Gummy Substrate Packaging Without Liner
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packaging methods for gummy or sticky items often require additional liners or materials that increase costs and complexity, and can lead to difficulties in separating the item from the packaging, resulting in tears or contamination.
Innovation Solution
A packaging system that uses inadhesive polymers and a rigid tray with troughs to suspend the gummy surface without contact, allowing for easy access and environmental sealing without a separate liner, using a bead of adhesive to secure the item within the package.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional packaging methods use additional liners or materials to prevent adhesion, then the gummy item is protected from contamination, but the packaging cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the separate liner component from the packaging system. Instead of using a liner to prevent adhesion, the gummy substrate is directly packaged in the container with the sticky side facing upward, exposed to the headspace environment. This extraction of the liner component simplifies the packaging structure while maintaining protection through controlled headspace conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different properties to different regions of the packaging system. The container body provides structural protection, while the headspace environment (controlled atmosphere, humidity, or inert gas) provides the adhesion prevention function that previously required a liner. This local differentiation of functions eliminates the need for additional liner materials.
2Reliability
If conventional packaging uses separate liners to prevent sticking, then the gummy item is protected, but the unpacking process becomes difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the liner component entirely, the patent eliminates the time-consuming process of separating the gummy item from a liner. The gummy substrate is directly accessible in the container headspace, allowing users to quickly remove and use the product without additional unpacking steps.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a liner that the gummy item must be separated from, the patent inverts the approach by having the gummy item directly face the protective headspace environment. The protection function is provided by the controlled container atmosphere rather than a physical barrier that requires removal.
3Ease of operation
If conventional packaging uses no-stick wrappers or release agents, then the gummy item can be separated from packaging, but additional materials and processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the no-stick wrapper or release agent components from the packaging system. The separation function is achieved by having the gummy substrate directly exposed to the container headspace, where controlled environmental conditions prevent adhesion without requiring additional separation materials or processing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The container headspace environment serves multiple functions: it provides structural containment, controls humidity to prevent drying, prevents adhesion through controlled atmosphere, and eliminates the need for separate liner or release agent materials. This multi-functionality reduces overall packaging material complexity.
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 reduces packaging material and time, prevents contamination and drying out, and simplifies the unpacking process by allowing the gummy surface to remain untouched until use, thereby lowering costs and improving user experience.
Implementation Method 1
The gummy surface is then secured to the tray with a bead of adhesive.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
Implementations of the present invention include methods, devices, and systems that provide effective packaging items with at least one gummy surface. In particular, implementations of the present invention provide a package for items with a gummy surface that does not require a separate liner to be placed on the gummy surface. In example implementations, the package includes inadhesive polymers such that the item can be removeably adhered to a portion of the package. Moreover, example embodiments of the present invention provide packaging devices, systems, and methods that allow an item with a gummy surface to be packaged without any part of the package interfacing with the gummy surface.