Dispensing Container Sliding Tray Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blister packs are ergonomically uncomfortable, prone to accidental puncture, and offer inadequate child-resistance, making them inconvenient for carrying and storing tobacco-related products.
Innovation Solution
A dispensing container with a slidable tray and locking mechanism, featuring buttons that adjust the engagement of a locking protrusion with the tray from a locked to an unlocked configuration, allowing for secure storage and easy access while preventing accidental exposure or child access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a blister pack is used to store and dispense products, then product storage and dispensing is achieved, but the package is ergonomically uncomfortable and inconvenient to carry or store
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the packaging system into separate functional components: a rigid outer case providing structural support and ergonomics, and a removable blister tray containing the products. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the case for carrying comfort and the tray for product storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary locking mechanism with buttons that mediates between the user and the blister tray. This intermediary provides controlled access - requiring deliberate action to unlock - while maintaining secure closure during carrying, thus resolving the contradiction between secure storage and ease of carrying.
2Reliability
If a blister pack is used to store products, then product storage is achieved, but the package is prone to accidental puncture exposing products to atmospheric conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid outer case serves as a protective cushioning structure that surrounds and protects the vulnerable blister tray from external impacts and punctures. This beforehand protection prevents accidental damage that would expose products to atmospheric conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism acts as an intermediary barrier between the external environment and the sealed blister cavities. By requiring deliberate unlocking action, it prevents accidental opening that would lead to product exposure.
3Reliability
If child-resistance features are added to blister packs, then child-resistance is achieved, but the blister packs become difficult to use
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to require a specific force parameter (simultaneous depression of two buttons) to unlock. This parameter change creates child-resistance by exceeding the capability of young children while remaining operable by adults, thus achieving child-resistance without making the package difficult to use for intended users.
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 solution provides a convenient, ergonomic, and child-resistant storage and dispensing system for tobacco products, preventing accidental puncture and ensuring secure access to the contents.
Implementation Method 1
a locking protrusion configured to engage an aperture in the tray
Implementation Method 2
depressing the first button and the second button inwardly toward the tray may elastically bend the tray such that the aperture in the tray lifts off of the locking protrusion and disengages therefrom
Data Source
AI summary
A packaged product assembly is provided. The packaged product assembly may include a tray slidably received in a dispensing container. The tray may be a blister pack including units of a product received in sealed cavities. A locking apparatus may be configured to releasably retain the tray in a locked configuration. The locking apparatus may include one or more locking protrusions that engage corresponding locking apertures in the tray. The locking apparatus may also include buttons positioned on opposing sides of the tray. When the buttons are depressed toward one another, the locking protrusions may move relative to the locking apertures such that the tray is unlocked and may be withdrawn from the dispensing container.