Reusable Fruit Packaging Box With Segmented Lid Locking

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current packaging solutions for fruits, berries, and vegetables face challenges in using environmentally friendly materials that are flexible, reusable, strong, and cost-effective, while also ensuring product preservation and safe handling, particularly with cardboard boxes that struggle to maintain integrity when repeatedly opening and closing a lid without damaging the material.

Innovation Solution

A cardboard packaging box design featuring slots on the side walls for a protruding lid member with a stop mechanism and concave grip recesses, allowing for secure locking and easy handling, along with ventilation features for airflow, and the option to stack multiple boxes, using materials like bioplastic or recyclable plastic for the lid to enhance durability and visibility.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a cardboard box with a lid is designed with a locking mechanism for repeated opening and closing, then the reusability and ease of operation are improved, but the material integrity and strength deteriorate due to damage from repeated locking actions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverepeated opening and closingVSAvoidmaterial integrity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The locking mechanism is segmented into a fixed ledge on the box and a separate movable protruding lid member on the lid. This segmentation allows the locking function to be distributed, with the fixed ledge providing structural support and the movable lid member absorbing the wear from repeated locking actions, thereby preserving the overall material integrity of the cardboard box.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The locking function is extracted from the main box structure and placed on the lid through the protruding lid member. This extraction allows the box body to remain intact and undamaged, while the lid component handles the mechanical stress of repeated locking and unlocking operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Object-generated harmful factors

If a cardboard box is used for packaging, then the environmental friendliness and cost-effectiveness are improved, but the flexibility and robustness deteriorate compared to plastic packaging

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveplastic wasteVSAvoidflexibility and robustness
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-generated harmful factorsVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The packaging system uses composite construction with cardboard for the box body and a separate lid member that can be made of more durable material. This composite approach allows the main box to be environmentally friendly while the lid provides the necessary flexibility and robustness for repeated use.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

Solution Approach 2:

Different parts of the packaging have different material properties optimized for their specific functions. The cardboard box provides environmental friendliness and cost-effectiveness, while the lid and its locking components are designed with enhanced durability and flexibility to compensate for cardboard's limitations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Ease of operation

If a lid is designed with protruding ledges for locking into slots on the box, then the ease of operation and reusability are improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelocking mechanismVSAvoidstructure
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of having slots in the lid and protrusions in the box, the design inverts this arrangement by placing the protruding lid member on the lid and the ledge with slot in the box. This inversion simplifies the overall structure while maintaining the locking function, as the protruding lid member can be a simple extension of the lid rather than a complex assembly.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentEP3640151B1Packaging box for fruit, berries and vegetables
Publication Date: 2024.08.21 BAMA GRUPPEN
  • EP3640151B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3640151B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP3640151B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6A

AI summary

Packaging box and lid for fruit, berries and vegetables comprising coupling devices providing enhanced coupling strength between packaging box and lid.