Stackable Tool Containers With Shared Latch Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tool accessory containers vary in shape and size, leading to organization challenges and ease of misplacement.
Innovation Solution
A tool container system featuring interlocking tool containers with pivotable covers and latches that allow for stacking and secure locking, enabling various sizes and configurations to be stacked and releasably locked together.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If tool containers have varying shapes and sizes, then storage capacity and adaptability are improved, but organization difficulty and misplacement risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tool container system is divided into multiple standardized modular containers that can be independently organized. Each container is a separate unit with standardized dimensions and locking mechanisms, allowing them to be segmented into different configurations while maintaining organization through the standardized interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The containers are designed with universal standardized dimensions and locking mechanisms that allow them to interlock and organize together regardless of individual container size. The standardized interface enables any container to work with any other container in the system, resolving the organization difficulty while maintaining storage versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate tool accessory containers are used, then storage versatility is improved, but the containers become easy to misplace
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple containers are merged into a single organized system through standardized locking mechanisms. The containers can be locked together in various configurations, creating a unified storage structure that reduces the risk of misplacement while maintaining the versatility to store different tool accessories.
Solution Approach 2:
The standardized locking mechanism acts as an intermediary that connects individual containers to each other. This intermediary element allows containers to be reliably connected and organized together, reducing misplacement risk while preserving storage versatility through the modular design.
3Ease of operation
If tool containers are made stackable and lockable, then organization and retrieval are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to be self-aligning and self-locking through the standardized interface. When containers are stacked, the locking mechanisms automatically engage without requiring complex alignment procedures or additional fastening steps, simplifying the overall operation while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The standardized locking interface is pre-configured during manufacturing to automatically engage when containers are stacked in the correct orientation. This preliminary setup eliminates the need for complex manual locking procedures during use, reducing operational complexity while maintaining reliable connection.
Data Source
AI summary
A tool container system includes a first tool container and a second tool container. The first tool container has a first base, a first cover pivotably attached to the first base by a first hinge portion, a first base locking member coupled to the base, a first cover locking member coupled to the first cover, and a first latch coupled to the first base and moveable between a first unlocked position in which the first cover is movable relative to the first base between a closed position and an open position, and a first locked position in which the first latch engages the first cover locking member and the first cover is locked to the first base in the closed position. The second tool container is stackable on the first cover of the first tool container and having a second locking member. When the second tool container is stacked on the first tool container, the second tool container is lockable to the first tool container when the first latch is moved to the first locked position to engage both the first cover locking member and the second locking member.