Internal Fold Lines for Predictable Collapsible Container Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional collapsible containers, particularly soft-shell containers, face challenges with inadequate insulation and poor structural integrity when loaded, leading to potential spillage and damage to contents.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible container design featuring internalized fold lines that guide the material to fold inwardly, ensuring quick and efficient transition between expanded and compacted configurations, while maintaining insulation and structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If soft-shell materials are used to enable collapsibility, then the container can be easily collapsed and stored, but the insulation performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container body is divided into multiple panels that can be independently folded along predetermined fold lines. This segmentation allows the flexible material to be structured in a way that maintains insulation performance while enabling easy collapse and storage.
Solution Approach 2:
Fold lines are pre-formed and predetermined in the flexible material during manufacturing. These pre-established fold lines guide the folding process, ensuring that the container collapses neatly and efficiently without requiring complex manual manipulation, thus maintaining insulation while enabling collapsibility.
2Volume of stationary object
If flexible materials are used for collapsibility, then storage space is reduced, but structural integrity when loaded deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible material is divided into multiple panels with predetermined fold lines, creating a structured framework that provides structural integrity when loaded while maintaining the ability to collapse into a compact form for efficient storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The container transitions between dynamic states: maintaining a rigid, load-bearing structure when expanded and used, and collapsing into a compact, space-efficient form when not in use. The fold lines enable this dynamic transformation while preserving structural integrity during the expanded state.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional folding methods are used, then manufacturing is simple, but the folding process is unpredictable and messy
Solution Approach 1:
Fold lines are pre-formed and predetermined in the flexible material during manufacturing. This preliminary action ensures that when the container is collapsed, the material follows the predetermined fold lines, resulting in a neat and predictable folding process that maintains a tidy appearance while keeping manufacturing simple.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is a collapsible container that transitions between an open configuration for use and a closed configuration for compact storage. It features strategically placed fold lines on its surfaces, which may form one or more triangular-shaped regions that facilitate an inward folding of the material forming the surface. These fold lines guide the material to fold in a specific manner when the container is collapsed thus ensuring the materials of the surface are disposed within the interior of the container when it is collapsed.