Isometric deformations of pillow boxes

Abstract

Pillow boxes are surfaces used for gift boxes, packaging, and even architectural applications. By definition, a pillow box is isometric to a double rectangle consisting of two copies of a rectangle. If the crease pattern is allowed to change, there exist continuous isometric deformations from a pillow box to a double rectangle. However, practical applications often require preserving the crease pattern. In this paper, we classify isometric deformations from a pillow box to a double rectangle among curved foldings that preserve the crease pattern. As a corollary, we prove that such an isometric deformation necessarily changes the topology of a pillow box.