Container Cap With Detachable Locking Ring For Secure Opening

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing containers with sensitive contents, such as food or pharmaceuticals, face challenges in user-friendliness and quality assurance due to the locking ring mechanism, which often results in incomplete opening or closure, risking manipulation and improper sealing.

Innovation Solution

The container design features inclined webs on the locking ring's inner circumference, with equidistant ramps on the outer circumference, a stop surface for the cap, and a multi-start sawtooth thread, allowing for predeterminable rotational movement and secure attachment, ensuring complete opening and closure while preventing rotation during unscrewing, thus enhancing user-friendliness and quality assurance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the locking ring is designed to detach completely upon unscrewing, then quality assurance is improved through clear indication of opening, but user-friendliness deteriorates due to risk of incomplete opening or improper sealing

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvequality assuranceVSAvoiduser-friendliness
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by providing a predeterminable distance for rotational movement before the connecting device is released. This allows the user to complete the opening action properly before the locking ring detaches, ensuring complete penetration of the opening part through the head part and proper sealing, while still maintaining clear quality assurance indication when the locking ring comes off.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Device complexity

If blocking elements are designed to release the connecting device immediately upon rotation, then opening process is simplified, but completeness of opening deteriorates due to insufficient rotational distance

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveopening processVSAvoidcomplete opening
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The blocking elements are designed to release the connecting device only after a predeterminable rotational distance has been traveled. This ensures that the opening part has completely penetrated the head part and the opening action is fully completed before the locking mechanism releases, guaranteeing manufacturing precision and complete opening.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If the locking ring is secured against rotation during unscrewing, then quality assurance is maintained by preventing premature release, but ease of operation deteriorates due to restricted rotational movement

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvequality assuranceVSAvoidrotational movement
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies dynamics by making the rotational restriction conditional. The locking ring is secured against rotation in the unscrewing direction only during the initial phase when the connecting device is still engaged. After the predeterminable distance is traveled and the connecting device is released, the locking ring becomes free to rotate, allowing complete removal and ensuring quality assurance was maintained during the critical opening phase.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3704032B1Container
Publication Date: 2023.11.15 HOLOPACK VERPACKUNGSTECHN GMBH
  • EP3704032B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3704032B1 patent drawingFigure 3~6
  • EP3704032B1 patent drawingFigure 7

AI summary

The invention relates to a container consisting of a plastic material, having a container body (1) for receiving a fluid and a neck part (7) adjoining the container body (1), said neck part having at its free end a discharge opening for fluid, which is closed by a head part (11) and covered by a cap (19). The invention is characterized in that the cap (19) interacts with individual blocking elements via a securing ring (21) in such a way that, from a mounting position of the cap (19), rotational movements in both directions of rotation by a predefinable stretch are made possible, and that, in the event of a further screwing-on movement over the predefinable stretch, a part of second blocking elements completely passes over associated first blocking elements and, in the process, the head part (11) is penetrated by means of the respective opening part of the cap (19), and in that, in the event of a subsequent unscrewing movement of the cap (19) for the purpose of releasing the discharge opening, the securing ring (21) is detached from the cap (19) and secured on the neck part (7) at least at times via at least one blocking element against rotation in the unscrewing direction.