Spring-Loaded Hanger Resists Tray Removal
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packaging that easily opens and closes is prone to unintended opening during shipping due to reliance on friction fits, which requires tight manufacturing tolerances, increasing production costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A packaging assembly comprising a tray and a sleeve with a spring-loaded hanger that provides a spring force to resist tray removal, maintaining product containment while allowing easy opening and closing, and featuring a hang point for display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If friction fits are used to hold the tray in the sleeve, then the packaging can be easily opened and closed, but the packaging is prone to unintended opening during shipping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by introducing a spring-loaded hanger that dynamically adjusts the retention force. The spring mechanism allows the packaging to easily open when force is applied (for customer inspection) while automatically maintaining strong retention during shipping without requiring tight tolerances. The spring force increases with compression, providing progressive resistance to opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of retention force from static friction to dynamic spring force. The spring-loaded hanger transforms the retention mechanism from a passive friction fit to an active mechanical system that can be compressed and rebound, providing controllable retention force that adapts to different conditions during shipping and handling.
2Reliability
If tight manufacturing tolerances are used to prevent unintended opening, then packaging reliability improves, but production costs and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The spring-loaded hanger acts as an intermediary mechanism between the tray and sleeve. Instead of relying on tight dimensional tolerances between these components, the hanger serves as a mediating element that provides the necessary retention force through its spring mechanism, thereby decoupling the reliability requirement from the manufacturing tolerance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring-loaded hanger is a self-regulating mechanism that automatically adjusts the retention force based on compression. The spring force self-adjusts to provide appropriate retention without requiring precise manufacturing tolerances, as the spring's elastic properties inherently compensate for dimensional variations in the tray and sleeve components.
3Device complexity
If friction fits are used to retain the tray, then the packaging structure remains simple, but the friction force is insufficient to prevent opening during shipping
Solution Approach 1:
The spring-loaded hanger introduces dynamic force generation to the packaging system. The spring mechanism converts elastic potential energy into retention force, providing significantly higher and more controllable retention force compared to static friction fits, while maintaining relatively simple packaging structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring arms utilize curved geometry to generate effective retention force. The curved spring arms compress between the tray and sleeve, converting the compression distance into radial retention force through the curved path, thereby amplifying the retention capability without increasing overall structural complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The spring-loaded hanger system reduces the need for precise tolerances between the tray and sleeve, preventing inadvertent opening during shipping while enabling easy product inspection and display, thus enhancing packaging reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of spring arms, each spring arm configured to compress between an inside wall surface of a side wall of the sleeve and a side wall of the tray, the compression deforming the spring arms and providing a spring force to provide friction or static friction between the tray and sleeve to resist the removal of the tray from the sleeve
Implementation Method 2
providing a spring force to provide friction or static friction between the tray and sleeve to resist the removal of the tray from the sleeve
Data Source
AI summary
A packaging assembly for a product includes a tray for holding the product, a sleeve for slidably receiving the tray, and a hanger insertable into a slot in the sleeve. The hanger includes a spring arm configured to exert a spring force between an inside surface of the sleeve and the tray when the tray is in the sleeve to increase a force required to remove the tray from the sleeve. The hanger also provides a hang point for the packaging assembly.