Palm Leaf Dish Lid Latch for Warped Rim Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pressed palm leaf dishes exhibit variability in thickness and contour, making it difficult to design a lid that can securely attach and remain attached, as prior art lids fail due to thickness variability and warpage, leading to high failure rates.
Innovation Solution
A lid with a perimeter latch that includes an upper recess oversized to accommodate rim warpage and thickness variations, allowing a standard-sized lid to attach securely to dishes with non-planar rims, ensuring reliable attachment and removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a standard lid is designed to fit pressed palm leaf dishes, then the lid can provide food protection and presentation benefits, but the lid attachment reliability deteriorates due to variability in dish thickness and contour
Solution Approach 1:
The latch mechanism is designed with adjustable parameters including latch depth, latch flexibility, and engagement force to accommodate variations in dish rim thickness and contour. The system adapts to different dish geometries by modifying these parameters rather than requiring uniform dish manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The lid latch is designed as a dynamic element that can flex and adjust its position to match the actual dish rim contour. This dynamic capability allows the latch to maintain reliable attachment despite variations in dish thickness and shape, transforming a static fit problem into a dynamic adaptation solution.
2Shape
If pressed palm leaf dishes are made with variable thickness and contour to maintain natural organic appearance, then the aesthetic quality is improved, but the lid attachment reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The lid design incorporates localized features at the latch engagement area that specifically address attachment reliability, while the rest of the dish maintains its natural variable appearance. The latch mechanism provides a localized zone of controlled geometry for reliable engagement without requiring the entire dish to have uniform precision.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the lid latch is designed to accommodate thick rims, then the lid can attach to dishes with thickness variability, but the latch may not engage properly with thin rims
Solution Approach 1:
The latch is designed as a flexible, dynamic element that can adapt its engagement depth and position based on the actual rim thickness. This dynamic capability allows the same latch design to reliably engage both thin and thick rims by adjusting its configuration rather than requiring different latch designs for different rim thicknesses.
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
The solution enables a lid to securely fit and remain attached to dishes with variable geometry, accommodating thermal changes and maintaining attachment even when dishes warp or have uneven thickness, reducing the need for uniform dish shapes and minimizing waste.
Implementation Method 1
When leaves of the areca palm are pressed under high pressure between plates having a shape with a gap between the plates similar to a desired shape for a plate
Implementation Method 2
with such pressing also occurring with the application of heat and/or moisture
Data Source
AI summary
The dish is formed by pressing a palm leaf to form a generally concave dish with a floor surrounded by sides extending to an upper edge. A rim extends laterally from this upper edge, formed as a unit with the floor and sides of the dish. A lid is provided which has a top surface with side walls extending down to a perimeter latch. This perimeter latch engages the dish, such as by snapping onto the rim. In one embodiment the perimeter latch extends downwardly from other portions of the lid and has at least one indentation which extends inwardly thereon to provide an upper recess above the indentation which is sized to receive a tip of the rim. A height of the upper recess is oversized relative to a thickness of the tip of the rim to accommodate some variation in dish thickness and some degree of dish warping.