Outer Sleeve with Internal Slide Card Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packaging solutions for unit doses are inefficient in terms of material usage and safety, as they often require multiple individual containers, which are not child-resistant and can be prone to tearing, compromising the integrity and security of the contents.
Innovation Solution
A dual dose package design featuring an outer sleeve with hinge panels and internal slide cards, enhanced with a locking mechanism, lamination for tear resistance, and a false bottom for structural integrity, allowing for multiple unit doses while maintaining child safety and senior friendliness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple individual containers are used for unit doses, then each container can be separately accessed, but the packaging is prone to tearing and is not child-resistant
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple individual unit dose containers are merged into a single integrated outer sleeve structure. The sleeve contains multiple internal slide cards, each holding unit doses, within one child-resistant container that cannot be easily torn or compromised, eliminating the need for multiple separate containers while maintaining individual dose accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging employs composite material construction with the outer sleeve made from tear-resistant materials and internal components made from flexible materials. This composite structure provides both the durability needed to prevent tearing and the flexibility needed for easy opening and dose dispensing, resolving the contradiction between packaging integrity and device complexity.
2Strength
If conventional packaging materials are used, then manufacturing is simple, but tear resistance is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The outer sleeve is constructed from composite materials that combine high tear resistance with manufacturability. The sleeve integrates multiple structural elements (side panels, hinge panels, extension panels, false bottom) formed from a single piece of material through die-cutting and folding, providing enhanced strength without significantly increasing manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeve structure is segmented into functional panels (side panels, hinge panels, extension panels, false bottom) that are die-cut from a single blank and assembled through folding. This segmentation allows each panel to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall structural integrity and simplifying the manufacturing process through single-blank construction.
3Quantity of substance
If a single chamber design is used, then the package structure is simple, but it cannot accommodate multiple separate unit dose cards
Solution Approach 1:
The single sleeve chamber is segmented into multiple compartments by internal slide cards that can be inserted and removed. Each slide card holds a row of unit doses in separate pockets, allowing multiple unit doses to be accommodated within the single chamber structure while maintaining organized separation and individual accessibility of each dose.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple internal slide cards are nested within the single outer sleeve chamber. Each slide card is a smaller container nested inside the larger sleeve structure, allowing multiple unit dose cards to be housed within one package while maintaining the simplicity of a single external chamber structure.
4Ease of operation
If the sleeve is made from thin material for flexibility, then ease of opening is improved, but tear resistance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging uses composite material construction where the outer sleeve is made from tear-resistant material while internal components provide flexibility. The combination of rigid outer structure with flexible internal slide cards and hinged panels enables both easy opening through the hinge mechanism and resistance to accidental tearing of the overall package.
Data Source
AI summary
An outer sleeve includes first and second opposed side panels edges, hinge panels interconnecting the first and second side panels such that at least one chamber is defined between the first and second side panels, at least one of the hinge panels being hingedly connected to at least one of the first and second side panels along one of the opposed side edges of the at least one side panel, and at least one inner panel positioned at least in part inside the at least one chamber. The at least one inner panel includes a slide card locking mechanism for releasably locking at least one slide card in a locked position within the at least one chamber. The at least one side panel includes a release button positioned proximate the slide card locking mechanism of the at least one inner panel. The at least one inner panel is hingedly connected to one of the end edges of the at least one panel.