Technical Field

The present invention was developed in order to provide more stability and security to the existing form of packing boxes in protecting the contents contained within. The uneven surfaces (PTi ¹ Ii) of the edges of the inner wings and the edges of both outer wings prevent the box from being crushed and twisted and fixate the outer wings tightly to the box by combining with each other. The box is also designed to prevent potential cuts to the human hands when cutting the adhesive tape closing the box with a paper knife in order to open it.

Background Art

The present invention was developed in order to provide more stability and security to the existing form of packing boxes in protecting the contents contained within. The uneven surfaces (lHJι£-j) of the edges of the inner wings and the edges of both outer wings prevent the box from being crushed and twisted and fixate the outer wings tightly to the box by combining with each other. The box is also designed to prevent potential cuts to the human hands when cutting the adhesive tape closing the box with a paper knife in order to open it.

Many commercial goods, home appliances, agricultural and fishery products and so forth are shipped to their destination points packed in boxes. Most of these packing boxes of the goods delivery are made up of corrugated

cardboard paper, while some of them are also made up of resins. Cardboard paper, however, forms most of the boxes available on the market due to its lightness, easiness to use, and recyclability, all of which characteristics make the material advantageous and cost-effective.

The aforementioned packing box of this present invention consists of a paper-based box material and/or cardboard paper with appropriate thickness. The materials are cut out along the development figure to form the main body surface, the side surfaces, and the wing-like rids both above and below the box body. The cut-out figure is made into a cube by folding each surface that forms the body part of the box and fixing them with staples. The commercial good that needs to be shipped in the box is put inside the box, and the wing-like rids above the body of the box is folded to close the box tightly. In order to prevent the above rids from opening unexpectedly as well as to increase stability, the surface of the part where both wings that form the rid of the box stick to each other is sealed with adhesive tape so that it would not open en route.

As discussed so far, the rid wings that can fold into the box are designed to cover each other on top, which make those rid wings less durable.

In other words, as shown in Figure 8 that illustrates how to use the existing form of boxes, the cubic packing box is crushed around its edges due to the external pressure exerted upon it, and the crushing of its edges causes inferior function of sealing the box in turn.

Whereas the body part of the box could remain uncrushed and intact due to the cubic structure designed to withstand such external pressure, the edges around the box are susceptible to crushing by external force due to the

lack of any structure of component to aid the function of the edges to withstand such force. The force that acts on the box in a straight way does not crush the body of the box due to the durability of the paper material making up the box. However, the force that acts toward the edges around the box in a diagonal way crushes the edges since the edges are not specially designed to withstand such force and the rid wings are susceptible to being twisted and distorted when force is exerted in such a way.

Most of the users of such a box try to overcome such problems by covering the outer rid wings of the box with an adhesive tape. They also put the adhesive tape around the edges of the box in order to further prevent unexpected opening of the rids and increase durability of the box. However, adhesive tape does not provide a perfect solution to the force exerted on the box as discussed above, and it requires the user to open the box by cutting the adhesive tape put on the box.

In cutting the adhesive tape as shown in Figure 9 that illustrates the state of cutting the adhesive tape on the box to open it, the tape cutting knife used often goes through the tiny, narrow space in between the rid wings. The knife is also easy to penetrate deep enough into the box to damage the inner contents. It has been frequently reported that the knife used to open the box often damages expensive products contained within.

Although there are supplementary materials, such as Styrofoam, put inside the box along with the product in order to protect the product against such unexpected damages, they are also susceptible to being cut or damaged by the knife used to cut the adhesive tape on the box.

Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention has been designed to improve the problems discussed so far. It consists of a packing box with four surfaces around it to form the body part and wing-like rids both above and below those four surfaces that are designed to be opened when sufficient force is exerted. The part where the rid-like wings come in contact with each other is equipped with a specially designed connecting component. The unity of both wings and the unevenly surfaced connecting component have been adopted to increase the innate durability of the box, especially around its edges, against diagonally exerted force.

Another purpose of the present invention is to prevent the paper cutting knife used to cut open the box through the adhesive tape from damaging the product contained within the box.

Effects of the invention

The packing box of the present invention is composed of four pieces of paper surfaces (100) to form the body part of the box. It also includes the underneath surface extending from the said surfaces (100) and two rid wings (200) that form the upper rid of the box. The said rid wings are bound to an unevenly surfaced^β) connecting component around their edges. The resulting connecting means (300) fix the upper rid wings even more tightly and increase durability of the box around its edges against external forces. On both sides of the said uneven connecting means (300) are anti-crushing parts (304) with right angular surfaces. These features are meant to increase durability of

the box by enhancing its solidarity and preventing external forces from crushing it. The zigzag line between the two upper rids of the box are designed to prevent the tape-cutting knife from penetrating too deeply into the box in order to protect the contents within. It also enables the box to be recycled even after opening it.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a slanted view of the present invention with the outer rids open.

Figure 2 is a slanted view of the present invention with the outer rids closed.

Figure 3 is the plane figure of Figure 2.

Figure 4 and Figure 5 are both plane figures of the present invention with different connecting means.

Figure 6 is the plane figure used to illustrate the conditions of using the packing box of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a diagram that shows how to cut open the adhesive tape used for the present invention.

Figure 8 is a diagram that illustrates the conditions of using the existing form of packing boxes.

Figure 9 is a diagram that shows how to cut open the adhesive tape used for the existing form of pacing boxes.

