Rampable Crate Structure for Easy Riding Mower Unloading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crates for shipping and storing riding lawn mowers often result in an elevated center of gravity due to larger rear wheels, leading to space inefficiency and difficulty in removing the lawn mowers from the crates, especially at retail sales centers where manual pushing requires multiple persons.
Innovation Solution
A rampable crate design featuring a pallet with oblique rails and detachable posts that convert into a downward ramp, allowing the lawn mower to be driven off easily, maintaining a low center of gravity during storage and shipping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional pallet designs with transverse members are used, then the lawn mower can be securely held during storage and shipping, but the wheels become chocked and require multiple persons to push the mower off for display and sale
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is segmented into functional zones: transverse members provide secure holding during storage, while ramp members provide easy removal during sale. This segmentation allows different parts of the same structure to serve different functions - securing the mower during transport versus enabling easy removal at retail locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The pallet structure transitions from a static, restrictive configuration during storage to a dynamic, facilitating configuration during removal. The ramp members enable the mower to be pushed off easily, transforming the pallet from a restraining structure to an assisting structure for removal operations.
2Ease of operation
If the center of gravity is lowered for stable storage and shipping, then space efficiency improves, but the lawn mower becomes difficult to remove from the crate
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is divided into functional components: transverse members that stabilize the mower during storage and ramp members that facilitate easy removal. This segmentation allows the structure to maintain stability during storage while enabling easy removal when needed, resolving the contradiction between stability and ease of removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The ramp members act as intermediaries between the stable storage configuration and the removal process. They provide a mechanical advantage that reduces the effort needed to remove the mower, serving as a mediator that maintains stability during storage while facilitating easy removal at retail locations.
3Ease of manufacture
If frame-type packing crates without sidewalls are used, then assembly simplicity improves, but dust and dirt infiltration occurs requiring plastic sheeting enclosure
Solution Approach 1:
Flexible plastic sheeting is used to enclose the frame-type crate, creating a protective barrier that prevents dust and dirt infiltration while maintaining the assembly simplicity of the frame structure. This allows the benefits of both approaches: the ease of assembling frame crates and the protection against environmental contaminants.
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
Enables efficient storage, handling, and shipping of riding lawn mowers with a low center of gravity, facilitating easy removal at retail centers by allowing the lawn mower to be driven off the crate using the ramped configuration.
Implementation Method 1
the rails define an angled ramp upwardly towards the transverse end member and the posts being selectively disposed below the transverse end member and extending laterally therefrom define a downward ramp from the pallet in order for the lawn mower to be driven from the pallet
Data Source
AI summary
A rampable crate for riding lawn mowers in which a pallet connects to a top frame with a plurality of posts, and the pallet includes a pair of spaced-apart rails disposed at an oblique angle as an upward ramp to an edge of the pallet for travel of the rear wheels of the riding lawn mower with the posts selectively extending from the edge of the pallet to define a downward ramp from the pallet in order for the lawn mower to be driven off the pallet. A method of removing a riding lawn mower from a crate is disclosed.