Pouring Spout Recess Design for Container Volume Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing containers with pouring spouts occupy excessive space and are cumbersome to detach and reattach, often relying on adhesive labels that can be impaired by damage or contamination, affecting the container's structural integrity and material usage.
Innovation Solution
A container design featuring a recess in the shoulder portion with the pouring spout partially housed within, allowing for easy upward and outward detachment, and a diverging pouring tube that minimizes additional space and material deformation during blow molding, ensuring efficient manufacturing and strength retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the pouring spout is attached to the container in a storage position, then the spout can be stored on the container, but the total rectangular box volume is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The pouring spout is nested within a recess formed in the shoulder portion and wall portion of the container body. The recess is open in horizontal outward direction, allowing the spout to be stored inside the container structure rather than adding external volume. The connecting portion of the spout is positioned at least partially above the shoulder portion in an empty space below the neck, optimizing space utilization.
2Reliability
If the pouring spout is stored in a recess in the side wall using an adhesive label, then the spout is held in place, but detaching and re-attachment becomes cumbersome when the label is damaged or contaminated
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive labeling system is replaced with a mechanical retention system. The recess in the shoulder portion and wall portion provides physical containment for the pouring spout, holding it through geometric constraints rather than chemical adhesion. This allows the spout to be detached and re-attached without relying on adhesive labels that can be damaged or contaminated.
3Length of stationary object
If the pouring tube extends at an angle diverging from the central axis, then the recess depth can be reduced, but the pouring spout occupies more space above the shoulder
Solution Approach 1:
The pouring tube is oriented at an angle diverging from the central axis of the connecting portion, extending in an outward direction when the spout is in storage position. This angular orientation utilizes the three-dimensional space above the shoulder portion more efficiently, reducing the required recess depth by distributing the spout volume across different spatial dimensions rather than requiring deep linear recesses.
Data Source
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AI summary
A container (1) for storing fluid products has a pouring spout (3), which has a connecting portion (4) and a pouring tube (5). The pouring tube extends from the connecting portion in a direction diverging at an angle relative to a central axis (17) of the connecting portion. A recess (14) is formed in a shoulder portion (13) of a body portion (2) of the container and, adjacent the shoulder portion, in a wall portion (12) of the body portion. The recess is open in a horizontal outward direction. In a storage position the pouring spout (3) is arranged partially in the recess with the pouring tube at least partially recessed in the wall portion and the connecting portion located at least partially above the shoulder portion. The pouring tube (5) diverges from said central axis in an outward direction when the pouring spout is in the storage position.