A portable lightweight PP cup suitable for daily disposable contact lenses

Abstract

This invention discloses a portable, lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses, relating to the field of contact lens packaging technology. It includes an aluminum-plastic composite film and several individual PP cups. Each PP cup is an independently injection-molded, shallow spherical bowl-shaped cavity with uniformly thin-walled sidewalls and bottom, forming a continuous spherical curved surface. The outer edge of the open end of each PP cup is integrally formed with an annular thin-rib flange seal. The top surface of the annular thin-rib flange seal is heat-sealed to the aluminum-plastic composite film. Each PP cup contains only one contact lens. The aluminum-plastic composite film has multiple pre-pressed easy-tear cutting lines arranged horizontally and vertically, dividing it into multiple matrix-arranged positioning and bonding areas. Each positioning and bonding area is used to fix and connect one PP cup. This invention significantly reduces plastic usage, compresses packaging volume, and achieves a flexible and portable structure for free combination and packaging of multiple sizes while ensuring aseptic storage of individual lenses.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of contact lens packaging technology, and more particularly to a portable, lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses. Background Technology

[0002] In the daily disposable soft contact lens market, portability and hygiene are core factors that users consider when purchasing. With the increasing prevalence of short trips, business travel, and everyday wear, consumers have higher demands for the size and weight of daily disposable lens packaging, as well as the convenience of carrying multiple lenses. Currently, individually packaged daily disposable contact lenses are typically sealed in medical-grade plastic containers. These containers require complete filling and aseptic sealing of the contact lens solution at the factory to ensure the lens's hygiene, safety, and shape stability throughout its shelf life.

[0003] However, current mainstream daily disposable lens packaging containers still have several design shortcomings. Traditional daily disposable PP cups generally adopt a structure of straight walls, deep grooves, and thick bottoms. To meet the requirements of upright placement and clamping on filling lines, the cup body often has a rigid plastic substrate, which results in a large amount of material used per cup and a bulky overall size when carrying multiple lenses, making it difficult to fit into a small bag or pocket. At the same time, these packages are mostly in a scattered, individual state, lacking a standardized continuous carrier, which means that different lens sizes need to be molded separately, resulting in high modification costs and long cycles, and making it difficult for the production end to flexibly meet the retail demand for multi-size combination packaging. In addition, the inner cavity of the cup is often designed with right-angle transitions or stress concentration areas, which not only increases the complexity of the injection molding process, but also easily creates the risk of leakage after heat sealing, affecting the long-term sterile preservation effect of the lenses.

[0004] Therefore, how to develop a portable, lightweight PP cup suitable for daily disposable contact lenses, while ensuring sterile storage of each lens, significantly reducing plastic usage, compressing packaging volume, and achieving a flexible and portable structure that allows for free combination and packaging of multiple specifications, has become a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved by researchers in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a portable, lightweight PP cup that is compatible with daily disposable contact lenses. While ensuring the sterile storage function of each lens, it significantly reduces the amount of plastic used, compresses the packaging volume, and achieves a flexible and portable structure that allows for free combination and packaging of multiple specifications.

[0006] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: This invention discloses a portable lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses, comprising an aluminum-plastic composite film and several PP cup units. Each PP cup unit is an independently injection-molded shallow spherical bowl-shaped cavity with uniformly thin-walled sidewalls and bottom, forming a continuous spherical curved surface. The outer edge of the open end of each PP cup unit is integrally formed with an annular thin-rib flange seal. The top surface of the annular thin-rib flange seal is heat-pressed and sealed to the aluminum-plastic composite film, thereby sealing the inner cavity of each PP cup unit into an independent spherical receiving cavity. Each PP cup unit can only accommodate one daily disposable contact lens. The aluminum-plastic composite film has multiple pre-pressed easy-tear cutting lines arranged in a crisscross pattern, dividing the film into multiple positioning and bonding areas arranged in a matrix. Each positioning and bonding area is used to fix and connect one of the PP cup units.

[0007] Preferably, the PP cup unit is integrally injection molded from medical and food-grade PP material.

[0008] Preferably, an annular flange is provided at the edge of the open end of the PP cup unit, the top surface of the annular flange is flush with the open end face of the PP cup unit, and the annular thin rib flange is integrally formed and provided on the top surface of the annular flange.

[0009] Preferably, the thickness of the annular thin-rib flange seal is less than the sidewall thickness of the PP cup monomer.

[0010] Preferably, the annular thin rib flange sealing edge is composed of multiple layers of concentrically arranged annular thin ribs, and concentric annular material reduction grooves are formed between adjacent annular thin ribs.

