Plastic Container Access Corner Design for Elderly Users
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plastic containers for food are difficult for older individuals to open due to unclear access corners and require excessive force, as the opening mechanism often protrudes beyond the container's circumference, making it hard to recognize and handle.
Innovation Solution
The plastic container design features a peripheral contour at the access corner that is inwardly shifted and flattened, with a larger grip tab that covers the gap between the lid and base, and a tamper-evident closure with a larger surface area, allowing easier recognition and handling, especially for older users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the opening mechanism protrudes beyond the container's circumference to enable lid removal, then the lid can be opened, but the access corner becomes difficult to recognize and handle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies visual differentiation through color or contrast changes in the access corner region. The peripheral contour is flattened and shifted inward to create a distinct geometric feature that is visually recognizable, effectively using shape-based 'color change' to highlight the access corner without requiring additional protruding elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces asymmetry by selectively flattening only the peripheral contour in the access corner area while maintaining the original curved or angled contours in other regions. This creates a unique visual signature that clearly identifies the access corner as different from other parts of the container.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If the peripheral contour is flattened in the access corner area to improve recognizability, then the access corner becomes more recognizable, but the distance between side walls increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent compensates for the increased in-plane distance by utilizing the vertical dimension. The grip tab extends downward from the lid in the access corner region, providing a three-dimensional gripping feature that offsets the horizontal space consumption of the flattened contour.
3Ease of operation
If the grip tab is made larger to improve handling, then the ease of gripping increases, but the gap between lid and base becomes more prominent
Solution Approach 1:
The grip tab serves as an intermediary element that bridges the gap between the lid and base. By positioning the grip tab to extend into the gap region, it provides a continuous gripping surface that spans the discontinuity, allowing users to grip the lid effectively despite the presence of the gap.
Data Source
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AI summary
A plastic container preferably for food, with a lower part (1) which forms an inner receptacle for food or other items and which has at least two side walls (3) separated from one another via edge regions (2), and with a lid (6) which serves to cover the receptacle and can be secured to a rim of the lower part (1), which lid can be pulled off the plastic container by hand from an outer edge region (2) of the plastic container that forms an access corner (9), wherein, in the region of the edge region (2) forming the access corner (9), a peripheral contour (15) of the plastic container that extends along the rim is offset inwardly with respect to the other edge region (2).