Packaging With Finger Recess For Elongate Products
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging for interdental cleaning devices and similarly dimensioned elongate products is awkward to handle due to their small diameter, leading to difficulties in handling and a high likelihood of products falling out once opened.
Innovation Solution
A packaging design featuring a containment component with a recessed reservoir and a planar closure component having weakened lines that create an elongate opening, allowing for easy access and controlled dispensing of individual products, while a finger recess facilitates handling and prevents accidental removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the packaging is designed to accommodate small-diameter elongate products, then the packaging size is reduced, but the ease of handling deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging introduces a finger recess that extends in a direction perpendicular to the main longitudinal axis of the reservoir, creating a new dimensional access point for user interaction. This allows users to easily grasp and open the packaging despite the small overall diameter of the elongate products contained within.
2Ease of operation
If the packaging is opened to access products, then product accessibility is improved, but the likelihood of products falling out unaided increases
Solution Approach 1:
The closure component is divided into multiple segments by transverse weakened lines, allowing it to be peeled back in controlled sections. This segmentation enables the closure to remain partially attached to the containment component even after opening, creating a barrier that prevents products from falling out while still providing access.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure component is pre-configured with weakened lines and attachment features that guide the opening process. When opened, the closure remains preliminarily attached via the hinge connection, automatically providing product retention without requiring additional user action or complex mechanisms.
3Reliability
If a closure component is used to seal the packaging, then product retention is improved, but the ease of opening deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The closure component incorporates pre-formed weakened lines that indicate where the material should break during opening. These pre-prepared fracture paths require minimal force from the user to initiate opening while ensuring the closure remains hinged-connected to prevent product loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge connection acts as an intermediary mechanism between the closure component and the containment component. It allows the closure to be easily peeled back for opening while maintaining a controlled connection that prevents complete separation and product loss, mediating between the need for easy opening and product retention.
Data Source
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AI summary
An item of packaging (1) for a plurality of elongate products (100). The item of packaging comprises: a containment component (20) having a substantially planar peripheral region and a first recessed reservoir (25) within the peripheral region. The first recessed reservoir (25) has a length configured to accommodate an elongate dimension of an elongate product to be dispensed from the item of packaging and a width configured to accommodate a plurality of said elongate products in parallel. The item of packaging further comprises a closure component (50), substantially planar, fastened to the peripheral region of the containment component (20) so as to enclose the recessed reservoir, the closure component comprising a first weakened line (60) having at least a portion that is substantially parallel to a lengthways edge along the length of the first recessed reservoir. The item of packaging is configured to be openable into an open configuration by braking the closure component along the first weakened line (60) as to establish an elongate opening that extends the length of the first recessed reservoir parallel to the lengthways edge of the first recessed reservoir and that extends a part of the width of the first recessed reservoir, said opening providing access to the first recessed reservoir (25).