Food Storage Container with Hinged Frame and Releasable Shell Securing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Food storage containers are often bulky, difficult to clean, and prone to lids and bottoms becoming separated, which complicates their usage and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A storage container design featuring a frame structure with a hinge, pivot axis, and securing structures that facilitate rotation between frame components and shells, utilizing a combination of materials like polypropylene, silicone, and reinforced hinges to create a secure, airtight, and easy-to-clean container with a friction fit and locking mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If traditional food storage containers are made with separate lids and bottoms, then they provide basic storage functionality, but the lids and bottoms become separated and the container becomes bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the lid and bottom components into a single integrated container structure, eliminating the separation issue between lids and bottoms while reducing overall container bulkiness. The flexible material allows the container to maintain structural integrity as a unified piece rather than separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is divided into functional zones within a single piece - the rim portion for sealing, the body for storage, and the base for stability - allowing each zone to perform its function while maintaining overall structural unity and preventing component separation.
2Reliability
If traditional food storage containers have complex sealing mechanisms, then they provide airtight sealing, but they become difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible material that forms an integrated rim and body structure, creating a simple smooth surface that is easy to clean while maintaining effective sealing through the flexibility and continuity of the material itself rather than complex mechanical sealing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is merged into the basic container structure itself - the rim portion of the single-piece container provides sealing through its integrated design and flexible material properties, eliminating the need for separate sealing mechanisms that would complicate cleaning.
3Stability of the object's composition
If food storage containers use rigid materials, then they maintain structural stability, but they reduce flexibility and food-grade safety
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible material that combines structural stability with adaptability - the material maintains sufficient rigidity to hold its shape and provide stable storage while remaining flexible enough to conform to various food items and be safely used for food storage, achieving both structural stability and material versatility.
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 results in a compact, easy-to-clean, and secure food storage container that maintains an airtight seal, allowing for flexible storage options and easy access, while the materials ensure durability and food-grade safety.
Implementation Method 1
a hinge with a pivot axis... configured to facilitate rotation about the pivot axis
Implementation Method 2
the seating edge and raised ridge may be configured to form a friction fit that isolates an interior volume of the first shell and the second shell, when the frame structure is in the closed configuration, from a space exterior to the interior volume. The friction fit may be liquid tight.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage container may include a frame structure having a hinge with a pivot axis, a first frame component, and a second frame component coupled to the first frame component by a hinge; a first shell and a second shell; and one or more securing structures configured to facilitate isolation of an interior volume from the space exterior to the interior volume and maintenance of the storage container in a closed configuration. The first shell and second shell may be configured to be releasably secured by the first frame component and second frame component, respectively. When the first shell is secured by the first frame component, the second shell is secured by the second frame component, and the storage container is a closed configuration, an interior volume bounded by the frame structure, first shell and second shell may be isolated from a space exterior to the interior volume.