Foldable Cardboard Structural Element With Inward Flaps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cardboard building blocks have complicated shapes and a limited range of element shapes, making them difficult to assemble and not suitable for forming structures with high strength.
Innovation Solution
A foldable structural element comprising side walls, partitions, and flaps formed from a single or multiple blanks, where the flaps are bent inward and coupled with notches, allowing for easy assembly and increased structural strength, and can be made from materials like cardboard or corrugated cardboard.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional cardboard blanks with pre-formed bending lines are used, then the structural element can be assembled, but the shape complexity increases and the range of element shapes is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The structural element is divided into distinct functional components: side walls formed from blank portions, partitions extending between side walls, and flaps bent inwards. This segmentation allows each component to have a simpler, more standardized shape while maintaining assembly simplicity and enabling greater variety in final element shapes.
Solution Approach 2:
The flaps are bent inwards along bending lines to create three-dimensional structural features from essentially two-dimensional blanks. This dimensional transformation allows complex 3D shapes to be formed from simpler 2D blank patterns, expanding the range of element shapes without increasing blank complexity.
2Strength
If traditional cardboard blanks are used, then assembly is possible, but the structural strength is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The flaps are pre-formed with bending lines on the blank, positioned to be bent inwards during assembly. This preliminary preparation ensures that when assembled, the flaps create reinforcing structural features that increase strength without requiring complex post-assembly operations or overly complex blank designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The flaps are bent inwards to nest within the structural element, with adjacent flaps coupled by notches. This nesting arrangement creates internal reinforcement structures that strengthen the element while using the same blank material, avoiding the need for additional strengthening components that would increase design complexity.
3Ease of operation
If flaps are bent inwards and coupled by notches, then assembly is simplified and strength is increased, but the blank requires additional bending lines
Solution Approach 1:
The flaps are designed to be self-coupling through notches formed in the partition. When bent inwards, the flaps automatically engage with each other via the notches without requiring external fasteners, glue, or complex alignment procedures. This self-service mechanism simplifies assembly while the bending lines remain straightforward geometric features of the blank.
Data Source
AI summary
A structural element is formed of at least one foldable blank. The structural element has side walls, at least one partition that extends between at least two of the side walls and at least one pair of flaps, each of the flaps in the pair of flaps being formed by an edge part of the foldable blank bent inwards the structural element. The flaps in each pair are adjacent to each other and coupled with the partition by notches. The partition is located in a plane which is not parallel to planes of the sidewalls.