Expandable Shipping Package with Control Tacks
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current shipping packages are inefficient due to their generic design, leading to increased costs, product damage, and consumer dissatisfaction, as they often require additional packaging materials and steps for protection, are not customizable, and are prone to damage from environmental conditions.
Innovation Solution
A flexible shipping package with expandable chambers and gussets that can be shaped to fit specific products, using layers of flexible materials with expansion control tacks to provide structural integrity and protection, allowing for easy handling and stacking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If generic flexible pouches or boxes are used for shipping, then the package is easy to manufacture and low cost, but additional packaging materials are required to protect products and significant volume is wasted due to ill-fitting packaging
Solution Approach 1:
The package utilizes expandable chambers that can be inflated to transform the package from a flat, compact state to a three-dimensional protective structure. This dynamic transformation allows the package to adapt its volume and shape to fit different product sizes, reducing wasted space and material usage while maintaining ease of manufacture in the collapsed state
Solution Approach 2:
The package structure changes its physical parameters (volume, shape, rigidity) through the expansion of internal chambers. By controlling the inflation state of these chambers, the package can adjust its protective characteristics and fit different product dimensions, eliminating the need for additional packaging materials
2Reliability
If additional protective materials and processes are used to ensure product safety in generic packages, then product protection is improved, but the packaging process becomes more complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The package is divided into multiple expandable chambers that can be independently inflated to provide targeted protection for different areas of the product. This segmented structure allows for customized protection levels in different zones without requiring complex assembly processes or additional materials
Solution Approach 2:
The expandable chambers are designed to be inflated by the end user or automatically, providing the protective structure without requiring complex pre-assembly or specialized packaging processes. The package essentially creates its own protective structure through simple expansion
3Weight of moving object
If flexible materials are used for shipping packages, then the package is lightweight and cost-effective, but the package is difficult to transport on conveyor equipment and difficult to stack
Solution Approach 1:
The package transitions from a flexible, flat state during storage and transport to a rigid, three-dimensional expanded state during product protection and handling. This dynamic state change allows the package to maintain lightweight properties when collapsed while providing the structural integrity needed for conveyor transport and stacking when expanded
Solution Approach 2:
The package undergoes parameter changes in rigidity and shape through chamber expansion. In the collapsed state, the package is flexible and lightweight for efficient storage and transport. When expanded, the rigidified structure provides stable stacking characteristics and compatibility with conveyor equipment
4Device complexity
If non-expandable flexible packages are used, then the package structure is simple, but the package cannot provide custom fit for products leading to wasted volume and additional packaging requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The package structure dynamically adjusts its volume and shape through the expansion of internal chambers, allowing it to conform to different product dimensions. This dynamic adaptation eliminates wasted shipping volume and reduces the need for additional packaging materials while maintaining relatively simple package construction
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A shipping package having a flexible inner sheet having a first surface and a second surface. The package has an article reservoir for accepting an article to be shipped and one or more expansion chambers. The expansion chambers can be inflated or otherwise expanded to provide structure to the package and to protect the article in the article reservoir.