Dual-Compartment Box With Top Slides And View Windows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current high-speed packaging machines can only produce single-compartment boxes with a convenient sliding opening, limiting their ability to package multiple products efficiently, and there is a need for a dual-compartment box with multiple independently operable slide openings that can be easily manufactured and maintain conventional appearance and handling characteristics, while allowing product visibility through windows.
Innovation Solution
A dual-compartment box constructed from a single cardboard blank with top slides and bottom flaps that can be folded to form apertures for dispensing, featuring debossed fold lines and thumb catches for easy operation, allowing independent access to each compartment and visibility through windows.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single-compartment box with a sliding opening is used, then the box is easy to manufacture on high-speed packaging machines, but it can only contain one product and lacks versatility
Solution Approach 1:
The box is divided into multiple compartments (first compartment and second compartment) that are formed from a single blank through fold lines. Each compartment has its own aperture and slide opening, allowing the box to contain and dispense multiple different products simultaneously while maintaining ease of manufacture from a single blank
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple compartments are added to the box, then product containment versatility is improved, but the box complexity increases making it difficult to manufacture on high-speed machines
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple compartments are merged into a single integrated box structure formed from one continuous blank. The compartments share common walls formed by fold lines, and the top flaps are integrated to provide both structural support and closing functionality for multiple apertures, reducing overall complexity compared to separate boxes
Solution Approach 2:
The top flaps serve multiple functions: they form the walls between compartments, provide closing surfaces for apertures, and include integrated slides for dispensing. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying manufacture on high-speed machines
3Ease of operation
If independent slide openings are added for each compartment, then ease of operation is improved, but the box structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Each compartment is equipped with its own dedicated slide opening and aperture, allowing independent operation for each product type. The slides are positioned at different locations on the top flaps, enabling users to access and dispense products from different compartments independently without interfering with each other
4Loss of information
If windows are added to view product contents, then product identification capability is improved, but the box appearance and structure become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Windows are pre-formed as integral parts of the blank during the manufacturing process, before the box is assembled. This allows the windows to be incorporated without adding complex post-assembly steps or separate components, maintaining simplicity in both structure and manufacture
Data Source
AI summary
A dual compartment box formed from a blank having a front panel, a first minor side panel, a rear panel, a second minor side panel, a second compartment front panel, a compartment minor side panel, and an inner tab. There is a first slide and a second slide extending from a first compartment top flap and a second compartment top flap, respectively, and they are movable between an upright semi-open position permitting product to dispense through the apertures and a downward closed position blocking the apertures. When the blank is folded, two compartments are formed, and an outer tab top flap and a minor side top flap overlap each other and the projecting portions of both the outer tab top flap and the minor side top flap form a center stop member that interacts with the slides to prevent them from becoming disengaged with the package.