Modular Container Grip Structures for Fast Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of dispenser containers with grippable features by injection molding is slow due to complex tooling and long cooling times, and changing the appearance or grip characteristics is costly and disruptive, requiring mold modifications.
Innovation Solution
A method involving affixing separate structures with distinct features, such as recesses and protrusions, to the container body using mechanical connections like dovetail joints, allowing for faster production and easier modification of designs without altering the body manufacturing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If injection molding is used to manufacture containers with grippable features, then the container can be produced with integrated grip features, but the manufacturing speed is slow due to complex tooling and long cooling times
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into two separate components: a body (manufactured by injection molding) and a grip structure (manufactured separately and then affixed to the body). This segmentation allows the body to be produced using fast injection molding while the grip structure can be manufactured using different processes optimized for its specific requirements, thereby improving overall manufacturing speed without sacrificing the integration of grip features.
Solution Approach 2:
The body and grip structure are combined into a single container assembly through affixing methods such as adhesive bonding, mechanical fastening, or ultrasonic welding. This merging achieves the effect of integrated grip features while maintaining the manufacturing advantages of separate production, resolving the contradiction between integration and manufacturing speed.
2Manufacturing precision
If injection molding tooling is used to manufacture containers with specific appearance or grip characteristics, then the container can be produced with consistent quality, but changing the design is costly and disruptive requiring mold modifications
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the container into a body and an affixed grip structure, design changes can be implemented by modifying only the grip structure component rather than retooling the entire injection molding process. This allows for flexible design iterations while maintaining consistent body production, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and ease of design modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The grip structure can be manufactured using different processes (such as 3D printing, CNC machining, or alternative molding) with varying parameters to achieve different appearances and grip characteristics. This flexibility allows design changes without affecting the proven injection molding process for the body, maintaining manufacturing precision while enabling easy design modifications.
3Strength
If thick material is used in injection molding to provide structural integrity, then the container can be made durable, but the cooling time required before removal from the mold cavity is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The container structure is segmented into a body and grip structure, allowing the body to use optimized wall thickness for strength while the grip structure can be designed independently. This enables the body to achieve necessary structural integrity with thinner walls that cool faster, reducing cooling time while maintaining overall container strength through the combined structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The container combines different materials - the injection molded body and the separately manufactured grip structure - to achieve both structural integrity and reduced cooling time. The body can be made from material optimized for strength-to-weight ratio, while the grip structure can be made from material optimized for grip characteristics, with each component optimized independently for its specific requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a container (1), comprising: providing a body (100) defining a chamber for storing a product and defining an opening through which the product is dispensable from the chamber; selecting a first structure (200) from a plurality of structures, each of the plurality of structures having a feature for forming part of an exterior surface of the container (1) when the respective structure is affixed to the body (100), the feature of the first structure (200) differing from the feature of another structure of the plurality of structures; and affixing to the body (100) the first structure (200) with the feature of the first structure forming part of the exterior surface of the container (1). Also disclosed are a container and a bundle or package of containers.