Unveiling our final solution. Our final model sits nicely on surfaces as well as mounted to the wall. The brackets would ideally be die-cut steel and the boxes would be rotomolded.
Here is our rendered plastic model on display at an open air urban farmer’s market.
This design is the final concept for our plastic produce container.
The callouts are updates from our original design.
The container fits nine quart containers…
It also fits twelve pint containers.
After putting the finishing touches on our model by adding the color and graphics we went out to the Solly Bros.
Farm who are soon to be part of The Food Trust in Philadelphia. These are some photos of the process of our box.
The first step is to pick the produce and put it in the container.
The next step is to pack and transport. The boxes latch together, and if there is a larger size of produce,
the lid adds extra space. The lid is also able to be linked to.
The last step is to direct display the produce in the containers at the farmstand. This is a photo of our container at the
Farm to City stand for Rineer Family Farms. It was where we first began noticing the farmers using the baskets and
quart/pint containers as the elevation for the bins that they transfer their produce in from the wax boxes. We thought
to show them how our container works.
Here is the functioning model of our produce box in the works. We have got the structure together but have
not put the finishing touches on it quite yet. Our final design of the container will be slightly different; it will
be more stylized like the plastic milk crate container. We plan to put the side panel graphics on the side of
the box and also we plan to prime the MDF and then paint it in a more plastic looking brown.
These are some shots of us working on the final model.
We began cutting our next model on the CNC machine.
This is the start of the front panels that have the locking mechanism.
Our next task is to cut the handles and set them into the MDF.
The sides look like this…
These are the panels that we cut a space out
in so that we could reduce the weight of the MDF.
Ideally, our model would be molded plastic like the milk crate,
but for our first model it was more possible to make a usable
model out of 1/2″ MDF, 1/4″ pegboard, and 1/4″ corrugated plastic.
These are the corrugated plastic cutouts that fit into the side panels.
We decided to cut holes in them for breathability. Before we had circle
cutouts, but we changed the model so that produce would be less
likely to fall out of them.
Back Front
This is the orthographic plan of our final concept. The idea is that the metal bar that locks the containers
together would also act as a display angle bar.
These are some sketches of our process in determining how we want our container to work.
We have decided on a wire connection that functions as both a handle, a latch and a propping
mechanism.