Chipping in on Pringles’ Design
There never really has been a ‘perfect chip container’. The most common, the chip bag, has dominated the market for decades, yet there are clear disadvantages to its design. If the fact that companies are trying to protect brittle bits of fried potato inside paper-like containers doesn’t already sound bad enough, then the solution to this problem — filling the bags full of air so that only 2% of the contents is actually potato — is enough to give any chip lover a heart attack (made worse by the chips themselves, of course).
However, all is not lost in this world of unprotected crisps; genius chemist Fredric Baur developed a solution in 1958: chips in the shape of hyperbolic paraboloids, stackable in a can.
Barring the invention of nuclear energy and instant ramen, the iconic Pringles can of chips has been lauded (by me) as the most groundbreaking invention of the 20th century. First and foremost, the cans are rigid containers designed to guard the fragile crisps against blunt trauma and crushing forces. The cylindrical structure and reinforced cardboard repel attacks from any angle, the metal base offers ample defense against drops, and the thick rim helps maintain its shape.
These strengthening features allow Pringles to survive the treacherous journey from the supermarket to home or from the dorm to lecture, where the chips are likely to bounce around. For those who like eating chips on the go, you can toss a Pringles can into your bag without having to worry about eating mashed potatoes instead of crisps later. The easy-to-use resealable cap prevents the chips from getting stale during storage.
The chips themselves are also works of art. Made with mathematical precision and supposedly run under supercomputer simulations to assess their aerodynamics, the uniform chips stack into a perfect, tight formation with a shape that not only works to distinguish the Pringles brand but also prevents chip breakage from any concussive force. The chip design also enables Pringles to pack up to 100 crisps into a single container, solving the hated problem of too much gas and too little potato, so their chip-to-volume ratio is likely the highest of all their competitors.
Of course, with these incredible advances in chip packaging technology come some significant flaws. Firstly, there is a critical problem that arises from the rigid, cylindrical shape of the container — it’s ridiculously hard to reach the bottom of the container when you’ve eaten the first twenty or so chips. What do they expect us to do when this happens? Dump the rest of the chips onto my desk or pour them all into my mouth? Whatever the case, as you eat more chips, it gets exponentially more difficult to eat the remaining ones.
Another problem arises when you try to dispose of these cans. The cylindrical structure, which once helped defend the chips from misfortune, now block poor souls from breaking the container down. The ends don’t rip easily, which makes sense in terms of structural integrity but prevents the cylinder from changing shape, which is especially bad since cylinders of the same size and shape can’t be stacked.
To fix these glaring problems with the famed Pringles container, I would make a significant change to its base. Instead of an immobile metal base attached to the rest of the chipboard container, I would disconnect the base from the rest of the can, making it a freely moving piece that is prevented from sliding out by a cardboard lip on the bottom.
Here is where the magic happens: when you’re eating chips and reach a point where the TTE (Time To Eat) exceeds 5 seconds, you can push the base up into the container where it will be held up by friction, which in turn will slide the stack of crisps upwards towards the rim. Since chips are relatively light, the base will be able to hold their weight. As you eat more chips, you can slide the base up higher accordingly, and thus the crisps will always be accessible.
Part 2 of this black magic begins once you’ve eaten all your chips. With no stack within, you will be able to continue pushing the base all the way through (or pull up using the paper connected to the base), completely removing it from the container. At this point, you will have three parts: a plastic cap, a metal base, and a chipboard cylinder with no ends, which solves the problem of disposal; now, without the supportive circular ends, you will be able to flatten the cylinder via the gluteus maximus or other crushing force. With two disks and a flat piece of chipboard, the compressed form of the can will take up a fraction of the space that the original can did, making it perfect for disposal.