[0011] Preferably, the aluminum-plastic composite film in the positioning and bonding area is heat-pressed and sealed to the top surface of the plurality of annular thin ribs to cover and seal the opening end of the spherical cavity; the pre-pressed easy-tear cutting line is located on the outside of the annular flange.

[0012] Preferably, the volume of the spherical cavity is matched to the capacity of a single daily disposable contact lens and its accompanying care solution.

[0013] Preferably, the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film is made of an oxygen-barrier, water-barrier, and sterile material.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial technical effects of the present invention are as follows: 1) This invention significantly reduces the amount of plastic used in a single package through a structural design that combines a shallow spherical bowl-shaped thin-walled cavity with an annular thin-rib flange sealing. The sidewalls and bottom of the PP cup are uniformly thin-walled, and the annular thin-rib flange sealing further adopts a thin-walled design with a thickness less than that of the sidewalls. Excess material is removed by the material-reducing grooves formed between multiple concentric annular thin ribs, resulting in a significant reduction in the weight of a single cup. This reduces raw material consumption at the source, and the overall packaging is more in line with the current industry trend of reducing plastic and protecting the environment. 2) This invention utilizes a standardized aluminum-plastic composite continuous film combined with a pre-pressed easy-tear cutting line to achieve a portable modular design for free packaging in multiple specifications. Multiple independently sealed PP cup units are arranged in a matrix on the entire packaging. Consumers can manually tear off any number of units along the pre-pressed easy-tear cutting line, flexibly separating them into single-use, multi-use, and other portable modules without scissors. The overall thickness of the separated modules is extremely small, allowing them to be directly placed in a pocket, wallet, or cosmetic bag, solving the problem of traditional daily disposable lens packaging taking up a lot of space and being inconvenient to store when out and about. 3) This invention significantly improves sealing reliability and aseptic protection through a multi-layer concentric annular thin-rib flange and an aluminum-plastic composite film hot-press sealing structure. The multi-layer concentric annular thin ribs form multiple parallel sealing barriers on the sealing surface, creating redundant protection. Even if one seal is damaged under external force, the remaining sealing rings can still independently maintain a closed state. Simultaneously, the concentric annular material-reducing grooves formed between the thin ribs can be slightly filled by molten material during hot pressing, producing a microscopic anchoring effect. This enhances the bonding strength between the flange and the aluminum-plastic composite film, effectively preventing leakage of the care solution and providing a long-term stable aseptic storage environment for the lenses. 4) The PP cup units of this invention are manufactured using a method of independent injection molding followed by uniform hot-pressing lamination with an aluminum-plastic composite sheet film, fully adapting to the needs of automated modular production. The standardized aluminum-plastic composite sheet film dimensions and matrix-style positioning lamination area layout facilitate integration with fully automated injection molding, hot-pressing lamination, care solution filling, and slitting equipment. The independent unit structure allows defective injection-molded products to be individually removed and replaced before the lamination process, eliminating the need to scrap the entire aluminum-plastic composite sheet film, reducing material waste in mass production. The molds are highly versatile, eliminating the need for separate molds for different sheet specifications, resulting in low modification costs and short lead times. Attached Figure Description

[0015] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a portable, lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses according to the present invention. Figure 1 ; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a portable, lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses according to the present invention. Figure 2; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a portable, lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses according to the present invention. Figure 3 ; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the PP cup monomer in this invention. Figure 1 ; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the PP cup monomer in this invention. Figure 2 .

[0017] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached diagram: 1. Aluminum-plastic composite continuous film; 2. PP cup unit; 3. Annular thin-rib flange sealing edge; 4. Spherical inner cavity; 5. Pre-compression easy-tear cutting line. Detailed Implementation

[0018] To make the technical problems to be solved, the technical solutions, and the beneficial effects of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0019] like Figure 1-5 As shown, a portable lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses includes an aluminum-plastic composite film 1 and several PP cup units 2. Each PP cup unit 2 is an independently injection-molded shallow spherical bowl-shaped cavity with uniform thin-walled structure on its sidewalls and bottom, forming a continuous spherical curved surface. The outer edge of the opening end of each PP cup unit 2 is integrally formed with an annular thin-rib flange seal 3. The top surface of the annular thin-rib flange seal 3 is heat-pressed and sealed to the aluminum-plastic composite film 1, thereby sealing the inner cavity of each PP cup unit 2 into an independent spherical receiving cavity 4. Each PP cup unit 2 can only hold one daily disposable contact lens. The aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1 is provided with multiple pre-pressed easy-tear cutting lines 5 in a crisscross pattern, which divide the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1 into multiple positioning and bonding areas arranged in a matrix. Each positioning and bonding area is used to fix and connect one of the PP cup units 2.

