Patent ID: 8830223

Claim:
A method of operating a processing system that includes at least one processor and a storage subsystem, the method comprising: accepting in the processing system a specification of a carton made up of a substrate and having at least one curved crease, and storing at least part of the specification in the storage subsystem of the processing system, wherein the specification includes at least cut lines and crease lines of a two-dimensional unfolded model of the carton; determining or accepting as part of the specification panels of the carton, the determining comprising for a crease that can have a panel on the left and on the right: starting at a start point along the crease, following a first path in a first direction, the first direction being clockwise or counterclockwise such that at each intersection, a right-hand turn is taken for the first direction being clockwise or a left-hand turn is taken for the first direction being counterclockwise until returning to the start point, such that a path that forms an outline of the panel on a first side of the crease is defined; starting at the start point along the crease, following a second path in a second direction, the second direction being counterclockwise or clockwise, and opposite the first direction, such that at each intersection, a left-hand turn is taken for the second direction being counterclockwise or a right-hand turn is taken for the second direction being clockwise, until returning to the start point, such that a second path that forms an outline of the panel on a second side of the crease is defined; and uniting any duplicate panels; dividing each panel into one or more domains so that the substrate of each domain only bends in one direction; for a curved crease, accepting in the processing system a folding angle at any point of the crease; and automatically calculating by at least one processor of the processing system at least one shape of the folded carton, including reading from the storage subsystem at least some of the stored part of the specification the calculating to determine a three-dimensional model of the folded carton, wherein the carton when unfolded to a flat two-dimensional surface includes at least one cut.