Re-closable Paperboard Container with Tear-away Locking Panel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional paperboard containers often fail to reclose after initial opening, leading to spillage or spoilage of contents, and existing re-closeable designs are complex and costly to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
A re-closeable container design featuring a base with a tear-away front panel, a pivotally connected cover, and a hingedly attached locking panel with tabs and tear-away portions, providing audible and tactile feedback upon successful closure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional paperboard containers are designed to be simple and easy to manufacture, then manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but the containers fail to reclose after initial opening leading to spillage and spoilage
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into functional segments: a base with front panel, a cover, and a locking panel with tabs. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while maintaining overall simplicity. The locking panel with tabs provides the reclosure mechanism without requiring complex additional structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking panel and tabs are designed to be dynamically movable between locked and unlocked positions. The tabs can engage with the front panel to secure the cover in the closed position, or disengage to allow opening. This dynamic behavior enables reclosure functionality through simple mechanical movement rather than complex mechanisms.
2Reliability
If tamper-evident features such as seals or tear-away strips are added to paperboard containers, then product integrity and consumer assurance are improved, but manufacturing difficulty and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tamper-evident function is merged with the locking mechanism. The locking panel includes tear-away portions that are integrally formed with the locking structure itself, eliminating the need for separate tamper-evident components. When the cover is opened, the tear-away portions break away, providing tamper evidence while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking panel's tear-away portions automatically provide tamper evidence during the opening process without requiring additional manufacturing steps or components. The structure itself serves both the locking function and the tamper-evident function, reducing manufacturing complexity while ensuring product integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
A re-closeable folded container includes a hexahedral base including a front panel and a rear panel, a cover pivotally connected with an upper edge of a rear panel for movement between an open position and a closed position, and a locking panel hingedly connected with an upper edge of the front panel. The front panel includes a tear-away portion defined by a score line. The locking panel includes a first tab, a second tab, and a tear-away portion defined by score lines. The tear-away portion of the locking panel is fixedly attached to both the front portion of the cover and the tear-away portion of the front panel such that initial movement of the cover from the closed position toward the open position causes the locking panel and the front panel to tear along the score lines and causes both tear-away portions to pivotally move with the cover.