Telescoping Pet Ramp with Interlocking Abutment Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pet ramps are difficult to use, unsafe, and inadequate for larger pets, often featuring sharp edges, insufficient length, and lack of rigidity, which can injure pets or owners and fail to provide a comfortable slope for easy vehicle access.
Innovation Solution
A telescoping pet ramp with obliquely angled abutment members and blow-molded plastic floor panels, featuring interlocking tongues for secure engagement and reduced bounce, along with glass fiber-reinforced plastic side rails for enhanced strength and safety, allowing easy extension and collapse for use and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If telescoping ramps are extended by users and placed against the threshold, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases due to telescoping mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The ramp segments are designed to telescope into one another, with each segment containing the next segment within it. This nesting arrangement allows the ramp to be compact for storage while extending to full length when needed, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity by providing intuitive extension without complex assembly steps
2Reliability
If known ramps are made longer to allow acceptable slope, then pet safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ramp is divided into multiple telescoping segments that can be extended to achieve the necessary length for an acceptable slope. Each segment is a simplified structure that telescopes into the next, avoiding the need for a single complex long-ramp design while ensuring pet safety through adequate length and proper inclination
3Strength
If abutment members have interlocking tongues with obliquely angled surfaces, then strength is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The abutment members utilize composite construction with interlocking tongues featuring obliquely angled surfaces that engage to create rigid joints. The telescoping segments appear to use composite materials (metal or plastic construction) that provide both strength and ease of manufacturing, resolving the contradiction by achieving high strength through design geometry rather than material complexity
4Reliability
If ramp segments are rigidly coupled to decrease bounce, then pet safety is improved, but ease of operation worsens due to increased rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The ramp employs dynamic coupling through obliquely angled surfaces that engage to provide rigidity when extended, while allowing the segments to be easily telescoped when not in use. The interlocking mechanism transitions from a rigid connected state during operation to a compact separated state for storage, resolving the contradiction between pet safety and ease of operation
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 provides a safe, easy-to-use, and sturdy pet ramp that minimizes bounce and fear in pets, ensuring secure access to vehicles and other elevated structures, while being easy to erect and store, thus addressing the limitations of existing ramps.
Implementation Method 1
the stops preferably having interlocking tongues that frictionally wedge together when the ramp is fully extended, thereby providing a secure joint with improved rigidity and decreased bounce
Data Source
AI summary
A telescoping pet ramp having first and second ramp segments telescopically extendable from a compact state to an extended state. Side rails of the panels include end caps with abutment members for preventing the first floor panel and second floor panel from being separated when the pet ramp is fully extended, and including interlocking angled contact faces that frictionally engage one another when the ramp is fully extended.