[0020] Specifically, the continuous spherical curved surface design of the shallow spherical bowl-shaped cavity eliminates the corners and dead angles commonly found in traditional packaging, allowing the lenses to naturally expand within the cavity with the contact lens solution, making them easier to slide out and less likely to stick to the cup wall. Multiple pre-pressed easy-tear cutting lines 5 form a perforation-like separation guide structure on the aluminum-plastic composite film 1, allowing consumers to neatly disassemble the entire package into single or multiple independent portable modules by hand without the need for scissors, making it convenient to carry around.

[0021] Specifically, the PP cup monomer 2 is integrally injection molded from medical and food-grade PP material.

[0022] Specifically, the use of medical-grade and food-grade PP material ensures the chemical stability and biological safety of the PP cup monomer 2 in long-term contact with the care solution and lenses, preventing the release of harmful substances. The one-piece injection molding process allows the entire cup body, including the annular thin-rib flange seal 3, to be molded into a seamless whole in one piece, completely eliminating the risk of leakage and contamination at assembly gaps and ensuring the basic structural strength of aseptic packaging.

[0023] Specifically, an annular flange is provided at the edge of the opening end of the PP cup unit 2, and the top surface of the annular flange is flush with the opening end face of the PP cup unit 2. The annular thin rib flange sealing edge 3 is integrally formed and provided on the top surface of the annular flange.

[0024] Specifically, the annular flange provides a thickened and stable molded base for the annular thin-rib flange sealing edge 3, enhancing the flange structure's ability to resist external forces during thermo-press sealing and preventing deformation under stress. The radial width of the annular flange is designed to be slightly wider than that of the annular thin-rib flange sealing edge 3, and its smooth outer surface provides a clear force boundary and guide for subsequent tearing along the pre-compression easy-tear cutting line 5, forming a protective boss surrounding the outer ring of the sealing area.

[0025] Specifically, the thickness of the annular thin-rib flange seal 3 is less than the sidewall thickness of the PP cup monomer 2.

[0026] Specifically, this thin-walled design minimizes the amount of material used in the flange while ensuring sufficient strength for hot-press sealing between the flange and the aluminum-plastic composite film 1. At the same time, the thinner flange can reach the melting temperature more quickly during hot pressing, resulting in faster and more uniform adhesion to the aluminum-plastic composite film 1.

[0027] Specifically, the annular thin rib flange sealing edge 3 is composed of multiple layers of concentrically arranged annular thin ribs, and concentric annular material reduction grooves are formed between adjacent annular thin ribs.

[0028] Specifically, this multi-layered concentric thin-rib structure is equivalent to constructing multiple parallel sealing barriers on the sealing surface. Even if the innermost seal is affected by external forces, the outer thin ribs can still independently maintain the sealing state, forming redundant protection. The concentric annular material-reducing groove not only directly reduces the use of plastic raw materials and lightens the overall weight, but also increases the actual bonding surface area between the flange and the aluminum-plastic composite film 1 heat-sealing layer. During heat sealing, the molten material can slightly fill the groove, forming a microscopic "anchoring" effect, significantly improving the heat-sealing connection strength.

[0029] Specifically, the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1 in the positioning and bonding area is heat-pressed and sealed to the top surface of the multiple annular thin ribs to cover and seal the opening end of the spherical accommodating cavity 4; the pre-pressed easy-tear cutting line 5 is located on the outside of the annular flange.

[0030] Specifically, the heat-press sealing ensures that the top surface of each annular thin rib of the aluminum-plastic composite film 1 and the annular thin rib flange seal 3 achieves molecular-level fusion, forming a smooth and tightly sealed surface. The pre-compressed easy-tear cut line 5, located on the outside of the annular flange, ensures that the tearing force falls entirely on the aluminum-plastic composite film 1 outside the annular flange, without touching or damaging the internal sealing area, thus ensuring the aseptic integrity of unused monomers during handling and tearing. The opening end of the PP cup monomer 2 is completely sealed by the smooth aluminum-plastic composite film 1, greatly reducing the overall thickness of the packaging and achieving a thin-sheet design.

[0031] Specifically, the volume of the spherical cavity 4 is matched to the capacity of a single daily disposable contact lens and its accompanying care solution.

[0032] Specifically, the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1 is made of an oxygen-barrier, water-barrier, and sterile material.

[0033] Specifically, oxygen- and water-resistant sterile materials are typically multi-layered composite materials containing an aluminum foil layer and a medical polymer film layer. They can almost completely block the penetration of external oxygen, water vapor, and microorganisms, creating a long-term stable sterile storage microenvironment for the lens inside the PP cup unit 2, independent of the external environment, thus ensuring the product's shelf life of several years.

