Dispenser housing an arched-shaped folded stack
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumer product dispensers, such as facial tissue cartons, lack differentiation from traditional parallelepiped shapes, which can lead to dispensing issues and perception of poor quality when using alternative shapes, making it difficult to position them as premium products.
Innovation Solution
An oblong dispenser with an arch-shaped folded stack of sheets, where the flat stack is folded 180 degrees about a transverse axis, allowing for improved dispensing and increased sheet count without compression, reducing sheet tears and fallback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If an alternatively shaped dispenser is used to differentiate from traditional parallelepiped shapes, then product differentiation is improved, but dispensing performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tissue stack is divided into individual sheets that are interleaved and folded separately, allowing each sheet to be dispensed independently while maintaining overall stack integrity. This segmentation enables the alternative dispenser shape to function properly by accommodating the folded structure within the differentiated housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The folded tissue stack is nested within the alternatively shaped dispenser housing. The interleaved and folded structure of the tissues fits inside the differentiated dispenser shape, allowing the compact nested arrangement to maintain dispensing performance while achieving product differentiation through the outer housing shape.
2Shape
If an alternatively shaped dispenser is used to differentiate from traditional shapes, then product differentiation is improved, but sheet count deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tissue stack is folded into a three-dimensional structure with multiple layers and dimensions. By folding the tissues in multiple directions and creating an interleaved arrangement, the dispenser can accommodate a higher sheet count within the alternatively shaped housing, overcoming the limitation of reduced capacity that typically accompanies non-traditional shapes.
3Reliability
If traditional upright or flat dispenser shapes are used, then dispensing performance is maintained, but product differentiation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The dispenser uses an alternatively shaped, asymmetric housing that differs from traditional symmetric upright or flat dispenser shapes. This asymmetric design achieves product differentiation while the internal folded tissue structure maintains proper dispensing function, resolving the contradiction between shape differentiation and dispensing performance.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~3B
AI summary
An oblong dispenser (10) having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, and wherein a maximum length of the dispenser (Ld) along the longitudinal axis is greater than a maximum width of the dispenser (Wd) along the transverse axis. The dispenser containing a plurality of sheets of a sheet-material formed into a flat stack, and the flat stack folded about a transverse fold axis forming an arch-shaped folded stack having an arched stack top and a stack bottom comprising two legs. The arch-shaped folded stack is placed into the oblong dispenser (10) with the transverse fold axis parallel to the oblong dispenser' s transverse axis.