Closure With Biased Hinge and Latch Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional closures are prone to accidental opening during shipping or handling, leading to premature leakage, especially in e-commerce scenarios, due to reliance on stress or friction fits that decay over time, and lack of tamper-resistant features.
Innovation Solution
A closure design featuring a closure body with a first latch portion and a deflectable lid with a press portion and a biased hinge, allowing for easy one-handed operation while maintaining a latched closed position, and optionally incorporating tamper-resistant features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a stress or friction fit is used to maintain the lid in a closed position, then the closure structure is simple, but the reliability deteriorates over time due to decay of the stress or friction fit
Solution Approach 1:
The closure is divided into distinct functional components: a body with a defined passage, a lid with cover and press portions, a biased hinge mechanism, and latch portions. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function reliably without relying on decaying stress or friction fits, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and long-term reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The latch portions are pre-configured to automatically engage when the lid is closed, and the biased hinge is pre-loaded to maintain the latched position. This preliminary action ensures that the closure is secured before any potential decay of friction fits can occur, maintaining reliability without excessive complexity.
2Reliability
If a latch mechanism with biased hinge is implemented, then the reliability improves by preventing inadvertent opening, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The latch mechanism is merged with the lid structure itself - the latch portions are integrated into the lid body, and the biased hinge connects directly to the lid's cover and press portions. This merging reduces the need for separate, complex latch components while maintaining high reliability in preventing inadvertent opening during shipping and handling.
3Ease of operation
If the lid is made deflectable with a press portion, then the ease of operation improves for one-handed use, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is designed with dynamic characteristics - the biased hinge provides a spring-like action that assists opening, and the deflectable press portion allows the user to apply force at an optimal point. This dynamic design enables easy one-handed operation without requiring complex mechanical advantage systems or multiple components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The closure effectively prevents inadvertent opening during shipping and handling, ensuring secure containment of substances by maintaining a latched position despite impacts, vibrations, and temperature changes, while allowing easy access when needed.
Implementation Method 1
a biased hinge connecting the cover portion with the press portion to accommodate movement of the cover portion
Implementation Method 2
deflection of the press portion moves the cover portion to disengage the second latch portion from the first latch portion
Data Source
AI summary
A closure (40, 40A, 40B) for use with a container includes a body (54, 54A, 54B) defining a passage (72, 72A, 72B) and a first latch portion (92, 92B). The closure (40, 40A, 40B) has a lid (56, 56A, 56B) defining a deflectable press portion (96, 96A, 96B) that has a connection (100, 100A, 100B) to the closure body (54, 54A, 54B). The lid (56, 56A, 56B) has a cover portion (100, 100A, 100B) including a second latch portion (120, 120A, 120B) for engaging the first latch portion (92, 92B) to releasably hold the cover portion (100, 100A, 100B) in a latched closed position in which the cover portion (100, 100A, 100B) at least partially occludes the passage (72, 72A, 72B). The lid (56, 56A, 56B) has a biased hinge (104, 104A, 104B) connecting the cover portion (100, 100A, 100B) with the press portion (96, 96A, 96B) to accommodate movement of the cover portion (100, 100A, 100B) between the latched closed position and an unlatched open position.