Umbrella Pole Tray-Cooler Assembly for Easy Patio Table Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tray designs for outdoor patio furniture with umbrella poles are difficult to install and disassemble, and they lack a cooling mechanism for perishable items, limiting their usability and commercial success.
Innovation Solution
A tray-cooler combination with upper and lower tray members that engage in a close-tolerance fitting, allowing easy assembly and disassembly, and featuring a closure member to enclose the umbrella pole, along with a lower tray for cooling, enabling convenient installation and transportation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a unitary tray design with a tight-fitting aperture is used to fit around the umbrella pole, then the tray provides a stable and secure fit, but it becomes difficult to install and disassemble requiring removal of the pole
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is divided into two separable halves that can be independently positioned and connected around the umbrella pole. Each half contains a portion of the pole within its aperture, and the halves are joined together using connecting means such as set screws or clamps, allowing installation without pole removal while maintaining a secure fit
2Ease of operation
If separable tray elements are provided to facilitate assembly and disassembly, then installation becomes easier, but the tray is not readily transportable in disassembled form and alignment is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The two tray halves are designed with asymmetric features including non-circular aperture shapes that match corresponding asymmetric guide features on each other. This asymmetry ensures proper alignment during assembly and creates a unique mating configuration that prevents incorrect assembly, while still allowing the halves to be separated for transport
3Device complexity
If prior art trays are used without cooling mechanism, then the tray structure remains simple and transportable, but perishable food items cannot be kept cold limiting usage time
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling mechanism is nested within the tray structure by placing an insulated container or cooler compartment inside one of the tray halves. This nested configuration allows the cooling system to be integrated into the tray without significantly increasing external dimensions or complexity, while providing effective cooling for perishable items during extended outdoor use
Data Source
AI summary
A tray-cooler combination for positioning upon a surface, such as a patio table, about an upwardly extending projection, such as an umbrella pole. The tray-cooler combination includes upper and lower tray members, each having a central aperture, an outer peripheral edge and a radial opening extending between the central aperture and the peripheral edge. The upper tray member may include a plurality of interior compartments for receiving items such as vegetables and dips, condiments, etc. The upper tray member may also be releasably attached to the lower tray member. When joined in combination, the lower tray member can hold ice or other cooling means cool or chill the contents of the upper tray member. Closure members can also be provided to close the radial slots in each tray member to, in combination with the tray member, define the central aperture in which an umbrella pole or the like is received. The connection of the closure members to the tray members is readily released, allowing the slot of each tray member to be opened to permit ready insertion around or removal from the umbrella pole or other upwardly extending like member.