Bag Opening Aid T-Shaped Notch Controlled Tear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flexible packaging materials with sealed seams are difficult to open manually along a defined tear line due to high resistance and uncontrolled tearing, often requiring additional tools or resulting in sudden bag rupture.
Innovation Solution
A flexible packaging design featuring a pre-cut, embossed, or punched opening tab with a T-shaped incision along the closure seam edge, avoiding the formation of radii at the notch foot to facilitate easy and reproducible tearing along a straight line, using a knife with a T- or Y-shaped cutting edge to create the incision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a notch is provided on the closure seam to facilitate tearing, then the resistance to tearing is reduced, but the tear line becomes uncontrolled and the bag may tear abruptly at unintended points
Solution Approach 1:
The closure seam is segmented into multiple notches arranged in a specific pattern (e.g., triangular, trapezoidal, or rectangular configurations). This segmentation provides multiple potential tear initiation points that guide the tear along a predetermined path, ensuring controlled tearing while reducing resistance through the distributed notch structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The notches are pre-formed on the closure seam during the sealing process to create a predetermined tear path. This preliminary action ensures that when the user applies force to open the bag, the tear follows the pre-configured notch pattern rather than propagating uncontrollably, thus guaranteeing reliable and controlled opening behavior.
2Shape
If the notch is made small to be less obtrusive, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but the user may not notice the tearing point and attempts to open at other points causing sudden rupture
Solution Approach 1:
The notches are designed with specific geometric characteristics (such as triangular, trapezoidal, or rectangular shapes with defined dimensions) that balance aesthetic appearance with detectability. The local quality of the notch design ensures they are subtle enough to maintain appearance while having sufficient visual contrast and tactile presence to be noticeable to the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The notches may incorporate visual indicators such as color contrasts, printed markings, or optical effects that enhance their detectability without compromising the overall aesthetic appearance. This allows the notches to remain subtle in form while being highly visible or tactilely apparent to guide users to the correct opening point.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional knives are used to create notches during manufacturing, then the production process is simple, but the knives blunt quickly and form radii at the notch foot causing high tearing resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The knife geometry is pre-configured with a specific edge profile designed to create notches with acute angles and no radii at the foot. This preliminary design of the cutting tool ensures that each pass produces the optimal notch shape for low tearing resistance, and the tool can be replaced or re-sharpened when blunting occurs, maintaining consistent quality throughout production.
Solution Approach 2:
The design specifies precise geometric parameters for the notches (such as angle, depth, and foot dimensions) that optimize tearing characteristics. By controlling these parameters through proper knife geometry and manufacturing settings, the system achieves notches that minimize tearing force requirements while maintaining production efficiency.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a bag for at least one product (2), which is completely enclosed in the closed state of the bag (1), with at least one closure seam (3), wherein the closure seam (3) comprises at least one tearing aid (4) for opening the bag (1), which is formed as a notch (7) that tapers from the edge (5) of the closure seam (3) towards the filling space (6) of the bag (1), wherein at least one incision (8) aligned substantially in the direction of the filling space (6) is provided on the tearing aid (4).