Spiral-Grooved Container with Rotating Cutter

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing container systems do not effectively reduce empty air space within containers as contents are removed, leading to issues like spoilage, inefficient storage, and difficulty in visual inspection due to lightproof designs.

Innovation Solution

A volume-reducing container system featuring a spiral-grooved body with a cutting cap that incrementally cuts away cylindrical sides as the cap rotates, reducing the container's volume to match the remaining contents, using a reducing cutter and tail-trimming mechanism to manage removed material.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If the container is made lightproof to protect contents from light degradation, then content protection is improved, but visual inspection capability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelight degradation protectionVSAvoidvisual inspection capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The container is divided into lightproof and transparent sections, allowing different parts to serve different functions - the lightproof portion protects contents from degradation while the transparent portion enables visual inspection of remaining contents

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Volume of stationary object

If the container volume is reduced to match remaining contents, then storage efficiency is improved, but container structure complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontainer volumeVSAvoidcontainer structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Volume of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The container incorporates a collapsible side wall that can dynamically change volume to match the amount of remaining contents, transitioning from an extended state when full to a compressed state as contents are removed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The collapsible side wall is nested within the container structure, allowing it to compress inward and reduce overall container volume without adding external complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

3Adaptability or versatility

If a flexible collapsible mid-section is added to enable volume adjustment, then volume adaptability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevolume adaptabilityVSAvoidmanufacturing complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The container utilizes a flexible collapsible side wall made of flexible material that can be molded and sealed to the rigid portions, enabling volume adjustment while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through standard flexible-to-rigid joining techniques

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Data Source

PatentUS10442570B1Volume-reducing container system and method

Publication Date: 2019.10.15 GABRIEL GAMEEL

AI summary

A volume-reducing container system and method for reducing empty air space within the container as the contents are removed, providing a spiral-grooved container body with a continuous downward spiraling groove along a cylindrical side surface, and providing a cutting cap to seal the container body, and having mounted inside a reducing cutter to follow and cut through the continuous downward spiraling groove when the cutting cap is turned in a nominally clockwise direction, yielding a smaller container and a tail of removed material, a tail channel within the cutting cap to allow passage of the tail of removed material out of the cutting cap, and a tail-trimming cutter which moves away from the tail of removed material during clockwise rotation of the cutting cap, and moves into and cuts the tail of removed material when the cutting cap is rotated counterclockwise.