Nesting Table Top Design to Reduce Storage and Shipping Volume
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional banquet tables with large table tops are cumbersome due to their weight, requiring significant storage space and incurring high shipping and transportation costs, and often necessitate additional reinforcing members that increase weight and manufacturing complexity.
Innovation Solution
A table with a molded plastic top and a frame designed to nest with adjacent tables, reducing the overall height of stacked tables, constructed using a unitary, one-piece molding process that includes a nesting portion and cross members for enhanced strength and stability, allowing for easier assembly and reduced weight.
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 making it difficult to move and store
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from traditional heavy materials (wood, metal) to molded plastic, achieving a balance between strength and weight. The molded plastic table top provides sufficient structural strength while being significantly lighter than conventional materials, solving the contradiction between strength and portability.
2Strength
If additional reinforcing members, braces, brackets and support members are added to strengthen the table top, then the table top strength is improved, but the table weight increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the table top structure into a single integrated molded plastic component, eliminating the need for separate reinforcing members, braces, brackets and support members. This unified structure provides the necessary strength while dramatically reducing manufacturing complexity and assembly requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional banquet tables are designed with large table tops, then the table functionality is improved, but the storage space required increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nesting design where tables can be stacked and nested together when not in use. This allows multiple large-tabletop tables to occupy minimal storage space while maintaining their full functionality during use, effectively resolving the contradiction between table size and storage requirements.
4Strength
If fasteners are used to connect the frame to the table top, then the connection strength is improved, but the risk of fastener detachment and table top damage under large loads increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the frame connection directly into the molded plastic table top structure, eliminating separate fasteners. This monolithic connection method provides both the strength and reliability of a unified structure, preventing fastener detachment and table top damage under load while maintaining strong frame attachment.
Data Source
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AI summary
A table may be sized and configured to nest with another table to reduce a height of a plurality of stacked tables in a nested configuration. The table may include a nesting portion formed in an upper surface and sidewall of the table top. The table may also include a frame with one or more engaging portions sized and configured to be disposed in the nesting portion of an adjacent table when the tables are nested together. In addition, the table top may include a compression edge sized and configured to be disposed in a nesting portion of an adjacent table when the tables are nested together. The compression edge and engaging portions may be sized and configured to be simultaneously disposed in the nesting portion of the adjacent table when the table is nested with the adjacent table.