[0034] The process of using this invention is as follows: First, the consumer receives a complete package consisting of an aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1 and several PP cup units 2. The spherical cavity 4 of all PP cup units 2 is filled with care solution and contains a daily disposable contact lens. The top surface of the annular thin rib flange 3 at the opening end of each PP cup unit 2 is heat-pressed and sealed with the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1, and the whole is in a sterile and closed state. Secondly, depending on the number of travel days or usage needs, consumers can tear the aluminum-plastic composite film 1 by hand along the corresponding pre-pressed easy-tear cutting line 5. The pre-pressed easy-tear cutting line 5 is located on the outside of the annular flange of the PP cup unit 2. The force of the tearing process is entirely applied to the aluminum-plastic composite film 1 on the outside of the annular flange, without touching or damaging the sealing area between the inner annular thin rib flange seal 3 and the aluminum-plastic composite film 1, thereby disassembling the entire package into independent single units or the required number of portable modules. Furthermore, when taking out the lens, the consumer pinches one corner of the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1 on the individual PP cup unit 2 and peels the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film 1 off from the top surface of the annular thin rib flange seal 3. At this time, the multiple sealing barriers between the multiple concentric annular thin ribs are peeled off one by one, and the spherical receiving cavity 4 is opened. Then, the consumer tilts the PP cup unit 2, which has had the aluminum-plastic composite film 1 peeled off, and the daily disposable contact lens in the spherical inner cavity 4 is poured out along with the care solution. Since the side wall and bottom of the spherical inner cavity 4 are continuous spherical curved surfaces without any corners or dead angles, the lens is not easy to stick to the cup wall and can slide out smoothly with the care solution, making the process convenient and hygienic. Finally, the used PP cup monomer 2 and aluminum-plastic composite film 1 can be discarded as disposable waste. Since the PP cup monomer 2 adopts a shallow spherical bowl-shaped thin-walled structure, the amount of plastic raw materials used is small, and the overall waste occupies little space, which is in line with the design concept of reducing plastic and protecting the environment.

[0035] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

[0036] The embodiments described above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art to the technical solutions of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention should fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A portable, lightweight PP cup adapted for daily disposable contact lenses, characterized in that: The device includes an aluminum-plastic composite continuous film (1) and several PP cup units (2). The PP cup unit (2) is an independently injection-molded shallow spherical bowl-shaped cavity with uniform thin-walled structure on its sidewall and bottom, which together form a continuous spherical curved surface. The outer edge of the opening end of the PP cup unit (2) is integrally formed with an annular thin-rib flange seal (3). The top surface of the annular thin-rib flange seal (3) is heat-pressed and sealed to the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film (1), thereby sealing the inner cavity of the PP cup unit (2) into an independent spherical accommodating inner cavity (4). Each PP cup unit (2) can only accommodate one daily disposable contact lens. The aluminum-plastic composite continuous film (1) is provided with multiple pre-pressed easy-tear cutting lines (5) in a crisscross pattern, and the aluminum-plastic composite continuous film (1) is divided into multiple positioning and bonding areas arranged in a matrix. Each positioning and bonding area is used to fix and connect one of the PP cup units (2).

2. The portable lightweight PP cup for daily disposable contact lenses according to claim 1, characterized in that: The PP cup monomer (2) is made of medical and food-grade PP material through one-piece injection molding.

3. A portable lightweight PP cup for daily disposable contact lenses according to claim 1, characterized in that: An annular flange is provided at the edge of the opening end of the PP cup unit (2). The top surface of the annular flange is flush with the opening end face of the PP cup unit (2). The annular thin rib flange seal (3) is integrally formed and provided on the top surface of the annular flange.

4. A portable lightweight PP cup for daily disposable contact lenses according to claim 3, characterized in that: The thickness of the annular thin-rib flange seal (3) is less than the sidewall thickness of the PP cup monomer (2).

5. A portable lightweight PP cup for daily disposable contact lenses according to claim 3, characterized in that: The annular thin rib flange sealing edge (3) is composed of multiple layers of concentric annular thin ribs, and concentric annular material reduction grooves are formed between adjacent annular thin ribs.

6. A portable lightweight PP cup for daily disposable contact lenses according to claim 5, characterized in that: The aluminum-plastic composite film (1) in the positioning and bonding area is heat-pressed and sealed to the top surface of the multiple annular thin ribs to cover and seal the opening end of the spherical cavity (4); the pre-pressed easy-tear cutting line (5) is located on the outside of the annular flange.

7. A portable lightweight PP cup for daily disposable contact lenses according to claim 1, characterized in that: The volume of the spherical cavity (4) is matched to the capacity of a single daily disposable contact lens and its accompanying care solution.

8. A portable lightweight PP cup for daily disposable contact lenses according to claim 1, characterized in that: The aluminum-plastic composite continuous film (1) is made of oxygen-barrier, water-barrier, and sterile material.

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