Hinge-Lid Container Lid Flap Folding With Ablated Edge Fold Zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing process of hinge-lid containers is complex and costly, particularly when forming lines of weakness for beveled or rounded corners, and there is a need for a more straightforward and cost-effective method to simplify the production and assembly process while maintaining an improved appearance and feel.
Innovation Solution
A laminar blank with ablated zones is used, where the thickness is reduced to less than 50% in specific areas, allowing for easier folding and assembly, with the ablated zones having a combined width of at least 1.5 times the thickness, facilitating the formation of containers with improved stiffness and appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If creasing units are used to produce local linear depressions in the blank, then the flexural stability is reduced and folding is facilitated, but the manufacturing process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes material from the blank to form through-holes, eliminating the need for creasing units. This extraction approach directly reduces manufacturing process complexity while maintaining folding facilitation, as the holes naturally create flexural weakness without requiring additional depression-forming equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical creasing system with a material removal system. Instead of using creasing units to mechanically deform the blank and create linear depressions, the invention uses through-holes whose formation substitutes for the creasing mechanism, thereby reducing device complexity while achieving similar functional effects.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple lines of weakness are formed in the blank, then folding accuracy is improved, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the blank into multiple sections by forming through-holes at strategic locations. These holes segment the material and create natural folding lines without requiring multiple separate creasing operations. The segmentation approach achieves folding accuracy while simplifying the overall manufacturing process by using a single type of feature (through-holes) rather than multiple different line types.
Solution Approach 2:
The through-holes serve multiple functions: they create flexural weakness for easy folding, define folding line locations, and can accommodate corner rounding requirements. This universal feature replaces multiple specialized lines of weakness, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining or improving folding accuracy across different container features.
3Force
If the blank thickness is reduced in specific areas, then the force required for folding is reduced, but the structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies material removal selectively at specific locations where through-holes are formed, creating local thinning only where needed for folding facilitation. The rest of the blank maintains its full thickness and structural strength. This local quality approach reduces folding force in critical areas without compromising the overall structural integrity of the container.
Solution Approach 2:
The through-holes are formed in advance during blank preparation, pre-weakening the material at strategic locations before the actual folding operation. This preliminary action reduces the force needed during subsequent folding while maintaining strength elsewhere, as the material has already been prepared with reduced thickness only where folding will occur.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces the force required for folding, simplifies the manufacturing process, and enhances the container's appearance and feel, while maintaining acceptable strength and energy consumption, making the production more flexible and compatible with existing machinery.
Implementation Method 1
The ablation area (A) comprises one or more ablated zones having a residual thickness that is less than about 50 percent of the thickness (T) of the laminar blank
Data Source
AI summary
A hinge lid container (10) for consumer articles comprises a box (12) and a hinge lid (14) connected to the box along a hinge line and pivotable about the hinge line between a closed position and an open position. The hinge lid comprises a first lid wall (16) and a lid flap (18) depending from the first lid wall along an edge fold line, the lid flap being folded inward towards the inner surface of the first lid wall. The container is at least partially formed from a blank having a thickness (T), the laminar blank defining an edge fold portion of the container connecting the first lid wall and the lid flap. The inner surface of the edge fold portion defines an ablation area (A) having a length in the longitudinal direction of the edge fold portion and a width (W) extending transversely to said length.