Stackable Tray With Window Bands For Nesting And Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing low-depth trays for storing and transporting beverage containers, such as plastic bottles, lack effective visibility and stability, especially when stacked, and do not efficiently nest for reduced empty stacking height.
Innovation Solution
A tray design featuring a base with interior and side columns, longitudinal and lateral dividers creating bottle-receiving pockets, and upper and lower bands that provide visibility windows and allow nesting with similar trays, enhancing stability and visibility while reducing weight and stacking height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the tray side walls are made lower than bottle height (low depth design), then the bottles can support the weight of stacked trays, but the visibility of bottles is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is segmented into multiple functional components: base walls for support, columns for structural integrity, dividers for bottle separation, and bands with windows for visibility. This segmentation allows each component to fulfill its specific function without compromising overall performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The side bands incorporate transparent or translucent window portions at specific locations to provide bottle visibility while maintaining the low depth design. This local quality change allows visibility enhancement without increasing overall tray depth or compromising structural integrity.
2Reliability
If the tray structure is made more complex with additional columns and bands, then visibility and stability are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple structural functions are merged into integrated components. For example, the side bands simultaneously provide structural support, define tray boundaries, and incorporate windows for visibility. The columns serve both as structural support elements and as attachment points for dividers and bands, reducing the total number of separate parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray components are designed with multi-functionality. The base walls provide both support and nesting surfaces. The columns serve as structural supports, attachment points for dividers, and alignment features for stacking. The dividers simultaneously separate bottles and provide nesting interfaces for stacked trays.
3Length of stationary object
If the tray is designed to nest efficiently with similar trays, then empty stacking height is reduced, but the structural rigidity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is specifically designed to nest within similar trays, with the base walls, columns, and dividers of one tray fitting into the corresponding spaces of the tray above. This nesting arrangement significantly reduces the height occupied by stacked empty trays while maintaining structural integrity through the distributed support provided by multiple columns and the interlocking geometry of nested components.
Data Source
AI summary
A tray for storing and transporting bottles includes a plurality of base walls each for supporting a bottle thereon. A plurality of interior columns extend upwardly between the base walls. Longitudinal dividers connect the interior columns. Lateral dividers connect the interior columns to side columns along side edges of the tray. At least one band extends along the side edges of the tray connecting the side columns.