Foldable Corrugated Corner Elements for Compact Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional packaging assemblies are cumbersome and inefficient for shipping due to their shapes and sizes, making it difficult to package and store assembly components before assembly.
Innovation Solution
The development of foldable corrugated corner elements that can be bent or folded along both longitudinal and transverse axes, featuring score marks and alternating ridges and grooves, allowing for compact storage and efficient packaging by reducing space occupation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If traditional packaging assemblies are used, then they provide structural stability and cushioning, but they occupy excessive space and are cumbersome for shipping and storage
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging corner element is designed with dynamic foldability, allowing it to transition between an expanded functional state (providing structural stability and cushioning during use) and a collapsed compact state (reducing space occupation for shipping and storage). The score marks enable controlled folding along predetermined lines, creating a reversible transformation that resolves the contradiction between volume and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The corner element can be folded into a compact nested configuration where the material layers are stacked and compressed, significantly reducing the volume occupied during shipping. When deployed, the element expands to its full functional size, providing the necessary structural stability and cushioning protection.
2Ease of manufacture
If packaging assemblies are designed for functional use, then they provide necessary protection and stability, but they are difficult to package and store before assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging corner element is segmented into distinct functional zones marked by score lines, allowing it to be folded into a compact package configuration. The segmentation is designed into the material structure itself, with score marks that guide the folding process, making the packaging and storage operation simple while maintaining the complexity of the functional assembly when deployed.
3Strength
If corner elements are made rigid to maintain strength, then they provide compressional strength, but they cannot be folded or compressed for efficient shipping
Solution Approach 1:
The corner element exhibits local quality variations where the material structure provides high compressional strength in the expanded functional state, while the same structure contains predetermined weak points (score marks) that allow controlled folding and compression. The ridges and grooves provide localized reinforcement during use, while the score lines provide localized flexibility for packaging, resolving the contradiction between strength and adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable corrugated corner element including at least some of a portion of material extending from a first terminal end to a second terminal end; a first corner element leg and a second corner element leg, each having one or more alternating ridges and grooves, wherein the second corner element leg extends from the first corner element leg; a notch formed in at least a portion of the first corner element leg, defined by converging sidewalls, wherein the notch allows the second corner element leg to be folded; and one or more apertures formed through a portion of the second corner element leg, wherein if the second corner element leg is folded, the apertures expand and hinges defined between adjacent apertures provide continuity for a portion of the second corner element leg.