Hinged Container Lid With Pivotable Cover For Controlled Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container lids for food products like cheese crumbles are inconvenient due to the need for repeated removal and attachment for sequential dispensing, and can result in food adherence to adhesives or damage from flexible sidewalls, and provide uncontrolled dispensing.
Innovation Solution
A hinged lid with a pivotable cover that attaches to the container, allowing selective access without removing the lid, featuring a snap-fit mechanism for secure closure and an upstanding wall for structural support, which secures the cover in both closed and open positions without adhesives, providing controlled dispensing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a recloseable snap-fit lid is used for sequential dispensing of food products, then secure reclosing is provided, but repeated removal and attachment of the lid is required which is inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is segmented into a main lid body and a separate hinged cover that can be independently opened. This allows the user to access the food product through the hinged cover without removing the entire lid, thereby maintaining secure reclosing of the main lid while improving convenience for repeated access.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a peelable film with adhesive is used to cover the container opening, then reclosure is possible, but food product adheres to the exposed adhesive which hinders reclosure
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive element is extracted and removed from the container structure. Instead of using adhesive that can cause food adherence, the invention uses a mechanical hinged cover system that opens and closes without requiring adhesive, thereby eliminating the food-adhesion problem while maintaining reclosure capability.
3Weight of moving object
If flexible sidewalls are used in the container, then the container can be lightweight, but the food product can be damaged by objects crushing through the flexible walls
Solution Approach 1:
The protection against external impact is moved from the sidewall dimension to the top lid dimension. The rigid lid structure with hinged cover provides a protective barrier from above, shielding the food product from objects that might crush through flexible sidewalls, while the sidewalls can remain lightweight and flexible.
4Ease of operation
If a large unimpeded opening is provided in the container sidewall for dispensing, then access to food product is easy, but overdispensing or faster than expected dispensing occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The opening in the lid is designed with specific local characteristics - it is positioned and sized to provide adequate access for dispensing while the lid structure itself acts as an impediment to uncontrolled flow. The opening is not large and unimpeded but is instead a controlled aperture that allows access while preventing overdispensing.
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
Enables convenient access and controlled dispensing of food products without repeated lid removal, preventing spillage and damage, while maintaining a secure and even surface for stacking.
Implementation Method 1
The cover and the top wall snap fit together to hold the cover in the closed configuration
Implementation Method 2
A hinged cover of the lid provides selective access to the opening. The cover is pivotable about a hinge between a closed configuration covering the opening and an open configuration exposing the opening
Data Source
AI summary
A lid is provided that includes an access opening in a top wall thereof selectively coverable by a pivotable cover. The lid attaches to a foodstuff container and provides access to an interior of the container. The lid achieves this without requiring removal of the lid while also providing an impeded foodstuff dispense path having greater control. The cover pivots between open and closed positions, and in one form, can be secured in one or both positions. This can be achieved by releasably securing the cover to the top wall to hold the cover in the closed position and/or capturing a tab of the cover within a depression in an edge portion of the lid to hold the cover in the open position. The cover can further be integrally attached to the lid so that the cover is generally coplanar with the top wall when in the closed position.