Single-Blank Eye Shield Dispenser with Foldable Inserts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Healthcare professionals face challenges in accessing disposable eye shields quickly and efficiently to prevent splatter of bodily fluids, necessitating a solution for convenient storage and dispensing.
Innovation Solution
A tray and dispenser system constructed from a single blank of material, such as cardboard or plastic, featuring foldable panels and inserts that allow for easy assembly and access to eye shields, enabling quick access and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If traditional storage methods are used for eye shields, then storage capacity is maintained, but access speed and convenience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The dispenser is divided into multiple compartments, each holding individual eye shields or small groups of shields. This segmentation allows healthcare professionals to quickly access and remove individual shields without handling entire packages, significantly improving access speed and convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional horizontal storage to a vertical multi-level dispenser structure. The multi-level arrangement with front-access openings allows rapid retrieval from the front level while maintaining adequate storage capacity in upper levels, effectively addressing the access speed problem.
2Reliability
If disposable packaging is used for eye shields, then protection and hygiene are improved, but manufacturing complexity and material usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The dispenser structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides protective packaging for eye shields, maintains hygiene through sealed compartments, and facilitates easy dispensing. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate packaging and dispensing mechanisms, simplifying manufacturing while maintaining protection and hygiene standards.
Solution Approach 2:
Individual eye shields are nested within individual compartments or pouches within the larger dispenser structure. This nesting approach provides protective packaging for each shield while allowing the entire assembly to be manufactured as an integrated unit, reducing overall manufacturing complexity.
3Ease of manufacture
If single blank construction is used for tray and dispenser, then ease of manufacture and material efficiency are improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The single blank is segmented into multiple panels and flaps through fold lines, allowing the complex three-dimensional dispenser structure to be constructed from a flat pattern. This segmentation enables easy manufacturing through simple folding and gluing operations while achieving the required structural complexity for multi-level storage and dispensing.
Solution Approach 2:
The dispenser utilizes dynamic folding mechanisms where panels can be folded along predetermined lines to transform the flat blank into the three-dimensional structure. This dynamic construction approach simplifies manufacturing by eliminating complex cutting and assembly operations while achieving the necessary structural complexity through controlled folding.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a blank for forming a tray for dispensing eye shields. The present invention also provides a tray. The tray is made from the single blank of material. In another embodiment, the present invention provides an eye shield and frame dispenser including a carton, a frame insert and a shield insert. The carton and inserts are made from a single blank of material.