SYSTEM FOR DESIGNING PACKING BOX ONLINE AND DESIGN METHOD USING THE SAME

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a system for designing a packing box online and a design method using the system.

Background Art

[2] Generally, packing boxes are used by manufacturers to pack products manufactured by themselves. The packing boxes function to protect products as well as to pack the products, and also function to enhance the value of the products through the appearance of the design. The packing boxes are generally manufactured using paper or plastic material.

[3] In a process of ordering and manufacturing such packing boxes, as illustrated in

FlG. 1, in order to manufacture boxes suitable for a product, a product manufacturer visits a box manufacturer and orders boxes from the box manufacturer, and the box manufacturer requests a box design from a design company based on the order of the product manufacturer. Thereafter, when a packing design accomplished through the above procedure is delivered to the product manufacturer, the product manufacturer modifies or approves it, and then order packing boxes having the modified or approved design. However, in such a conventional procedure of ordering and manufacturing packing boxes, the product manufacturer, the design company, and the box manufacturer are separately located, so that there are problems in that the procedure of manufacturing the packing boxes is inconvenient because the product manufacturer must make separate visits, and in that design must be performed again when the dimensions of the boxes designed by the design company do not match the dimensions of boxes provided by the box manufacturer.

[4] In order to resolve the problems, the product manufacturer first visits the manufacturer of packing boxes and selects an appropriate packing box. Thereafter, the product manufacturer visits the design company and requests a packing box design based on the selected packing box. The design company first draws a development figure, appropriately designs a box in accordance with the development figure, and delivers it to the product manufacturer. The product manufacturer modifies or approves the design, and then again visits the manufacturer of packing boxes and requests the manufacture of packing boxes. This procedure is also inconvenient for the product manufacturer.

[5] Furthermore, although design is performed using any of the above-described

methods, the design itself cannot help but be two-dimensionally implemented, so that an occasion in which the design does not match an actual three-dimensional design sometimes occurs. Furthermore, when a manufactured packing box is assembled, the design is frequently disappointing.

[6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a general packing box, FIG. 3 is a development figure of the packing box of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a development figure of a packing box for a wooden pattern.

[7] In order to design the packing box illustrated in FIG. 2, the development figure of the packing box of FIG. 2 is drawn, as shown in FIG. 3, and appropriate design is performed on the development figure. However, it is not easy for persons to draw a development figure, except for experts in packing boxes. If the development figure can be drawn, the development figure, depending on a method of drawing a development figure, may be used, or may not be used due to the efficiency of use of paper material. That is, printing is generally performed on a ream basis, the amount of remaining paper generated for one ream unit increases or decreases according to the arrangement of the development figure, so that, if a design is created without expert knowledge, it frequently results in decreased cost efficiency, thereby requiring re-design. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[8] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of allowing a product manufacturer to easily request a design, and a design company to easily make a design suitable for packing boxes for a product.

[9] Another object of the present invention is to allow any person who desires to participate in the design of the packing boxes to easily obtain a development figure for the packing boxes.

[10] Still another object of the present invention is to allow a design company or the like to compare the design for packing boxes designed by itself with the wooden pattern development figure thereof, thereby verifying whether the designed design can be used without change. Technical Solution

[11] In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a system for designing packing boxes online in a web service system including a web server for transmitting a document over an Internet upon a user's request and, thereby, providing web service, and a user computer for communicating with the web server over a communication network, the web server including a box display unit for allowing an accessing user to select a packing box capable of packing his or her product; a packing

box print development figure database unit for storing development figures of boxes to be displayed on the box display unit; a three-dimensional (3D) figure database unit for storing information about 3D figures in a assembled state; a user selection unit for allowing the user to select registration information of a box, such as a shape, type and size of the box, and design of the box to be applied to a development figure stored in the print development figure database unit; and a combination unit for applying the registration information and design of the box selected by the user selection unit to the 3D figure.

[12] In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a method for designing packing boxes, comprising the steps of a web browser on a remote computer requesting a connection to a server computer; a server computer, having receiving the request, authenticating a user gaining access through the connected computer; selecting an order of a box when the authentication has been completed; displaying various selectable box shapes when the user selects the order of the box; inputting information necessary for manufacture, such as a type, shape, length, width, and height of the selected box, when the shape of the box has been selected; and determining letters and figures to be printed on the selected box when the information has been input. Advantageous Effects

[13] According to the present invention, a product manufacturer can easily request a design, and a design company can easily perform design suitable for the packing box of a product and creates a design which is immediately used for the manufacture of a wooden pattern, so that there are advantages in that effective communication and business conduct between the product manufacturer, the design company and a box manufacturer, as well as effective design, are possible. Brief Description of the Drawings

[14] Reference should now be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.

