Folded Cardboard Box With Bendable Wall For Secure Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for sustainable packaging solutions that can securely hold and protect articles with varying diameters, such as electric toothbrushes, during automated packaging processes, preventing them from falling out or being damaged due to impacts.
Innovation Solution
A folded cardboard box design featuring longitudinal wall elements, a separation wall with a through-hole, and a flap element that can be flapped to secure the article, allowing the wall portion to bend and project at a right angle, ensuring the article remains inside the box.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a simple open cardboard box is used, then the packaging is easy to manufacture and uses renewable materials, but the article cannot be securely held and may fall out or be damaged during automated packaging
Solution Approach 1:
The box employs dynamic elements including a flap element that can move between open and closed positions, and a wall portion that bends from a first state to a second state to engage with the article. These dynamic features allow the box to adapt to different packaging scenarios while maintaining security, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The box is divided into multiple functional segments: a body portion, a separable flap element, and a bendable wall portion. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently - the body provides structure, the flap provides closure, and the wall portion provides engagement - thereby achieving reliable article security through coordinated simple components.
2Reliability
If the box is designed to securely hold articles with varying diameters, then the packaging reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The box utilizes parameter changes in the form of a wall portion that can bend from a first state (essentially extending in longitudinal direction) to a second state (projecting from the longitudinal wall element at about a right angle). This single parameter change (bending angle) allows the structure to adapt to articles of varying diameters without requiring multiple complex configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The wall portion automatically engages with the article when the flap element is flapped into its second state, which keeps the wall portion in its second state. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for additional locking mechanisms or complex adjustment systems, achieving adaptability to varying article diameters through a simple self-actuating feature.
3Reliability
If a flap element and bendable wall portion are added to secure the article, then the article security improves, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flap element and wall portion are merged into a single integrated component rather than separate parts. This merging reduces the number of components that need to be manufactured and assembled, while still providing the combined functionality of closure (flap) and engagement (wall portion), thereby limiting the increase in manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated flap-wall component serves multiple functions: it provides closure through the flap element, secures the article through the wall portion's engagement, and adapts to varying article sizes through its bendable nature. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized components, keeping the overall structure relatively simple despite the enhanced security features.
4Reliability
If the wall portion bends to project at a right angle, then the article is secured against impacts, but the ease of manufacture decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The wall portion is pre-formed with a bend capability that allows it to transition to the right-angle position when needed. This preliminary preparation of the bending capability during manufacturing eliminates the need for complex assembly steps or additional components, making the impact protection feature achievable without significantly increasing manufacturing difficulty.
Data Source
AI summary
A folded cardboard box has four longitudinal walls and a separation wall dividing the box's interior into first and second sections. The separation wall has a through-hole and a flap element at an open end of the first section. The flap element has a first flap portion at one of the longitudinal walls and a second flap portion at an adjoining longitudinal wall. The flap element can be flapped from a first state in which each of the first and second flap portions are aligned with the respective wall into a second state in which the flap element projects into the first section. A longitudinally extending wall portion, provided at one of the longitudinal walls at the open end of the first section, is connected, at its rear end, to the longitudinal wall at which it is provided by means of a seam line allowing bending of the wall from a first state in which it extends in longitudinal direction into a second state in which the wall projects from the longitudinal wall at which it is provided at about a right angle into the first section, so that the flap element, when in its second state, keeps the wall portion in its second state.