Retractable Container With Elastic Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lipstick containers are prone to accidental opening, leading to damage and waste, especially when handled by children, and unintentional exposure of cosmetics, resulting in contamination.
Innovation Solution
A retractable container design featuring a cover part with a body part that can be extracted or retracted via a pressing operation, utilizing an elevation part with a catching boss, elastic piece, and guide part to control the protrusion and retraction of the body part, ensuring secure storage and easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lid is easily opened for convenient access, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to accidental opening by children or unintentional opening by users
Solution Approach 1:
The lid transitions from a static, easily opened state to a dynamic system with multiple states (closed, opening, open, closing) controlled by a pressing operation. The pressing part must be actively pressed to initiate opening, and the lid automatically closes when pressed again, creating a dynamic control mechanism that prevents accidental opening while maintaining ease of intentional access.
Solution Approach 2:
The lid automatically closes itself when the pressing part is pressed the second time, without requiring manual intervention to push it back. The elastic piece provides the restoring force that automatically returns the lid to the closed position, making the system self-servicing and reducing the risk of unintentional exposure.
2Ease of operation
If the stick cosmetic is extracted for use, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to damage and waste from accidental exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The cosmetic extraction mechanism uses dynamic control through the pressing part and elastic piece system. The cosmetic is only extracted when the pressing part is actively pressed, and it automatically retracts when pressed again. This dynamic on-demand extraction prevents accidental exposure and damage while maintaining ease of intentional use.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic piece is pre-loaded with potential energy that automatically propels the cosmetic outward when the pressing part is released. This preliminary action ensures the cosmetic is ready for immediate use once extracted, eliminating the need for additional manual manipulation and reducing the risk of accidental damage during extraction.
3Reliability
If the lid and cosmetic are automatically closed for secure storage, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to additional pressing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The opening and closing functions are merged into a single pressing operation. One press opens the lid and extracts the cosmetic, while another press closes the lid and retracts the cosmetic. This merging of functions into a simple binary operation (press to open, press to close) maintains ease of operation while ensuring secure storage through automatic closing.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic piece automatically performs the closing action and cosmetic retraction when the pressing part is released the second time. The system uses the stored elastic energy to self-close the lid and self-retract the cosmetic without requiring additional user effort, maintaining simplicity while ensuring secure storage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides intuitive and convenient usability by allowing the body part to change between locked and pop-up states, preventing unintentional exposure and improving ease of use through elastic restoring forces.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic piece, and a guide part which is fixedly disposed on an upper side of the pressing part and has a guide surface in contact with an upper end of the elastic piece
Implementation Method 2
When the pressing is removed, outward bending of the elastic piece may be released by a restoring force of the elastic piece, and thus the pressing part may be lowered to return to an original location thereof
Data Source
AI summary
A retractable container includes: a cover part of which both ends are open; a body part which is disposed in the upper inside portion of the cover part and receives contents; an elevating part which is disposed in the lower end of the body part, rises inside the cover part, and has a locking protrusion defining a seating position; a pressing part which is disposed in the lower portion of the elevating part, rises inside the cover part according to a user's pressing, and has an elastic piece; and a guide part which is fixedly disposed on the upper side of the pressing part and has a guide surface which contacts the upper end of the elastic piece, wherein, when the locking protrusion is seated on a first catching protrusion formed on the elastic piece, the rising of the elevating part and the body part is limited.