Self-locking Support Panel for Corrugated Container Bulge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shipping containers made of corrugated bulk materials often bulge during transportation due to shifting products, reducing their strength and storage efficiency, and existing solutions like increasing fiber content or adding corrugated liners are costly or difficult to secure effectively.
Innovation Solution
A shipping container design featuring self-locking support panels that fold down for access and provide additional corrugated sidewalls to enhance flexural rigidity, eliminating the need for additional fastening methods and allowing for orientation to maximize strength, which can be applied to weak areas or corners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a corrugated liner is added around the perimeter of the container, then bulging is reduced, but the liner is difficult to secure to the walls and requires vertical corrugation which reduces flexural rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The support panel incorporates a self-locking mechanism where the panel itself secures to the container walls through interlocking features. The panel has locking tabs that engage with corresponding slots in the container walls, allowing the panel to secure itself without requiring external fasteners or complex attachment procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The support panel changes the structural parameters of the container by adding rigid support elements with specific corrugation orientations. The panel can be configured with horizontal corrugation to maximize flexural rigidity, and its physical dimensions and material properties are optimized to provide the necessary structural reinforcement.
2Strength
If fiber content of the container material is increased, then bulging is reduced, but the cost of production increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly increasing fiber content throughout the entire container, the support panel applies localized reinforcement only at critical areas prone to bulging. This targeted approach provides necessary structural strength where needed while avoiding the cost increase associated with increasing fiber content across the entire container structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The support panel utilizes composite construction combining corrugated board with additional support structures. This composite design achieves high strength-to-weight ratio and effective bulge resistance without requiring excessive fiber content in the base container material.
3Strength
If the container sidewalls are made stronger to prevent bulging, then container strength is improved, but the container becomes more difficult to position side by side in trucks
Solution Approach 1:
The support panel system divides the container structure into modular segments with reinforced sections. The panel can be configured to cover specific wall sections or corners, providing strength where needed while maintaining flexibility in the overall container design for easy positioning and stacking.
Data Source
AI summary
A container comprises a body having a bottom wall, opposed side walls, and opposed end walls foldably joined with one another for holding and shipping different products contained therein. Each of the opposed side walls includes a respective first and second locking member. Two separate self-locking support panels each of which comprises a respective third and fourth locking members formed therein to be engaged with the corresponding first and second locking members in an overlapping relationship. Each of the first and second locking members is defined by a first locking tab and a first U-shaped slot that is formed by indentation of the first locking tab toward interior of the body of the container.