Container Folding Patterns for Crush Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for designing folding patterns with multiple interior vertices in sheet materials are difficult and do not effectively utilize the added strength from corrugations in materials like paper, which lack plasticity, limiting the creation of complex box geometries with enhanced structural advantages such as crush resistance and gripping properties.
Innovation Solution
The development of advanced folding patterns that create multifaceted and fluted side walls for boxes and containers using a single die-cut pattern, allowing for easy assembly and incorporating floor and lid designs without in-plane deformation of the material, enabling improved crush resistance, gripping, and recognition features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional circumferential corrugation methodology is used, then the material must undergo in-plane deformation, but paper and other materials with nearly no plasticity cannot achieve sufficient deformation, limiting the available flute depth and crush resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from in-plane deformation to out-of-plane deformation by standing the flutes perpendicular to the sheet surface. This dimensional change allows corrugations to be formed without requiring the material to stretch or deform within its own plane, making it compatible with brittle materials like paper that lack plasticity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary counter-actions to prevent the harmful effects of in-plane deformation. By using score lines and fold lines that guide the deformation path, the material is pre-conditioned to bend out-of-plane rather than attempting in-plane stretching, which would cause failure in non-plastic materials.
2Strength
If advanced folding patterns with multiple interior vertices are used, then complex box geometries with enhanced structural advantages can be created, but the design and manufacture process becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the sheet into multiple polygonal regions separated by score lines and fold lines, with each region containing specific geometric features. This segmentation allows complex three-dimensional geometries to be constructed from simpler two-dimensional components, making the design process more systematic and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates preliminary actions in the form of pre-scored lines and pre-folded regions that prepare the material for subsequent assembly. These preliminary markings guide the deformation process and ensure that complex geometries form correctly during assembly, reducing the difficulty of manufacturing.
3Strength
If fluted patterns are incorporated into sheet material, then added bending moment and crush resistance are achieved, but the material requires plasticity to enable in-plane deformation during fluting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the material compatibility issue by changing the dimension of deformation from in-plane to out-of-plane. Flutes are formed perpendicular to the sheet surface through folding rather than through in-plane stretching, making the technique applicable to paper and other brittle materials that cannot accommodate in-plane deformation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for designing and manufacturing containers comprise determining a desired overall column data for the container; adapting the column data to have overlapping ends; selecting desired row data; selecting a desired perimeter geometry for a lid and floor of the container; adapting the row data, relative to column data, to yield the desired lid and floor perimeter geometries; and generating a folded geometry for the container.