Movable Dunnage Supports in Shipping Containers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container designs for shipping and storage in the automotive industry are ergonomically unfriendly, requiring workers to perform stressful and time-consuming movements to access and remove parts, leading to physical trauma and increased production costs due to reduced efficiency and increased need for multiple containers.
Innovation Solution
A container design featuring a base, side walls with metal straps, vertically spaced tracks, movable dunnage supports, and a movable door assembly that allows for easier access and loading/unloading by reducing the need for workers to stretch or walk around the container, enabling products to be pulled forward for more ergonomic handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If parts are stored in a container requiring workers to walk around or reach into distal areas, then storage capacity is maximized, but worker ergonomics and access time deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The container employs movable dunnage supports that can be repositioned along tracks, allowing the storage configuration to dynamically adapt to access requirements. Workers can move dunnage supports to bring stored parts closer to the container opening, improving ergonomics without reducing storage capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The container utilizes multiple vertical levels or layers for storing parts, transitioning from a single-plane storage arrangement to a three-dimensional configuration. This allows parts to be accessed from the front without requiring workers to reach into the back, maintaining storage capacity while improving access ergonomics.
2Ease of operation
If container length is reduced to eliminate the need for workers to walk around, then worker safety and efficiency improve, but storage capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The container compensates for reduced length by utilizing vertical space through multiple levels. Parts are distributed across different heights, allowing the container to maintain storage capacity while having a shorter horizontal footprint, thus workers don't need to walk around.
Solution Approach 2:
Movable dunnage supports allow the container to optimize its effective storage length by repositioning support structures, maximizing storage capacity within a compact form factor that doesn't require worker circulation space.
3Quantity of substance
If parts are stored in lower portions of the container, then storage density increases, but worker ergonomics deteriorate due to bending and lifting
Solution Approach 1:
The movable dunnage supports can be easily repositioned along the tracks, allowing workers to bring lower-stored parts up to an ergonomic access height without permanent fixed structures. This maintains high storage density while enabling ergonomic access when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A container for holding product therein during shipment and being returned for reuse has a movable door assembly, front frame, tracks supported by opposite sides of the container, and a plurality of dunnage supports extending between the tracks. The dunnage supports may comprise multiple pieces including end members and a tubular support, the end members being movable in the tracks. The dunnage supports support dunnage, such as pouches, for supporting products during storage or shipment.