Lunch Box Lid Movable Sheet Venting Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional plastic lunch boxes face issues with lid deformation and steam backflow due to airtightness, making them difficult to open in low temperatures and affecting food preservation and safety.
Innovation Solution
A lunch box design featuring a movable sheet on the lid that can be manually adjusted to create a vent hole for air circulation, preventing steam backflow and maintaining food freshness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the lunch box is made airtight with a lid covering the base, then good sealing performance and heat preservation are achieved, but the lunch box becomes difficult to open in low temperature environments and steam backflow occurs during heating
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is segmented into a fixed portion and a movable sheet portion. The movable sheet can be independently pressed to create ventilation holes, allowing selective opening without compromising the overall sealing structure. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by enabling localized opening action while maintaining global seal integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The lid transitions from a static airtight structure to a dynamic one with a movable sheet that can be pressed to change the sealing state. The movable sheet allows the lid to adapt between sealed and vented states, resolving the contradiction between maintaining seal reliability and enabling operational flexibility for opening.
2Temperature
If the lunch box is made airtight, then heat preservation is improved, but lid deformation and food splash occur when heating causes internal air expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is divided into fixed and movable portions, allowing selective ventilation through the movable sheet without compromising the overall structural integrity. This enables pressure relief during heating while maintaining the heat preservation capability of the sealed structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable sheet provides a pre-designed pressure relief mechanism that prevents internal pressure buildup before it causes lid deformation. By allowing controlled venting, the system preemptively counteracts the harmful effects of thermal expansion during heating.
3Reliability
If the lunch box is made airtight, then food freshness is maintained, but steam backflow occurs during heating affecting food quality
Solution Approach 1:
The lid transitions from a static sealed structure to a dynamic one with a movable sheet that can be pressed to create ventilation holes. This allows selective steam venting during heating while maintaining the sealed state for food freshness preservation, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a vent hole is created by pressing the movable sheet, then air circulation and steam venting are enabled, but the structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation function is merged into the lid structure itself through the movable sheet, eliminating the need for separate venting mechanisms. This integration achieves air circulation capability while minimizing structural complexity by using a single-piece design with a pressable portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable sheet structure is self-contained and requires no additional components or complex mechanisms. The user simply presses the movable sheet to create ventilation holes, and the structure itself provides the venting function without needing external assistance or complex internal mechanisms.
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 allows for easy air circulation and venting, enhancing usability and safety by preventing lid deformation and maintaining food quality, while maintaining a simple and cost-effective structure.
Implementation Method 1
When air emission is needed, external force can be exerted to the movable sheet, undermining the original connecting structure to produce a vent hole between the movable sheet and the lid. This vent hole can circulate the inside air and the outside air
Implementation Method 2
when the lunch box is heated, water vapor inside the lunch box can't be vented, and steam backflow phenomenon will appear
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a lunch box, including a base and a lid, wherein the lid is disposed on the base and snap-fitted with it, and by which the base and the lid form a storage cavity there-between, and at least one movable sheet is provided on the lid by cutting, and a pit is defined by the lid and an outer edge of the movable sheet. A flange is provided on the lid surrounding the movable sheet. One end of the movable sheet is closely connected with the lid and a foldable hinge is formed at the junction. The movable sheet can bend up and down with the foldable hinge as its axis. Compared with the prior art, the movable sheet is provided on the top of the lid. When air emission is needed, external force can be exerted to the movable sheet, undermining the original connecting structure to produce a vent hole between the movable sheet and the lid. This vent hole can circulate the inside air and the outside air and prevent from the backflow phenomenon when heating food.