Molded plastic structures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tables with large tabletops made of wood or metal are heavy, expensive, and difficult to move and store, and those made of lightweight materials require additional structural components that increase weight and manufacturing costs, while also posing safety hazards and risking damage under heavy loads.
Innovation Solution
A table constructed from molded plastic with a unitary, one-piece design featuring a planar element and a molded plastic lip structure that extends along the perimeter, providing structural integrity and nesting capabilities to reduce stacked table height, and incorporating protruded features and a blow-molding process for enhanced strength and impact resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional tables use wood or metal tabletops, then strength and structural integrity are improved, but weight increases making the table difficult to move and store
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining plastic material with reinforcing elements (such as fibers, meshes, or structural cores) to create a tabletop that achieves the strength of metal or wood while maintaining the lightweight advantage of plastic. This composite construction allows the table to be both strong and easy to move, resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by applying reinforcing elements selectively in specific areas of the tabletop where strength is most needed (such as near support legs or high-stress zones) rather than uniformly throughout. This allows the table to achieve adequate strength with minimal additional weight, optimizing the strength-to-weight ratio.
2Weight of moving object
If lightweight materials are used for tabletops, then weight is reduced making the table easier to move, but structural integrity deteriorates requiring additional reinforcing members
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials construction where a plastic base material is combined with reinforcing elements (fibers, meshes, or structural cores) to achieve both lightweight properties and adequate structural strength. The composite structure provides the necessary strength without requiring heavy solid plastic or metal construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies reinforcing elements locally in areas of highest stress concentration rather than uniformly throughout the entire tabletop. This selective reinforcement maintains lightweight properties while providing sufficient strength where most needed, avoiding unnecessary weight addition.
3Strength
If additional reinforcing members and structural parts are added to lightweight tabletops, then strength is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the tabletop surface and reinforcing elements into a single integrated composite structure. Rather than assembling separate wooden planks, metal beams, and plastic panels, the reinforcing elements are embedded within or bonded to the plastic matrix during manufacturing, creating a unified structure that reduces assembly complexity and part count.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite material approach allows strength-enhancing elements to be incorporated directly into the tabletop material itself during the molding or fabrication process, rather than requiring separate attachment of reinforcing members. This integration simplifies both the structure and manufacturing compared to traditional multi-component assemblies.
4Strength
If additional fasteners and connection parts are used to assemble structural components, then structural integrity is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates due to increased assembly time and labor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the tabletop and supporting structural elements into an integrated molded plastic construction where connection points and joining features are formed as part of the single manufacturing process. This eliminates the need for separate fastening operations and reduces assembly steps while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite construction method allows reinforcing elements and connection features to be embedded or formed within the plastic matrix during molding, creating inherent structural connections without requiring separate fasteners or assembly operations for joining components.
5Ease of operation
If conventional fasteners are used to connect frame to tabletop, then ease of assembly is improved, but reliability deteriorates under heavy loads causing detachment or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the frame connection features directly into the molded plastic tabletop structure, creating integrated mounting points that are inherently bonded to the tabletop material. This eliminates the use of separate fasteners that can detach under load, while the connection remains easy to assemble through simple attachment of pre-formed connection elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite construction provides enhanced connection reliability by embedding reinforcing elements at connection points within the tabletop material, creating stronger attachment zones that resist detachment under heavy loads while maintaining ease of assembly through designed connection interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A plastic molded lip structure may extend along a perimeter of a planar element and may include an outer wall, an inner wall, structural portions, and protruded features. The outer wall may extend in a normal direction from the planar element. The inner wall may be disposed in an inward direction relative to the outer wall. The structural portions may be disposed along structural sections of the perimeter and may include first portions of the inner wall and of the outer wall. The first portions may be disposed parallel to the inner wall and separated from the first portions by a first distance along the structural sections. The protruded features may be interposed between two structural portions and an inner wall may be separated from second portions of the outer wall by a second distance that is greater than the first distance.