth stage, and lighting conditions. This allows the storage device to blend into different natural environments and avoid visual pollution while maintaining its structural form.
2Reliability
If fixed street furniture is installed for storage and recharging, then secure storage capability is improved, but maintenance and repair costs deteriorate due to lack of accessibility
Solution Approach 1:
The storage device is divided into modular compartments with individual access doors that can be independently opened. This segmentation allows maintenance personnel to access specific internal components without dismantling the entire structure, facilitating easy repair and maintenance while maintaining secure storage when doors are locked.
Solution Approach 2:
The access doors serve as intermediary elements between the secure enclosed storage space and the external environment. They provide controlled access points that allow maintenance personnel to reach internal components while maintaining security during normal operation, resolving the contradiction between secure storage and ease of repair.
3Use of energy by moving object
If photovoltaic panels are mounted on the envelope, then renewable energy utilization is improved, but available surface area for plant cover fixation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies photovoltaic panels only to specific portions of the envelope surface where they do not interfere with plant cover fixation areas. Different zones of the envelope are assigned different functions: some areas have photovoltaic panels for energy generation, while other areas remain free for plant cover attachment, allowing both functions to coexist without fully compromising either.
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
Enhances integration into urban settings, reduces maintenance costs, and provides a modular solution for different transport formats while utilizing renewable energy and efficient water management.
Implementation Method 1
the electrical circuit for recharging the portable personal means of transport comprises at least one photovoltaic panel mounted on one face of the envelope
Implementation Method 2
the device further comprises a device for irrigating the plant cover(s), comprising a water reservoir, a pump and at least one pipe for supplying water from the pump to the at least one portion free of the front face
Implementation Method 3
the irrigation device comprises, at the bottom of the at least one free portion of the front face and/or, where appropriate, of the side face, of the envelope, means for collecting water by gravity
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a device (2) for storing portable personal transport devices, comprising an enclosure (4) forming a plurality of individual compartments (6) for storing said portable transport devices, each equipped with an access door (8) to the compartment, capable of being selectively locked and unlocked; an electrical circuit (14) for recharging the portable personal transport devices; wherein the access doors (8) of the plurality of individual compartments (6) are arranged on a front face (4.1) and at least one side face (4.3) of the enclosure (4) so as to reserve at least a portion (4.1.1) of said front face (4.1.1), adjacent to the side face (4.3), free of access doors and provided with means for attaching (12) a covering.