Two-shell container latch mechanism for child-resistant access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging solutions for pharmaceutical and tobacco products face challenges in balancing child-resistance with elder-friendliness while ensuring environmental protection and product integrity, often leading to complex designs that increase costs and compromise consumer experience.
Innovation Solution
A package design featuring a clamshell structure with a hinge and latch mechanism, where the package consists of two shell portions that can be easily opened by adults but are difficult for children to access, combined with a sealing system that prevents moisture ingress and allows individual compartment access without exposing the entire product.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a seal is provided for the entire contents of the package to protect from environment, then environmental protection is improved, but the package design becomes more complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The package is divided into multiple compartments or sections, each with its own sealing mechanism. This allows environmental protection to be applied only where needed rather than sealing the entire package, reducing overall complexity while maintaining protection where required.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sealing approaches are applied to different regions of the package based on specific needs. Critical areas receive full sealing protection while non-critical areas use simpler approaches, optimizing the balance between protection and complexity.
2Ease of operation
If the entire product is exposed when the package is opened, then product accessibility is improved, but product integrity and environmental protection deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The package contains multiple separate compartments that can be opened independently. Users can access only the specific compartment they need without exposing the entire product to environmental factors, maintaining both accessibility and protection.
Solution Approach 2:
Smaller sealed compartments or containers are nested within the larger package structure. Each nested element can be accessed independently while remaining protected by its own sealing mechanism, allowing selective access without compromising overall integrity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a protective envelope or wrapper is used to protect the product, then environmental protection is improved, but the entire product is exposed when the wrapper is opened
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of a single protective envelope covering the entire product, the protection is segmented into multiple smaller envelopes or barriers that correspond to individual compartments or product sections. This allows users to open only the specific protective layer needed for accessing a particular item.
4Reliability
If the package design accommodates multiple constraints (child-resistance, environmental protection, product access), then safety and protection are improved, but the design becomes more complicated and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into unified structural elements. For example, the closure mechanism simultaneously provides child-resistance and environmental sealing, while compartment dividers serve both organizational and protective functions. This integration reduces the number of separate components needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Package components are designed to perform multiple functions. The closure system provides both child-resistance and environmental protection; compartment structures provide both organization and selective access; sealing elements provide both protection and structural integrity. This multi-functionality reduces overall complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A package comprises a latch including first and second legs and an actuating portion. The first and second legs are joined at an angle. The actuator portion of the first leg is positioned to be displaced generally laterally to displace the second leg generally longitudinally to release the latch. In another embodiment the package has base wells on the inside surface. A generally flat marginal sealing surface encircles the first and second base wells. The wells of the base and/or lid are covered with a cover sheet to close them. Still another embodiment is a child-resistant container comprising a shell, two drawers, a stop, and a latch. The drawers are prevented from sliding apart past a limit of travel when one drawer is open sufficiently to provide access to its contents and the other drawer is not.