Tamper-Evident Bottle Closure Seal Mark Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bottle closure systems with tamper-proof seals, such as safety bands, often require additional material and can lead to unnoticed partial opening, resulting in spoilage due to incomplete seal destruction upon partial unscrewing.
Innovation Solution
A screw cap with an internal thread and a recess for a sealing mark that is visibly and irreversibly destroyed upon slight relative movement, eliminating the need for additional threads or design features and ensuring complete seal destruction upon opening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a safety band is used as a tamper-proof seal, then the seal provides tamper evidence, but it requires additional material and can lead to unnoticed partial opening
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of the safety band (tamper evidence) and removes the unnecessary additional material requirements. The seal mark is applied directly to the closure without requiring extra safety bands or extended threads, achieving tamper evidence while reducing material usage.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a separate safety band that tears off, the invention inverts the approach by making the seal mark itself the indicator. The seal mark is positioned and designed so that any partial opening automatically destroys it, providing continuous tamper evidence rather than requiring a separate safety mechanism.
2Reliability
If a safety band is used as a tamper-proof seal, then the seal provides tamper evidence, but it requires additional design features such as extended threads and snapping edges
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the complex additional design features (extended threads, snapping edges) by extracting only the essential function needed - a seal mark that is destroyed upon opening. This simplifies the closure structure while maintaining tamper evidence functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal mark serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides tamper evidence, indicates proper sealing, and eliminates the need for separate safety band mechanisms. This multi-functionality reduces overall device complexity.
3Reliability
If the screw cap is unscrewed by a certain distance to tear off the safety band, then the seal is destroyed, but partial unscrewing by less distance can result in unnoticed opening
Solution Approach 1:
The seal mark is pre-positioned on the closure such that any attempt to open the bottle, even partially, immediately destroys it. This preliminary positioning ensures that the tamper evidence is activated before any significant opening occurs, preventing unnoticed partial openings.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal mark uses visual contrast (different color or appearance) to clearly indicate its intact state. When destroyed by partial opening, the visual change is immediately apparent, preventing loss of information about the bottle's opening status.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a bottle (120) having a closure (110) and a tamper-evident seal for the closure. According to the invention, at least one sealing mark (130) is applied in an area between the closure (110) and the bottle (120), so that the sealing mark (130) is destroyed by partially opening the closure.