Tamper Resistant Container Sleeve and Insert Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Many containers lack controlled access to their contents, particularly when children are present, posing a risk of accidental or unauthorized access to medicinal products and similar items.
Innovation Solution
A container design featuring a sleeve with a sliding insert that requires specific pressure application on the exterior to access the contents, utilizing a sleeve locking tab and insert locking tab mechanism to prevent accidental opening, constructed from foldable sheet materials like cardboard or polymer-based materials for enhanced resilience and structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a simple container design is used, then manufacturing cost and device complexity are reduced, but child resistance and controlled access capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into two separate components: an outer sleeve and an inner insert. The insert contains the locking tab mechanism while the sleeve provides the structural framework. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the insert can focus on child-resistant locking functionality while the sleeve maintains structural integrity, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking tab mechanism is designed to be self-activating through elastic deformation. When pressure is applied to the sleeve, the locking tab automatically bows outward and disengages from the insert without requiring additional mechanical components or complex actuation mechanisms. This self-service approach enables child-resistant functionality while maintaining design simplicity.
2Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to prevent child access, then child resistance is improved, but ease of operation for adults deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism exploits changes in the physical parameters of the sleeve material under applied pressure. When force is applied, the elastic modulus and shape of the locking tab change temporarily, allowing disengagement. This parameter-based approach enables adults to easily open the container by applying pressure, while children cannot generate sufficient force to trigger the parameter change, thus resolving the contradiction between security and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure-sensitive locking tab mechanism is localized to a specific region of the sleeve, allowing adults to open the container by applying force to a small, easily accessible area. This local quality approach maintains overall structural integrity while creating a localized easy-to-access opening mechanism, resolving the contradiction between child resistance and adult accessibility.
3Ease of operation
If the container allows multiple openings and closings, then usability is improved, but structural integrity and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism transitions from a static locked state to a dynamic reversible state. The elastic locking tab can repeatedly deform and return to its original position, enabling multiple opening and closing cycles. This dynamic design allows the container to be reused numerous times while maintaining structural integrity, as the elastic material naturally returns to its original configuration after each use.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic deformation of the locking tab during opening and closing cycles represents a temporary recovery of energy and position. After multiple uses, when the container is finally disposed of, the accumulated wear and degradation are discarded. This principle allows the container to maintain structural integrity through repeated use cycles before eventual disposal, resolving the contradiction between reusability and structural stability.
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 container ensures secure, child-resistant access to contents by requiring deliberate pressure application, allowing multiple openings and closings before disposal, while maintaining structural integrity and ease of use for adult users.
Implementation Method 1
the sleeve locking tab is moved away from the insert locking tab by an outward bowing elastic deformation of the part of the sleeve proximate the sleeve locking tab
Data Source
AI summary
A container comprising an insert and a sleeve which encloses the insert is disclosed. A blank of resilient sheet material comprising a first, second, third and fourth sequential adjoining rectangular panels are folded along their three shared side edges to form the sleeve having a rectangular cross-section, with a locking tab adjoining the first rectangular panel. An insert having a rectangular cross-section slightly smaller than the sleeve cross-section, and a mating locking tab are configured such that when the front end of the insert is substantially inserted into the front end of the sleeve, the back edges of the sleeve locking tab and the insert locking tab abut one another such that the insert may be removed only upon application of pressure at opposed locations on the exterior of the sleeve to cause the sleeve to bow outward and away from the insert.