Nesting Blow-Molded Table Structure for Compact Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tables are heavy, expensive, and require additional reinforcing members that increase weight and manufacturing costs, while also posing safety hazards and being difficult to move and store due to their design and materials.
Innovation Solution
A table design featuring a lightweight, blow-molded plastic table top with a frame and legs that are movable between collapsed and extended positions, allowing for efficient storage and transportation, and a nesting mechanism that reduces the height of stacked tables, facilitating easier handling and cost-effective manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If table tops are constructed from wood, particle board or metal, then the table top strength and durability are improved, but the table weight increases and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials by combining a plastic table top with wood grain or stone grain visual characteristics with a lightweight internal structure. The table top incorporates a core material (such as honeycomb structure, foam, or balsa wood) sandwiched between plastic skins, creating a composite structure that provides both strength and lightweight properties simultaneously.
2Strength
If additional reinforcing members or structural components are added to light-weight table tops, then the table top strength is improved, but the table weight increases and device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the reinforcing members with the table top structure itself by integrating ribs, beams, or trusses directly into the table top's internal architecture. These structural elements are formed as integral parts of the table top during manufacturing, eliminating the need for separate attachment operations and reducing overall assembly complexity while maintaining strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes thin plastic skin layers that are molded into complex three-dimensional shapes with built-in structural features. These thin films and shells are formed with integrated ribs, contours, and geometric patterns that provide structural reinforcement without requiring additional heavy components, achieving strength through intelligent geometry rather than mass.
3Strength
If conventional fasteners are used to connect the frame to the table top, then the connection strength is improved, but the risk of detachment under load increases and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates traditional fasteners (screws, bolts, nails) from the connection system between the frame and table top. Instead, it employs integrated connection mechanisms such as interlocking joints, snap-fit connections, or mechanically locked features that are built into the table top structure during molding, removing the weak points associated with conventional fastening methods.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the legs are in extended position for use, then the table functionality is improved, but the storage space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic leg assemblies that can transition between extended and retracted positions. The legs are designed with telescoping mechanisms, sliding tracks, or folding joints that allow them to extend outward when the table is in use and collapse inward or fold parallel to the table top when storage is required, enabling the table to adapt its configuration based on operational needs.
Data Source
AI summary
A table may be sized and configured to nest with an adjacent table to reduce a height of a plurality of stacked tables in a nested configuration. The table may include a table top with a round or circular configuration and the table top may have a receiving portion, a downwardly extending lip, a contact surface and an engaging portion. The contact surface may have a ring-shaped configuration and be sized and configured to contact an upper surface of a table top of an adjacent table when the table is nested with the adjacent table. The engaging portion may also have a ring-shaped configuration and may be sized and configured to be disposed in a receiving portion of a table top of the adjacent table when the table is nested with the adjacent table.