Handheld tool
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing handheld tools made from sheet-shaped materials lack form stability and user-friendliness, and their manufacturing processes are not cost-effective or environmentally friendly.
Innovation Solution
A blank with a flat, elongated shape featuring symmetrically arranged upward and downward bending lines, allowing for easy folding into a stable handheld tool form, using compostable and recyclable materials, and a manufacturing process involving die-cutting and scoring to facilitate bending and folding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If handheld tools are made from sheet-shaped materials to reduce cost, then manufacturing cost decreases, but form stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The blank is divided into multiple functional sections (handle section, intermediate section, functional section) separated by bending lines. This segmentation allows the flat sheet to be folded into a three-dimensional form-stable structure while maintaining low manufacturing cost through simple die-cutting processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transforms a two-dimensional flat sheet blank into a three-dimensional form-stable tool by introducing bending lines that create folds. This dimensional transformation enables the sheet material to achieve structural stability without requiring expensive bulk materials or complex manufacturing processes.
2Ease of operation
If bending lines are added to facilitate folding, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bending lines are pre-formed on the blank during manufacturing (through scoring or die-cutting) before the tool is used. This preliminary action creates predetermined fold paths that guide the user in folding the tool correctly, making the folding process intuitive and easy while the complexity is already resolved in the manufacturing stage.
Solution Approach 2:
The bending lines are designed to self-align and guide the folding process. When the user applies force to fold the blank, the pre-formed bending lines naturally direct the fold along the correct path, eliminating the need for complex guides or instructions and making the tool self-explanatory to use.
3Strength
If upward bending segments are made continuous to improve structural integrity, then strength improves, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention allows the upward bending line to comprise continuous sections separated by breaks or discontinuities. This parameter change in the continuity requirement enables easier manufacturing while the overall structural integrity is maintained through the geometric configuration and folding mechanism, which distributes stresses along the bending segments.
Data Source
AI summary
The application provides a blank for forming a handheld tool. The blank includes an elongated sheet that includes a top surface and a bottom surface, a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end, a first side end and a second side end, and a circumferential edge. The circumferential edge includes a rear edge, a front edge, a first side edge, and a second side edge. The elongated sheet also includes at least one upward bending line extending, and a second upward bending segment, and a connecting segment. The elongated sheet also includes a first downward bending line and a second downward bending line.