Variable Wall Thickness Bottle Neck Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container necks are thick, leading to high material usage and extended manufacturing times, while maintaining proper alignment and seal with closure caps is challenging, especially for custom sizes.
Innovation Solution
A spirally threaded molded bottle neck with areas of reduced wall thickness, featuring distinct thicknesses in interthread portions to minimize material usage while ensuring proper alignment and seal with standard or custom closure caps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the container neck is made thick to ensure proper alignment and seal with closure caps, then the seal reliability is improved, but the material usage increases and manufacturing time extends
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different wall thicknesses to different regions of the bottle neck. The interthread portions have reduced thickness to save material, while the thread portions maintain sufficient thickness for seal reliability. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing material usage without compromising the critical sealing function.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottle neck is segmented into distinct functional zones: interthread portions and thread portions, each with different wall thickness requirements. This segmentation allows the design to optimize each zone independently, reducing material in non-critical areas while maintaining thickness where sealing is critical.
2Manufacturing precision
If the container neck is made thick to maintain proper alignment dimensions, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the productivity decreases due to extended cooling time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces wall thickness in the interthread portions where precise alignment dimensions are critical, while maintaining adequate thickness in thread portions for structural integrity. This local optimization allows faster cooling in reduced thickness areas without compromising the critical dimensional precision needed for closure cap alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies reduced thickness partially to the interthread portions rather than uniformly across the entire neck. This partial reduction achieves material savings and faster cooling where it doesn't compromise the critical alignment dimensions, while maintaining sufficient thickness elsewhere for structural requirements.
3Ease of manufacture
If the container neck uses uniform thickness to simplify manufacturing, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the material costs increase due to inability to reduce thickness in non-critical areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements varying wall thicknesses in different regions of the bottle neck, with the interthread portions having reduced thickness compared to thread portions. This local differentiation reduces overall material usage and cost while remaining manufacturable using standard molding techniques that can accommodate thickness variations.
Data Source
AI summary
A screw-type bottle neck having areas of reduced wall thickness is provided. The bottle neck includes a neck opening having a neck opening axis, a neck interior surface, and a neck exterior surface. The neck exterior surface includes at least one spiral thread portion. The bottle neck has at least one area of first neck thickness having a first neck thickness, and at least one area of second neck thickness having a second neck thickness. The second neck thickness is greater than the first neck thickness. The difference between the first neck thickness and the second neck thickness allows for a substantial reduction in the amount of material required to manufacture the bottle neck.