Hourglass Packaging Element Void Filling and Cushioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional packaging elements fail to adequately fill void spaces, provide sufficient cushioning, and are cumbersome, making them inefficient for shipping and storage.
Innovation Solution
An hourglass-shaped packaging element with a deformable hollow and alternating ridges and grooves that allows for flexion and resilient recovery, enabling efficient space reduction and increased packing density, along with optional score marks for easy bending and folding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional packaging elements are used, then they can be simple in structure, but they fail to adequately fill void spaces and provide sufficient cushioning
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging element incorporates a deformable hollow portion that can dynamically adjust its shape and volume. The hollow portion is designed to compress and deform under load, allowing it to adapt to different packaging configurations and provide effective cushioning where needed, while returning to its original shape when unloaded.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging element is divided into distinct functional segments: a deformable hollow portion for cushioning and void space filling, and a substantially rigid portion for structural support. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the overall structure.
2Productivity
If traditional packaging elements are used, then they can be easy to manufacture, but they are cumbersome and have shapes not conducive to packaging for shipment
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging element can be compressed and deformed into a flattened configuration for efficient shipping and storage. The deformable hollow portion allows the element to be compacted into a smaller volume, reducing shipping costs and improving space utilization, while easily returning to its functional three-dimensional shape when needed.
3Reliability
If traditional packaging elements are used, then they can be simple in design, but they do not provide adequate filling of void spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The deformable hollow portion can change its volume and shape to fill void spaces between packaged items. When compressed, the hollow portion expands and conforms to available space, effectively filling voids and preventing movement of packaged items during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging element features localized structural variations with the hollow portion positioned to target specific void spaces. The alternating ridges and grooves provide localized reinforcement and deformation characteristics that enhance void space filling in critical areas while maintaining overall structural integrity.
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
The hourglass-shaped packaging element provides effective cushioning, compressional strength, and efficient space utilization, reducing handling and storage costs while ensuring secure positioning and protection of packaged items during transport.
Implementation Method 1
a deformable hollow, which allows for a degree of inward and/or outward flexion and resilient recovery toward the original shape of the deformable hollow and/or the hourglass shaped packaging element
Implementation Method 2
The hourglass shaped packaging element of the present disclosure also includes grooves and ridges that allow the hourglass shaped packaging element to better resist crushing (or resist a determined amount of crushing)
Data Source
AI summary
An hourglass shaped packaging element, including at least some of a sheet that includes one or more alternating ridges and grooves formed between a terminating proximal end and a terminating distal end of the sheet; a first sheet portion defined along a portion of the sheet, wherein the first sheet portion extends from the terminating proximal end of the sheet; and a second sheet portion, defined along a portion of the sheet, wherein the second sheet portion extends from the first sheet portion to the terminating distal end, wherein the sheet is bent or folded between the first sheet portion and the second sheet portion such that a portion of the sheet proximate the terminating distal end overlays a portion of the sheet proximate the terminating proximal end to form a deformable hollow defined within at least a portion of the sheet.