Movable Back Wall Container with Dual Compartment Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional containers for consumer goods, such as elongate smoking articles, lack additional functionality and flexibility in accommodating smaller items without modifying existing manufacturing processes or packaging equipment.
Innovation Solution
A container design featuring a movable back wall and a second compartment, accessible only when both the lid and back wall are open, which maintains the external appearance of conventional containers while accommodating smaller items, and includes features like frangible portions, low-tack adhesives, and magnetic closures to prevent accidental opening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional container design is used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but functionality and adaptability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into multiple compartments (first compartment accessible via lid, second compartment accessible via both lid and movable back wall), allowing different levels of access and organization for consumer goods. This segmentation enables the container to accommodate various product types and access requirements without fundamentally changing the overall container structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The back wall is made movable between closed and open positions, transforming a static container structure into a dynamic one. This allows the container to adapt its configuration based on usage needs, providing an additional access path to the second compartment while maintaining the traditional lid-access path to the first compartment.
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional compartments and movable walls are added, then functionality increases, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The movable back wall serves multiple functions: it acts as a structural element defining the second compartment, provides an additional access path when opened, and can be integrated with existing folding blank manufacturing processes. The design allows the same basic container structure to serve both traditional single-compartment purposes and new multi-compartment configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The container structure utilizes folding blanks with specific fold lines and hinge configurations that allow transformation from a flat manufactured blank to a three-dimensional container with movable elements. By changing the geometric parameters and fold configurations of the blank, the container achieves complex functionality from relatively simple manufacturing processes.
3Ease of operation
If the second compartment is always accessible, then convenience is improved, but product protection and freshness are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The container is designed with a predetermined access sequence where the lid must be opened first to access the first compartment, and only then can the back wall be moved to access the second compartment. This preliminary action requirement ensures that products in the second compartment remain protected until the consumer has accessed the first compartment, maintaining product freshness through controlled access.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable back wall includes retention features that prevent inadvertent or accidental opening, acting as a preliminary protective measure against unintended access. This anti-action mechanism ensures that the second compartment remains securely closed unless deliberately opened by the consumer after accessing the first compartment.
Data Source
AI summary
A container for consumer goods is provided, including a box including a bottom wall, two side walls, a back box wall, a front wall, a movable container back wall, and a lid. The movable container back wall depends along a first fold line from the box, is movable about the first fold line between an open position and a closed position, and at least partially overlies the back box wall when in the closed position. The lid depends along a hinge line from the movable container back wall and is movable between the open and the closed positions. A first and a second compartment each configured to receive the consumer goods are located in the box, the first compartment is accessible when the lid is in the open position, and the second compartment is accessible when both the lid and the movable container back wall are in respective open positions.