Hinged Dosing Cap Box for Adjustable Solid Dispensing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing dosing caps for containers are bulky and inefficient for dispensing a predetermined amount of free-flowing solids, requiring a significant height to accommodate a dosing labyrinth, which results in a larger cap size and difficulty in precise dosing.

Innovation Solution

A dosing cap with a hinged box that can be positioned in multiple settings, allowing for adjustable dosing by altering the side walls' proximity to the covering plate, creating a flow path for solids, and featuring an adjuster mechanism for precise positioning, enabling accurate dosing without increasing the cap's overall height.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If a fixed dosing labyrinth is provided in the cap, then a predetermined amount of contents can be dosed, but the cap must have a considerable height to contain the labyrinth in its working position

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedosing precisionVSAvoidcap height
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLength of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The box is made movable relative to the covering plate through a hinge connection, allowing it to transition between a first position (close to covering plate) and a second position (further away). This dynamic positioning enables the same cap structure to accommodate different dosing requirements without requiring a fixed, height-consuming labyrinth design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The dosing amount is controlled by changing the position parameter of the box relative to the covering plate. By adjusting the distance between the box's side walls and the covering plate, the effective dosing volume is modified, allowing precise control of the predetermined amount without increasing cap height.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Ease of operation

If a dosing labyrinth is provided near the opening in the cap, then dosing function is achieved, but the cap as such becomes larger than the container

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedosing functionVSAvoidcap volume
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The box is nested within the cap structure, with its side walls positioned between the covering plate and the opening. This nesting arrangement allows the dosing mechanism to be contained within the cap's existing volume rather than requiring the cap to be larger than the container.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of increasing cap height (vertical dimension) to accommodate the labyrinth, the invention uses the horizontal dimension by positioning the box's side walls at different distances from the covering plate. This dimensional shift allows dosing function without increasing overall cap volume.

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

3Quantity of substance

If the box's side walls are positioned further away from the covering plate, then a larger amount of contents can be dosed, but the cap height increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedosing amountVSAvoidcap height
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSLength of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The box can be dynamically repositioned along the horizontal axis relative to the covering plate through the hinge mechanism. This allows the dosing amount to be adjusted by changing the box's position without requiring a permanent increase in cap height, as the same cap structure can accommodate different dosing quantities through positional adjustment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3306278B1A dosing cap for a container, a dosing element for the dosing cap and a container with the dosing cap
Publication Date: 2020.02.26 TEAMPLAST BV
  • EP3306278B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3306278B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B
  • EP3306278B1 patent drawingFigure 4A~4B

AI summary

The invention relates to a dosing cap, comprising a covering plate with an opening for removing the solid materials from a container, wherein an inside surface of the covering plate is directed to an inside of the container, wherein the covering plate at its inside surface is provided with a labyrinth providing a flow path for the solid materials towards the opening; said labyrinth being defined by a box comprising a bottom and a side wall extending from said bottom; a first part of said side wall abutting part of the inside surface around the opening, a second part of said side wall ending at a distance from said inside surface providing the flow path from the inside of the container towards the opening, between said end of said second part of the side wall and the inside surface of the covering plate; a dosing wall being provided extending from a position at the covering plate's inside surface at a position between said opening and said second part of the side wall, said dosing wall extending towards the box's bottom and ending at a distance from said bottom, said dosing wall extending between opposing portions of said first part of the box's side wall. The box is attached hingedly with respect to the covering plate, wherein in a first position said box's side walls are situated relatively close to the covering plate and in a second position the box's side walls are situated relatively further away from the covering plate.