Removable Corner-Mounted Lighting Assembly for Insulated Containers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container systems, such as insulated coolers and toolboxes, often require expensive and difficult-to-repair integrated lighting solutions, which can be impractical for users who need interior illumination without the hassle of complex electrical connections or battery replacement.
Innovation Solution
A container apparatus with removable and battery-powered lighting assemblies that can be easily inserted and removed from the container, featuring elongate recesses at the corners to secure light members, allowing for independent operation and easy maintenance, and optionally including temperature altering elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If lights are electrically wired to the container itself, then the lighting system provides stable and reliable illumination, but the system becomes expensive and difficult to repair
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting system is segmented into a separate removable assembly that can be independently replaced. The light assembly includes its own battery compartment and electrical components, allowing it to be detached and replaced without affecting the container structure. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliable illumination through a dedicated lighting assembly while enabling easy repair through simple assembly replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The lighting system is extracted from the container structure as a separate functional unit. The light assembly with its battery pack and electrical wiring is removed as an independent component that can be easily replaced. This extraction allows the lighting system to maintain its own reliable electrical connections while being simple to replace by simply removing and reinstalling the entire assembly.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If lights are electrically wired to the container itself, then the lighting system provides consistent illumination, but battery replacement becomes difficult and impractical
Solution Approach 1:
The battery compartment is segmented as a separate accessible component within the light assembly. Users can open the battery compartment cover and replace batteries without disassembling the container or dealing with complex electrical connections. This maintains consistent illumination through proper battery installation while making battery replacement a simple user-friendly operation.
3Ease of repair
If a removable light assembly is used, then the lighting system becomes easy to replace and maintain, but the light may move during use
Solution Approach 1:
The light assembly merges multiple functions into a single integrated unit: the light source, battery compartment, and positioning features are combined into one assembly that attaches to the container. This allows easy replacement of the entire assembly while the integrated design includes features like recesses or engagement mechanisms that prevent movement during use, resolving the contradiction between ease of replacement and positional stability.
4Reliability
If complex electrical connections are required for lighting, then the lighting system can be firmly integrated, but the system becomes expensive and complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The complex electrical connections are extracted and contained within the removable light assembly itself. The assembly includes its own wiring, battery connections, and electrical components, eliminating the need for complex wiring between the container and lighting system. This maintains reliable lighting integration while significantly reducing overall system complexity and cost.
Data Source
AI summary
A container apparatus can include a container and an insert assembly. The insert assembly can include four elongate members. The four elongate members can include light emitting devices for illuminating the interior of the container and/or temperature altering elements for cooling and/or heating the interior of the container. The container can have a rectangular base and a rectangular sidewall extending upwardly from the base. The sidewall can define four corners of the container, and four elongate recesses can be formed in the sidewall proximate the four corners of the sidewall to receive the elongate light members. The recesses can be sized and shaped to conform to the elongate insert members so that the insert members can be releasably retained within the elongate recesses.