Convertible Wraparound Container With Breakaway Handle Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional convertible containers lack versatility and functionality beyond retail display, necessitating improved systems and methods for enhanced usability.
Innovation Solution
A container design featuring foldable panels with lines of weakness, allowing conversion into a carrying case with a handle, formed by separating end flaps from the top wall, and forming an end wall to create a lateral bound for the interior space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional containers are designed for retail display with fixed structure, then product display functionality is improved, but versatility for other applications deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container employs dynamic structural elements including foldable panels, movable end flaps, and collapseible side walls that transition between different structural states. The container can transform from a rigid shipping configuration to a collapsible carrying case, enabling adaptability across multiple applications without requiring multiple separate containers.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is divided into separable components including top and bottom panels, side walls, and end flaps that can be independently folded or detached. The end flaps can be separated from the top wall panels through breakable lines of weakness, allowing the container to be disassembled into smaller functional units for different use cases.
2Ease of operation
If container panels are made rigid for structural stability, then containment strength is improved, but ease of conversion to carrying case deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container incorporates pre-formed lines of weakness in the panels and pre-folded end flaps that are prepared in advance for separation. These pre-configured weak points allow the structure to be easily converted from a rigid container to a collapsible carrying case by simply breaking the lines of weakness or folding the flaps, without requiring complex tools or procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The container utilizes materials and structural designs that allow changing mechanical properties under different conditions. The panels and flaps are designed with specific flexibility characteristics that enable them to maintain structural integrity during shipping but allow easy folding and separation when conversion is needed, transitioning between rigid and flexible states.
3Adaptability or versatility
If end flaps are permanently attached to top wall panels, then structural integrity is improved, but ability to form handle deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The end flaps are designed as separable components from the top wall panels, connected by breakable lines of weakness. This segmentation allows the flaps to be detached when needed for handle formation, while maintaining structural integrity when attached during shipping and storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection between end flaps and top wall panels is designed to be dynamic rather than fixed, allowing the flaps to transition between attached and detached states. This dynamic connection enables the container to maintain structural integrity during use but easily convert to a carrying case configuration.
4Ease of operation
If container is designed for secure containment during shipping, then product protection is improved, but ease of access to contents deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container incorporates pre-configured access features including foldable end flaps and collapsible side walls that are prepared in advance for easy opening. When access is needed, the user can simply fold the end flaps or collapse the side walls without requiring complex locking mechanisms or tools, enabling quick access while maintaining secure containment during shipping.
Data Source
AI summary
A container includes a plurality of panels foldably connected to one another, wrapping around an interior space configured for containing product. Two of the plurality of panels cooperate to form a top wall of the interior space. A respective end flap is foldably connected to each of the two panels of the top wall. The end flaps cooperate to form a portion of an end wall that forms a lateral bound of the interior space. Each end flap is connected to its respective panel of the top wall with a line of weakness configured to be broken to allow conversion of the top wall wherein the two panels of the top wall are opened for access to the interior space.