KR-20260066026-A - HANDHELD BOX ORGANIZING TOOL HAVING INTEGRATED BOX OPENING AND FLATTENING FUNCTIONS

KR20260066026AKR 20260066026 AKR20260066026 AKR 20260066026AKR-20260066026-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a box organizing tool that integrally incorporates a cutting function for cutting adhesive tape on the upper surface of a box and a compression function for flattening the existing fold line of the box by applying pressure within a single portable tool. The tool of the present invention comprises a housing forming an internal space, a gripping part provided on the upper part of the housing, a cutting blade disposed inside the housing, a safety guard surrounding the cutting blade so as not to be exposed outside the housing, and a compression roller rotatably provided on the lower part of the housing to apply pressure to the fold line of the box. The cutting blade is positioned in front of the tool's direction of travel and the compression roller is positioned behind it, so that a sequential operation is performed in which tape cutting precedes and the compression of the fold line follows by a single forward movement motion by the user. The outer surface of the compression roller is formed substantially smooth or is provided with an elastic coating layer so as not to damage the box surface. According to the present invention, the box processing process, which was conventionally separated into a box cutter and manual flattening, is integrated into a single operation by a single tool, thereby simultaneously ensuring user safety and recycling quality.

Inventors

안범주

Assignees

안범주

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20260423

Claims (20)

Regarding box organizing tools, Housing forming an internal space; A gripping portion provided on the upper part of the above housing; A cutting blade disposed inside the housing and contacting the adhesive surface of a tape attached to the surface of a box to cut the tape along its length direction; A compression roller rotatably provided at the lower part of the housing and compressing the box flat by applying pressure along the fold line of the box; and It includes a safety guard surrounding the cutting blade so that the cutting blade is not exposed to the outside of the housing, As the tool moves along the length direction of the tape, the cutting of the tape by the cutting blade and the compression of the fold line by the compression roller are performed together by a single movement motion. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above safety guard is formed as a double guard structure including an upper guard covering the upper side of the cutting blade and a side guard covering the side of the cutting blade, and The cutting blade is positioned on a tape entry path formed inside the housing to selectively cut only the adhesive surface of the tape. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above housing includes a tape guide portion on its lower surface into which the tape enters, and The above tape guide portion has an inclined surface that guides the tape attached to the upper surface of the box toward the cutting blade side. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above compression roller is provided by partially protruding from the bottom of the housing, and The rotation axis of the above compression roller extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the tool, and The above compression roller includes a coating layer of elastic material on its outer surface to increase the adhesion force with the fold line of the box, Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, Based on the direction of travel of the above tool, the cutting blade is positioned in front of the compression roller, Tape cutting by the cutting blade is preceded by the forward movement of the above tool, and the folding line pressing by the compression roller is followed. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above gripping portion is formed as a closed-loop shaped handle protruding from the upper surface of the housing, and The above handle includes a flexible grip member formed of a material different from the housing, Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The length of the tool is 100mm or more and 130mm or less, the width of the tool is 30mm or more and 60mm or less, and the height of the tool is 50mm or more and 90mm or less, Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above housing includes reinforced plastic material, and The above cutting blade includes stainless steel material, and The above compression roller comprises a metal core and an elastomer layer covering the outer surface of the metal core. Box organizing tool.
In a box organizing method using a box organizing tool according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 8, A step of placing the above tool on the upper part of the tape attached to the upper surface of the box; A step of moving the tool forward along the length direction of the tape while gripping the gripping portion; and The above moving step includes a step of compressing the box flat by performing the cutting of the tape by the cutting blade and the pressing of the fold line of the box by the compression roller in parallel on the same moving path. How to organize boxes.
Regarding packaging material processing tools, A main body having a gripping part that receives the user's operating force and an internal space; A cutting member disposed inside the main body and cutting an adhesive strip attached to a surface to be processed; A rotary pressure body partially exposed from the main body and pressurizing the surface to be processed; and It includes a guard portion that closes the periphery of the cutting member so that the cutting member does not protrude outside the main body, The cutting member and the rotary pressure body are aligned and arranged on a common line of action extending along the direction of travel of the tool, A cutting action on the adhesive strip and a local linear pressing action on the workpiece surface are performed simultaneously or continuously along the common line of action by a single forward movement of the above tool. Packaging material processing tool.
In paragraph 1, The outer surface of the above compression roller is formed substantially smoothly so as not to damage the surface of the box, and The above compression roller transmits pressure to the fold line of the box in a surface contact manner, and The outer surface of the above compression roller does not have any teeth, blades, or protrusions formed thereon that would pierce or cut the surface of the box. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above compression roller includes a central alignment projection on the outer surface that extends along the circumferential direction of the roller and has a protrusion height formed to a maximum at the center in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the roller. The above-mentioned central alignment projection is fitted into the groove of the fold line of the box so that the direction of travel of the tool is automatically aligned with the fold line. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above compression roller comprises a rigid core on the radially inner side and an elastomer layer on the radially outer side covering the rigid core, and The hardness of the above elastomer layer is Shore A 60 or higher and 90 or lower, and The above elastomer layer elastically deforms when pressed against the fold line of the box and partially penetrates into the groove of the fold line, Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, When viewed along the direction of travel of the above tool, the cutting action line of the cutting blade and the pressure line of the compression roller are located on the same vertical plane, The cutting point of the cutting blade is positioned at a distance L forward in the direction of travel from the lowest contact point of the compression roller, and the distance L is 10 mm or more and 50 mm or less. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, By positioning the cutting blade in front of the tool in the direction of travel and the compression roller in the rear, When the above tool moves in one direction, the tape on the upper surface of the box is first cut by the cutting blade so that the upper flap of the box is released from the constraint on the fold line, and subsequently, the compression roller presses along the released fold line to compress the box. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above safety guard is, A fixed upper guard covering the upper side of the cutting blade; and It includes a pair of lower guards positioned respectively at the front and rear of the cutting blade to selectively expose the blade tip of the cutting blade, and The lower guard is pressed against the upper surface of the box by its own weight or elastic pressure when in contact with the upper surface of the box, thereby restricting the cutting edge of the cutting blade to enter only to a predetermined depth from the upper surface of the box. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The cutting edge of the above cutting blade protrudes downward from the lowest surface of the housing to a depth of 0.3 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less, and The above protrusion depth is at least 1 time and no more than 5 times the thickness of the packaging tape attached to the upper surface of the box, and is limited to selectively cutting only the tape without cutting the corrugated cardboard layer on the upper surface of the box. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, It further includes a fold line guide portion provided on the lower surface of the housing and detecting the groove of the fold line formed on the upper surface of the box to guide the tool's path along the fold line. The above-mentioned fold line guide includes a guide rib protruding downward from the lower surface of the housing, and The guide rib extends along the direction of travel of the tool and is inserted into the groove of the fold line of the box to suppress lateral deviation of the tool. Box organizing tool.
In Paragraph 18, The above guide ribs are spaced apart in multiple numbers along the direction of travel of the tool, and The plurality of guide ribs are each positioned at least one at the front and rear of the cutting blade to maintain the straightness of the tool throughout the entire working section of the cutting blade. Box organizing tool.
In paragraph 1, The above compression roller is configured by dividing it into a plurality of sub-rollers that share a rotation axis, and The plurality of sub-rollers are each independently supported in the housing so as to be capable of elastic deformation or axial displacement, and The plurality of sub-rollers each independently track the local non-uniformity of the fold line of the box and apply a uniform pressure across the entire width of the fold line of the box. Box organizing tool.

