Disposal Lid Surface Patterning to Prevent Pouch Product Adhesion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing containers for oral smokeless pouched and patch products face issues with used products adhering to the disposal compartment lid due to surface capillary forces, leading to potential spillage and difficulty in emptying when the compartment is full.
Innovation Solution
The disposal compartment lid features a patterned region with projections or recesses that reduce capillary forces, ensuring used products do not stick to the inner surface, thereby preventing spillage and facilitating easy disposal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the disposal compartment lid has a smooth inner surface, then the container structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but used oral smokeless products adhere to the lid due to capillary forces causing spillage and difficulty in emptying
Solution Approach 1:
The lid's inner surface is divided into two distinct zones: a smooth peripheral region for sealing and a patterned central region for preventing adhesion. This local differentiation allows the lid to simultaneously achieve easy manufacturing (maintaining smooth areas) and easy emptying (adding anti-adhesion pattern only where needed).
Solution Approach 2:
The patterned region incorporates curved geometric elements such as circular patterns, concentric rings, or radial lines that disrupt the flat surface geometry. These curved features reduce capillary forces by preventing continuous contact between the lid surface and the moist product material, thereby reducing adhesion while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through standard molding techniques.
2Reliability
If the disposal compartment lid has a patterned region, then used products do not stick to the lid reducing spillage, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anti-adhesion pattern is applied only to the central region of the lid where products are most likely to contact, while the peripheral sealing area remains smooth. This localized approach ensures spillage prevention where needed without unnecessarily complicating the entire lid structure or manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The pattern dimensions are optimized within specific ranges (e.g., line widths of 0.1-2mm, spacing of 0.5-5mm, coverage area of 10-80%) to achieve effective capillary force disruption. These parameter optimizations ensure the pattern is simple enough for standard manufacturing while sufficiently complex to prevent adhesion.
3Reliability
If the patterned region coverage area is large, then capillary forces are better reduced preventing adhesion, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pattern parameters are optimized within practical ranges: coverage area of 10-80% of the lid surface, feature dimensions of 0.1-5mm, and spacing of 0.5-10mm. These parameter ranges achieve effective capillary disruption while remaining manufacturable with standard tolerances, avoiding excessive precision requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patterned region is strategically positioned and sized to cover only the necessary area for product contact (typically the central region), leaving peripheral areas smooth. This localized patterning reduces the total patterned area to the minimum needed for functionality, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining adherence prevention where it matters most.
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 patterned region effectively reduces adherence of moist products to the lid, preventing spillage and making disposal more manageable by minimizing capillary forces.
Implementation Method 1
used products adhering to the disposal compartment lid due to surface capillary forces
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4~5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a container 1 containing at least one oral smokeless pouch product or at least one oral smokeless patch product comprising a storage compartment 2 and a disposal compartment 3. The disposal 2 compartment comprises a second lid 9 having a first inner surface 10 facing the disposal compartment 3. The first inner surface 10 has a patterned region 13 extending over a patterned region coverage area Ac facing the disposal compartment 3 when the second lid 9 is in its closed position. The patterned region 13 has a relief pattern in the form of projections 17. The pattern region 13 may have a pattern in the form of recesses 15. The pattern region 13 may have a pattern in the form of projections 17 and recesses 15. The projections 17 have a highest point 20 from a base plane x creating a height difference hdp, which may be between 0.05 mm and 2.0 mm. The recesses 15 have a lowest point 21 from a base plane x creating a height difference hdr, which may be between 0.05 mm and 1.0 mm.