Flat Sample Dispenser With Pressure-Resistant Fixing Member

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing dispensers for fluid products fail to withstand substantial pressure forces and friction, making them unsuitable for distribution in stacked magazines or postal mail, as they often burst or are difficult to open, and do not provide precise and clean dispensing.

Innovation Solution

A dispenser design featuring thin flexible walls with a fixing member that provides additional thickness and bearing surfaces to distribute pressure and friction forces, combined with a pump mechanism for precise dispensing, ensuring the dispenser is flat enough to fit in magazines and resistant to pressure and friction.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Volume of moving object

If a dispenser is made thin and flat to fit in magazines, then it can be distributed in newspapers and postal mail, but it cannot withstand substantial pressure forces and bursts

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvethickness of dispenserVSAvoidresistance to pressure forces
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies nesting by placing a protective member inside the thin walls of the dispenser. The protective member is nested within the structural envelope created by the thin walls, allowing the overall dispenser to remain thin while internally containing a thicker, pressure-resistant component that protects the pumping device.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent resolves the thickness-strength contradiction by transitioning to a different dimensional approach. Instead of making the entire dispenser thick to gain strength, a protective member is introduced with specific dimensional characteristics (thickness greater than or equal to the pumping device) that provides strength in the critical area while maintaining overall thinness through strategic dimensional distribution.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Ease of manufacture

If the dispenser structure is simplified to reduce manufacturing cost, then production becomes easier, but the dispenser cannot withstand friction forces during stacking

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemanufacturing simplicityVSAvoidresistance to friction forces
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSForce

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by providing enhanced protection (the protective member) only where it is most needed - around the pumping device and at the bearing surfaces that contact during stacking. The thin walls provide protection in other areas, creating a non-uniform but optimized protection distribution that balances manufacturing simplicity with mechanical strength.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Volume of moving object

If a flexible pouch is used to enclose the product, then the dispenser can be made compact, but the product runs on the outer surfaces making it viscous and difficult to handle

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompactness of dispenserVSAvoidease of product extraction
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies the extraction principle by removing the product from direct contact with the flexible pouch walls. The pumping device extracts product from the reservoir and delivers it through a controlled mechanism, separating the product delivery path from the flexible enclosure that provides compactness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a protective member and pumping device as intermediary elements between the product reservoir and the external environment. These intermediaries control product flow and prevent direct contact between the product and the flexible pouch outer surfaces, eliminating the viscosity and handling problems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Measurement precision

If existing pump dispensers are used, then precise dispensing is achieved, but they cannot withstand pressure of more than one ton and the pockets burst

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of product dispensingVSAvoidresistance to pressure forces
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies beforehand cushioning by introducing a protective member that absorbs and distributes pressure forces before they can reach the pumping device. This protective element acts as a cushion that protects the precision dispensing mechanism from the high pressure forces encountered during magazine stacking, allowing precise dispensing to be maintained under load.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

Data Source

PatentEP1928612B1Sample product dispenser
Publication Date: 2018.07.25 SOCOPLAN
  • EP1928612B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP1928612B1 patent drawingFigure 4~9
  • EP1928612B1 patent drawingFigure 10~16

AI summary

The invention concerns a device for dispensing at least one dose of fluid product sample, comprising: a device (2) for dispensing said dose of product contained in a reservoir (3), two thin walls (4) enclosing said device (2), each of said walls (4) having an outer surface forming a support for being fixed on a flat document, or constituting an advertising medium, and a member for fixing (8) the thin walls (4) on the dispensing device (2). The member (8) has a thickness not less than that of the dispensing device, such that said member (8) prevents any direct pressure on said device (2). The member (8) also has a generally flattened shape having a lateral surface with two opposite main parts, said lateral surface being inscribed substantially entirely between two parallel planes located proximate each other.