Wearable Beverage Cooler Guide Layout to Prevent Can Jamming

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing portable dispensers for beverages are either too large for personal use or have insufficient capacity, and compact designs often lead to gridlock or jamming of cans due to lack of mechanisms to manage vertical stacks.

Innovation Solution

A portable cooler with a housing and removable guide that directs containers to an access point, preventing gridlock by using dual access points and a framework with merging pathways to facilitate easy removal of cans.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Weight of moving object

If the cooler is designed to be compact for personal use, then portability and wearability are improved, but the capacity for beverages is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveportabilityVSAvoidbeverage capacity

Core Design Contradiction:

Weight of moving objectVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The interior volume is divided into multiple vertical stacks using dividers, allowing multiple beverage containers to be organized in separate columns. This segmentation enables efficient use of space within the compact cooler body, maximizing capacity without increasing overall size.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent utilizes vertical stacking of beverage containers in multiple columns, transitioning from horizontal to vertical space utilization. This dimensional change allows the cooler to accommodate more beverages in a compact form factor suitable for backpacking.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Quantity of substance

If multiple vertical stacks of canned beverages are used to increase capacity, then beverage storage is improved, but gridlock or jamming of cans occurs due to lack of mechanism

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebeverage capacityVSAvoiddispensing reliability

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

A dispensing mechanism acts as an intermediary between the vertical stacks and the access point. This mechanism includes components that engage with the beverage containers to facilitate their removal, preventing gridlock by providing a controlled dispensing path through which containers can be reliably extracted.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The dispensing mechanism is designed to work with the natural gravity-fed flow of containers from the vertical stacks. The mechanism allows containers to feed themselves through the dispensing path without requiring manual intervention to navigate multiple stacks, preventing jamming while maintaining capacity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Device complexity

If a single access point is used to simplify the design, then device complexity is reduced, but ease of operation is worsened due to potential gridlock

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccess point configurationVSAvoidcontainer removal ease

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The dispensing mechanism extracts containers from the vertical stacks through a controlled path leading to the access point. This extraction mechanism ensures smooth container removal by providing a dedicated pathway that prevents gridlock, maintaining ease of operation despite the simplified single access point design.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS7810350B2Beverage dispensing cooler

Publication Date: 2010.10.12 SHELTON ANDREW C

AI summary

A wearable cooler device for the transport of consumables having multiple access ports near the bottom thereof and containing pathways that direct the consumables to areas proximate the access ports, thereby allowing easy removal while preventing the unintended egress of the consumables from the wearable cooler.