Flexible Package Press-and-Pull Opening Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flexible package structures face challenges in providing a cost-effective opening mechanism that balances seal strength during shipping and handling with ease of opening for consumers with low grip strength, particularly without using costly components like metal rings or requiring peel seals.
Innovation Solution
A flexible membrane with a press-and-pull opening feature, comprising a laminate of metal foil and non-metal structures, featuring score lines and a press-and-pull tab that allows the membrane to be broken and removed without a metal ring or peel seal, ensuring the outlying portion remains sealed to the container rim.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a metal ring is used in the lid structure, then the seal strength is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the metal ring component from the lid structure entirely, extracting only the essential sealing function and implementing it through a simplified all-membrane design with adhesive layers and score lines, thereby eliminating the cost associated with metal ring manufacturing and assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the durable metal ring with a disposable membrane structure that is designed to be opened and discarded after use, using inexpensive materials like paperboard and plastic layers that can achieve the required seal strength at lower cost
2Reliability
If a strong peel seal is used to prevent inadvertent detachment, then the reliability is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the membrane into distinct segments with different adhesive bond strengths: a strong peripheral weld to the rim for reliable sealing during shipping, and a weakened central region with score lines that allows easy opening by consumers with low grip strength
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different adhesive properties to different regions of the membrane: strong adhesive bonding at the peripheral weld region to ensure seal reliability during handling, and weakened adhesive bonding in the central opening region to facilitate easy opening by all consumers
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
This solution provides a cost-effective, user-friendly opening mechanism that maintains seal integrity during shipping and handling while allowing easy access for consumers, regardless of grip strength, without the need for costly components or peel seals.
Implementation Method 1
pressing down on the press-and-pull tab to cause the metal foil layer to break in the region of the outer edge of the press-and-pull tab so as to sever the outer edge of the press-and-pull tab from the outlying portion of the flexible membrane
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An opening feature for a flexible laminate membrane having a metal foil layer sandwiched between first and second structures is formed by a first score line through a thickness of the first structure but not breaching the metal foil layer, and a second score line through a thickness of the second structure but not breaching the metal foil layer, the first and second score lines together encompassing a removable panel portion of the flexible membrane. A press-and-pull tab constituting part of the removable panel portion is arranged to be pressed downward to cause the metal foil layer to break in the region of the tab, and then to be grasped and pulled upward to cause the metal foil layer to break all around a periphery of the removable panel portion to enable the removable panel portion to be completely removed from the flexible membrane.