Bottom-Dispensing Cup Lid Housing for Sanitary Single-Lid Removal
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current cup lid dispensers face issues with sanitation and efficiency due to free-standing stacks of lids, which lead to unnecessary handling, contamination, and wastage, as well as difficulties in dispensing individual lids from vertically standing containers.
Innovation Solution
A cup lid dispenser with a cylindrical containment tube and a base that supports the bottommost lid, featuring a user guide to expose only the bottommost lid for easy gripping and dispensing, preventing access to other lids and ensuring sanitary handling by guiding the user's hand to remove the bottommost lid first.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If lids are dispensed from free-standing stacks or open containers, then lids are easily accessible, but sanitation is compromised due to handling and contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The lid container is segmented into individual compartments, with each compartment holding a single lid. This segmentation prevents lids from being handled or contaminated during dispensing, as each lid is isolated in its own compartment until it is ready to be dispensed.
Solution Approach 2:
A dispensing mechanism acts as an intermediary between the lid storage and the user. This mechanism controls lid dispensing automatically, eliminating direct hand contact with the lids during storage and dispensing, thereby maintaining sanitation while preserving accessibility.
2Device complexity
If lids are stored in vertical cylinders, then space is saved and handling is reduced, but lids become stuck together and cannot be removed easily
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical cylinder is divided into multiple compartments, each containing a single lid. This segmentation prevents lids from sticking together by isolating them in separate spaces, while maintaining the space-saving vertical storage configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The dispensing mechanism incorporates dynamic elements such as springs or cam mechanisms that apply force to release lids from their compartments. This dynamic action overcomes the friction and adhesion that would otherwise prevent lid removal from the vertical storage configuration.
3Productivity
If lids are dispensed from the top of a stack, then dispensing is simplified, but lids at the bottom experience extended residence time and sanitation is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of dispensing lids from the top of a stack, the system inverts the dispensing order by providing access to and dispensing from the bottom lid first. This inversion ensures that lids are dispensed in the order they were placed (FIFO - First In, First Out), preventing extended residence time and sanitation issues for bottom lids.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottom-most lid compartment is designed to be automatically accessible through the dispensing mechanism, which naturally presents the bottom lid for removal. This self-service design ensures that the dispensing process inherently follows the FIFO principle without requiring complex control systems.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple lids are exposed for gripping, then user choice is increased, but unnecessary handling and contamination occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and presents only the single bottom-most lid for user gripping, rather than exposing multiple lids. This extraction principle reduces unnecessary handling and contamination opportunities while still providing the user with the ability to select and remove a lid when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A cup lid dispenser is characterized by a cylindrical housing for containing a stack of relatively flexible cup lids in vertical orientation with a lip of the bottommost lid supported at points around its circumference on a plurality of shelves within and around a base of the dispenser at a lower end of the housing. The base has a forward opening that exposes just a front portion of the lip of only the bottommost lid of the stack for being gripped by a user. To dispense the bottommost lid, a user grips the exposed lip and pulls the lid downward to flex it away from the overlying stack and forward to move it off of the shelves and release it from the overlying stack of lids for downward movement into an underlying pocket in the base, with continued forward pulling of the lid then moving it through and out of a forward dispense opening from the base. Upon dispense of the bottommost lid, the stack gravitationally moves downward and the lip of the next lid up moves into the support shelves and into position for dispensing.