Stackable Storage Container With Pivoting Locking Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stackable storage containers lack flexibility in their stacking configurations and require complex designs for locking mechanisms, limiting the variability of the fastening degree between containers with and without lids, and often require significant design differences from conventional containers to achieve these features.
Innovation Solution
A stackable storage container design featuring elastically deformable locking arms that pivot around the edge, with feet and locking cams on the body and lid, allowing for multiple locking configurations that enable flexible stacking options, including direct body-to-body, body-with-lid, and lid-to-body arrangements, using various locking positions to secure containers against displacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If complex locking mechanisms are designed to enable flexible stacking configurations with and without lids, then the adaptability of the container system is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking arms are designed to perform multiple functions: they can lock containers together in various stacking configurations (with or without lids), prevent lateral displacement, and provide adjustable fastening degrees. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by enabling adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking arms are made elastically deformable and can be pivoted between different positions (locked and unlocked states). This dynamic capability allows the same locking mechanism to adapt to different stacking configurations, providing versatility while maintaining a relatively simple structural design.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional container shapes are maintained to reduce manufacturing costs, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the adaptability for flexible stacking is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The container system is divided into separate functional components: the conventional container body and the detachable locking arms. This segmentation allows the container body to maintain conventional shapes for easy manufacturing, while the added locking arms provide the necessary stacking flexibility without requiring redesign of the entire container.
3Ease of operation
If locking arms are made elastically deformable to enable easy locking and unlocking, then the ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The locking arms utilize elastic deformation as a key parameter change mechanism. By designing the arms with appropriate elastic properties, they can be easily pivoted into locked and unlocked positions through simple forces, providing ease of operation. The elastic material and geometry are designed to provide sufficient deformation control without requiring extremely tight manufacturing tolerances.
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 design provides enhanced flexibility in use, allowing containers to be stacked in various configurations, reducing manufacturing complexity and costs, while maintaining a conventional shape, thus improving consumer acceptance and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
elastically deformable locking arms that can be pivoted relative to each other around an edge of the body
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a stackable storage container with a body (1) and a lid (2). Lateral walls (11) of the body (1) are provided with latching arms (3), and the body (1) has feet (12). The lid (2) has first latching cams (22) on the upper face, and the feet (12) of the body (1) engage between the first latching cams (22) when the body is stacked on the lid (2). In a first configuration in which the lid (2) is placed on the edge, the latching arms (3) can be latched with the first latching cams (22) of the lid (2) in a first latching position. In a second configuration in which a similar body is stacked on the edge, the latching arms can be releasably latched with the second latching cams of the feet (12) in a second latching position, and in a third configuration in which the lid (2) is placed on the edge (14) and a similar body is stacked on the lid (2), the latching arms (3) can be releasably latched with the first latching cams (22) of the lid (2) by covering the latching cams (22), thereby simultaneously clamping the feet of the similar body between the latching arms and the latching cams, in a third latching position.