Single-Material Drip-Stop Valve for Viscous Liquid Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stop-drip plastic stoppers for packaging viscous liquids, such as edible oil, are complex to manufacture and often have imperfect seals, allowing drops to pass through, due to the use of thin membranes connecting elastic leaflets.
Innovation Solution
A single-material, molded plastic stopper with elastically deformable vanes that pivot between closed and open positions, forming an efficient stop-drip valve configuration, simplifying manufacturing and improving sealing efficacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If thin membranes are used to connect elastic leaflets in a drip-stop valve, then the valve can be made with separate materials (silicone leaflets with plastic base), but the manufacturing becomes very difficult and the seal becomes imperfect allowing drips to pass through
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the previously separate components (silicone leaflets and plastic base) into a single integrated structure made from one material. The cap is now molded as a single piece where the valve leaflets and base are formed together, eliminating the need for thin membranes to connect different materials. This resolves the manufacturing difficulty while maintaining the drip-stop function.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a single material for the entire cap structure instead of composite materials requiring different material layers. By using one material throughout (either plastic or silicone), the manufacturing process is simplified to a single molding operation, eliminating the complexity of joining different materials with thin membranes.
2Shape
If thin membranes are inserted between laminations to limit spacing, then the structure can be assembled, but the laminations cannot seal properly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention eliminates the thin membrane component entirely by molding the entire structure including the valve leaflets and base as a single integrated piece. This removes the sealing interference caused by inserted membranes while maintaining proper lamination spacing through the molded design.
3Ease of manufacture
If a one-piece plastic cap is molded entirely in a single mold, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but the drip-stop valve may not provide a perfect seal
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the geometric parameters of the valve leaflets and their arrangement in the molded structure. By carefully designing the leaflet shape, thickness, and positioning during molding, the patent achieves both a perfect seal and manufacturing simplicity. The single-material approach allows for optimized flow characteristics and sealing surfaces that compensate for the simplified manufacturing process.
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 simpler manufacturing process and superior sealing efficiency, ensuring effective prevention of oil flow when closed and allowing controlled ejection when open, comparable to traditional silicone stop-drip valves.
Implementation Method 1
The drip-stop valve is made of an elastic material, for example silicone, different from the material of the base. The drip-stop valve has leaflets that can be elastically deformed between closed and open configurations.
Implementation Method 2
When the user squeezes the packaging body to extract the oil, they typically orient the packaging upside down so that the body of the packaging is higher than the nozzle, allowing gravity to direct the jet of oil outside the packaging.
Implementation Method 3
When the user compresses the container body, they apply sufficient pressure to the oil to separate the layers and allow the oil inside the container to be ejected.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6~10
AI summary
This cap (12) includes a base (16), intended to be attached to a packaging body (14), having a nozzle (28) through which a product contained in the packaging is intended to be ejected from the packaging, and a drip-stop valve (30) for connecting this nozzle (28) to the inside of the packaging body (14). The valve (30) has elastically deformable leaves (32) between a closed configuration, intended to retain the product contained in the packaging, in which the leaves (32) are substantially joined together, and an open configuration, in which the leaves (32) are separated from each other, intended to allow the product contained in the packaging to be ejected to the outside. The drip-stop valve (30) is formed as part of the base (16). The sheets (32) are connected to the nozzle (28) each by a thinning of material forming an elastic joint (34) of the sheet (32).Each leaf (32) is elastically movable around its joint (34) between closed and open positions.