Menstrual Cup with Elastic Stopper Packing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional menstrual cups require extraction and reinsertion, leading to inconvenience and potential menstrual blood leakage, especially when vacuum pressure needs to be released for easy removal.
Innovation Solution
A menstrual cup design featuring a stopper packing mechanism that can be easily moved to an original position using a handle, allowing for discharge of menstrual blood without extraction, and a customizable handle for user comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If a menstrual cup is used to collect menstrual blood, then waste disposal costs and pollution are reduced, but the cup requires extraction and reinsertion which is inconvenient and may cause leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The menstrual cup is divided into two functional parts: a cup body for collecting menstrual blood and a separate discharge mechanism with a stopper packing. This segmentation allows the cup to remain in place while enabling controlled discharge of menstrual blood through the outlet, eliminating the need for complete extraction and reinsertion.
Solution Approach 2:
A stopper packing with a connection portion acts as an intermediary mechanism between the cup body and the outlet. The stopper packing can be moved to block or open the outlet, serving as a mediator that controls menstrual blood discharge without requiring removal of the entire cup, thus improving convenience while maintaining waste reduction benefits.
2Reliability
If a menstrual cup creates vacuum pressure to stay in place, then reliability of retention is improved, but extraction becomes difficult without releasing vacuum pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The design allows preliminary movement of the stopper packing to open the outlet before extraction. By预先 opening the outlet, vacuum pressure can be released in advance, making extraction easier while maintaining retention stability during normal use when the outlet remains blocked.
3Ease of manufacture
If a menstrual cup has a fixed handle, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but user comfort and customization are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The handle is designed as a detachable component that can be separated from the cup body. This dynamic design allows users to customize their experience by attaching or detaching the handle as needed, and even cut it to desired length, while maintaining relatively simple manufacturing processes for each individual component.
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 and leak-free discharge of menstrual blood without removing the cup, facilitating easy extraction by releasing vacuum pressure and providing a tailored fit with a customizable handle.
Implementation Method 1
a connection portion including one end directly or indirectly connected to the body and the other end connected to the stopper packing so as to allow the stopper packing to be spaced apart from the outlet by an external force and then move the stopper packing to an original position when the external force is removed
Implementation Method 2
it is inconvenient to use menstrual cups when going out... by removing vacuum pressure inside the menstrual cup in advance
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a menstrual cup, the menstrual cup according to the present invention comprising: a main body having an open end and a space therein in which menstrual blood is collected; an outlet on the other end of the main body; a stopper packing for blocking the outlet; and a connection part which has one end thereof connected to the stopper packing and the other end thereof directly or indirectly connected to the main body, and which is made of an elastic material so as to move the stopper packing to the original position thereof, if the stopper packing has been spaced away from the outlet due to an external force and then the external force is removed.