Cheese Packaging Kit Using Impermeable Discs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packaging methods for cheese slices, particularly ripened goat cheese logs, fail to prevent mold development during storage, affecting appearance and organoleptic qualities, despite efforts to optimize gas exchange through plastic film structures.
Innovation Solution
A packaging kit comprising a plastic tray, an air-permeable film, and air-impermeable plastic disks applied directly to the cheese slices, which increases preservation time without compromising taste or quality, using a combination of polyolefin materials and mechanical treatments to achieve optimal air permeability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If plastic film with optimized gas exchange structure is used to cover the tray, then mold prevention is improved, but shelf life extension is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging system is segmented into three functional components: air-impermeable discs applied directly to the cheese surface for immediate mold prevention, air-permeable film for controlled gas exchange, and tray structure for mechanical support. This segmentation allows each component to optimize its specific function, achieving both mold prevention and extended shelf life of 50 days or more
Solution Approach 2:
The air-impermeable discs serve as an intermediary barrier between the cheese surface and the external environment, blocking mold spore attachment and germination at the critical interface. The air-permeable film acts as a secondary intermediary that mediates gas exchange while preventing direct contamination, creating a layered defense system that extends preservation beyond conventional single-film approaches
2Device complexity
If conventional film-sealed tray packaging is used, then packaging simplicity is maintained, but shelf life is limited to 35-40 days
Solution Approach 1:
The air-impermeable discs are applied to the cheese surface in advance, before the cheese is placed in the tray and sealed with film. This preliminary action creates immediate protection at the cheese surface, preventing mold colonization during the critical initial storage period and enabling extended shelf life of 50 days or more while maintaining relatively simple packaging structure
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging system uses composite material properties: air-impermeable discs (made from materials like polyethylene or polypropylene) provide surface barrier function, while the air-permeable film (with controlled porosity) provides gas exchange capability. This composite approach combines materials with complementary properties to achieve both simplicity and extended preservation
3Duration of action of moving object
If plastic discs are applied directly to cheese slices, then shelf life is extended by 10-15 days, but packaging process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mold prevention function is extracted from the bulk packaging film and concentrated into thin surface discs that are applied directly to the cheese. This extraction allows the main film to focus on gas exchange and structural functions, while the discs handle surface protection, simplifying the overall system design and enabling extended shelf life through a targeted approach
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution extends the cheese's shelf life by 10 to 15 days, maintaining quality and preventing mold growth, with the disks ensuring efficient contact and coverage to prevent mold formation on uncovered areas.
Implementation Method 1
The plastic film used to seal the tray has an air permeability, determined by Bendtsen's method, of 5 mL/min to 50,000 mL/min
Implementation Method 2
at least one plastic disc, slightly or impermeable to air, with a surface area substantially identical to that of the upper face, intended to be applied directly against the upper face of the at least one slice
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a kit for packaging at least one slice of cheese, the use of such a kit, a packaging method, and a slice of cheese thus packaged. The kit of the invention comprises a plastic tray in which the at least one slice of cheese is placed on its underside, optionally an air-permeable plastic film intended to seal, by welding, the tray containing said at least one slice on its upper side, and at least one plastic disc with low or no air permeability, having a surface area substantially identical to that of the upper surface, intended to be applied directly against the upper surface of said at least one slice.