Single-Blank Paperboard Food Box with Interlocking Cup Rail
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing folded boxes made from paperboard are either too inexpensive and lack strength or require multiple blanks, leading to structural issues like holes in the food compartment and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A folded box design utilizing a single stamped paperboard blank with specific fold lines and locking tabs that interconnect panels, creating a strong and integral structure for holding food and beverages without holes, while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single stamped paperboard blank is used to create the folded box, then manufacturing cost is reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but structural strength and integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The single paperboard blank is segmented into multiple functional panels (food compartment panels, beverage compartment panels, locking tabs, reinforcement elements) that fold together to form the complete box structure. This segmentation allows each panel to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall structural integrity from a single blank.
Solution Approach 2:
The design utilizes three-dimensional folding transformations where flat panels transition into vertical and horizontal structural elements. The locking tabs and reinforcement elements use dimensional transformation to create interlocking joints that provide structural strength without requiring additional materials or complex assembly.
2Reliability
If the folded box is designed to hold both food and beverages securely, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple compartments and locking mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The single paperboard blank serves multiple functions simultaneously: it forms the food compartment, beverage compartment, locking mechanisms, and structural reinforcements all from one integrated structure. The locking tabs serve both as structural connectors and as seals to prevent leakage, reducing the need for separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The food compartment and beverage compartment are merged into a single integrated structure from one continuous paperboard blank, with shared walls and integrated locking mechanisms. This merging reduces the number of separate parts while maintaining the ability to securely hold both food and beverages.
3Ease of manufacture
If thin paperboard is used to reduce material cost, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but the box lacks strength and may collapse during use
Solution Approach 1:
The paperboard blank is pre-stamped with fold lines, locking tab positions, and reinforcement element locations before folding. This preliminary action creates predetermined structural features that guide the folding process and ensure that even thin paperboard forms a rigid, collapse-resistant box structure when assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
Thin paperboard panels are transformed into three-dimensional structural elements through folding. The locking tabs and reinforcement elements use dimensional transformation to create interlocking joints and rigid frameworks that provide exceptional strength relative to the thinness of the material, preventing collapse during use.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is a folded box that is made from a single stamped blank of paperboard. When folded, a box is formed that contains both a food trough for holding food and a beverage rail for holding beverage cups. The paperboard blank has a base panel. A front panel, a rear panel and two side panels are coupled to the base panel. Slots are formed in the side panels. A cup receptacle panel extends from the rear panel. Locking tabs extend from the cup receptacle panel. The folded box is configurable between a folded configuration and an unfolded configuration. When in the unfolded configuration, the locking tabs on the cup receptacle panel extend through the slots in the side panels, therein mechanically interconnecting the cup receptacle panel to the side panels.