Stackable Food Tray With Integrated Cushioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current shipping crates fail to adequately protect food during transport, leading to high damage rates and limiting the market share of online food shipping due to inability to ensure food integrity under standard packaging processes.
Innovation Solution
A transport packaging system comprising trays with a common cross-sectional plane, allowing for easy stacking and reinforcement, featuring a cushioning element and recesses for enhanced protection and visibility of food items, enabling safe transport and easy unpacking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If standardized packaging process is used, then packaging efficiency is improved, but food protection against impacts during shipping deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by pre-positioning cushioning elements in specific locations within the crate structure before food items are packed. These cushioning elements are strategically placed to absorb and distribute impact forces that may occur during shipping, allowing standardized packaging processes to maintain both efficiency and food protection reliability.
2Ease of operation
If food protrudes beyond the tray, then visual appeal and inspectability are improved, but risk of damage during transport increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing differentiated protection levels in different regions of the crate. Food items are allowed to protrude beyond the tray in controlled areas where they can be visually inspected and presented appealingly, while cushioning elements are strategically positioned in impact-prone zones to protect protruding portions. This creates localized zones of protection versus visibility within the same packaging system.
3Volume of stationary object
If nested stacking is used for transport containers, then space utilization is improved, but stacking stability deteriorates for convex food items
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies another dimension by transitioning from horizontal nested stacking to vertical stacking with optimized dimensional proportions. The crate design features specific height-to-width ratios and reinforced edge structures that enable stable vertical stacking of multiple crates, accommodating convex food items while maintaining stacking stability through dimensional optimization rather than nested configurations.
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 effectively protects food from damage during transport, allowing for visually appealing presentation and simplifying the packing process, ensuring food arrives intact even under significant impacts.
Implementation Method 1
The crate (10.1) has a cushioning element (32.1), which is arranged in the downwardly open first climbing space (26.1)
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a ladder comprising a base (12) and a rim (14) surrounding the base (12), wherein the rim (14) has a first side wall (20), a second side wall (22) opposite the first side wall (20), a first transverse wall (44) connecting the first side wall (20) with the second side wall (22), and a second transverse wall (46) opposite the first transverse wall (44), and forms an upwardly open trough (24) with the base (12), wherein the side walls (20) each comprise an inner wall (48, 48') integrally connected with the base (12), a ceiling wall (30, 30') integrally connected with the respective inner wall (48, 48') and extending at an angle to the inner wall (48, 48'), and an outer wall (50, 50') extending at least substantially at a right angle to the base (12). is integrally connected to the associated ceiling wall (30, 30'), wherein the edge (14) has a foot area (28) which is designed in such a way thatthat the tray (10) can be placed on a ceiling wall (30) of an identically constructed second tray (10.2). According to the invention, the rim (14) and the base (12) form a downwardly open space (26), the tray includes a cushioning element (32) arranged in the downwardly open space (26) and attached relative to the base (12), and the downwardly open space (26) is designed such that, when the tray (10) is placed with its foot area (28) on the ceiling wall (30) of an identically constructed second tray (10.2), it forms a packing space with a tray of the second tray (10.2), so that a food item placed in the packing space can be pressed from the cushioning element into the tray.