Cardboard Wedge System for Box Immobilization
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging systems face challenges in efficiently immobilizing objects within boxes during transportation, as current wedging methods are either too rigid, causing damage to fragile items or too soft, prone to tearing, and often complicate recycling and access to the packaged goods.
Innovation Solution
A wedge system featuring a polygonal central portion with flexible flaps that can be deformed to conform to the shape of objects, using a sturdy yet pliable material with curved or straight grooves for folding and tear lines, allowing for secure immobilization without exerting excessive pressure and facilitating easy access by tearing along scored lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heat-shrink plastic film is used for wedging, then objects are immobilized, but the film must be separated from carton packaging prior to recycling which is complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge element is made from the same material as the box (corrugated cardboard), creating a homogeneous packaging system where all components are made of recyclable cardboard material. This eliminates the need to separate different materials during recycling, resolving the contradiction between effective immobilization and recycling complexity.
2Reliability
If heat-shrink plastic film is used for wedging, then objects are immobilized, but the wedging material is expensive and application is difficult requiring complex automated machines or great number of man-hours
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge element is designed as a flat sheet with pre-scored folding lines that divide it into a central portion and peripheral flaps. This segmentation allows the element to be easily folded into position and secured with simple adhesive application on the flaps, eliminating the need for complex automated machines or extensive manual labor while maintaining effective immobilization.
3Reliability
If polystyrene particles or light materials are spread inside the box, then unused space is filled, but the distribution dosage is difficult to automate requiring complex automated machines or great number of man-hours
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge element is pre-formed with a central portion and peripheral flaps before insertion into the box. This preliminary preparation allows the entire wedging function to be achieved by simply inserting and folding the pre-formed element, eliminating the need for complex automated distribution systems or manual spreading operations.
4Reliability
If inflatable plastic pockets are placed inside the boxes, then unused space is filled, but collection of these materials after opening the packaging requires a number of different elements and is thus an operation not easily taken care of by the end user
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge element is made from the same material as the box (corrugated cardboard), creating a homogeneous packaging system where all components are made of recyclable cardboard material. This eliminates the need to separate different materials during recycling, resolving the contradiction between effective immobilization and recycling complexity.
5Adaptability or versatility
If a sheet of cardboard with flexible flaps is used for wedging, then the central part can be deformed to conform to objects, but the material must be sufficiently rigid to resist transportation constraints which makes deformation difficult and may damage fragile objects
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge element has different structural properties in different regions: the central portion is designed to be relatively rigid to resist transportation constraints, while the peripheral flaps are more flexible for easy folding and securing. This local differentiation of structural properties resolves the contradiction between maintaining strength and enabling deformation.
6Stability of the object's composition
If the central portion of the wedge sheet is made rigid to resist transportation constraints, then stability is improved, but it becomes difficult to deform the sheet to conform to the upper surface of objects without exerting considerable efforts that may damage fragile objects
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge element is designed as a flat sheet with pre-scored folding lines that divide it into a central portion and peripheral flaps. This segmentation allows the element to be easily folded into position and secured with simple adhesive application on the flaps, eliminating the need for complex automated machines or extensive manual labor while maintaining effective immobilization.
Data Source
AI summary
A packaging system for immobilizing one or more objects has a box having a bottom and at least four side walls and a wedge in the form of a sheet. The sheet has a central portion of a polygonal shape that is generally square or rectangular. The central portion has dimensions corresponding to the bottom of the box. The sheet has one or more flaps on each of at least two edges of the central portion. The flaps are attached by an articulation to the central portion so as to allow movement of the flaps to conform against the side walls of the box so as to fasten the wedge on the side walls of the box after the wedge has been pushed down into the box.