Reinforced Container Bottom Panels With Pleats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Containers made from corrugated paper, cardboard, and similar materials often experience 'bottom sag' due to weight, leading to convex deformation, which can cause contents to shift, damage, and instability, especially in high humidity environments.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating pleats, folds, or ribs into the bottom panels of containers to enhance strength, with methods involving folding and attaching side and end panels, and optionally using adhesives to secure the pleats, thereby reducing or eliminating bottom sag.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If containers are made from corrugated paper or cardboard, then they are easy to manufacture and cost-effective, but the bottom panel sags under weight causing convex deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom panel is segmented into multiple regions by adding pleats that divide the panel into sections. This segmentation allows each section to better distribute the load and resist sagging while maintaining the overall simplicity of the container structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottom panel combines the corrugated paper/cardboard material with added pleat structures to create a composite reinforcement system. The pleats act as structural elements that enhance the strength of the bottom panel without requiring a complete material change.
2Strength
If the bottom panel is made stronger to prevent sagging, then bottom sag is reduced, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The pleats are formed as preliminary structural elements during the container manufacturing process. By pre-forming the pleats in the bottom panel before assembly, the reinforcement structure is established in advance, avoiding complex post-manufacturing modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The pleats change the geometric parameters of the bottom panel by introducing folded sections with specific angles and dimensions. This parameter modification enhances strength without requiring complex material changes or multi-step manufacturing processes.
3Strength
If pleats are added to the bottom panel to provide strength, then bottom sag is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pleats are applied locally to the bottom panel where strength is most needed to prevent sagging. This localized reinforcement adds minimal complexity to the overall container structure while providing maximum benefit at the critical bottom panel location.
Solution Approach 2:
The pleats introduce curved, folded sections into the bottom panel rather than straight rigid elements. This curvature allows the pleats to flex and adapt to loading conditions while maintaining structural strength, reducing the complexity of rigid reinforcement structures.
Data Source
AI summary
Containers with reinforced bottom panels, methods of making containers with reinforced bottom panels, and methods of using containers with reinforced bottom panels. The containers with reinforced bottom panels have one or more bottom panels, one or more pleats folded along a center line at an angle of about 180°, two side panels, two end panels, and two pairs of side panel extensions. The pleats provide extra strength to the bottom panels of the containers, thereby reducing or eliminating sag in the bottom panels of such containers, particularly when high-water content goods are placed in such containers or when such containers are stored or used in a high-humidity environment.