Child-Resistant Flat Pack Container With Segmented Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging solutions for pharmaceutical and tobacco products face challenges in providing child-resistant yet elder-friendly access while maintaining environmental protection and product integrity, often resulting in complex designs that increase costs and compromise consumer experience.
Innovation Solution
A package design featuring a dual shell structure with a hinge, an insert containing a product space and dispenser receptacle, and a slide or push-button assembly that allows offset access points, along with ancillary seals to maintain product protection and user safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a seal is provided for the entire contents of the package to protect from environment, then environmental protection is improved, but the design complexity increases and dimensional constraints are imposed
Solution Approach 1:
The package is divided into multiple compartments: a first compartment for storing product and a second compartment for dispensing product. This segmentation allows the seal to protect only the product storage area while the dispensing area remains accessible, reducing the complexity of providing full-package sealing while maintaining environmental protection for the product.
Solution Approach 2:
The dispensing compartment is extracted as a separate accessible space from the main sealed package. This allows the product to be partially removed from the sealed environment through the dispenser mechanism without requiring the entire package to be opened or unsealed, thus maintaining environmental protection while simplifying the sealing design.
2Ease of operation
If the entire product is exposed when the package is opened, then consumer access is improved, but product protection from environment deteriorates and child safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The package is divided into a sealed first compartment for product storage and an accessible second compartment for dispensing. This allows consumers to access and use the product through the dispenser without exposing the entire product supply to environmental factors, maintaining protection while improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The dispensing function is extracted into a separate compartment that can be accessed independently of the main sealed package. This allows product to be removed and used from the dispenser without opening the main sealed container, thus maintaining product protection while enabling convenient consumer access.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a protective envelope or wrapper is used, then product protection is improved, but the entire product is exposed when opened and design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective sealing function and the dispensing function are merged into a single integrated package structure. The first compartment provides sealed protection while the second compartment provides accessible dispensing, combining both functions without requiring separate protective envelopes or wrappers, thus reducing design complexity while maintaining product protection.
4Reliability
If child-resistant closure is implemented, then child safety is improved, but ease of operation for elderly users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The package is segmented into a sealed storage compartment and an accessible dispensing compartment. The child-resistant closure protects the main product supply while the dispenser mechanism in the second compartment provides easy access for elderly users without requiring them to overcome the child-resistant security features, thus maintaining both child safety and ease of operation for elderly users.
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 design effectively balances child-resistant and elder-friendly access while ensuring environmental protection and product integrity, reducing complexity and cost while enhancing user convenience.
Implementation Method 1
a spring configured to bias the positioning of the slide assembly
Data Source
AI summary
A child-resistant package includes a seal for sealing a package and a latch for securing the package in a closed position. According to embodiments, the package includes a first shell portion having a first closed lip and a second shell portion having a second closed lip. According to embodiments, the seal may be formed by the engagement of an angled outer wall of the first closed lip with a bent or deformed thin wall of the second closed lip. The package may also incorporate one or more elastomeric ancillary face and/or side seals. The first and second shell portions may be joined by a hinge, such as a double hinge. Additionally, the insert may include a dispenser assembly that controls the dispensing of product from a product containing space to a dispenser receptacle. A spring may bias the latch in a locked or rest position.