Child-Resistant Pill Dispenser with Interference Rivet Lock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blister card packages for pharmaceutical drugs face challenges in being both child-resistant and senior-friendly, often compromising ease of use or environmental sustainability, and struggle to maintain high child resistance ratings over multiple uses.
Innovation Solution
A pill dispenser package with a locking mechanism that utilizes a plastic rivet assembly and a formable, pliable sheet material, allowing for easy access by senior citizens while preventing children from opening it, and is designed to be environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to prevent child access, then child resistance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is divided into separate functional components: a locking element on the blister card, a corresponding receptacle on the outer package, and a release mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to be simple while collectively providing robust child resistance without requiring a complex integrated system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary release mechanism (such as a tab or button) that mediates between the user's action and the locking elements. This intermediary allows seniors to easily activate the release without directly manipulating the locking elements themselves, maintaining simplicity while ensuring reliable child resistance.
2Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to prevent child access, then child resistance is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The release mechanism acts as an intermediary that translates a simple user action (pressing a tab or button) into the complex sequence of events required to disengage the locking elements. This allows seniors with limited dexterity to easily operate the package while maintaining strong child resistance during normal handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism is designed to automatically engage when the blister card is inserted into the outer package, eliminating the need for seniors to perform complex manual operations to secure it. The package serves itself by automatically establishing the locked state upon assembly.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional sealing methods are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but environmental sustainability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the sealing approach by using frangible (breakable) sealing elements that can be easily separated and disposed of. This parameter change in the sealing material properties allows for simpler manufacturing processes while improving environmental sustainability through reduced material persistence and easier recycling or disposal.
Data Source
AI summary
A blister and package system made of a blister card and an outer package with unique interacting locking mechanisms. The blister card or strip is inserted into the outer package or sleeve and locks immediately without having to further process the outer package or the blister card or strip. The user is able to expose the blisters from the outer package by disengaging the lock. The blister card or strip includes a formable, pliable sheet material, into which one or more individual cavities or blisters are formed. The separated cavities are loaded with product and sealed with one or more layers of puncturable or tearable sheet material, such as aluminum foil. The blister card or strip contains a plastic rivet assembly that forms an interference mechanism. The rivet is trapped by an internally formed panel and stopped by a catch flap included in the outer package.