Sealed Container with Pivot Lid and Scoop for Powder Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current packaging for granulated or powdered products is difficult to handle, prone to spillage, and inadequate in sealing, leading to contamination and waste, especially when subjected to pressure differentials, and challenges manufacturers with dimensional tolerance issues and mis-shaping during production.
Innovation Solution
A sealable container design featuring a pivotally attached lid with a sealing flange and flexible gasket, a scoop holder, and a domed central section on the lid to direct contents back into the container, along with a pressure control mechanism to accommodate altitude changes, enhancing sealing, reducing spillage, and improving handling and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lid is removed and opened to access contents, then the user can retrieve the scoop and product, but the contents are loosely caked or packed into the lid or top of the container leading to spillage
Solution Approach 1:
A foil seal acts as an intermediary barrier between the contents and the external environment. The foil seal remains in place during lid removal and opening, preventing powder from becoming caked on the lid. Users can access the scoop through the opened lid while the foil seal maintains containment, eliminating the spillage problem associated with direct lid contact with loose powder.
2Loss of information
If the scoop is positioned against an interior or exterior wall for convenient location, then the scoop is easy to find, but it is difficult to grasp due to tight fastening with adhesive or mechanical retainers leaving little clearance
Solution Approach 1:
The scoop is repositioned from a two-dimensional wall-mounted position to a three-dimensional suspended position within the container interior. By attaching the scoop to the foil seal that spans the container opening, the scoop is elevated into accessible space where users can easily grasp the handle without contending with tight clearance against container walls.
3Device complexity
If prior containers are used without adequate sealing, then the container is simple in design, but the contents leak or escape from poorly sealed areas
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system employs a composite structure combining the rigid container opening, the flexible foil seal material, and the supportive collar assembly. This multi-material approach creates an effective seal that prevents leaking and escaping of contents, while the foil seal's flexibility allows it to conform to the container opening geometry without requiring complex sealing mechanisms.
4Quantity of substance
If the container is inverted to remove the last bit of powder, then all contents can be emptied, but spillage and waste occur
Solution Approach 1:
The foil seal is extracted or removed from the container opening before the user inverts the container to empty remaining powder. This extraction eliminates the barrier that would cause spillage during inversion, allowing users to completely empty the container by pouring or tapping without the foil seal interfering and causing powder to scatter.
Data Source
AI summary
A container (210) for holding granular or powdered material and formed by a top wall (212), a bottom wall (214), a front wall (216), a rear wall (218), a first side wall (220), and a second side wall (222). A rotatably removable lid (D) is interiorly mounted with a scoop (32) and is pivotally hinged to a collar (300) that includes a sealing gasket (330). The collar (300) mounts to the walls of the container (210). A sealing wall 240 of the lid (D) cooperates with the gasket 300 to prevent the contents from spilling. The container (210) incorporates powder control features, a container wall junction (50) preferred geometry and congruent scoop (32) enabling convenient access to the contents, a tolerance variation accommodating and strength improving, J-shaped collar (300) and interlocking indentations (290) and flex clips (310), and a pressure controlling portion (350) that prevents unwanted deformation due to pressure differentials.