Flat-Foldable Boxes of Thick Panels: Hinges and Supporters

There are many commercial foldable products in our daily life, foldable umbrellas and airbags for cars are typical examples. These are made of materials which are thin and flexible; however, it is not easy to find such convenient foldable products made of thick and rigid materials, even for cardboard boxes. The main purpose of this paper is to propose a flat foldable box made of thick panels. By the Bellow theorem we know that any flat-foldable box cannot be designed as completely closed. This means the surface of a box should have hole(s) to move panels smoothly. We design boxes with thickness which can be continuously flat-foldable. We employ the Bennett linkage for the intersections of some edges to put suitable hinges. Moreover, using the advantage of thickness of the materials, we propose a new type of hinge which can be used for both rotating panels and keeping its standing position stable. We give an example of such box with thickness and show a simulation result.