Gasketless Container Lid Seal via Interference Fit

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional containers with snap-on lids require additional materials and processes for gasket application, increasing manufacturing costs and complicating recycling due to material incompatibility and difficult gasket removal.

Innovation Solution

A container and lid design featuring a channel with inner and outer skirts forming a liquid-tight gasketless seal through an interference fit, eliminating the need for rubber gaskets and simplifying recycling by integrating the seal directly into the lid and container structure.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a rubber gasket is used to seal the container-lid interface, then liquid leakage is prevented, but manufacturing cost increases due to additional material and application processes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveliquid leakage preventionVSAvoidmanufacturing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts and eliminates the rubber gasket component from the sealing system. The channel structure is designed to form a gasketless seal by creating an interference fit between the channel's inner skirt and the container's outer surface, thereby removing the need for separate gasket material and its associated manufacturing and application processes

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The sealing function is merged into the channel structure itself. The channel is designed with an inner skirt that directly contacts and interferes with the container's outer surface, integrating the sealing mechanism into the lid's structural component rather than relying on a separate gasket element

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Reliability

If a rubber gasket is used to seal the container-lid interface, then liquid leakage is prevented, but recycling becomes difficult due to material incompatibility and gasket removal complexity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveliquid leakage preventionVSAvoidrecycling difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The sealing system uses homogeneous material composition - the channel and container are both made from the same or compatible thermoplastic materials, allowing the entire assembly to be recycled together without the need to separate incompatible rubber and plastic materials

Inventive Principle:

Principle #33Homogeneity

3Ease of manufacture

If a channel with interference fit is used to form a gasketless seal, then manufacturing cost is reduced and recycling is simplified, but liquid leakage prevention becomes more challenging

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing cost reductionVSAvoidliquid leakage prevention

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The channel's inner skirt is designed with localized interference features - protrusions or ridges that create high-contact-pressure zones at specific locations where sealing is most critical. This concentrates the sealing force where needed most, ensuring reliable liquid leakage prevention while maintaining overall cost-effectiveness

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The interference fit design allows for parameter optimization - the degree of interference, the profile of the inner skirt, and the material properties can be adjusted to achieve the optimal balance between sealing performance and manufacturing simplicity, ensuring liquid-tight seals without requiring complex gasket materials

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

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

This design minimizes liquid leakage, reduces manufacturing costs, and facilitates easier recycling by eliminating the need for separate gasket materials and complex application processes.

Implementation Method 1

a protrusion protruding from the inner skirt and being configured to form an interference fit with the inner surface of the container

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectInterference fit: Friction

Data Source

PatentUS8459486B2Container and lid

Publication Date: 2013.06.11 BWAY COROPRATION

AI summary

A lid for a container includes a central portion; a channel at a periphery of the central portion configured to form a substantially liquid-tight gasketless seal with the container, the channel including an inner skirt for contacting an inner surface of the container and an outer skirt; and a protrusion protruding from the inner skirt and being configured to form an interference fit with the inner surface of the container.