Removable Tray Nook With Pouches for Spill Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional high chairs with open trays often result in food, liquids, and toys being disorganized and spilled, leading to messy cleanup due to lack of containment, affecting both infants and older children.
Innovation Solution
A removably attached nook with a flexible, U-shaped design that encompasses the tray's upper surface, featuring gripping tabs and a pouch member to secure items and prevent spills, along with educational features like stick-on activity items for interactive learning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an open tray is used in high chairs, then ease of operation and simplicity are improved, but containment of food and liquids deteriorates leading to spills and mess
Solution Approach 1:
The nook is divided into multiple compartments including a front pouch, side pouches, and main tray area. This segmentation contains food and liquids in specific zones, preventing them from spilling across the entire tray and onto the floor, while maintaining the simplicity of the open tray design.
Solution Approach 2:
The nook structure nests within the open tray, with the nook itself containing smaller nested pouches and compartments. This nested arrangement provides multiple levels of containment without requiring a completely enclosed tray, preserving ease of operation while preventing spills.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a nook with pouches is added to contain materials, then containment and reduction of spills is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pouches are constructed from flexible, thin material that can be easily formed into various shapes and attached to the nook structure. This flexibility allows for simple manufacturing and attachment while providing effective containment, minimizing the added complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The pouches feature dynamic opening and closing mechanisms that allow easy access for adding and removing food and liquids. The flexible material allows the pouches to expand and contract as needed, providing adaptability without requiring complex mechanical systems.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the nook is removably attached to the tray, then ease of cleaning and adaptability is improved, but reliability of attachment may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment mechanism is designed to be easily engaged and disengaged by the user without tools or complex procedures. The nook can be quickly attached to and removed from the tray by the caregiver, providing adaptability while maintaining reliable attachment through simple, effective fastening elements.
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
Significantly reduces cleanup efforts by containing food and liquids within the tray, while also serving as an educational tool for children during mealtime and play, promoting interactive learning.
Implementation Method 1
The plurality of tabs, flaps or fingers with a gripping rubber like surface, such as a silicon structure, are inserted and sandwiched between the upper tray member and the lower tray member of the tray, such that the pouch member is frictionally secured in pressure-tight relation to the tray
Data Source
AI summary
A nook for protecting a surrounding environment from contamination and being removably attached to an outer circumferential periphery of an open chair tray for at least partially encompassing an upper surface of the tray. Included in the nook is an overhanging lip attached to the nook configured for overlapping a portion of the outer circumferential periphery of the tray. A flexible sheet has a substantially planar surface, and a pocket member is disposed on the flexible sheet and configured for placing an object within the pocket member. The nook is formed by bending the sheet into a generally “U”-shaped structure corresponding to the outer circumferential periphery of the tray.