Tube Package With Piercing Mandrel And Visual Seal Indicator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tube packaging for medical and cosmetic products fails to ensure absolute tight sealing until use, leading to potential contamination and lacks a simple, visual guarantee of originality and easy application.
Innovation Solution
A tube packaging design featuring a sealed tube body with a pierceable membrane that is opened by an axially movable applicator with interlocking threads, ensuring the product remains sealed until use and providing a visual indicator of originality through a flange-like section that becomes hidden upon opening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a tube body with a perforable wall section is used to maintain sealing until use, then the product remains protected from contamination, but the complexity of the packaging structure increases due to the need for an adapter with piercing mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The mandrel is nested within the applicator, and the adapter contains both the mandrel and applicator components. This nesting approach allows the piercing mechanism to be integrated compactly without significantly increasing external packaging dimensions, resolving the contradiction between sealing integrity and structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging system is divided into distinct functional segments: the tube body for product containment, the adapter for mounting and piercing, the mandrel for actual perforation, and the applicator for product application. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall simplicity.
2Ease of operation
If an adapter with a mandrel and applicator is introduced to pierce the sealing wall, then the product can be applied easily, but the quantity of components and packaging complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter merges multiple functions into a single component: it provides the mounting interface for the tube body, houses the mandrel for piercing, and supports the applicator for product delivery. This consolidation reduces the number of separate components while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapter serves multiple purposes: structural support for the tube body, mechanism for piercing the seal, and mounting platform for the applicator. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components for each function, reducing overall component quantity.
3Loss of information
If a flange-like section is added to provide visual indication of original state, then the guarantee of originality is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flange-like section serves as a visual indicator that changes state from visible to hidden as the packaging is opened. This simple visual change mechanism provides clear indication of originality without requiring complex indicators or additional components.
Solution Approach 2:
The flange-like section is extracted as a distinct visual indicator element from the main body, allowing it to perform its indication function independently. This simple extracted element provides the necessary information without adding significant complexity to the overall structure.
4Ease of operation
If interlocking threads are used to move the applicator axially for piercing, then the operation is simplified to manual turning, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The thread engagement transitions from a static connection to a dynamic actuation mechanism. As the user turns the applicator, the threads convert rotational motion into axial movement, automatically advancing the mandrel to pierce the seal. This dynamic mechanism simplifies operation while the standard thread geometry maintains manufacturing feasibility.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a tube package having a tube body for receiving a product, having a tube body opening closed by a wall segment that can be perforated, having an applicator comprising at least one application opening for discharging or applying a product received in the tube package, wherein the applicator is displaceable between a first position corresponding to a delivery or original state and a second position corresponding to a usage state, and comprises a mandrel, the free end thereof being disposed outside of the tube body opening and at a distance from the wall segment that can be perforated, said mandrel being displaced into the tube body opening when displacing the applicator into the second position and perforating the wall segment, connecting said opening to the applicator opening by means of at least one channel formed in the mandrel.