Container Carrier Retention Features for Secure Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packages for containers, such as cans and jars, lack efficient and secure methods for holding and displaying various shapes and sizes, often leading to material flexing, tearing, or weakening during attachment.
Innovation Solution
The use of retention features with curved edges and flexible cutouts in the package design, allowing for secure attachment of containers by engaging the neck and flange portions, with additional layers of material enhancing retention and minimizing material flexing or tearing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional attachment methods are used for containers, then the package structure is simple, but the material flexes, tears, or weakens during attachment
Solution Approach 1:
The package structure is divided into multiple functional components: a body portion with multiple openings, retention features with curved edges at each opening, and flexible cutouts between retention features. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function - the openings receive containers, the curved retention features engage container necks and flanges, and the flexible cutouts accommodate material deformation during attachment without tearing.
Solution Approach 2:
The retention features utilize parameter changes in the material's physical state by incorporating flexible cutouts that allow the material to deform elastically during container attachment. The curved edges of the retention features are designed to flex and conform to the container geometry, changing the material's shape parameter dynamically during the attachment process while maintaining structural integrity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the package accommodates various shapes and sizes of containers, then the adaptability is improved, but the attachment mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The package design implements universality by creating a standardized opening structure that can accommodate multiple container types. Each opening contains a retention feature with curved edges and flexible cutouts that can adapt to different container diameters, shapes, and sizes. The same basic structure serves multiple functions: receiving the container, engaging the neck and flange portions, and providing secure retention without requiring different mechanisms for different container types.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment mechanism incorporates dynamic elements through the flexible cutouts and curved retention features that can deform and adapt during the attachment process. The material flexes to accommodate various container geometries, then maintains a stable engaged state. This dynamic behavior allows a single static structure to handle multiple container configurations without increasing mechanical complexity.
3Reliability
If retention features with curved edges are used, then the secure attachment is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The retention features are designed as flexible thin-walled structures with curved edges that can deform elastically during attachment. The flexibility of these thin-walled retention features compensates for variations in manufacturing precision, allowing the curved edges to conform to the container geometry through elastic deformation rather than requiring perfectly precise pre-formed curves. This reduces the stringency of manufacturing tolerances while maintaining reliable attachment.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 1A~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A carrier for holding a plurality of containers includes a central panel for engaging the plurality of containers and at least one attachment feature in the central panel that receives and holds a top portion of at least one container of the plurality of containers. The at least one attachment feature includes an opening in the central panel, a first retention feature, and a second retention feature. The first retention feature and the second retention feature includes a respective first retention edge and second retention edge of the central panel defining a respective first portion and a second portion of the opening and for engaging a respective first portion and a second portion of at least one container of the plurality of containers to at least partially attach the at least one container to the carrier.