Collapsible container with straw
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing collapsible containers with straws face challenges in allowing upright drinking, easy filling and pouring, convenient cleaning, and efficient volume reduction, while maintaining multiple sealable openings and avoiding manufacturing complexities.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible container design with a straw, a first opening for pouring and filling, and a second opening for accessing the interior, each with reversible seals, incorporating a foldable structure and flexible materials to maintain upright drinking and efficient volume reduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional rigid straw is added to a collapsible container, then upright drinking is enabled, but the container cannot collapse properly because the rigid straw prevents volume reduction
Solution Approach 1:
The straw is designed with a flexible portion that can dynamically change its configuration - remaining rigid/straight when the container is full to enable upright drinking, and becoming flexible/collapsible when the container is emptied to allow volume reduction. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between maintaining straw functionality and enabling container collapse.
Solution Approach 2:
The straw's physical parameters (rigidity, shape) are changed based on the container's state. The flexible portion allows the straw to transition from a straight configuration during use to a collapsed configuration during storage, changing its mechanical properties to match the container's volume state.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple openings are provided for filling, pouring, and cleaning, then functionality is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cap assembly is designed as a multi-functional component that integrates multiple openings (filling opening, pouring opening, cleaning access) into a single sealed unit. This allows the container to perform multiple functions through one integrated structure rather than requiring separate openings, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functional openings are merged into a single cap assembly structure. The cap provides filling, pouring, and cleaning access through integrated pathways and openings, combining what would otherwise be separate features into one unified component that simplifies manufacturing.
3Volume of moving object
If the container is designed to collapse for compact storage, then storage efficiency is improved, but the structural integrity and sealing reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The container employs flexible materials and thin-walled construction that allow the container to collapse into a compact form for storage while maintaining sufficient structural integrity. The flexible nature of the container walls enables volume reduction without compromising the reliability of seals when the container is in its expanded, usable state.
Solution Approach 2:
The container structure dynamically transitions between expanded and collapsed states. The flexible portion of the straw and the collapsible container body work together to maintain seal integrity during state transitions, ensuring reliability in both expanded (usable) and collapsed (storage) configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A collapsible, reusable drinking container is provided having a first opening suitable for pouring and filling, a second opening for accessing the interior of the container for cleaning, and a flexible straw for drinking the contents while the container is held in an upright position. The first opening is reversibly sealed with a cap, the second opening with an interlocking ridge and groove fastener, and the straw is reversibly sealed using a plug, a cap, a push-pull cap, a reversibly discontinuous portion of the straw, or an element for reversibly kinking the straw. The straw is attached to the container wall, to the cap for sealing the first opening, or to the fastener for sealing the second opening.