Reclosable Package Anti-Stake Latch Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reclosable wiper blade packages face challenges in providing adequate closing force while allowing easy opening and closing without destruction, and in achieving structural rigidity while minimizing material thickness, with known methods often failing to prevent self-opening during transportation or handling.
Innovation Solution
A reclosable package design featuring a hinge between two halves, with a cover and base that utilize snap hooks and receivers for closure, along with ribs for added strength, allowing for secure closure and easy opening, and minimizing material usage through thermo molding processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heat staking is used to seal the package, then the package is effectively sealed, but the contents cannot be removed without destruction of the package
Solution Approach 1:
The package closure system is segmented into multiple independent snap hooks distributed along the seal line, rather than a continuous heat-staked seal. This allows the package to be opened at specific points by disengaging individual snap hooks, enabling content inspection while maintaining overall sealing effectiveness when closed.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is extracted from permanent heat staking and replaced with reversible mechanical snap hooks. This extraction allows the package to maintain sealing effectiveness when closed while enabling easy opening and closing without destruction, as the snap hooks can be repeatedly engaged and disengaged.
2Ease of operation
If known closing mechanisms are used, then the package can be opened and closed, but they fail to provide adequate closing strength and self-open during transportation
Solution Approach 1:
The closure system merges multiple snap hooks along the seal line, combining their individual closing forces to achieve adequate overall closing strength. This distributed array of snap hooks provides both the mechanical strength needed to prevent self-opening during transportation and the ease of operation for reclosability, as each hook contributes to the total securing force.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the package seal have locally optimized snap hook configurations. The snap hooks are spaced and sized to provide appropriate closing force at each location, with stronger hooks at critical areas and smaller hooks where less force is needed, achieving both adequate closing strength and ease of operation.
3Strength
If more material is used to form the package, then structural rigidity is improved, but manufacturing cost and material usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The package utilizes thin-walled plastic construction with strategic reinforcement elements rather than uniformly thick material. The base and cover are formed as thin-walled structures that provide adequate structural rigidity when assembled, minimizing material usage while maintaining the strength needed to protect the wiper blade during transportation and handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The package employs composite construction combining the thin-walled base and cover with the closure system comprising multiple snap hooks and corresponding receivers. This composite structure achieves superior structural rigidity through the combination of components rather than relying on increased material thickness alone, reducing overall material usage while maintaining strength.
4Loss of substance
If the package thickness is minimized, then material cost is reduced, but structural rigidity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The package achieves structural rigidity by transitioning from relying on wall thickness (one dimension) to utilizing the three-dimensional geometry of the assembled structure. The interlocking base and cover with distributed snap hooks create a stable three-dimensional configuration that provides adequate rigidity even with minimal material thickness, maintaining structural stability while minimizing material usage.
Data Source
AI summary
A reclosable package for an article may include a base with a planar floor defining an article-retaining cavity and raised sidewalls extending about the perimeter forming part of the article-retaining cavity with a cover with raised sidewalls coupled to the base configured to move between an open position and a closed position. The sidewalls may form a double wall about the perimeter of the base with a channel that remains open when the cover is disposed in the closed position. A plurality of projections extending from at least one sidewall of at least one of the cover and base and a plurality of notches in at least one sidewall of at least one of the cover and base keep the cover closed as the projections insert into the notches with a snap fit engagement.