[15] FlG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of ordering a box according to the prior art;

[16] FlG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the assembled figure of a box;

[17] FlG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the development figure of a box; and

[18] FlG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the wooden pattern development figure of a box.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[19] In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a system for designing packing boxes online in a web service system including a web server for

transmitting a document over an Internet upon a user's request and, thereby, providing web service, and a user computer for communicating with the web server over a communication network, the web server including a box display unit for allowing an accessing user to select a packing box capable of packing his or her product; a packing box print development figure database unit for storing development figures of boxes to be displayed on the box display unit; a 3D figure database unit for storing information about 3D figures in a assembled state; a user selection unit for allowing the user to select registration information of a box, such as a shape, type and size of the box, and design of the box to be applied to a development figure stored in the print development figure database unit; and a combination unit for applying the registration information and design of the box selected by the user selection unit to the 3D figure.

[20] Furthermore, the user selection unit may includes a design database unit for previously storing designs to be applied to the print development figures of the print development figure database unit, and a design modification module for allowing the user to modify the designs stored in the design database unit.

[21] The web server may further include an assembly moving image database unit for storing moving images of procedures of assembling the print development figures of the packing boxes and a wooden pattern development figure database unit for storing wooden pattern development figures based on the development figures stored in the packing box print development figure database unit.

[22] The wooden pattern database unit may identical to the print development figure database unit. If not, a wooden pattern possibility determination unit for determining whether what is designed using the print development figure database can be applied to one of the wooden pattern development figures may be included.

[23] Furthermore, the web server is provided with an ActiveX controller for allowing a software package, which is an install program for determining whether the design software needs to be transmitted, installed, upgraded or updated, to be executed on the user computer in order to provide design software which allows the accessing user to directly make a design to be printed on the packing box, and web pages having script codes. The web server further includes a user authentication unit for limiting a range and period of use of the design software.

[24] Furthermore, the web server further comprises a color correction unit for correcting color based on the design and texture of the box selected by the user. The color of a box designed by a user and selected at the time of design may vary due to the texture of the box when actually manufactured. That is, when the color of the texture of a box, for example, corrugated paper, is not white, the design printed on the corrugated paper is mixed with the color of the corrugated paper, so that the color correction unit for performing correction on the mixed and changed color may be further included.

[25] The box display unit stores information about the rough shapes, textures, specifications, and prices of various type of boxes that can be selected by a user, and, when the user selects a box, transmits information about the shape, texture, specification and price thereof to the screen of the user, and displays them on the screen.

[26] The packing box print development figure database unit is a database for storing figures of the development states of boxes to be displayed on the box display unit, and assists the user in directly selecting how the content designed by the user is to be applied on a box.

[27] The 3D figure database is a database for storing information about the assembly states of the print development figures stored in the print development figure database, and transmits the assembly states of boxes, or transmits two-dimensional or 3D figures, accomplished using information set through the user selection unit, to the screen of the user at the request of the user or to a mobile phone, based on the selection of the user. The transmitted 3D figures may be constructed so as to be reproduced on the screen of the user using the software, and the user can approve the design applied to a box while rotating the box at his or her will using a mouse. Furthermore, in order to transmit it to the mobile phone, a mobile conversion unit for performing conversion into figures or moving images displayable on the mobile phone may be included.

[28] The user selection unit forms or selects the registration information and design of a box which is input or selected by a user in conjunction with the shape and type of the box selected by the user. The combination unit applies the selected the registration information and design of the box to a 3D figure. Such application is accomplished by receiving the values of the registration information selected by the user, such as the size of a box, in the form of coordinate information, and the designs of respective surfaces based on a corresponding set of coordinates in the form of images, and then performing combination.

[29] The wooden pattern development figure database unit is a database storing development figures directly used in wooden patterns. The wooden patterns are made by cutting a strut plywood board (board, MDF, PP, PVC, metal board or the like) using a laser or a saw according to a desired one of various drawn shapes and bending various types of blades using a cutter and a bending machine and combining cut blades in the cut space. A box manufacturer manufactures boxes by forming the wooden patterns according to the wooden pattern development figures. Since a problem occurs in that the design is distorted or some of the design is cut out if a user performs matching when a design for a packing box does not match the wooden pattern development figure, this problem can be resolved by displaying the wooden pattern to the user.

[30] The moving image database is the database for enabling display of a procedure in which pieces cut according to the development figure are folded and assembled. The

object of this is to anticipate the assembled state of the packing box, designed by the user in two dimensions, upon assembly. Respective moving images exist for each of all of the boxes, and the moving images can be realized using flash.

[31] A software package install program provided in the web server is transmitted to and automatically installed on a user computer, and is preferably embodied as an automatically executing file that is one of an ActiveX controller or a Java applet for installing the box design software on the user computer.

[32] The box design software installed on the user computer by the software package is independently operating software, an can be a plug-in for, for example, Adobe Illustrator, which is the most widely used graphic program, or can simply be a viewer.

[33] When the box design software is an Adobe Illustrator plug-in, a vector value extraction unit for extracting the vector values of a design created in Illustrator, a conversion unit for converting the extracted vector values into 3D coordinate values, a model construction unit for constructing a 3D model based on the converted 3D coordinate values, and a viewer for displaying the model constructed by the model construction unit are included. An authentication unit for inquiring of the web server about whether a user has a valid license and interrupting a program if the user is not a valid user, or authenticating the user of the program if the user is a valid user, can be included.

