Foldable Container With Interlocking Flaps For Secure Sortation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing materials handling facilities face challenges in efficiently and securely conveying items from sorting stations to staging locations due to the lack of versatile and reliable packaging solutions that can maintain item integrity during transport.
Innovation Solution
The development of foldable containers that can transition from a flat initial configuration into an open induction configuration and then a fully closed configuration for secure conveyance, featuring interlocking top and side flaps for enhanced stability and handling, allowing for easy assembly and manipulation within item sortation apparatus.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional rigid containers are used for item conveyance, then item security during transport is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate due to difficulty in assembly and manipulation
Solution Approach 1:
The container transitions from a flat configuration to an assembled three-dimensional structure dynamically during operation. The container starts flat for easy storage and handling, then transforms into a rigid structure when items are loaded, providing security during transport without the permanent complexity of a pre-assembled rigid container.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is divided into separate components (sides, bottom, flaps) that can be easily assembled and disassembled. This segmentation allows the container to be simple during storage and operation, then provide full structural integrity when needed for item conveyance.
2Ease of operation
If foldable containers are used to improve ease of operation, then assembly and manipulation become easier, but container stability and shape maintenance during transport worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The container dynamically transitions between flat and three-dimensional configurations. When assembled, the interlocking flaps and folding mechanisms maintain a stable, rigid shape during transport. The dynamic nature allows easy assembly/disassembly while ensuring shape stability when in use.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple flaps and structural elements are combined through interlocking mechanisms to create a unified, stable structure during transport. The merging of these components ensures the container maintains its shape and provides reliable item security while remaining easy to assemble and disassemble.
3Reliability
If containers with complex locking mechanisms are used to prevent accidental opening, then item security is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The locking and sealing functions are merged into the flap structures themselves. The flaps incorporate both the sealing edge and the locking mechanism in a single integrated component, eliminating the need for separate complex locking devices while maintaining reliability in preventing accidental opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The container employs self-locking flap mechanisms that automatically secure when the container is assembled. The flaps self-align and self-lock into place through their geometric design, providing reliable accidental opening prevention without requiring complex external locking mechanisms or additional operational steps.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of preparing a container includes manipulating it from an open toward a fully closed configuration. In the open configuration, first and second top end flaps are folded outwardly such that a first pair of handle apertures defined in a first endwall and first top end flap are aligned and a second pair of handle apertures defined in the second endwall and second top end flap are aligned along a first direction. The manipulating step comprises: folding top side flaps inwardly along a second direction until the side flaps are substantially perpendicular to the endwalls, thereby at least partially covering a top opening of the container; and folding the end flaps inwardly until they are substantially parallel with the side flaps, wherein the top side flaps underlie the respective ones of the pairs of handle apertures that are defined in the first and second top end flaps.