Sealed Polymeric Dunnage Platform for Sanitary Cargo Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wooden dunnage platforms are unsuitable for international shipments due to the risk of importing wood-boring insects and are not sanitary, while plastic pallets require frequent cleaning and can harbor moisture and microbes, making them ill-suited for shipping foodstuffs and other products requiring sanitary conditions.
Innovation Solution
A load-bearing structure with a lightweight polymeric core covered by polymeric sheets or films, where the edges are sealed using sealing features like liquids, tapes, or heat to prevent moisture and microbial accumulation, and may include antimicrobial agents for enhanced hygiene.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wooden dunnage platforms are used for international shipments, then they provide adequate load-bearing capacity, but they risk importing wood-boring insects and are not sanitary
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from wood to plastic, fundamentally altering the properties of the dunnage platform. This material substitution eliminates the risk of wood-boring insects while maintaining load-bearing capacity, and the non-porous plastic surface prevents microbial harboring, thereby resolving the sanitary condition issue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction by combining a plastic core structure with a plastic skin or coating layer. This composite approach creates a dunnage platform that integrates the structural integrity of the core with the sanitary, non-porous surface properties of the skin, effectively preventing insect infestation and microbial growth while maintaining adequate load-bearing capacity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If plastic pallets are used to eliminate wood-boring insects, then they provide sanitary surfaces, but they require frequent cleaning and can harbor moisture and microbes in bonding imperfections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates light-reflecting properties or color-coded surface treatments on the plastic skin to enhance visibility of contamination. This allows for easier detection of dirt and microbes, enabling more effective cleaning monitoring and reducing the frequency of intensive cleaning operations while maintaining sanitary conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the surface parameter of the plastic skin to create a superhydrophobic or low-surface-energy coating. This parameter change prevents moisture adhesion and microbial attachment, causing contaminants to bead up and be easily wiped away, thereby reducing cleaning frequency and effort while eliminating harboring areas for microbes.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional bonding methods are used to attach plastic skin to core, then manufacturing is simplified, but bonding imperfections create hidden areas where moisture, dirt, and microbes can hide and accumulate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts or removes the bonding interface entirely by using mechanical interlocking features, snap-fits, or friction-fit mechanisms instead of adhesive bonding. This elimination of chemical bonding prevents the creation of hidden imperfections and crevices where contaminants could accumulate, while maintaining the integrity of the plastic skin attachment to the core structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the bonding process into multiple discrete, visible stages such as mechanical fasteners, clips, or interlocking elements distributed across the surface. This segmentation makes the entire bonding interface visible and accessible for cleaning, eliminating hidden areas where moisture and microbes could accumulate, while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through modular assembly.
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
The solution provides a sanitary and durable load-bearing structure that minimizes contamination risks, is easy to clean, and maintains hygiene, making it suitable for shipping sensitive products without the need for frequent cleaning.
Implementation Method 1
The edges of the sheets may be sealed to the polymeric core or to another polymeric sheet by a sealing feature including those formed, for example, using a sealing liquid, a chemical sealing composition, a sealing tape or by mechanical and/or heat sealing
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a movable load bearing structure with a surface that includes antimicrobial agents capable of eliminating, preventing, retarding or minimizing the growth of microbes and also minimizing cross-contamination when the load bearing structure is being reused for cargoes that differ from a previously transported cargo, for example, different food types, such as poultry, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit. The load bearing structure may be a dunnage platform or a container for storing and/or shipping cargo.