Pivotable Inner Container for Tilt-Resistant Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Delicate goods, such as biological specimens and microplates, are often damaged during transportation due to tilting, which causes liquid spillage, nutrient depletion, and potential death of the specimens due to inadequate sealing and gravitational effects.
Innovation Solution
A transport device featuring a spherical cap outer container and a freely pivotable inner container with an eccentric center of gravity, allowing it to maintain an upright position despite tilting, and utilizing a liquid-filled interstice to reduce friction and ensure the inner container floats, thereby protecting the payload.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the transport box is tilted during transport, then the goods are protected from damage, but the liquid spills or drains out of the wells or channels
Solution Approach 1:
The transport device is divided into an outer container and an inner container that can pivot independently. The inner container is segmented into multiple wells or channels, each capable of maintaining its liquid level independently through the pivotable mechanism, preventing cross-contamination and spillage between sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner container is designed to pivot dynamically in response to tilting forces while maintaining stability. This dynamic adjustment allows the inner container to counteract external tilting motions, keeping liquids contained within their respective wells or channels even when the outer container is tilted during transport.
2Reliability
If the transport box is tilted during transport, then the goods are protected from damage, but the biological specimen may not return into the central groove
Solution Approach 1:
The inner container pivots dynamically to counteract tilting forces, maintaining a stable horizontal orientation for the biological specimen. This ensures that specimens remain in their central grooves and can return to their proper positions even when the outer container experiences tilting during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The pivotable inner container acts as a counterbalancing mechanism that offsets the effects of tilting. By allowing the inner container to rotate independently, it creates a stable reference frame that counteracts gravitational forces, keeping biological specimens in their correct positions within the wells.
3Reliability
If the transport box is tilted during transport, then the goods are protected from damage, but the culture liquid moves away from the biological specimen
Solution Approach 1:
The inner container pivots to maintain a horizontal orientation relative to gravity, ensuring that culture liquid remains in contact with biological specimens. This dynamic adjustment prevents liquid from moving away or pooling in incorrect positions, even when the outer container is tilted during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The pivotable inner container creates an equipotential environment for the culture liquid by maintaining a consistent gravitational reference frame. This ensures that liquid levels remain stable and evenly distributed across all wells, preventing separation between liquid and biological specimens during tilting events.
4Device complexity
If the inner container is fixed in the outer container, then the structure is simple, but the inner container cannot maintain upright position when tilted
Solution Approach 1:
The inner container is designed with pivotable connections that allow it to dynamically adjust its orientation in response to tilting forces. This dynamic capability enables the inner container to maintain an upright position relative to gravity while the outer container may be tilted, achieving stability without requiring complex active control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The pivotable inner container automatically adjusts its own orientation in response to external tilting forces without requiring external control. The mechanical design allows gravity and buoyancy forces to naturally guide the inner container into the correct upright position, providing self-regulating stability with minimal structural complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively prevents tilting-induced damage by maintaining the inner container's upright orientation, reducing friction, and ensuring the payload remains secure and undamaged during transport, even when the outer container is tilted.
Implementation Method 1
A transport device (10) is provided, comprising a first section (11a) of an outer container (11), wherein the first section comprises a shell on the inside having the shape of a spherical cap (12a)... an interstice (18) is defined between the inner diameter of the spherical cap of the first section of the outer container and the outer diameter of the spherical shape of the inner container. A volume of liquid (19) is disposed in said interstice
Implementation Method 2
The inner container (14) is designed in such way, or a counterweight is arranged in the inner container (14) in such way, that the center of gravity (22) of the inner container, when containing a payload (17), is arranged eccentrically below the inner container's rotational center (23)
Implementation Method 3
a first section (11a) of an outer container (11), wherein the first section comprises a shell on the inside having the shape of a spherical cap (12a)... an inner container (14) having an upper section (15b) a lower section (15a) and an inner hollow volume (16) defined thereby, wherein at least the lower section has a spherical shape on the outside
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a transport device comprising a first section of an outer container comprising a shell on the inside having the shape of a spherical cap with an inner diameter and an opening, wherein the opening of the spherical cap faces upwards, and an inner container having an upper section, a lower section and an inner hollow volume defined thereby, wherein at least the lower section has a spherical shape on the outside, the outer diameter of which is smaller than the inner diameter of the spherical cap of the outer container. The inner container is suitable to be arranged in the spherical cap of the outer container in a freely pivotable fashion, and is capable of accommodating a payload.