Breakable Splint Closure Mechanism for Accidental Opening Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container closures for liquid consumer goods, such as shampoo and detergent, often accidentally open during manufacturing, transportation, and storage due to their design requiring low force for initial opening, leading to potential leakage and safety issues.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a breakable or irreversibly deformable engagement element that engages the moveable and fixed parts of the closure, requiring a higher force for initial opening while allowing easy opening and closing after the first use, achieved through mechanical parts, welding, gluing, or a two-step molding process with a breakable splint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the closure is designed to require low force for initial opening, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to accidental opening during shipment and storage
Solution Approach 1:
The closure system dynamically changes its opening force requirement based on the number of opening cycles. The engagement element is designed to break or deform during the first opening, transitioning the closure from a high-force locked state to a low-force operable state for subsequent use. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction by providing both security during storage and ease of operation during use.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the force parameter required for opening based on the operational state. The engagement element's mechanical properties are designed to alter the opening force threshold after the first opening event, reducing it from a high initial threshold to a low subsequent threshold, thereby resolving the contradiction between security and ease of operation.
2Reliability
If the engagement element is made strong to prevent accidental opening, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to excessive force required for initial opening
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement element is designed with dynamic mechanical properties that change after the first opening. The element maintains high strength during storage and transport but breaks or deforms during the first intentional opening, allowing easy operation thereafter. This dynamic characteristic resolves the contradiction between reliability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement element is pre-designed to break or deform during the first opening operation. This preliminary design of the engagement element's failure mode ensures that the high strength required for security is temporarily applied only during storage, and then automatically releases to allow easy operation after the first opening.
3Ease of operation
If the engagement element breaks or deforms during first opening, then ease of operation is improved for subsequent use, but device complexity increases due to the special engagement element design
Solution Approach 1:
The closure system is segmented into functional components: the engagement element with specific breakable/deformable properties, the moveable part, and the fixed part. This segmentation allows the engagement element to be independently designed with the necessary failure characteristics, managing complexity through modular functional separation while achieving ease of operation after first opening.
Data Source
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Figure 5A~5D
AI summary
The present invention is directed toward providing container closure structures, for example closures that include at least one breakable or irreversibly deformable engagement element. Specifically, a closure having at least one engagement element that is breakable or irreversibly deformable upon application of an opening force that is equal to, or higher than, a threshold force value, wherein the closure comprises one or more moveable parts and one or more fixed parts; and wherein the engagement element engages the moveable part and the fixed part of the closure; and wherein the engagement element is selected from a group consisting of: - a mechanical part which is attached to the moveable part or the fixed part of the closure and wherein the mechanical part inhibits the separation between the moveable and the fixed part of the closure upon application of opening force below the threshold force value; and sealing together the moveable part and the fixed part of the closure at one or more locations; - a breakable splint (7) which connects the moveable (1) and fixed (2) parts of the closure created by a two step molding process wherein (a) the first step results in a closure that includes a hollow space (4) which spans in both the moveable and the fixed parts of the closure at a closed position and wherein (b) the second step includes the filling of the hollow space with liquid plastic which solidifies or hardens upon cooling or upon thermosetting.