Child-Resistant Container With Bendable Base And Lifting Tab
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for containers that combine recloseability, visibility through clear materials, and child-resistant features to prevent unauthorized access, particularly for consumer products that require extended shelf life and tamper evidence.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a lid with a peripheral flange and a base featuring a bendable portion, tamper-evident hinge, and a locking mechanism that includes a protrusion and recess system, along with a bead and indented portions to create a child-resistant opening mechanism, ensuring that the container is difficult for children to open while allowing adults easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the container uses clear see-through plastic material, then visual inspection of product is enabled, but child access resistance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into distinct functional zones: the clear base for visual inspection and the opaque or differently textured lid for child resistance. The lid includes a peripheral flange that defines a lifting tab, creating a segmented opening mechanism that requires specific dexterity beyond child capability while maintaining product visibility through the base.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the container have different optical properties: the base is made transparent for visibility, while the lid incorporates opaque or translucent materials with specific surface characteristics for child resistance. The bendable portion and relief sections create localized structural features that maintain child resistance without compromising overall transparency.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the container includes a bendable portion with relief sections for child-resistant opening, then child access is restricted, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bendable portion is pre-formed with relief sections and notches during manufacturing, creating predetermined bending zones that guide the opening action. The peripheral flange is pre-configured with a lifting tab that aligns with the bendable portion, so that when a child attempts to open the container, the structure naturally guides their fingers to the correct opening location without requiring complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The container's own structural features serve the dual purpose of child resistance and opening guidance. The bendable portion with relief sections creates a self-guiding mechanism where the container's geometry itself directs the opening action, eliminating the need for separate complex locking mechanisms or additional components.
3Reliability
If the container uses a peripheral flange with lifting tab, then recloseability is improved, but ease of operation for children increases
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral flange is designed with asymmetric features: a lifting tab on one side and corresponding engagement features on the base. The lift line and bendable portion create an asymmetric opening path that requires a specific sequence of actions. This asymmetry ensures proper reclosing while making random manipulation by children ineffective, as the tab must be pulled in the correct direction along the predetermined lift line.
4Reliability
If the base includes a bead extending about the perimeter, then tamper evidence is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bead is integrated directly into the molding process of the base, combining the tamper-evident feature with the primary container structure. The bead extends continuously about the perimeter as a single formed element rather than a separate component, eliminating additional assembly steps while providing continuous tamper evidence around the entire container.
Data Source
AI summary
A container includes a lid having a peripheral flange which defines a lifting tab. The container includes a base having an upper peripheral rim. A bend line is formed in a surface of the base to define a bendable portion of the base. The bendable portion of the base receives and limits access to the lifting tab when the container is closed. A container includes a lid having a peripheral flange which defines a lifting tab. The lifting tab has a top surface and a bottom surface. The lid includes a protrusion extending downwardly from the bottom surface of the lifting tab. The container includes a base. The base has an aperture formed in a portion of the base to receive the protrusion of the lid when the container is closed.