Overlapping-Scale Container with Spiral Groove Cutting Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container systems do not effectively reduce empty air space within containers as contents are removed, leading to issues like spoilage, inefficient storage, and difficulty in visually inspecting remaining contents, especially in lightproof containers.
Innovation Solution
A volume-reducing overlapping-scale container system featuring a spiral-grooved container body with overlapping scales and a cutting cap that allows incremental reduction in container volume by cutting away cylindrical sides, using a reducing cutter and tail-trimming mechanism to eliminate empty space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If the container volume is reduced to match remaining contents, then empty air space is minimized and storage efficiency is improved, but the container structure becomes more complex requiring cutting mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The container body is divided into multiple segments or sections that can be independently removed. The cutting cap with rotating blade allows sequential cutting of the container body into removable sections, enabling volume reduction while maintaining structural integrity of remaining portions.
Solution Approach 2:
The container transitions from a static fixed-volume structure to a dynamic variable-volume structure. The cutting mechanism enables the container volume to change dynamically as contents are consumed, allowing the container to adapt its size to match the remaining contents.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If lightproof containers are used to prevent degradation, then content protection is improved, but visual inspection of remaining contents becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The container is designed with removable top sections that can be taken off to allow visual inspection of remaining contents. This segmentation enables users to see how much content remains without compromising the lightproof protection when sections are attached.
Solution Approach 2:
The container incorporates transparent or translucent portions that allow visual inspection while maintaining light-blocking properties for the majority of the structure. This selective transparency enables detection of content levels without exposing contents to degrading light.
3Productivity
If the container allows incremental volume reduction, then storage space efficiency is improved, but the cutting and trimming mechanisms increase device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting cap serves multiple functions: it seals the container, provides a rotating blade for cutting the container body, and includes a tail-trimming cutter for finishing edges. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate devices and simplifies the overall system despite the incremental volume reduction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is designed to be self-modifying through the cutting mechanism. Users can easily remove sections and trim edges without requiring specialized tools or complex operations, making the volume reduction process simple and intuitive.
4Volume of stationary object
If the container body is cut into removable sections, then empty space elimination is improved, but structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The container is pre-designed with predetermined cutting lines and structural reinforcement at section boundaries. This preliminary structuring ensures that when sections are removed, the remaining container maintains its structural integrity and can continue to function properly.
Solution Approach 2:
The container incorporates localized reinforcement at cutting lines and section joints. This local strengthening ensures that the areas most susceptible to structural weakness from cutting are adequately supported, maintaining overall container strength while enabling volume reduction.
Data Source
AI summary
A volume-reducing overlapping-scale container system and method for reducing empty air space within the container as the contents are removed, providing a spiral-grooved overlapping-scale container body with a continuous downward spiraling groove along a cylindrical side surface having overlapping scales that provide added structure to the container while allowing easy cutting from an acute angle, and providing a cutting cap to seal the container body, and having mounted inside a reducing cutter to follow and cut through the continuous downward spiraling groove when the cutting cap is turned in a nominally clockwise direction, yielding a smaller container and a tail of removed material, a tail channel within the cutting cap to allow passage of the tail of removed material out of the cutting cap, and a tail-trimming cutter that moves away from the tail of removed material during clockwise rotation of the cutting cap, and moves into and cuts the tail of removed material when the cutting cap is rotated counterclockwise.