Container Lid With Automatic Inner Lids For Reliable Sealing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container closures with synthetic resin bodies and lids suffer from inadequate sealing of discharge ports, leading to potential leaks when tilted, and require cumbersome hand movements to open and discharge contents.
Innovation Solution
The integration of inner lids connected via second hinge means to the raised portion, with interference and pressing mechanisms on the outer lid's skirt wall, allows for automatic opening and closing of discharge ports without additional hand movements, ensuring reliable sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If the inner lid is not connected via hinge means to the raised portion, then the structure is simpler, but the discharge ports cannot be automatically opened and closed
Solution Approach 1:
The inner lid is nested within the raised portion structure, with the second hinge means connecting the inner lid to the raised portion. This nested configuration allows the inner lid to pivot within the confines of the raised portion, enabling automatic opening and closing of discharge ports without requiring external complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner lid automatically opens and closes the discharge ports through its pivotal movement driven by the interference means on the outer lid. The system serves itself by using the opening/closing motion of the outer lid to directly control the inner lid's position, eliminating the need for separate manual operation of the inner lid.
2Reliability
If the outer lid inner peripheral surface is used to seal discharge ports, then no inner lid is needed, but sealing is insufficient and leaks occur when tilted
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is segmented from the outer lid structure and assigned to a separate inner lid component. The inner lid with its seal ring provides dedicated sealing for the discharge ports, while the outer lid provides overall container closure. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in its function, improving sealing reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
A seal ring, which is a flexible sealing element, is provided on the inner lid to engage with the discharge ports. This flexible seal ring can deform to conform to the port geometry, ensuring reliable sealing that prevents leaks even when the container is tilted, unlike the rigid outer lid surface.
3Ease of operation
If additional hand movements are required to open inner lid, then sealing can be more reliable, but operation becomes more cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The interference means on the outer lid performs the preliminary action of automatically opening the inner lid before the user needs to access the contents. When the outer lid is opened, the interference means proactively pivots the inner lid to the open position, so that by the time the user reaches for the contents, the discharge ports are already accessible.
Solution Approach 2:
The interference means acts as an intermediary mechanism that translates the outer lid's opening motion into inner lid opening motion. This intermediary component couples the two lids mechanically, ensuring that opening the outer lid automatically opens the inner lid without requiring separate manual intervention.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
[Problems to be Solved] In a container closure integrally formed from a synthetic resin and including a body (4, 104), which has an upper surface wall (8), and an outer lid (6, 106) connected to the body so as to be pivotable between a closed position at which the upper surface wall of the body is covered and an open position at which the upper surface wall of the body is opened, wherein a raised portion (22, 122) having discharge ports (34a, 34b) formed on both sides is disposed on the upper surface wall of the body, the discharge ports formed on both sides of the raised portion are opened when the outer lid is pivoted to the open position, while the discharge ports formed on both sides of the raised portion are sealed fully reliably when the outer lid is pivoted to the closed position. Moreover, a container closure (202), which includes a body (204) and an outer lid (206) connected pivotably to the body, and in which when the outer lid is pivotally moved from the closed position to the open position, an inner lid (246) annexed to a discharge tube (222) disposed in the body is pivotally moved from the closed position to the open position, and when the outer lid is pivotally moved from the open position to the closed position, the inner lid is pivotally moved from the open position to the closed position, is improved as follows: In discharging the contents of a container, there is no need to release the grasp of the container once and grasp the container again, and after the container is grasped with the left hand, and the outer lid of the container closure is pivoted from the closed position to the open position with the use of the right hand, for example, the left hand is rotated in a suitable direction in the unchanged state, whereby the contents can be discharged through a discharge port. [Means to Solve the Problems] Inner lids (38a, 38b, 138a, 138b) are connected to the raised portion via second hinge means, in association with the discharge ports formed on both sides of the raised portion, respectively, so as to be pivotable between the closed position at which the discharge ports are covered and the open position at which the discharge ports are opened; and interference means (68a, 68b, 168a, 168b) are disposed on the inner peripheral surface of the skirt wall of the outer lid, in association with the inner lids, respectively, such that the interference means interfere with the inner lids to pivot the inner lids from the open position toward the closed position while the outer lid is being pivoted from the open position to the closed position, and the interference means interfere with the inner lids to pivot the inner lids from the closed position toward the open position while the outer lid is being pivoted from the closed position to the open position. Furthermore, the direction of extension of the discharge tube (222) is rendered not a direction in which the discharge tube goes away from a first pivot axis (pivot axis of hinge means 272), but a direction along the first pivot axis.