Multi-Compartment Dosage Element for Separated Detergent Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of manufacturing dosage elements for ware washing machines that incorporate multiple active components poses challenges in isolating and packaging these components effectively, leading to increased production costs and health/hygiene concerns for consumers handling detergents.
Innovation Solution
A dosage element comprising two joined parts, where one part is an open receptacle and the other part carries a substrate with substances arranged in side-by-side relation, allowing for a compact and easy-to-manufacture design that provides a barrier between the consumer and active ingredients, with the option of using water-soluble materials for dissolution in wash cycles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple active components are kept separate in a compound tablet, then incompatibility issues are resolved and controlled release is achieved, but manufacturing complexity increases and production costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The dosage element is divided into multiple compartments, each containing a different active ingredient. This segmentation allows incompatible substances to be physically separated while maintaining a unified dosage form, resolving the compatibility issue without requiring complex manufacturing processes involving multiple coating or encapsulation steps.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple compartments are integrated within a single outer shell structure, creating a nested arrangement where individual ingredient containers are housed within the main dosage element. This nesting approach consolidates multiple components into one unified structure, simplifying manufacturing compared to traditional multi-layer coating methods while maintaining reliable separation of incompatible ingredients.
2Duration of action of moving object
If multiple active components are kept separate with coating or encasing, then controlled release at different points in the cycle is achieved, but manufacturing complications increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each active ingredient is pre-loaded into its own compartment during the manufacturing process, with compartments designed to dissolve or open at specific times during the washing cycle. This preliminary arrangement of components in spatially separated compartments eliminates the need for complex multi-step coating or encapsulation processes, achieving controlled release timing through simple structural design.
Solution Approach 2:
Different compartments are designed with locally optimized properties such as varying wall thicknesses, dissolution rates, or opening mechanisms tailored to the specific release requirements of each active ingredient. This local customization of compartment characteristics enables precise control over when each ingredient is released, while the overall modular structure keeps manufacturing straightforward.
3Ease of operation
If active ingredients are placed in a compact dosage element, then consumer convenience is improved, but health and hygiene risks increase due to direct handling
Solution Approach 1:
The outer shell and compartment walls are constructed from flexible, water-soluble film materials that provide a complete barrier between the consumer's hands and the active ingredients during handling and storage. These thin film structures maintain compactness and consumer convenience while ensuring that no active ingredient is exposed to the user, as the entire dosage element dissolves completely in the washing machine without requiring manual manipulation of individual components.
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 results in a stable, stress-resistant, and compact dosage form that is easy to manufacture, providing effective separation and release of active components during washing cycles while minimizing exposure risks to consumers.
Implementation Method 1
Suitable the first part and the substrate of the second part are of water-soluble materials. Water-soluble herein includes water-dispersible.
Data Source
AI summary
This invention concerns dosage elements for a ware washing machine and a method of manufacturing such dosage elements. In embodiments of the invention a dosage element comprises first (10) and second (20) joined parts, wherein the first part (10) is a part which, prior to joining with the second part (20), comprised an open receptacle and wherein the second part (20) comprises a substrate carrying a plurality of mutually separated substances A, B, C arranged in side by side relation. The second part (20) is joined to said first part (10) so as to close said receptacle and enclose said substances within it. Dosage elements produced in the inventive method are pleasant to handle, while being surprisingly resistant to damage in handling or transit.