Dispenser Slide Fixation via Movable Limiter
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing dispenser for dispensing lumpy goods, such as sweetener tablets, is complex and costly to assemble due to multiple assembly steps required for the sliding mechanism, leading to high production costs and material requirements.
Innovation Solution
A simplified dispenser design featuring a movable limiter integrated with the housing that secures the slide in place, reducing the number of parts and assembly steps, and incorporating a three-part design with a cover for the storage chamber, which minimizes production costs and tool requirements. The slide has a pivotable mechanism with a ramp for easy operation and a curved actuation area for user convenience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional four-part dispenser design with separate locking parts is used, then the slide can be securely fixed in the housing, but the assembly process becomes complex and requires multiple assembly steps, increasing production costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the locking function into the limiter itself, which is formed integrally with the housing. The limiter combines both the securing function and the structural function, eliminating the need for separate locking parts. This is achieved by designing the limiter with a latching mechanism that is part of the housing structure, thereby reducing assembly complexity while maintaining secure slide fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The limiter serves multiple functions: it forms a lower limit for the slide, provides lateral guidance, and secures the slide in the housing through its latching mechanism. By integrating these multiple functions into a single component that is formed in one piece with the housing, the patent reduces the number of parts and assembly steps while ensuring reliable slide fixation.
2Reliability
If additional locking parts and complex assembly steps are used, then the slide can be securely secured, but production costs and tool requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The locking function is merged into the limiter, which is formed integrally with the housing using injection molding or similar processes. This eliminates the need for separate locking parts and reduces assembly steps, thereby lowering production costs and tool requirements while maintaining secure slide fixation through the limiter's latching mechanism.
3Device complexity
If a movable flexible limiter is used to simplify assembly, then the number of parts is reduced, but the limiter must be moved to the side under force during insertion, requiring precise movement control
Solution Approach 1:
The limiter is designed as a movable, flexible component that can be displaced laterally under force during slide insertion and then returns to its original position to secure the slide. This dynamic design allows the limiter to temporarily move out of the way during assembly and then provide secure locking, reducing the number of parts while maintaining ease of insertion through its flexible, movable nature.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design reduces assembly complexity and production costs, enhances user accessibility, and ensures secure and efficient dispensing of tablets while minimizing material usage and space requirements.
Implementation Method 1
Typically, an energy accumulator is provided in the form of a spring clip, for example, which holds the slide in its initial position in the housing.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing pellets (16), in particular for dispensing sweetener tablets, comprising a housing (1) that has a storage chamber (22) from which the pellets (16) are separated into a separating chamber (13) of the dispenser and can be transported in the direction of a dispensing opening of the dispenser by means of a dispensing mechanism. The dispensing mechanism has a slide (3) which can be moved with a component in a perpendicular manner relative to a housing axis (5) that runs from bottom to top and which can be inserted into the housing (1) in order to produce the dispenser. The dispenser has a movable border (6) which forms a lower border for the slide (3) and which can be moved laterally out of a border starting position by applying a force, said starting position preventing the inserted slide (3) from being removed, in order to introduce the slide (3) into the housing (1) from below.