Spring-Loaded Container Restraint for Vehicle Seats
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for restraining containers in vehicles fail to effectively limit movement during vehicle operation, often leading to spillage, breakage, or bruising, while also being conspicuous and obstructive, and require cumbersome installation and adjustment processes.
Innovation Solution
A device utilizing the combinative effect of spring, frictional, and gravitational forces to restrain containers against a vehicle seat, featuring a recoiling wheel with a torsion spring that creates a biased spring force, friction between the container and seat/floor, and the weight of the container counteracting the spring force, minimizing movement and visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a container is placed on a vehicle seat, then it is within easy reach of the driver, but the container is susceptible to tipping over or sliding off during braking and turning maneuvers
Solution Approach 1:
The spring mechanism exerts a counteracting force against the inertial forces that cause the container to tip or slide during vehicle maneuvers. The spring force acts as a stabilizing counterweight that maintains the container in an upright position against the seat back, preventing it from falling forward during braking or tipping during turns.
Solution Approach 2:
The device uses a dynamic spring mechanism that can adjust its force output based on the container's weight and the vehicle's motion. The spring provides continuous adaptive stabilization, allowing the container to remain stable during normal operation while still being easily accessible to the driver.
2Stability of the object's composition
If hooks are used to hang the container, then the container is restrained from movement, but the container is allowed to suspend and swing freely without lateral stabilization
Solution Approach 1:
The spring mechanism provides a counteracting force that stabilizes the container laterally against the seat back, preventing the swinging and oscillation that occurs with hook-based systems. This counterforce eliminates the harmful swinging motion that could cause spillage or breakage of contents.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of allowing the container to hang freely from a hook and then trying to stabilize it, the invention inverts the approach by having the container rest against the seat back with active spring pressure applied to it. This reverses the passive stabilization approach of hooks with active stabilization through spring force.
3Stability of the object's composition
If straps are used to secure the container, then the container is restrained, but the installation and adjustment process is cumbersome and inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the complex multi-step strap adjustment and fastening process and replaces it with a single spring-loaded mechanism. The spring mechanism is detached from the cumbersome strap system, providing restraint through simple spring force rather than requiring multiple fastening and adjustment steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring mechanism is self-adjusting and automatically adapts to different container weights and sizes. The spring force self-regulates to provide appropriate restraint without requiring manual adjustment, making the system self-service and eliminating the need for cumbersome installation procedures.
4Ease of manufacture
If the container is placed on the floor or console, then visibility is reduced, but the container is out of reach or still subject to tipping
Solution Approach 1:
The invention utilizes the vertical dimension by positioning the container against the seat back rather than on the seat surface or floor. This vertical placement against the seat back provides both discretion (hidden from view) and accessibility (within reach of the driver), solving the trade-off between visibility and accessibility through dimensional repositioning.
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 device securely restrains containers, preventing excessive movement, spillage, and breakage, while being discreet and easy to install, with minimal effort and adaptability to various vehicle seats and containers, ensuring safe and convenient transportation.
Implementation Method 1
The recoiling wheel contains a torsion spring that has been twisted and continues to be twisted when the cable is pulled and unwound from the spool inside the recoiling wheel. As the torsion spring is twisted in one direction by an applied force such as a hand pulling the cable from the recoiling wheel, potential energy that is biased to pull the cable in the opposite direction is stored by the torsion spring.
Implementation Method 2
Friction is created between the surfaces of the container and front edge of the vehicle seat when the container is pressed against the front edge.
Implementation Method 3
The device generates spring force that pulls the container against a front edge of the vehicle seat, while the weight of the container and contents pulls in an opposite direction.
Data Source
AI summary
A device and method to restrain a container against a vehicle seat with minimal conspicuousness of the container and obstruction by the container. The device is comprised of a vehicle fastener, strap, recoiling wheel, cable, and container fastener. The method uses the combinative effect of spring, frictional, and gravitational forces to limit the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal movement of the container during normal vehicle operations such as accelerating, decelerating, and turning. The device and method involve placing a container on the vehicle floor near the front edge of a seat, connecting a hook to a headrest pole, attaching an optional stabilizer to the front edge of the seat, extending a cable from the recoiling wheel, connecting a hook to the container handles, and releasing the device and container. The method provides stable and safe retention of a container and allows for the container to be partially hidden from view.