Child-Resistant Pump Sleeve Locking With Collar Cam Tracks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing child-resistant features for pumps, particularly nasal pumps, are inadequate in preventing accidental access by children, and there is a need for improved locking mechanisms to enhance safety.
Innovation Solution
A sprayer design incorporating a collar with bosses and a sleeve that can move between locked and unlocked positions, utilizing cam tracks and retention lugs to prevent actuation by children, featuring tamper-evident elements and alignment ribs to ensure secure operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a simple pump design is used, then ease of operation is improved, but child-resistant protection is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The pump is divided into separate functional components: a collar with cam tracks and retention lugs for child-resistant locking, and a sleeve with bosses for actuation control. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, providing child protection without complicating the overall operation for adults.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeve acts as an intermediary component between the user's actuation force and the pump mechanism. It includes a boss that interacts with the retention lug on the collar, serving as a mediator that must be properly positioned and engaged to allow actuation, thus providing a child-resistant barrier while maintaining operational functionality.
2Reliability
If a locking mechanism with multiple components is added, then child-resistant protection is improved, but device complexity is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The child-resistant locking features are merged into existing structural components of the pump. The collar integrates cam tracks and retention lugs into its body, and the sleeve incorporates bosses and stop lugs as part of its structure. This merging approach provides child protection without adding separate, standalone locking mechanisms that would increase complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar and sleeve components serve multiple functions: they provide structural support for the pump, enable actuation control, and incorporate child-resistant locking features. The retention lugs and bosses simultaneously function as alignment features and locking elements, reducing the need for additional dedicated child-resistant components.
3Ease of operation
If the sleeve is made deformable to allow boss disengagement, then ease of operation is improved, but structural strength is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeve's deformation characteristics are optimized by controlling the material properties and geometric parameters. The sleeve is designed with sufficient flexibility to deform under controlled actuation forces for boss disengagement, while maintaining adequate structural strength through proper material selection and cross-sectional dimensions to prevent failure during normal use.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeve transitions from a rigid state during normal operation to a deformable state during actuation. The dynamic deformation allows the boss to disengage from the retention lug when sufficient force is applied, while the sleeve returns to its original shape after actuation, maintaining structural integrity for subsequent operations.
Data Source
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Figure 3
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AI summary
A child-resistant feature or lock for a sprayer including a collar and a sleeve wherein the sleeve may be rotated from a locked position to an unlocked position to allow actuation of an actuator and pump for distribution of a product from a container to which the child-resistant feature is mounted.