Flexible Bottle Cover with Integrated Label Extension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Liquid filled bottles with narrow openings face challenges in minimizing plastic material usage, optimizing manufacturing processes, and ensuring structural integrity to prevent breakage during transport, while maintaining pouring convenience and displaying label information effectively.
Innovation Solution
A liquid filled bottle design featuring a rigid neck with a one-piece flexible closing element made of a peelable film and a flexible label element, where the reinforcing portion stiffens the central portion adhering to the ring, allowing for a more efficient use of plastic material, simplified manufacturing, and enhanced structural integrity, along with a pull tab for easy removal of the cover member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a narrow opening is used to limit contamination and improve pouring convenience, then contamination risk is reduced and pouring control is improved, but the bottle becomes more susceptible to breakage during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The cover member is constructed as a composite structure combining a rigid ring (providing structural strength and breakage resistance) with a flexible film portion (providing sealing and containment). This composite approach allows the narrow opening design to maintain both contamination prevention and transport durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring portion is designed with specific geometric characteristics (outer diameter 10-20mm, thickness 1-3mm) to provide localized structural reinforcement at the opening area, enhancing breakage resistance without compromising the narrow opening dimension needed for contamination prevention.
2Reliability
If a traditional screw cap or rigid cover is used to ensure structural integrity, then breakage resistance is improved, but plastic material usage increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cover member utilizes a thin flexible film (10-50μm thickness) that provides sufficient sealing and structural integrity through its flexible nature, eliminating the need for thick rigid caps and reducing plastic material consumption while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring and film portion are integrated into a single monolithic cover member structure, combining structural support and sealing functions into one component, which simplifies manufacturing and reduces material usage compared to separate cap and liner assemblies.
3Loss of information
If a traditional separate label and cap design is used, then label visibility is ensured, but device complexity increases and manufacturing steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The label is integrated directly onto the film portion of the cover member, merging the labeling function with the sealing component. This eliminates the need for separate label application steps and reduces overall device complexity while maintaining full label visibility on the bottle surface.
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 design reduces plastic material usage, enhances the structural integrity of the bottle neck, simplifies manufacturing, and ensures easy label visibility and removal of the cover member, while maintaining pouring convenience and minimizing the risk of breakage during transport.
Implementation Method 1
The closing element (C1) is provided with a central portion (6) which is adhering with said ring (4a) at an annular fixing portion (6a)
Implementation Method 2
a central portion (6) adhering with said ring (4a) at an annular fixing portion (6a)
Data Source
AI summary
The plastic bottle (1) is filled with liquid and provided with a neck (4) that defines a narrow opening (5) with an inner diameter typically inferior to 40 mm. A flexible sheet-like cover member (C), having a lower closing element (C1) and an upper label element (C2), is provided to seal the opening. A first portion (10) that defines a first surface of the label element is directly fastened to a central portion (6) of the closing element in contact with the upper face of the neck and reinforces this central portion. A second portion (L), which is entirely offset relative to the upper face of the neck, defines a second surface of the label element. The ratio between the second surface (S2) and the first surface (S1) is at least 1:2, and preferably at least 1:1. The second portion (L) extends above the shoulder 3 of the bottle.