Carton Blank With Interlocking Tab And Telescoping Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing erectable boxes lack a simple and efficient mechanism for forming a carton structure that provides both structural integrity and a decorative appearance, often requiring complex assembly and materials that can be prone to warping or tearing due to excessive tension in the decorative layer.
Innovation Solution
A blank for forming a carton with a unitary substrate layer featuring specific fold lines and a decorative outer layer bonded with a flowable adhesive, allowing for a telescoping configuration and interlocking mechanism that provides tactile and audible feedback, while minimizing tension and preventing warping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a decorative outer layer is bonded to a rigid substrate structure, then the carton achieves a decorative appearance, but the decorative layer is prone to warping or tearing due to excessive tension
Solution Approach 1:
The box is divided into multiple panels (front, back, side panels) that can move independently relative to each other. This segmentation allows the decorative layer to accommodate panel movements without excessive tension, preventing warping and tearing while maintaining the decorative appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The box structure transitions from a rigid fixed configuration to a dynamic configuration where panels can move relative to one another. This dynamic capability allows the decorative layer to stretch and flex with the panel movements, eliminating excessive tension and preventing damage while preserving the decorative appearance.
2Strength
If complex assembly mechanisms are used to provide structural integrity, then the carton achieves rigidity, but the assembly process becomes complicated and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The box panels utilize their own weight and the friction between adjacent panels to maintain structural integrity during assembly and use. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for complex external fastening systems, achieving rigidity through the inherent properties of the panel structure rather than additional complex components.
Solution Approach 2:
Adjacent box panels serve as intermediaries that provide structural support to one another through their spatial arrangement and frictional contact. This mutual support system achieves structural integrity without requiring complex external mechanisms, simplifying the overall assembly while maintaining rigidity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the decorative layer is tightly bonded to the substrate, then the carton maintains structural stability, but the decorative layer experiences excessive tension during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The box structure is designed to be dynamic rather than rigid, allowing panels to move relative to each other during assembly. This movement accommodates the decorative layer's natural stretching, reducing tension stress while maintaining structural stability through the coordinated motion of multiple panels.
Solution Approach 2:
By segmenting the box into multiple independently movable panels, the decorative layer's tension is distributed across multiple joints and movement points rather than concentrating stress in a single rigid structure. This segmentation reduces the stress on the decorative layer while preserving overall structural stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables easy assembly of a rigid carton with a decorative appearance, offering tactile and audible feedback, and reducing the risk of warping or tearing, while allowing for reusability and cost-effective production.
Implementation Method 1
The blank is configured to elastically deflect the end inner panel toward the end outer panel to permit the tab to pass over the end inner panel as the side inner panel is folded toward the side outer panel, and to release the end inner panel to spring away from the end outer panel after the tab has entered the notch
Implementation Method 2
When the carton is erected, the end inner panel and the side inner panel each exert a spring force on the other
Data Source
AI summary
A blank for forming a carton includes a unitary substrate layer defining a primary axis and a secondary axis transverse to the primary axis. The substrate layer includes: a main panel having a side edge extending substantially parallel to the primary axis and an end edge substantially parallel to the secondary axis; an end outer panel connected to the end edge by a first fold line extending substantially parallel to the secondary axis; an end inner panel connected to the end outer panel by a second fold line extending substantially parallel to the secondary axis; a side outer panel connected to the side edge by a third fold line extending substantially parallel to the primary axis; a side inner panel connected to the side outer panel by a fourth fold line extending substantially parallel to the primary axis; a notch defined in a side edge of the end inner panel; and an integral tab extending from an end edge of the side inner panel adjacent the side edge of the end inner panel. The blank is configured to be erected into a carton by: folding the end outer panel relative to the main panel about the first fold line; folding the end inner panel relative to the end outer panel about the second fold line so that the end inner panel substantially faces the end outer panel and is deflectably spaced away from the end outer panel; folding the side outer panel relative to the main panel about the third fold line so that the side inner panel substantially faces the side outer panel, whereby a pocket is defined between the notch, the side outer panel, and the end outer panel; folding the side inner panel relative to the side outer panel about the fourth fold line so that the side inner panel substantially faces the side outer panel; and inserting the tab into the pocket to interlock the side inner panel and the end inner panel.