Carton Handle Structure Reducing Material Consumption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cartons with handle structures require excessive material to support weight and provide hand space, leading to wastefulness and increased costs, as well as inefficiencies in material usage.
Innovation Solution
A carton design featuring a strap member with a detachable grip panel and handle flaps that fold inwardly to reduce material usage, allowing the handle structure to extend continuously across the top wall while providing space for a user's hand without additional material, and utilizing reinforcing flaps to sandwich the strap member for enhanced strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If multi-ply thickness of material is used to gain sufficient strength, then the carton can support the weight of articles, but the material consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The handle structure is divided into multiple functional components: a strap member for structural support, a grip panel for user interaction, and handle flaps for positioning. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the strap member using minimal material for strength while the grip panel provides necessary hand space without increasing overall material consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The handle flaps are designed to fold inwardly from the top wall, utilizing the vertical dimension to create hand insertion space. This three-dimensional folding mechanism allows the handle structure to accommodate a user's hand without increasing the horizontal footprint or requiring additional material thickness, thereby maintaining strength while reducing material consumption.
2Ease of operation
If the handle panel is oversized to provide space for user's hand, then hand insertion is enabled, but material consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The handle flaps are designed as movable components that can fold inwardly when a user inserts their hand. This dynamic behavior allows the handle structure to adapt to hand insertion without requiring permanent oversized panels. The flaps transition from a flat configuration to a folded configuration, providing hand space only when needed and minimizing material usage in the static state.
Solution Approach 2:
The grip panel is detachably connected to the handle flaps, allowing the grip panel to be nested within or attached to the flaps as needed. This nesting mechanism enables the handle structure to provide hand insertion space without requiring additional material for permanent oversized panels, as the grip panel can be integrated within the folded flap structure.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the handle structure extends continuously across the top wall, then structural integrity is improved, but material consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous handle structure is achieved through segmentation into multiple connected components: the strap member extends across the top wall, with the grip panel detachably connected at opposite ends and handle flaps connected to the strap member. This segmentation allows the structure to maintain continuity and structural integrity while using minimal material at each connection point, avoiding the need for solid continuous material.
Data Source
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AI summary
Abstract A carton for articles includes top (82) and bottom (68) walls interconnected by opposed side walls (54/60, 78/74) and end walls (90/70/22) for closing the opposed ends of the carton. The carton further includes a handle structure that has a grip panel (6) and a pair of handle flaps (4). The grip panel is secured to a strap member (154). The strap member is secured at either end thereof to the handle flaps (4) that are connected to the carton (162). The grip panel (6) is detachably connected at its opposite end to the handle flaps (4) respectively so that the grip panel and the handle flaps extend continuously across an exterior surface of the top wall.