Wheelbarrow Storage Workstation with Hinged Cover and Rotatable Legs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tool chests and storage bins are bulky and difficult to move, especially over uneven terrain and serpentine courses, despite the addition of wheels, and there is a need for a solution that facilitates the transportation of tools and equipment to and from job sites efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A storage and work place apparatus that attaches to a wheelbarrow, featuring a housing with a projection into the wheelbarrow receptacle, an adjustable container, a hinged cover with a flat surface for work, and rotatable legs for stability and mobility, allowing for secure storage and transportation of tools and equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If tool chest and storage bins are made bulky to store tools and equipment, then storage capacity is improved, but mobility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines a storage container with a wheelbarrow structure, merging the storage function of a bulky tool chest with the mobility function of a wheelbarrow. The housing forms an open chamber that can store tools and equipment while the wheelbarrow base provides easy transport over uneven terrain, resolving the contradiction between storage capacity and mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus serves multiple functions: it acts as a storage container for tools and equipment, a mobile work surface, and a transport device. The housing provides storage capacity while the wheelbarrow configuration enables mobility, making the system universally applicable to both storage and transportation needs.
2Ease of operation
If wheels are added to tool chest to improve mobility, then ease of movement is improved, but stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic leg structures that can be adjusted between different positions. The legs are rotatable and adjustable in length, allowing the apparatus to adapt its configuration for stability when stationary and compactness for mobility when transporting, thus resolving the stability-mobility contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The leg length and orientation parameters can be changed to accommodate different working conditions. When the apparatus is stationary, legs can be extended to provide stable support on uneven terrain. When transporting, the structure can be compacted, demonstrating parameter changes that balance stability and mobility.
3Productivity
If a mobile work surface is added to wheelbarrow, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the work surface function with the storage container by forming the cover into a flat surface that can be positioned over the open chamber. This integration provides a mobile work surface without adding separate complex components, thus improving productivity while minimizing the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover serves dual purposes: it acts as a protective lid for the storage chamber and as a flat work surface when positioned horizontally. This multi-functionality improves productivity by providing both storage and work capabilities in a single apparatus, without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage and work place apparatus used in conjunction with a wheelbarrow or similar item. The apparatus includes an housing having a bottom portion and a side portion extending outwardly to form a open chamber the bottom portion is intended to a lie atop a wheelbarrow a cover is used in conjunction with the open chamber and is hinged attached to the housing in order to extend laterally from the housing. At least a first leg attainably connects to the housing and extends outwardly to contact a ground surface adjacent the wheel barrow. At least a second leg is rotatable attached to the cover and also extends outwardly therefrom to support the cover above the ground surface when the leg contacts the ground surface.