Stand-up Plastic Storage Bag with Shift Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional plastic storage bags require additional material and structural features like pleats or gussets to stand upright, which increases manufacturing costs and reduces their ability to be compactly stored in a flat configuration.
Innovation Solution
The storage bag incorporates shift regions such as score lines, indentations, or crimps on its sidewalls, allowing it to transition between a flat and stand-up configuration without additional structural support, enabling it to maintain a flat base in the upright position without being grasped by the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a pleat or gusset is added to the bottom of the bag to enable it to stand upright, then the bag can stand upright without user support, but additional material is required which increases manufacturing costs and reduces the ability to be made flat for compact storage
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom of the bag is divided into multiple panels (first bottom panel, second bottom panel, third bottom panel, fourth bottom panel) that can be folded along score lines to form a three-dimensional base structure. This segmentation allows the bag to stand upright without requiring additional material beyond the bag walls themselves, as the base is formed by folding existing material into a geometric configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The bag bottom transitions from a two-dimensional flat configuration to a three-dimensional structure by folding the bottom panels along score lines. This dimensional transformation creates a self-supporting base that enables the bag to stand upright while using only the original bag material, eliminating the need for additional structural components.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the bag is made thicker throughout its sides and bottom to more firmly support itself in an upright position, then the bag can stand upright more stably, but additional material is required which increases manufacturing costs
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom is segmented into multiple triangular or polygonal panels that form a pyramidal or prismatic structure. This geometric segmentation distributes the weight and provides stable support through the three-dimensional configuration, eliminating the need for increased material thickness while maintaining structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The bag utilizes the same material for both the walls and the bottom panels, but creates structural strength through the composite geometric configuration of folded panels rather than through increased material thickness. The stability arises from the spatial arrangement of multiple thin panels forming a rigid three-dimensional structure.
3Shape
If a pleat is added to the bottom of the bag to enable it to stand upright, then the bag can maintain its shape in an upright position, but the pleat reduces the ability of the bag to be made flat for compact storage
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom structure is designed to be dynamically foldable along score lines, allowing it to transition between a compact flat configuration for storage and an expanded three-dimensional configuration for upright use. The score lines enable controlled folding that maintains the upright shape when deployed while allowing complete flattening when not in use.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage bag includes a first sidewall having a top edge and a bottom edge, and a plurality of shift regions about which the bag is capable of shifting. At least one of the shift regions includes one of a score line, an indentation, and a crimp formed into the first sidewall, and extends a distance along the first sidewall starting from near the bottom edge of the first sidewall. A second sidewall is connected to the first sidewall so as to form an interior of the bag with an opening to the interior and having a top edge and a bottom edge. At least one of the shift regions of the first and second sidewalls extends across and intersects with another of the shift regions of the first and second sidewalls, to facilitate shifting of the bag. The bag shifts between a flat configuration, and a stand-up configuration.