Blow-Molded Medical Container Bottom for Stable Vertical Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solid, thick-walled injection molded plastic containers for medical and pharmaceutical preparations are inefficient in material usage, non-stackable, and unstable during transport and storage, leading to high costs, environmental impact, and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
Designing blow molded containers with axial recesses and projections that allow vertical stacking, reducing material waste, and enhancing stability through form-fitting surfaces for secure alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If solid, thick-walled injection molded plastic containers are used for medical preparations, then container strength and integrity are improved, but material consumption and manufacturing costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies thin-walled blow molded container design with wall thickness of 1-3mm, replacing the conventional thick-walled injection molded containers. The thin-walled structure is compensated by optimized geometric design and molding technology to maintain sufficient strength while dramatically reducing plastic material consumption from conventional levels to approximately 1/3 to 1/5 of the original material usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the manufacturing method from injection molding to blow molding, and modifies wall thickness parameters from thick-walled to thin-walled construction. This parameter transformation allows achieving the same protective function with significantly reduced material consumption, directly addressing the contradiction between strength and material loss.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional flat-bottomed injection molded containers are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but vertical stacking capability is lost, increasing transport and storage space requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces axial recesses and protrusions on the container bottom surface, transforming the conventional flat bottom into a three-dimensional stacked configuration. When containers are vertically stacked, the protrusion of one container fits into the recess of the container below, enabling stable vertical stacking while maintaining the simplicity of blow molding manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The axial recesses and protrusions create a nested-like interlocking structure between stacked containers, where the protrusion of one container is received by the recess of the adjacent container, enabling space-efficient vertical stacking without complex manufacturing.
3Loss of substance
If thin-walled blow molded containers are used to reduce material consumption, then material costs and environmental impact are reduced, but container stability during vertical stacking deteriorates due to increased kinematic degrees of freedom
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces asymmetric axial recesses and protrusions on the container bottom and neck regions. These asymmetric geometric features create form-fit connections between stacked containers, restricting rotational and tilting movements. The asymmetric design transforms the unstable thin-walled structure into a stable stacked configuration by eliminating kinematic degrees of freedom through geometric interlocking.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curved and contoured surfaces in the axial recesses and protrusions, creating form-fit geometric interlocking between stacked containers. The curved geometric features provide stable contact surfaces that prevent rotation and tilting, enhancing stacking stability while maintaining the thin-walled construction.
4Quantity of substance
If conventional injection molded containers with flat bottoms are used, then material costs are controlled, but the containers cannot be vertically stacked, leading to increased transport and storage costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds vertical stacking capability through axial recesses and protrusions on the container bottom, transforming the conventional single-layer transport configuration into multi-layer vertical stacking. This dimensional change enables space-efficient stacking during transport and storage, significantly improving logistics productivity while maintaining thin-walled construction for reduced material costs.
Data Source
AI summary
A molded container is configured for containing a medical and/or pharmaceutical preparation and for vertical stacking during transport and/or storage. The container has a bottom portion at one end of a trunk section and a shoulder portion at an opposite end of the trunk section. The shoulder portion includes a container neck that can be closed by a cap. A hollow is recessed in a bottom surface of the bottom portion. The hollow is form-fitted or configured to contactlessly accommodate a container neck of another container. The bottom surface outside the hollow is molded as a relief-like bottom contour surface with at least one axially recessed bottom recess molded segment and with bottom load contact molded segments adjacent to the bottom recess molded segment and axially protruding from it, so that the at least one bottom recess molded segment is exempted from a base area of the molded container.