Description

Portable Box Organizing Tool Having Integrated Box Opening and Flattening Functions The present invention relates to a portable tool for organizing boxes. More specifically, the invention relates to a box organizing tool that integrates a cutting function for safely cutting an adhesive tape attached to the upper surface of a box and a flattening function for compressing a box flat by applying pressure to the existing fold line of the box within a single housing, thereby enabling the user to continuously open the box and reduce its volume with only a single forward movement operation. With the expansion of e-commerce and contactless distribution markets, the volume of delivery boxes received by general households and small businesses is continuously increasing. After opening the box and removing the contents, recipients must flatten the cardboard box to separate and dispose of it. However, this box handling process is typically subdivided into multiple steps—such as cutting tape, opening flaps, separating side walls, pressing along the fold lines, and stacking—which require significant time and physical strength. This leads to a cumulative workload, particularly when handling large quantities of boxes. In conventional technology, tools that assist in the dismantling and organization of boxes are broadly classified into three categories. First, a box cutter tool equipped with a cutter blade for cutting adhesive tape on the top surface of a box is known. Such box cutter tools often employ a structure that covers the blade with a safety guard or safety cover to prevent hand cuts. However, these known box cutter tools have the limitation that they perform only the function of cutting the tape, and the flattening process of folding the box flat after the tape is cut must still be performed manually by the user. Secondly, a cardboard scoring tool is known that produces boxes by folding the cardboard into a desired shape by forming perforation lines or scoring lines by rolling circular teeth on the surface of the cardboard. Such a scoring tool is used to assemble boxes by applying new folding guide lines to flat cardboard raw material. Therefore, its operating principle involves destroying the cardboard fibers by perforating or cutting the surface of the cardboard with teeth, and it cannot be applied at all to used boxes that have already formed folding lines and are assembled. On the contrary, applying such a toothed scoring tool to used boxes results in the box surface being unnecessarily perforated, causing a counterproductive effect that degrades the quality of recycling. Third, industrial box flattening equipment is known for processing large quantities of corrugated boxes in bulk at the factory or logistics center scale. This industrial equipment is equipped with a motor-driven moving frame and one or more large compression rollers on a fixed base, and flattens the boxes by reciprocating pressure on the boxes transported by a conveyor belt. However, this industrial equipment is a stand-type machine that requires a weight of tens to hundreds of kilograms and a significant installation space, and is not at all suitable as a portable tool for general consumers to use at home or in small businesses. Therefore, in conventional technology, no small portable tool has been proposed that simultaneously provides tape cutting and box flattening functions for the entire process of opening a delivery box received by an individual consumer and folding it flat to reduce its volume. Box cutter tools provide only cutting functions, cardboard scoring tools provide perforation functions for box production, which are contrary to the intended use for dismantling, and industrial flatteners have not been miniaturized into portable tools for consumers. Consequently, general consumers have repeatedly performed inefficient, hygienically disadvantageous, and burdensome tasks on their backs and joints, such as cutting the tape with a box cutter, separating the side walls of the box manually, and flattening it by pressing the fold lines with their knees or feet. Accordingly, the inventor intends to propose a box organizing tool that can fundamentally overcome the limitations of the conventional technology described above by integrating a tape cutting function and a box flattening function into a single portable tool and allowing both functions to be performed sequentially with only one forward movement motion by the user. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a box organizing tool according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a side view of the box organizing tool of Figure 1. FIG. 3 is a drawing showing the front, rear, and bottom views of the box organizing tool of FIG. 1 together. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section taken along a vertical plane parallel to the direction of travel of the box organizing tool of FIG. 1, illustrating the arrangement relationship of the cutting blade, safety guard, and compression roll