Portable service table
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Solution Overview
Problem
Boaters and campers often lack sufficient table or preparation surfaces for meals and snacks, making meal preparation burdensome and undesirable.
Innovation Solution
A portable service table that can be moved between closed and open configurations, featuring a tabletop with a steering wheel recess and leg assemblies that can be expanded and extended for stability, allowing attachment to a steering wheel or independent use, providing additional surface area for food preparation and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If a portable service table is designed to be compact and portable, then it can be easily stored and transported, but it lacks sufficient table surface area for meal preparation
Solution Approach 1:
The tabletop is divided into two portions that can be hingedly connected or separated. When separated, the table provides a larger surface area for meal preparation; when connected, it forms a compact unit for storage and transport, resolving the contradiction between surface area and storage volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The table transitions between two-dimensional compact storage configuration and expanded three-dimensional usage configuration. The leg assemblies can be collapsed flat against the tabletop for compact storage, then extended to provide stable support for a large preparation surface, effectively utilizing spatial dimensions to resolve the area-volume contradiction.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the table is designed with expandable leg assemblies for stability, then it provides a stable surface, but it increases the complexity of the device
Solution Approach 1:
The leg assemblies are designed to be dynamically adjustable between collapsed and extended positions. This dynamic capability allows the table to transition from a compact portable state to a stable extended state, providing stability when needed while maintaining simplicity and portability when not in use.
3Area of moving object
If the table is designed to attach to a steering wheel, then it provides additional surface area, but it reduces adaptability to environments without a steering wheel
Solution Approach 1:
The table is designed with dual functionality: it can attach to a steering wheel via the recess and handle when on a boat, or stand independently using its leg assemblies when on land or in campsites. This multi-functionality allows the table to provide additional surface area while maintaining adaptability to various environments including those without a steering wheel.
Data Source
AI summary
A portable service table is moveable between a closed configuration and an open configuration. The portable service table includes a tabletop, a first leg assembly attached to the first portion, and a second leg assembly attached to the second portion. The tabletop has a first portion and a second portion. The first portion has a first portion top, a first portion bottom, and defines a steering wheel recess that extends from the first portion bottom toward the first portion top. The second portion is hingedly attached to the first portion. The second portion has a second portion first end, a second portion second end, and defines a second portion handle and a second portion passageway. The second portion handle is defined on the second portion second end. The second portion passageway is adjacent the steering wheel recess when said portable service table is in the closed configuration.