Resealable Plastic Storage Container With Nesting Lid and Flat Seal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food storage containers often require matching lids, making it difficult to adjust storage volume and necessitate cleaning when a container is too small, and they lack a convenient, reliable, and easy-to-clean seal.
Innovation Solution
The storage container is designed with symmetrical rim regions and integrated fixing means, allowing identical or different containers to be combined for variable volume adjustment, featuring a deformable seal with a flat contact surface for improved sealing and easy cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a storage container uses a separate lid with sealing elements, then liquid-tight sealing is achieved, but the storage volume cannot be flexibly adjusted and multiple containers are needed for different storage needs
Solution Approach 1:
The storage container is designed with symmetrical rim regions and fixing means that allow the container to function both as a storage container and as a lid for another container of the same type. This universal design enables flexible volume adjustment by nesting containers within each other, eliminating the need for multiple separate containers with different volumes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention enables nesting of storage containers by designing the rim and fixing means such that one container can serve as a lid for another container. This nesting capability allows flexible storage volume adjustment by placing smaller containers inside larger ones, reducing the need for multiple separate containers.
2Reliability
If the seal is integrated into the lid as a permanent component, then reliable sealing is achieved, but the seal is difficult to clean and maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The seal is designed as a separate, removable component rather than being permanently integrated into the lid. This segmentation allows the seal to be easily removed for cleaning and maintenance while remaining effective when in use. The seal can be detached from the rim without damaging the container structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing element is extracted from the permanent structure of the lid and designed as a removable component. This extraction allows the seal to be easily removed for cleaning purposes while maintaining reliable sealing functionality when installed, resolving the contradiction between sealing reliability and cleaning ease.
3Reliability
If multiple fixing means are arranged on the rim, then secure locking of the lid is achieved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing means are arranged asymmetrically on the rim, with different numbers of fixing elements on different rim regions. This asymmetric arrangement provides reliable locking functionality while simplifying manufacturing compared to symmetric designs, as fewer fixing elements are needed overall while maintaining secure closure.
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 flexible storage volume adjustment, easy stacking, and reliable sealing without gaps, reducing space requirements and manufacturing costs while ensuring easy cleaning and durability.
Implementation Method 1
an elastomeric seal, designed as a sealing ring, positioned between them
Implementation Method 2
several manually operable fixing means arranged on an edge of the storage container for positive and/or force-fit fixing of the lid
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a resealable storage container (1), more particularly intended for storage purposes, made of plastic, which storage container can simultaneously be used as a lid for a further, identical storage container (1). With respect to an axis of symmetry (4), the fixing means (3) are distributed such that they are arranged only on one of the two opposite edge partial regions (8). As a result, the fixing means of an identical storage container (1) used as a lid meet a corresponding sealing surface without fixing means (3). A seal used here is elastically deformable and in the non-usage position the contact surface of said seal protrudes from the sealing plane, so that in the usage position, it is compressed and thus lies in the sealing plane. The planar contact surface provides for effortless cleaning and an improved sealing effect, even in the event of a deformation of the storage container (1).