Movable-Floor Container Sealing Against Wicking and Moisture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing containers fail to effectively manage the volume of their cavities to prevent degradation of consumer products during manufacturing, storage, shipment, and use, particularly due to issues like wicking and moisture absorption.
Innovation Solution
A container design with a base that includes a floor that can transition between extended and retracted positions, altering the volume of the primary and secondary cavities to prevent overfilling and minimize exposure of the product, using a center panel and angled annular panel to actuate this change.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the cavity volume is increased to hold more product, then the quantity of product increases, but the risk of wicking and moisture absorption increases causing product degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The floor is designed as a movable component that can transition between extended and retracted positions. During filling, the floor is in the extended position to increase primary cavity volume for maximum product capacity. After filling, the floor is retracted to reduce primary cavity volume and minimize the space where wicking and moisture absorption can occur, thus protecting the product while maintaining high quantity capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the volume parameter of the primary cavity by moving the floor between extended and retracted positions. This parameter change allows the cavity to accommodate large product quantities during filling while minimizing the cavity volume after filling to prevent harmful effects like wicking and moisture absorption
2Quantity of substance
If the floor is kept in extended position to maximize primary cavity volume, then product filling capacity increases, but the secondary cavity volume for sealing is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The floor position is dynamically adjusted based on the operational phase: extended during filling to maximize primary cavity volume for high filling capacity, and retracted after filling to maximize secondary cavity volume for proper sealing. This dynamic repositioning resolves the volume trade-off between the two cavities
Solution Approach 2:
The floor is retracted to the appropriate position before the sealing operation begins. This preliminary action ensures that when sealing occurs, the secondary cavity has sufficient volume to accommodate the sealing components and achieve proper sealing, while the primary cavity volume is already optimized for the filled product
Data Source
AI summary
The container includes a base with a first sidewall and a floor that define a primary cavity, the floor being attached to a first interior surfaces of the first sidewall, the first sidewall having a first end and a second end, a first lid, the first lid being configured to connect to the first end of the first sidewall to close the primary cavity, and a second lid, the second lid being configured to connect to the second end of the sidewall to close a secondary cavity that is defined in part by the floor, the floor including an extended position that expands a first volume of the primary cavity and reduces a second volume of the secondary cavity, the floor including a retracted position that reduces the first volume of the primary cavity and expands the second volume of the secondary cavity.