Foldable Packaging Template with Retaining Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current packaging solutions, including custom-sized boxes and additional cushioning materials, often fail to retain products securely within boxes, especially when opened, leading to inefficiencies in storage, shipping, and presentation, and require significant resources and time for design and production.
Innovation Solution
A foldable packaging template with a sheet material and a product retaining element, featuring creases that allow the template to be folded into a box or box insert, ensuring the product is retained and displayed when the box is opened, using a combination of transverse and longitudinal creases to secure the product in place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional packaging materials (foam peanuts, bubble-wrap) are used to protect products, then product protection is improved, but packaging cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the protective function and the structural box function into a single integrated packaging template. The template includes both the box structure and attached packaging materials (such as foam inserts or bubble-wrap sections) as unified components, eliminating the need for separate protective materials and reducing overall packaging cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging template serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the box structure, contains protective packaging materials, and offers product retention features. This multi-functional design replaces multiple separate packaging components with a single universal template, reducing material quantity and cost.
2Manufacturing precision
If a large assortment of premade boxes of various sizes is stored, then product fit is improved, but storage space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging template uses segmented, adjustable components such as movable partitions, adjustable dividers, or foldable sections that can be reconfigured to accommodate different product sizes. This segmentation allows a single template to serve multiple size requirements without storing multiple pre-made box sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The template incorporates dynamic, adjustable elements that can be repositioned or reconfigured based on the product being packaged. This dynamic adaptability allows the same template to provide precise fit for various product dimensions, eliminating the need to store multiple static box sizes.
3Manufacturing precision
If packages are made larger to accommodate various products, then product fit is improved, but shipping cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The template uses segmented sections and adjustable dividers that can be reconfigured to create precise fits for different product sizes. This ensures that the packaging volume closely matches the product volume, minimizing excess shipping space and reducing shipping costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The template allows changing of dimensional parameters through adjustable components, enabling the same package to be optimized for different product sizes. This parameter adjustability ensures minimal packaging volume for each product, reducing shipping costs without sacrificing product fit.
4Ease of manufacture
If presentation inserts are designed for single or small window of size applications, then product presentation is improved, but adaptability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging template integrates presentation insert features directly into the template structure, allowing the same template to provide presentation functionality across multiple product size applications. The template includes adjustable presentation sections that can be configured for different product types and sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The presentation insert is designed with dynamic, adjustable components that can be reconfigured for different product sizes and types. This dynamic design maintains high-quality presentation across multiple applications rather than being limited to a single size window.
5Reliability
If complex procedures are used to retain presentation material, then product retention is improved, but operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging template includes self-retaining features such as elastic bands, snap-fit mechanisms, or friction-based retention elements that automatically secure the product and presentation material without requiring complex manual procedures. The template self-adjusts to retain the product securely.
Solution Approach 2:
The template uses intermediary retention mechanisms (such as elastic retainers or friction surfaces) that simplify the retention process by providing automatic or easy-to-activate securing features, eliminating the need for complex procedures while maintaining reliable product retention.
Data Source
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Figure 3A
AI summary
Foldable templates include sheet material with a front surface and a retaining element connected to the sheet material extending over at least a portion of the front surface. In box insert configurations, the sheet material has transverse and longitudinal creases, the retaining element extending across the creases. In retaining box configurations, the sheet material includes a base panel and opposing longitudinal side walls, with transverse creases extending across the base panel and side walls. In each template, folding the sheet material upward along transverse creases opens a receiving area between the front surface and retaining element to receive a product. In the box insert configuration, folding the sheet material downward underneath the front surface along transverse creases pulls the retaining element tight over the product. In the retaining box configuration, folding the side walls upward flattens the transverse creases and pulls the retaining element tight over the product.