Retail Shipping Container with Steering Lid and Stable Fork Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shipping containers are either too large and cumbersome for retail environments or too small and unstable for transporting multiple items securely, requiring labor-intensive loading and unloading processes.
Innovation Solution
A shipping container design featuring a base with caster wheels, a peripheral wall, and a removable lid that can be oriented for closure or steering, with fork lift channels and a framework for stability, allowing for secure stacking and maneuverability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If shipping containers are made large to transport multiple items securely, then transport capacity is improved, but maneuverability and ease of handling in retail environments deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The shipping container is divided into modular units with standardized dimensions that can be stacked and handled as individual modules. Each module is sized to be manageable in retail environments while maintaining adequate capacity for multiple items, resolving the contradiction between transport capacity and maneuverability.
Solution Approach 2:
The container design incorporates multiple functions: it serves as both a transport vehicle for multiple items and a manually maneuverable unit for retail environments. The standardized base with caster wheels and forklift channels enables the same container to be efficiently transported by mechanical means when full and easily handled when partially filled or in retail settings.
2Ease of operation
If shipping containers are made small for ease of handling in retail environments, then maneuverability is improved, but stability and security for transporting multiple items deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making containers smaller for handling and accepting reduced stability, the invention inverts the approach by designing containers with inherent stability features (framework, base structure) that maintain reliability even at sizes suitable for manual handling. The base with integrated caster wheels and forklift channels provides structural integrity that ensures stable transport of multiple items.
3Productivity
If traditional loading and unloading methods are used, then labor flexibility is maintained, but time consumption and labor intensity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The container is pre-equipped with caster wheels and forklift channels during manufacturing, so that mechanical loading and unloading methods can be immediately employed without additional equipment or complex procedures. This preliminary integration of handling features enables fast loading/unloading while maintaining relatively simple container structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
A shipping container (100) is configured to transport goods from a distribution center, to a retail location, and onto the sales floor of the retail location. The shipping container glides on wheels (108) and is stackable. The shipping container is configured to receive forklift forks from multiple sides. At least one of the channels (114) includes a surrounding framework (116) to safeguard against tilting. The lid (106) is selectively mountable in two orientations to close the container or to provide handles for propelling and/or steering the shipping container. An expandable storage location for empty packaging is provided at an exterior of the shipping container.