Heat-Shrinkable Plastic Package with Paperboard Easy-Opening Tab
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plastic food packaging solutions are thick, generating waste, difficult to open, and lack aesthetic appeal and printability.
Innovation Solution
A package design featuring a heat-shrinkable plastic bag with a tab and easy-opening features, using a thinner plastic film and a paper or paperboard tab, allowing for efficient sealing and easy opening, while enabling visual perception and printability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If thick plastic film is used to provide a resistant enclosure, then packaging strength is improved, but plastic waste generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The package is divided into two functional parts: a thin plastic bag for containment and a separate paperboard tab for opening assistance. This segmentation allows each material to be optimized for its specific function while reducing overall plastic usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The package combines plastic film and paperboard materials in a composite structure. The plastic bag provides flexibility and containment, while the paperboard tab provides structural support for easy opening, eliminating the need for thick plastic to provide all functions.
2Ease of operation
If complex opening systems are designed to facilitate package opening, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The paperboard tab is pre-attached to the plastic bag during manufacturing, with the opening line pre-positioned. This preliminary action eliminates the need for complex user operations during opening, as the user simply needs to pull the pre-prepared tab.
Solution Approach 2:
The paperboard tab acts as an intermediary element between the user's hand and the sealed plastic bag. It provides a convenient grip point and mechanical advantage for opening, simplifying the interaction without requiring complex opening mechanisms.
3Loss of substance
If thin plastic film is used to reduce waste, then plastic consumption is reduced, but packaging robustness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The package structure is segmented so that the thin plastic bag handles containment while the separate paperboard tab provides the mechanical strength needed for robust handling and opening, allowing thin plastic to suffice for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
By combining thin plastic film with paperboard in a composite package structure, the weaknesses of thin plastic (lack of strength for opening) are compensated by the strengths of paperboard, while maintaining low plastic consumption.
4Ease of manufacture
If standard plastic material is used for wrapping, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but aesthetic properties and printability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The package uses a composite of plastic bag and paperboard tab, where the paperboard surface provides an excellent substrate for printing and aesthetic design, while the plastic bag maintains manufacturing simplicity through standard sealing processes.
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 a cost-effective, robust, and visually appealing packaging option with a simple opening mechanism, reducing plastic usage and enhancing handling during opening.
Implementation Method 1
A package according to the invention uses a heat-shrinkable plastic film
Implementation Method 2
The plastic bag is then sealed
Data Source
Figure 1~5
Figure 6~10
Figure 11~11A
AI summary
It is described a package (1) comprising a plastic bag (2) delimiting a seat (3) sealingly housing a product (P); the plastic bag (2) has plastic film walls (4) and at least one sealing band (5) connecting together opposed wall portions (4a) of the plastic film walls at a connecting zone (6) of the plastic bag; a tab (10) is coupled with the connecting zone (6) of the plastic bag: the tab (10) includes an easy opening feature (11) at one or more of its perimeter edges. A process of making packages (1) of the above type is also described.