[34] In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a method for designing packing boxes, comprising the steps of a web browser on a remote computer requesting a connection to a server computer; a server computer, having receiving the request, authenticating a user gaining access through the connected computer; selecting an order of a box when the authentication has been completed; displaying various selectable box shapes when the user selects the order of the box; inputting information necessary for manufacture, such as a type, shape, length, width, and height of the selected box, when the shape of the box has been selected; and determining letters and figures to be printed on the selected box when the information has been input.

[35] The step of determining letters and figures to be printed on the selected box may be the step of presenting letters and figures stored in the server and the user selecting or modifying them.

[36] The step of determining letters and figures to be printed on the selected box may includes the steps of transmitting a software package to be transmitted and implemented through commands included in a document, which is written in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), from the server computer to the connected remote computer; executing the transmitted software package on the remote computer; and uploading design data written using the transmitted software package to the server

computer.

Mode for the Invention

[37] A preferred embodiment is described below in detail.

[38] A design system according to the present invention includes a web server running in a server operating system so as to support the order and design of a box, a box display unit for working together with the web server, a print development figure database unit, a 3D figure database unit, an assembly moving image database unit, and a wooden pattern development figure database unit. The design system provides a software package for installing a box design edit means in an accessing user computer. The user computer executes the software package provided by the web server and can support the design of a box. In the above-described construction, the web server includes a web server engine, such as IIS, Apache, and a plurality of web programs including a software package for installing the box design software means of the present invention, which is provided to the accessing user by the web server engine, on the user computer. The web server, the box display unit, the print development figure database unit and the 3D figure database unit are independently embodied on respective server computers independent of each other, and can be connected to each other through a network.

[39] When a user, accessing the web server through a network, selects a box order in order to order the box, the display unit of the server displays shape items for allowing selection of the shape of the box. In this case, shape items are set for uses of the boxes or shapes and are provided for a user to select one immediately.

[40] After the shape of a box is selected from among the shape items, the server displays box types to be selected by the user.

[41] The box types can be displayed according to the uses of boxes and the materials of boxes. For example, the display unit may be constructed so as to allow the user to select an inner box or an outer box. When the outer box is selected, the display unit may be constructed so as to allow the user to select a single faced S.S., single faced B.S., single faced K.S., single faced SK.S., or single faced W.S. of a laminated box, or a double faced (SK.S.S. a-flute single-wall corrugated fiber board), double faced (SK.S.S.S.K. double wall corrugated fiber board), double faced (W.S.S.S.K. double wall corrugated fiber board), or double faced (KBL.S.S.S.K. double wall corrugated fiber board) of an A-type box. When the internal box is selected, the display unit may be constructed so as to allow the user to select a manila box, a coated manila box or a non-printed manila box. When the coated manila box is selected, the display unit may be constructed so as to allow the user to select lamination coating, general coating, or general option print.

[42] Meanwhile, when a user selects a box, the dimensions, shape and the like of the selected box can be selected. The selection of the dimensions can be implemented by being directly input by the user, or through determination of the dimensions by the server when the user inputs information about his or her product.

[43] When the user inputs the dimensions of the box, the server, having received the input dimensions, finds a development figure in a print development figure database unit for the selected box, and transmits it to the screen of the user.

[44] When the print development figure has been transmitted to his or her computer, the user selects a design from a design database and modifies or adopts the selected design. That is, when the user selects the development figure of the box from among shape items, the server displays it in order for the user to confirm it. In the state in which the development figure has been displayed, when the user again selects a letter, a figure and the like, the selected letter and figure are displayed. The server allows the user to move the selected letter and figure to a desired position so as to locate them on the development figure, thereby allowing the user to confirm this.

[45] Allowing the user to locate letters, a figure, and a lettering on the development figure permits the user to locate them at a position desired by him or her, thereby resulting in minimal modification and permitting preparation of an order.

[46] Furthermore, it is possible for a user to apply his or her data to the print development figure. In this case, the data is loaded and then the image file of the data is first displayed on the user's computer. The order is implemented based on the displayed data which is stored in the server over the Internet.

[47] Meanwhile, when a user gaining access through the web server directly performs design or is a designer, the user selectively receives and installs design software, and then directly performs design.

[48] The transmitted software is preferably constructed to communicate with the user authentication unit of the web server. As a result, when the user, having installed the software, uses the software, whether the user is a user having a valid license is verified, and then it is possible to interrupt the operation of the software when there is no valid license. Industrial Applicability

[49] According to the present invention, a product manufacturer can easily request a design, and a design company can easily perform design suitable for the packing box of a product and creates a design which is immediately used for the manufacture of a wooden pattern, so that there are advantages in that effective communication and business conduct between the product manufacturer, the design company and a box manufacturer, as well as effective design, are possible.

[50] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.