Trapezoidal Cooler Enclosure Design for Nested Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice chest designs occupy a large volume of space when stacked, making them inefficient for storage and requiring additional space for multiple units.
Innovation Solution
Nestable sunshade coolers with a trapezoidal shape that allow for complete nesting of multiple units, featuring a cooler enclosure with angled panels and a removable lid, along with accessory mount assemblies for attaching various accessories.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple ice chests are stacked on top of one another for storage, then storage capacity is increased, but the volume of space occupied is significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The cooler enclosure is designed with a trapezoidal cross-section that allows one cooler to be nested inside another cooler of the same or different size. The angled side panels create a configuration where the smaller cooler fits within the larger cooler's interior space, enabling multiple units to be stored in a compact arrangement that significantly reduces the volume of space required compared to traditional stacking methods.
2Ease of manufacture
If the cooler panels are made vertical and rectangular, then manufacturing is simplified, but nesting capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The cooler enclosure employs a trapezoidal cross-section with angled side panels rather than vertical rectangular panels. This asymmetric geometry, where the side panels angle outward from the bottom to the top, creates the necessary configuration for nesting while remaining manufacturable using standard forming techniques. The asymmetric shape allows one cooler to fit within another while maintaining structural integrity and ease of production.
Data Source
AI summary
Nestable sunshade coolers may include a cooler enclosure including an enclosure bottom panel, a pair of spaced-apart enclosure side panels extending from the enclosure bottom panel, an enclosure front panel and an enclosure rear panel extending from the enclosure bottom panel in spaced-apart relationship to each other between the enclosure side panels. A plurality of enclosure corners may join the enclosure side panels to the enclosure front panel and the enclosure rear panel to the enclosure side panels, respectively. An enclosure rim may be provided on the enclosure side panels, the enclosure front panel and the enclosure rear panel. The enclosure side panels, the enclosure front panel and the enclosure rear panel may angle outwardly from the enclosure bottom panel to the enclosure rim to form a substantially trapezoidal shape in longitudinal sectional view and cross-sectional view of the cooler enclosure. Accordingly, multiple ones of the cooler enclosure may be capable of substantially completely nesting inside one another for space-efficient stowage purposes. At least one accessory mount assembly may be carried by the cooler enclosure. The at least one accessory mount assembly may be suitably configured to removably mount at least one accessory on the cooler enclosure. A cooler lid may be selectively detachably carried by and deployable between open and closed positions on the cooler enclosure to open and close the enclosure interior.