Child-Resistant Aerosol Actuator With Dual-Section Hood Lock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing child-resistant aerosol actuators fail to achieve a balance of simple functionality, obviousness, and unobtrusiveness, while requiring more strength and cognition than a child would normally possess, and often involve complex mechanisms that can be accidentally activated.
Innovation Solution
A child-resistant aerosol actuator with a pivotally mounted hood that requires a two-part locking mechanism, where both sections of the locking part must be simultaneously pressed with an evenly distributed force, and the hood must be moved to a specific position to depress the spring-loaded valve stem, with orthogonal force directions for unlocking and depressing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional child resistant closures are used with aerosol products, then the closure requires more strength and cognition to open (preventing child access), but the mechanism becomes complex and may interfere with normal use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the child-resistant locking mechanism with the aerosol actuator components by integrating the hood, locking part, and actuation member into a unified structure that works with the valve stem, eliminating the need for separate complex closure mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The actuator components serve multiple functions: the hood provides both user interface and locking engagement, the locking part provides both child resistance and actuation control, and the actuation member provides both dispensing control and locking release, making each component multi-functional
2Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to prevent child access, then child resistance is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to additional steps
Solution Approach 1:
The hood is pre-positioned in a blocking arrangement that automatically prevents access to the actuation member, so the child-resistant function is already in place before any operation is attempted, requiring no additional setup steps
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring the user to actively engage a locking mechanism, the design inverts the approach by having the hood passively block access by default, and the locking part automatically disengage when the hood is moved, reversing the traditional lock-engagement sequence
3Reliability
If the locking part is positioned to block hood movement, then child resistance is improved, but the mechanism becomes more complex and less unobtrusive
Solution Approach 1:
The locking function is extracted as a separate locking part component that can be independently positioned and engaged with the hood, allowing the locking mechanism to be simplified and positioned optimally without complicating the overall structure
Solution Approach 2:
The locking part acts as an intermediary element between the hood and the actuation member, providing a simple blocking interface that prevents hood movement without requiring complex mechanical linkages or additional structural components
Data Source
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AI summary
The actuator includes a shroud adapted to be situated on an aerosol container over the stem and an actuation member mounted on and moveable within the shroud to depress the stem by the application of an external force applied to the top surface of the actuation member. The actuation member includes a nozzle and a conduit for connecting the stem and the nozzle. A hood is normally positioned to block the actuation member from being moved to depress the stem. A locking member normally intersects the path of movement of the hood to lock the hood in its blocking position. The locking member has two sections both of which must be simultaneously moved to a position remote from the path of hood movement such that the hood may be moved from its blocking position, allowing the actuation member to be moved to depress the stem.