Angled Lid Positioning for Misalignment-Tolerant Container Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container designs with complex geometries for maintaining freshness and safety often face challenges in attaching lids without risking damage to the lid and base portion, especially when centering is not perfect.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method involving a support, lid positioner with a movable lid holder, and a mover that allows the lid to be picked up and positioned at an angle relative to the base portion, enabling a controlled and successive attachment process that reduces the risk of damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the lid and base portion are provided with sophisticated and complex geometries to maintain freshness and provide safety features, then the container's functionality is improved, but the difficulty of positioning the lid on the base portion increases and the risk of damage during attachment increases
Solution Approach 1:
A positioning apparatus is introduced as an intermediary device between the lid and base portion. The apparatus includes a positioning element that engages with both the lid and base portion to facilitate accurate alignment and secure attachment, reducing the risk of damage while maintaining the complex geometries needed for freshness maintenance and safety features
2Manufacturing precision
If the lid and base portion have complex geometries with profiles and snap-in elements for tight connection, then the seal quality is improved, but the risk of damaging the lid and/or base portion during attachment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning apparatus performs preliminary alignment and positioning of the lid and base portion before the actual attachment process. This preliminary action ensures that the complex geometries, including profiles and snap-in elements, are properly aligned, reducing the risk of damage during the subsequent attachment while maintaining the required connection tightness
3Reliability
If safety elements are added to the lid and/or base portion to prevent access by unsuitable persons, then the safety functionality is improved, but the geometry complexity increases making lid attachment more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning apparatus serves as an intermediary that handles the complex geometry interactions. It engages with the safety elements and complex geometries in a controlled manner, enabling safe attachment without requiring manual manipulation of the complex features, thus maintaining safety functionality while reducing the operational difficulty
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to an apparatus (1) and a method for attaching a lid (103) to a base portion (102). The lid and the base portion form parts of a container, such as a user container (101) for a pouched product for oral use. The apparatus (1) comprises a support (3), a base portion feeder (5), adapted to place a base portion on the support, a 5 lid positioner (7) comprising a lid holder (9), and a mover (11), adapted to move the base portion and the lid as a combined unit (109) in a travel direction (TD). The lid positioner is movable between a lid pick-up position and a lid attachment position, the lid holder in the lid pick-up position of the lid positioner being adapted to pick up the lid. The lid holder has a front portion (19) and a rear portion (17) as seen in the travel direction when the lid 10 positioner is in the attachment position. The lid holder is, in the attachment position of the lid positioner, adapted to hold the lid in a predefinable position in relation to the base portion by the lid holder assuming an angle (α) in relation to the support, with the front portion of the lid holder being located closer to the support than the rear portion of the lid holder. The mover is adapted to move the combined unit in the travel direction from the 15 rear portion towards the front portion of the lid holder.