USB Flash Drive Tunnel Design for Pole Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
USB flash drives (UFDs) are difficult to store and organize effectively due to their compact design lacking a sufficiently large tunnel, making them unsuitable for traditional storage poles, and existing solutions require pre-drilling, which damages the devices.
Innovation Solution
Designing UFDs with a large, centrally located tunnel that matches the diameter of storage poles, allowing for easy stacking and organization, and incorporating features to prevent rotation and ensure label visibility, such as angular registration mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If UFDs are designed to be small and compact with solid rectangular circuit boards, then portability and compactness are improved, but the ability to store them on a storage pole deteriorates due to lack of sufficient tunnel
Solution Approach 1:
The UFD body is segmented into distinct functional regions: a solid circuit board area for electronics and a separate tunnel region for pole insertion. This segmentation allows the device to maintain compact dimensions while incorporating a dedicated tunnel structure that enables storage on storage poles without compromising the solid circuit board design
Solution Approach 2:
The tunnel is nested within the UFD body structure, with the circuit board positioned adjacent to the tunnel opening. The tunnel acts as an integrated cavity within the overall UFD form factor, allowing the compact device to accommodate the pole-storing function internally without increasing external dimensions
2Ease of operation
If a tunnel is drilled into traditional UFDs after production, then storability on pole is improved, but the UFD structure is damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The tunnel is incorporated into the UFD design from the manufacturing stage rather than being added afterward. The molding process creates the tunnel cavity simultaneously with the circuit board housing, eliminating the need for post-production drilling and preserving the structural integrity and reliability of the UFD
3Productivity
If multiple UFDs are stored on a storage pole, then organization is improved, but visibility and accessibility of individual UFDs deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The UFD casing incorporates transparent or translucent portions that allow the label and key features to be visible through the housing when stored on the pole. This transparency enables users to identify and select specific UFDs from the stack without removing them, maintaining visibility while achieving organized storage
Solution Approach 2:
The tunnel is positioned and oriented to allow UFDs to be stacked vertically on the pole while maintaining lateral accessibility. The vertical stacking arrangement on the pole creates a space-efficient organization system that still permits easy removal and insertion of individual UFDs from the end of the pole
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention discloses systems and method for storing and organizing UFDs (USB flash drives) on a storage pole, and for configuring UFDs to accommodate storage on a storage pole. Various embodiments also include configurations of the UFDs and/or storage poles which prevent rotation of the UFDs on the storage pole, thereby providing aligned stacking of the UFDs. Some embodiments include more than one pole for storage and/or alignment of the UFDs. Some embodiments do not require a pole for storage and/or alignment of the UFDs. In addition, systems which allow extraction of a single UFD from a stack of UFDs while maintaining the order of the UFDs are also disclosed.