Plant Support Grid with Profiled Rods for Stable Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plant support grids are unstable when stacked, prone to entanglement, and difficult to unstack, especially when used with delicate materials.
Innovation Solution
A plant support grid design featuring support rods with a curved or angled open profile cross-section and a retaining ring connected via radially offset retaining bridges, allowing for stable stacking and easy unstacking by creating a locking mechanism that aligns and secures the support rods to the pot rim.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If support grids are stacked for storage and transport, then space utilization is improved, but the stacks become unstable and grids become entangled
Solution Approach 1:
The support grids are designed to nest within each other when stacked, with each grid fitting inside the previous one like nested dolls. This nesting arrangement maximizes space utilization while maintaining stability, as the conical shape and profiled rods prevent lateral movement and entanglement during stacking and unstacking operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The support grids feature a conical shape with curved profiled rods that have rounded cross-sections. This curvature allows the grids to nest smoothly within each other while the conical geometry provides inherent stability during stacking, preventing the grids from twisting or becoming entangled as they are pulled apart.
2Strength
If the retaining ring is rigid to provide secure attachment, then attachment strength is improved, but the grid becomes difficult to assemble and disassemble
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining ring incorporates flexible elements that allow it to dynamically adapt during assembly and disassembly. The flexible portions can deform to accommodate the conical shape of the support grid, enabling easy insertion and removal, while the rigid portions maintain secure attachment strength when the grid is in its operational position.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining ring is designed with varying rigidity parameters along its structure. Certain sections are made flexible with lower stiffness to enable easy assembly and disassembly, while other sections maintain higher rigidity to provide secure attachment. This parameter variation allows the retaining ring to transition between compliant during assembly and rigid during operation.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
Plant support grid (1) for arrangement on a plant pot (2), comprising at least one support ring (3) from which at least three support rods (4) project downwards, which are supported against an upper pot rim (23) by means of locking devices (11) at their bases, wherein the support rods (4) are connected via a retaining ring (5) which at least partially abuts a pot wall (21). In order to be able to stack and unstack the plant support grids properly, it is provided that the support rods (4), which project downwards in a blunt conical manner towards each other, each have a profile body (10) with a curved and/or at least simply angled, open profile cross-section and are connected to the closed, circumferential retaining ring (5) via at least one tab (7) that projects downwards laterally from the profile body (10).