Material Handling Cart With Protective Engaging Members
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional material handling carts are inadequate for transporting precision components as they fail to protect machined or polished surfaces from damage due to metal-to-metal contact, and there is a need for a cart that can securely move multiple precision parts while preventing damage.
Innovation Solution
A material handling cart with a frame, wheels, and adjustable engaging members made of protective materials like polymer or foam to prevent damage, along with stacking features that allow multiple carts to be securely stacked and moved together.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If simple wheeled carts are used to transport precision components, then the cart structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the precision components cannot be protected from damage during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces engaging members with protective surfaces (polymer, foam, or rubber) as intermediaries between the metal cart frame and the precision components. These engaging members contact the components directly, preventing metal-to-metal contact and potential damage while maintaining the simple cart structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cart combines different materials in the engaging members - metal frame structure with polymer, foam, or rubber contact surfaces. This composite approach provides both structural strength and protective properties, resolving the contradiction between simple construction and component protection.
2Productivity
If multiple precision parts are transported together on a cart, then transportation efficiency is improved, but the risk of damage between parts increases
Solution Approach 1:
The engaging members provide localized protective surfaces at specific contact points where components rest on the cart. This localized protection allows multiple components to be transported together without requiring the entire cart surface to be protective, maintaining efficiency while preventing damage.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If engaging members are made of protective materials like polymer or foam, then component protection is improved, but the engaging members may deform under heavy loads
Solution Approach 1:
The engaging members combine metal structural components with protective polymer, foam, or rubber surfaces. The metal provides strength and load-bearing capacity while the protective material surfaces prevent component damage, resolving the contradiction between protection and strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent offers different protective material options (polymer, foam, rubber) with varying properties, allowing selection based on specific component requirements and load conditions. This parameter variation enables optimization of both protection and strength for different applications.
Data Source
AI summary
A material handling cart is provided having a frame with engaging members for supporting a part carried by the cart. Each engaging member has an adjustable engaging surface that may include a material for protecting a corresponding surface of the part from damage. A plurality of wheels are each attached to the lower surface of the frame. A plurality of upper supports are attached to and extend upward from the frame, and lower stacking members are attached to and extend downward from the frame. Each upper support is configured for stacking engagement with a lower stacking member of a second material handling cart identical to the cart, to stack the second cart above the cart; and each lower stacking member is configured for stacking engagement with an upper support of a third material handling cart identical to the cart, to stack the cart above the third material handling cart.