Vacuum-Sealed Foil Container for Pickled Food Preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for preserving pickled foods face challenges such as messy packaging, reliance on artificial preservatives, poor shelf stability, and loss of textural qualities during transport and storage, necessitating refrigeration.
Innovation Solution
A vacuum-sealed container made from flexible foil with a laminated structure, filled with a brine-to-food ratio of 1:2.5 to 1:5, using natural preservatives and pasteurization to enhance shelf life, while maintaining textural qualities and reducing packaging mess.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional containers are used for pickled food, then the food can be stored and transported, but the packaging is messy and inconvenient, and textural qualities are lost during transport and storage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible foil containers with resealable closures that conform to the food product, maintaining textural qualities while enabling convenient opening and closing. The flexible nature allows the container to adapt to the food shape and provide a secure seal that preserves crunchiness during transport and storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is designed with a resealable closure system that divides the container into sealed and open sections, allowing consumers to open only when needed and reseal to maintain freshness. This segmentation enables convenient portion access while preserving the remaining food's textural qualities.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If artificial preservatives are used to extend shelf life, then the food can be stored longer, but the food contains artificial additives that are undesirable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs vacuum sealing or nitrogen flushing to create an inert atmosphere inside the container, replacing oxygen with nitrogen gas. This inert environment prevents oxidative degradation and microbial growth, extending shelf life without requiring artificial preservatives. The foil material provides an additional barrier to moisture and gas transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes oxygen and moisture from the container headspace through vacuum sealing or nitrogen flushing, extracting the harmful elements that cause food degradation. This extraction of detrimental substances allows for extended shelf life using only physical barriers and atmosphere modification, eliminating the need for chemical preservatives.
3Reliability
If refrigeration is used to maintain food viability, then the food remains fresh longer, but energy consumption increases and refrigeration is not always available
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum-sealed or nitrogen-flushed container creates an oxygen-free environment that inhibits microbial growth and oxidative reactions, allowing the pickled food to remain viable at ambient temperatures. This eliminates the need for refrigeration while maintaining food safety and quality, significantly reducing energy consumption and improving availability in locations without refrigeration infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the atmospheric parameters inside the container by removing oxygen and reducing moisture content through vacuum sealing or nitrogen flushing. This parameter change in the internal environment transforms the conditions from ones requiring refrigeration to ones that are stable at ambient temperatures, eliminating the need for active cooling while maintaining food viability.
4Reliability
If large amounts of brine are used to preserve pickled food, then the food can be stored without refrigeration, but the packaging becomes messy and brine spillage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible foil container with resealable closure allows the brine level to be adjusted to刚好 cover the food product, minimizing excess brine. The resealable closure prevents spillage during opening and closing operations, while the flexible material accommodates the brine volume and maintains a neat package appearance. This eliminates mess and spillage while preserving the food without refrigeration.
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 provides improved shelf stability, reduces the need for artificial preservatives, maintains food texture, and allows for convenient, mess-free consumption without refrigeration, while minimizing energy consumption and packaging costs.
Implementation Method 1
Due to foil's excellent heat conductivity, the use of a foil in the wall of the container can enable more efficient heat transfer from the exterior to the container's contents
Implementation Method 2
Foil can also act effectively as an insulator against incident electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Therefore, the use of a foil wall for the container may prevent transmission of a significant proportion of ultraviolet (UV) light from the container's surroundings to its contents
Implementation Method 3
By vacuum sealing the internal volume of the container is reduced (when sealed) such that the container only contains pickled food immersed in the brine
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention provides a vacuum sealed, container suitable for containing preserved pickled food. In a preferred approach, the container includes at least one foil wall formed from a flexible foil and defining a chamber; pickled food within the chamber; and brine, in which the food is immersed, and which fills the chamber when the chamber is sealed. Preferably, the ratio of brine to pickled food by mass is in the range 1:2.5 to :5. The claimed containers can reduce the mess associated with eating pickled foods from traditional containers, and can assist in improving the shelf life of such foods.