Container Cover Safety Seal with Frangible Hooking Tooth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container covers for degradable items, such as foodstuffs, lack versatility and sturdiness, and fail to indicate the first opening while allowing re-closure, especially for non-cylindrical receptacles, and often require material sacrifice or are limited to specific shapes.
Innovation Solution
A container cover with an integral safety seal device featuring a frangible element and a hooking tooth, structurally connected to form a slice, which indicates the first opening by breakage and allows snap fitting for re-closure, compatible with various receptacle shapes and sizes, including non-cylindrical ones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a tab or strip of material is sacrificed to indicate first opening, then the first opening indication function is achieved, but material is wasted and the solution is not versatile for different receptacle shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the first opening indication function with the closure mechanism by integrating a frangible element into the structural connection between cover and receptacle. The frangible element serves dual purposes: indicating first opening through breakage and providing the closure function, eliminating the need for separate sacrificial tabs or strips.
Solution Approach 2:
The frangible element is designed as a universal component that can be applied to various receptacle shapes and sizes. Unlike shape-specific solutions, this element provides a generalizable mechanism for first opening indication that works across different container configurations, enhancing versatility.
2Reliability
If a safety seal with a flexible tab is used for cylindrical containers, then first opening indication is achieved, but the solution is not compatible with non-cylindrical shapes and does not allow sturdy re-closure
Solution Approach 1:
The frangible element is designed as a universal component that can be applied to various receptacle shapes and sizes. Unlike shape-specific solutions, this element provides a generalizable mechanism for first opening indication that works across different container configurations, enhancing versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure system is segmented into distinct functional elements: the frangible element for first opening indication and the hinge element with hooking tooth for closure. This segmentation allows each element to be optimized independently, with the hooking tooth providing a sturdy re-closure mechanism separate from the indication function.
3Reliability
If the flexible tab is used for safety seal, then first opening indication is achieved, but the container cannot be sturdily re-closed because the tab is unsuitable for coupling
Solution Approach 1:
The closure system is segmented into distinct functional elements: the frangible element for first opening indication and the hinge element with hooking tooth for closure. This segmentation allows each element to be optimized independently, with the hooking tooth providing a sturdy re-closure mechanism separate from the indication function.
Solution Approach 2:
The re-closure function is extracted from the frangible element and assigned to a separate hinge element with hooking tooth. This extraction allows the frangible element to focus solely on first opening indication while the hinge element provides the mechanical coupling strength needed for sturd re-closure.
Data Source
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AI summary
The object of the present invention is a container cover (1), or cover (1), in which said container further comprises a receptacle (2) comprising side walls (7) for delimiting at least one receptacle cavity (9) having at least one lip (8) projecting opposite to said receptacle cavity (9), said cover (1) being suitable for covering said receptacle cavity (9) by resting on said at least one lip (8) to close and seal said receptacle cavity (9); and wherein said cover (1 ) comprises at least one safety seal device (10) which is suitable for indicating the occurrence of the first opening of the container and is suitable for showing the occurrence of the tampering with the container; and wherein said safety seal device (10) comprises at least one frangible element (11 ) and at least one hinge element (12) which are structurally connected so as to define a slice (13) of said cover (1); and in which said at least one safety seal device (10) comprises a hooking tooth (14) which is suitable for projecting cantilevered from said cover (1) towards at least one of said side walls (7) of said receptacle (2) when said cover (1) is mounted on said receptacle (2), and in which said at least one hooking tooth (14) is suitable for coupling as an undercut against a lip face (15) of said lip (8) facing opposite to said cover (1 ) so as to snap fit said cover (1 ) to said receptacle (2) to close said receptacle cavity (9); and in which said at least one hooking tooth (14) is substantially unsuitable for the flexural work.