10; side surfaces of the box (front and rear) 20; side surfaces of the box (left

and right)

30; folding line 100; body surface 200; rid wings 201 , 202; wings 300; connecting means 301; triangular pyramidal connecting means 302; square connecting means 303; curved connecting means 304; anti- crushing part

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

In order to achieve the purposes of the invention mentioned earlier, the packing box must consist of four side surfaces, rid wings extending from those side surfaces over the folding line, the cubic box body which can be opened both upward and downward. The part where the said wings meet should contain an uneven connecting means.

The said uneven connecting means may be in the form of triangular pyramid, square, or curves. The anti-crushing part on both sides of the box with right angular surfaces should be designed to enhance durability of the box by preventing crushing around its edges and enhancing its solidarity.

The actual modes of the using the box of the present invention are discussed in detail in the following paragraphs.

Figure 1 is a slanted view of the present invention with the outer rid wings open. Figure 2 is a slanted view of the present invention with the outer rids closed. Figure 3 is the plane figure of Figure 2. Figure 4 and Figure 5 are both plane figures of the present invention with different connecting means. Figure 6 is the plane figure used to illustrate the conditions of using the packing box of the present invention. Figure 7 is a diagram that shows how to cut open

the adhesive tape used for the present invention.

The present invention, according to the said figures, consists of a body (100) made by the side surfaces in the front and the rear (10) and side surfaces on the left and the right (20). It also includes the upper and lower rid wings (200) extending from the body (100) of the box formed by the side surfaces over the folding line (30). These rid wings are fixated to the body (100) by means of staples. At the edge of each of the said wings (201 , 202) is an uneven connecting means (300) designed to enhance solidarity of the box.

The connecting part of the said uneven connecting means (300) may in forms of triangular pyramid, square, or curves. Or else, it could have an anti- crushing part (304) with right angular surfaces on both sides to increase durability and solidarity of the box. Of course, the connecting means may take forms other than the said forms of the connecting parts (301 , 302, 303), and the examples of modes of using the present invention also feature possible modifications of the original design using the connecting means.

400, which was not explained in the 'Symbols Description' section, is the product or content to go into the box; 401 is the supplementary shock-absorbing material; 402 is adhesive tape and 403 is the tape-cutting knife.

Now, the process of putting the product into the packing box of the present invention and combining the two together is explained in the following paragraphs.

Figure 1 is the slanted view of the present invention with the outer rid wings open. Figure 2 is the slanted view of Figure 1 , with the outer rid wings closed. Figures 3, 4, and 5 all feature the condition in which the product is

contained within the said packing box.

Figure 6 is a diagram that illustrates the state of adhesive tape stuck on the packing box in order to enhance solidarity of the part where the two rid wings meet and prevent unexpected opening of the rids.

As shown in all these figures, the side surfaces are stapled together to form the cubic body of the box (100). Extending from these surfaces of the body (100) over the folding line (30) are the lower rid wings (200), folded into the box to form its bottom. The said lower rid wings are solidified with each other by the means of the uneven connecting part (301) where they meet. The combination of the uneven surfaces between the rids prevents the crushing of the rid wings (200) due to the force exerted from the box's sides. The anti-crushing part (304) on both rid wings (200) with right angular surfaces further contributes to protecting the rid wings (200) from moving or being crushed to protect the box and the content within.

With durability and solidarity of the box enhanced by the aforementioned features, the adhesive tape (402) is attached to the box along the uneven connecting means (301), extending toward both left and right side surfaces (20) of the box in order to prevent the rid wings (200) from unexpectedly opening and prevent crushing of the box. The product is put inside the box, along with supplementary shock-absorbing material in order to minimize the shaking and damage of the content within. Once the product is put in, the upper rid wings (200) are folded into the box as shown in Figure 1 so that the edges of both upper rid wings (200) meet each other to connect the uneven surfaces (301) on the edges of the rids. The combination of the uneven surfaces between the rids

prevents the crushing of the rid wings (200) due to the force exerted from the box's sides. The anti-crushing part (304) on both rid wings (200) with right angular surfaces further contributes to protecting the rid wings (200) from moving or being crushed to protect the box and the content within. With durability and solidarity of the box enhanced by the aforementioned features, the adhesive tape (402) is attached to the box along the uneven connecting means (301), extending toward both left and right side surfaces (20) of the box in order to prevent the rid wings (200) from unexpectedly opening and prevent crushing of the box. The product is put inside the box, along with supplementary shock-absorbing material in order to minimize the shaking and damage of the content within.

Besides the fact that the packing box of the present invention can significantly lower the possibility of the box being crushed by diagonally acting external forces, there is also an advantage in that the box does not require additional cost for production.

Once the end-consumer receives the goods he ordered shipped in the box, he will have to cut open the adhesive tape (402) stuck on the upper uneven connecting means (300) and open the outer upper rid wings (201) and inner wings (202) to pull the content out.

The consumers may opt to remove the adhesive tape (402). However, since the adhesive tape, made up of PVC material, is not easy to tear away from the box and may crush the box when being pulled away, making the box impossible to recycle, most consumers prefer cutting the adhesive tape (402) with a tape-cutting knife (403).

The sharp edge of the tape-cutting knife (403) penetrates the thin adhesive tape (402) quite deeply into the box, and the consumer moves it along the way. In this case the knife (403) may penetrate deeply into the content to damage it.

However, in the packing box of the present invention, the knife (403) used to cut open the adhesive tape (402) stuck on the rid wings (200) cuts the adhesive tape (402) only without penetrating too deeply into the box. In other words, the present invention which has its rid wings meet each other not straightly but rather in a zigzag line prevents the knife from penetrating too easily into the box, thereby significantly reducing the risk of damages to the product contained within.

The packing box of the present invention can also be reused with the rid wings cut clean, contributing to environmental protection and cost effectiveness.