Tactile Package Cap Icons for Accessible Product Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing personal health care product packages do not effectively convey information to consumers who are visually impaired or have reading difficulties, relying solely on printed language that may be inaccessible.
Innovation Solution
A cap for personal health care packages featuring a concave surface with a protruding icon that is recognizable by tactile senses, allowing information transfer without the need for language or visual cues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If information is transferred by printing on package surfaces, then product identification is achieved, but accessibility for visually impaired or non-reading consumers is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the visual/textual information system (printing) with a tactile information system (protrusions and concave surfaces). This substitution allows consumers who cannot read or see to access product information through touch, thereby resolving the contradiction between information transfer and accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the package surface by creating three-dimensional protrusions and concave areas with specific dimensional ratios (protrusion height 0.2-2.0 mm, concave depth 0.2-2.0 mm). These parameter changes enable information encoding that can be detected tactilely, making the information accessible to visually impaired consumers while maintaining product identification.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If protrusions are made taller for better tactile recognition, then detectability improves, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the protrusion height parameter to fall within 0.2-2.0 mm, which provides sufficient tactile detectability while remaining compatible with standard manufacturing capabilities. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction by finding the optimal point where tactile recognition is achieved without requiring excessive manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses moderate protrusion heights (0.2-2.0 mm) rather than excessively tall structures. This partial action approach provides adequate tactile recognition while avoiding the manufacturing complexity and precision requirements that would result from using much taller protrusions, thus resolving the contradiction between detectability and manufacturing precision.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If concave surface depth is increased to accommodate larger icons, then icon recognizability improves, but package surface area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the concave depth parameter (0.2-2.0 mm) to provide sufficient space for icon formation while maintaining an acceptable surface area. This parameter optimization allows for recognizable icons without requiring excessive surface area, resolving the contradiction between icon size and surface area preservation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the vertical dimension (depth of concave surfaces and height of protrusions) to encode information rather than solely relying on horizontal surface area. By creating three-dimensional structures, the patent achieves icon recognizability without proportionally increasing the two-dimensional surface area, thus resolving the contradiction between icon size and available surface area.
Data Source
AI summary
A cap of a package is suitable to store and present personal health care products. The cap of the package disclosed herein comprises an information for a receiver which corresponds to the personal health care product, and which is recognizable with visual and tactile senses. The information is transferred by a product specific icon which protrudes from a surface of the cap of the package.