Slidable Container Child Lock Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing slidable containers fail to securely prevent children from accessing and removing contents such as solid medicine or capsules due to lack of effective child safety mechanisms in their design.
Innovation Solution
A slidable container with a child lock mechanism featuring outwardly-projecting projections on the lower container and inwardly-projecting projections on the lid, which engage with a groove to prevent accidental opening, combined with resistance and locking features to control the lid's movement, ensuring secure closure and easy operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a simple slidable container design is used, then ease of operation is improved, but child safety is worsened as children can easily open it
Solution Approach 1:
The container employs dynamic locking mechanisms where the lid transitions between locked and unlocked states based on applied force. The resilient member and projection-groove engagement create a force-dependent locking system that remains secure under normal conditions but can be opened with deliberate adult force, resolving the contradiction between easy operation and child safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The container changes the force parameter required to open the lid. A resilient member stores elastic energy that must be overcome to disengage the locking projections from grooves. This parameter change ensures that casual or child attempts cannot open the container, while adults can open it by applying sufficient force, thus balancing ease of operation with child safety.
2Reliability
If a child lock mechanism with projections and grooves is added, then child safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism merges multiple functions into the lid structure itself. The side plates of the lid incorporate grooves, the top plate includes resilient members with projections, and these elements work together as an integrated child safety system. This merging approach provides effective child protection without adding separate complex locking devices, thus limiting the increase in construction complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient member automatically engages with the groove to lock the lid in place without requiring additional locking actions. The projection-groove mechanism self-locks when the lid is closed, and the resilient nature of the member provides automatic resetting capability. This self-service characteristic achieves child safety without complex manual locking procedures or additional control mechanisms.
3Reliability
If resilient members with projections are used to lock the lid, then child safety is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to increased resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient member is pre-loaded to exert a locking force that prevents accidental or child-induced opening. This preliminary anti-action creates a secure locked state that resists casual attempts to open the container. However, the design allows this anti-action to be overcome by deliberate adult force, maintaining ease of operation for authorized users while providing strong child safety protection.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a container with a child lock which has a simple construction and yet can securely prevent accidents caused e.g. by child's mischief. The container 1 with a child lock includes a rectangular lower container 2 and a lid 20 for closing the lower container 2. The pair of side plates 6, 6 of the lower container 2 each has an inner plate portion 7, and the lower container 2 has a pair of working plates 8, 8 each extending from a front plate 4 and lying outside and parallel to the inner plate portion 7. An inner engaging piece 10, lying next to an engaging step portion 9, is provided at the rear end of each working plate 8. A projection 11 is provided on the outer surface of each engaging piece 10, while a groove portion 26, which is to engage the projection 11 of the lower container 2, is provided in each side plate 23 of the lid 20. The engagement between the projections 11, 11 of the lower container 2 and the groove portions 26, 26 of the lid 20 can be released by pressing the working plates 8, 8 of the lower container 2 inward.