Storage receptacle stacking system
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a reliable and efficient ready-to-assemble storage receptacle stacking system that allows for easy engagement and disengagement of open box style five-sided receptacles for flexible storage solutions.
Innovation Solution
A storage receptacle stacking system comprising open rectangular prism receptacles with a set of side panels and a back panel, where each receptacle is removably engaged with others using a set of mechanical fasteners, such as split ring captured pin fasteners, allowing for various orientations and configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If receptacles are removably engaged using mechanical fasteners to enable easy assembly and disassembly, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability may deteriorate due to potential loosening under vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system transitions from static rigid connections to dynamic adjustable connections. The receptacles can be easily assembled and disassembled by simply pushing them together, while the compliance features allow the connection to dynamically adapt to vibration and misalignment, maintaining reliability without compromising ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameters of the connection interface by incorporating compliance features that allow for controlled deformation. This enables the connection to accommodate vibration and manufacturing tolerances while maintaining secure engagement, resolving the contradiction between easy assembly and vibration resistance
2Reliability
If receptacles are designed with compliance features to resist vibration, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional structural elements
Solution Approach 1:
The compliance features are integrated as localized segmented elements within the existing panel structures rather than adding separate complex vibration-resistant components. This segmentation allows vibration resistance to be achieved through simple geometric features that are already part of the receptacle structure
Solution Approach 2:
The compliance features are self-adjusting structural elements that automatically accommodate vibration and misalignment without requiring additional active components or complex mechanisms. The structure serves its own vibration resistance function through its geometric design, eliminating the need for separate vibration-damping systems
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple orientation configurations are enabled for stacking receptacles, then adaptability is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase to ensure proper engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The compliance features transform the rigid precision-dependent connection into a dynamic system that can accommodate manufacturing variations. The receptacles can be engaged in multiple orientations without requiring tight tolerances because the compliance features absorb the misalignment, enabling versatility while reducing manufacturing precision requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the engagement parameters by allowing controlled deformation through compliance features. This enables multiple stacking configurations with relaxed tolerance requirements, as the compliance features adjust the effective engagement parameters to accommodate variations in manufacturing precision
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a storage receptacle stacking system comprising a set of receptacles. Each receptacle is an open rectangular prism defined by, a back panel, which has a top edge, a bottom edge, a right edge, and a left edge, and a first back panel surface, and a set of side panels. The set of side panels has top, bottom, left, and right panels. Each receptacle is removably engaged to at least one other receptacle by a first set of fasteners. For each receptacle, at least one of the panels in the set of side panels is adjacent to and parallel with at least one of the panels in the set of side panels of another receptacle, and any one of the panels in the set of side panels may be engaged in the alternative with any one of the panels in the set of side panels of any other receptacle.