Packaging Dispensing Head Filter Relocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging and dispensing devices for sterile liquid or semi-fluid products face challenges such as inaccurate actuation, fragility of filters, and limitations in manufacturing due to rigid cylindrical designs, which restrict material choice and miniaturization, leading to increased costs and vulnerability to external damage.
Innovation Solution
A packaging and dispensing device with a dispensing head featuring a filter and check valve assembly positioned within the dispensing head, rather than at the container's bottom, allowing air refilling and filtration at a distance from the container, enabling the use of non-cylindrical containers made from various materials and reducing bulk, while protecting the filter from external damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the filter element is integrated at the bottom of the container, then air refilling and filtration are enabled, but the container must have a rigid cylindrical shape with specific dimensions, limiting material choice and manufacturing flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The filter element is extracted from the container bottom and relocated to the dispensing head assembly. This separation allows the container to be manufactured from various materials (glass, plastic, aluminum) in diverse shapes without being constrained by the filter's structural requirements, while the filter remains integrated with the dispensing mechanism where it performs its function.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is divided into separate functional modules: the container body and the dispensing head assembly. The filter element is integrated into the dispensing head rather than being part of the container bottom, allowing independent optimization of each component's design, material selection, and manufacturing process.
2Reliability
If the filter element is positioned at the container bottom, then air filtration is achieved, but the device becomes vulnerable to external damage and cannot be miniaturized
Solution Approach 1:
The filter element is extracted from the vulnerable container bottom location and relocated to the protected dispensing head assembly. This relocation places the filter in a more protected position that is less susceptible to external damage while maintaining its filtration function.
3Reliability
If the air intake orifice is located at the container bottom, then air refilling is enabled, but the orifice can be plugged or clogged by liquid contact, making air replacement impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The air intake orifice and filter assembly are extracted from the container bottom and relocated to the dispensing head. This relocation positions the air intake pathway in a location that is less prone to liquid contact and clogging, improving the reliability of the air refilling function.
4Reliability
If the filter and vial are associated at the bottom, then sterilization is achieved, but de-molding requires cylindrical shape and large outlet neck dimensions, increasing device size and manufacturing cost
Solution Approach 1:
The filter element is extracted from the container bottom integration and relocated to the dispensing head assembly. This separation eliminates the de-molding constraints that required cylindrical shapes and large outlet necks, allowing for more cost-effective manufacturing of various container shapes and sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The sterilization function is segmented from the container body and integrated into the dispensing head assembly. This allows the container to be manufactured independently without the structural constraints imposed by bottom-integrated filter requirements.
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 compact, reliable, and cost-effective dispensing system that can be miniaturized, compatible with diverse container shapes and materials, ensuring accurate dosing and maintaining sterility while reducing manufacturing costs and vulnerability to external factors.
Implementation Method 1
The filter element is used so as to sterilize the air entering the container
Implementation Method 2
a check valve allowing the air to enter through the outer opening in order to penetrate the internal volume after a product dispensing
Data Source
AI summary
The device (100) for packaging and dispensing a product, liquid or in gel form, optionally for an ophthalmic application, comprises a container (1) containing the product to be dispensed by a dispensing head (7), as well as a refilling and filtering assembly for the air entering the container (1) after a dispensing, the dispensing head delimiting one or more dosing chambers (5) and including at its end a flexible part (7) which can be actuated to allow the release of the dose of product in a compressed state of said chamber (5). The air refilling and filtering assembly has a sterilizing filter (11) which cooperates with a check valve (12), this assembly (11, 12) being typically located in a central or inner portion of the head (7). The supply of outside air is accomplished by means of a channel (16) leading to an outer orifice (10) able to be obturated by a cover (15).