Retractable Hinge Cosmetic Case Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cosmetic and body hygiene product cases with permanently connected lids often have visible hinges and projections, which degrade aesthetics and can lead to unintentional opening due to snagging, while cases with independently closing lids are bulky and difficult to use.
Innovation Solution
A case design featuring a lid articulated to a mobile assembly that translates perpendicular to the body, using an elastically-compressible assembly with bistable positions to conceal the articulation and allow for large pivoting movements without visible hinges or projections, ensuring compactness and ease of use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lid is permanently connected to the body with a traditional hinge, then the case is compact and easy to use, but the hinge is visible and degrades aesthetics
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge is extracted from the traditional external position and relocated to the interior of the case body. The hinge is now concealed within the body's internal volume, making it invisible from the exterior while maintaining the permanent connection between lid and body. This allows the exterior surfaces to appear smooth and continuous, resolving the aesthetic contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge mechanism is nested within the interior volume of the case body. The hinge axis and articulation components are positioned inside the body, effectively hiding them within the existing structure. This nesting approach allows the hinge to perform its function while remaining invisible from the outside, maintaining both compactness and aesthetics.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the hinge runs along the exterior surfaces to enable large angular movement, then the lid can pivot more than 90 degrees, but the hinge becomes visible and degrades aesthetics
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge axis is repositioned from an external lateral position to an internal position along the free edge of the body. By changing the spatial dimension and location of the hinge axis to the interior, the articulation can still achieve large angular movements (greater than 90 degrees) while the hinge remains concealed within the body's internal volume, preventing visual degradation.
3Reliability
If projections are added to retain or lock the lid, then the lid can be secured in closed configuration, but the projections can snag on adjacent objects and cause unintentional opening
Solution Approach 1:
The retention and locking functions are extracted from traditional protruding projections and reimagined as internal features. The retention mechanism uses inward-facing structures within the body that engage with corresponding features on the lid, eliminating external protrusions that could snag on objects. This maintains secure closure while preventing accidental opening.
4Shape
If the articulation is disposed under the lid within the case body, then the hinge may be concealed, but the rear part of the lid would jam against the free edge during pivoting
Solution Approach 1:
The case structure is segmented into distinct functional zones: the hinge axis is positioned along the free edge interior, creating clear separation between the articulation zone and the lid's pivoting path. This segmentation allows the hinge to be concealed while the lid maintains adequate clearance from the free edge throughout its pivoting range, preventing jamming and ensuring smooth operation.
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
The design provides a compact, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly case that prevents unintentional opening while allowing for easy access and use, maintaining product protection and maintaining a clean appearance.
Implementation Method 1
an elastically-compressible assembly with two stable retracted positions relative to a maximum pushed-in position
Data Source
AI summary
A case for a cosmetic or body hygiene product comprises a body having a bottom and a free edge 2B and containing a dish 5 containing a solid, pasty or pulverulent product, and a lid 3 mounted pivotably on the body. It also comprises movable equipment 11 comprising the dish and a hinge region 10 by which the lid is hinged thereto and which is able to undergo translational movement perpendicularly with respect to the bottom, and at least one elastically compressible assembly 40 having two stable withdrawn positions with respect to a maximum pushed-in position, said assembly being inserted between the body and the movable equipment so as to delimit for this equipment a maximum pushed-in configuration and a minimum pushed-in configuration, these configurations being such that, when the movable equipment is in the maximum pushed-in configuration and the lid is in the closed configuration, the hinge region of the equipment and at least part of this lid are retracted into the body whereas, when this equipment is in the minimum pushed-in position, the hinge region is at least partly outside the body so that the lid can pivot between its configurations and the lid has a sufficient handhold for a user to carry out this pivoting movement.