Folded Single-Sheet Vessel With Integrated Spout and Closure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing disposable liquid containers, such as paper cups, require multiple sizes of lids made from different materials, leading to environmental concerns and increased storage complexity in restaurants and coffee shops, as they are not easily recyclable when composed of different materials.
Innovation Solution
A flexible vessel made from a single sheet of material, scored and folded to form a frusto-conically shaped base with overlapping flaps creating a spout and air relief aperture, allowing for a unified, stackable, and leak-resistant design that can be easily adapted to various sizes by altering the bottom diameter, and featuring a closure tab and opening tab for secure sealing and easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If separate lids are provided for different cup sizes, then each cup size can be properly covered, but inventory complexity and storage space increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a single lid structure that can fit multiple cup sizes. The lid includes an adjustable flap mechanism where the flap can be positioned at different angles and secured at various positions around the cup opening, allowing one lid design to accommodate different diameter cups without requiring separate lids for each size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamics by making the lid flap movable and adjustable rather than fixed. The flap can be rotated and positioned to match different cup openings, and the securing mechanism allows dynamic adjustment to fit various cup sizes, transforming a static single-size lid into a dynamic multi-size solution.
2Ease of operation
If cups are made of different materials than their lids, then functional requirements are met, but recyclability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies merging by integrating the cup and lid into a single unified structure made from one continuous sheet of material. The lid is formed as an extension of the cup body, eliminating the need for separate lid components made from different materials. This allows the entire vessel to be made from a single material type, improving recyclability while maintaining functional performance through the integrated design.
3Ease of operation
If multiple components are assembled before serving, then functional requirements are met, but assembly time and coordination increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies merging by creating a unified cup-lid structure from a single sheet that can be assembled as one piece. The integrated design allows the vessel to be formed in a single assembly process without requiring separate steps for attaching lids to cups, eliminating coordination requirements and reducing assembly time while maintaining all necessary functional features.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-forming the lid structure as an integral part of the cup during the same manufacturing process. The single sheet is simultaneously formed into both the cup body and the lid with pre-positioned flaps and securing mechanisms, so that assembly is essentially complete when the vessel is formed, eliminating post-assembly steps.
Data Source
AI summary
A vessel composed of a sheet of flexible material, cut, rolled, and affixed to form a frusto-conically shaped base region. The sheet when rolled including an upper region having two opposing flaps, each flap delineated from a remaining portion of the sheet by a path along which the sheet is scored, so that the flaps, when folded along their respective paths, define a single elevated drinking portion having a spout formed between an extension of the base region and at least one of the two flaps.