Cigarette Packet Corner Walls for Grip and Packaging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional rigid cigarette packets with sharp longitudinal corners are uncomfortable to grip and cause wear to clothing, while rounded corner modifications compromise structural rigidity and are difficult to package with existing cellophaning machines.
Innovation Solution
A rigid cigarette packet design featuring corner walls with variable dimensions along the main direction, maintaining a constant perimeter and replacing sharp corners with beveled edges to enhance grippability without affecting packaging ease.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If corner walls with variable dimensions are introduced to improve grippability, then gripping comfort is improved, but packaging difficulty increases due to creases and folds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the corner wall dimensions along the longitudinal direction. The corner walls have variable dimensions that are smaller in the gripping area and larger at the ends, creating a progressive transition that improves grip while maintaining packaging compatibility. This gradual parameter change prevents abrupt geometric transitions that cause packaging issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a longitudinal dimension variation to the corner walls, transforming them from uniform cross-section elements to tapered elements. This dimensional change along the length of the packet creates an optimized profile that simultaneously improves gripping comfort and maintains compatibility with traditional packaging equipment by avoiding extreme geometric features.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If rounded corners are used to eliminate sharp edges, then clothing wear is prevented, but structural rigidity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the corner wall dimensions at different locations. The corner walls have reduced dimensions specifically in the gripping area where rounded features provide comfort, while maintaining larger dimensions at the ends where structural rigidity is required. This localized variation allows the packet to have both comfortable rounded corners and structurally sound edges.
Data Source
Figure 1~1a
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3f
AI summary
Described is a packet for tobacco products, substantially in the shape of a parallelepiped and extending about a respective main direction (A), having a front wall (2), a rear wall (3) facing the front wall (2), a pair of side walls (4, 5), a bottom wall (7) and a top wall (6); the bottom wall (7) and the top wall (6) have a same perimeter extension; the packet also has at least a first (8) and a second corner wall (9), each of which is interposed between a side wall (4, 5) and the respective front wall (2) or rear wall (3) and has a transversal dimension variable along the main direction (A); the first corner wall (8) has a geometry complementary to that of the second corner wall (9) in such a way as to keep substantially constant the perimeter extension of each section of the packet (1) transversal to the main direction (A).