Infusion Filter Bag Knotting with Lateral-Eye Needle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for connecting filter bags and tags in infusion packaging using knotted strings are laborious and costly due to complex machinery and rapid needle wear, which is exacerbated by high friction during knot tightening, leading to inefficiencies in production and potential contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
A simplified knotting method that relies partially on friction between the string and the filter bag/tag material, reducing needle wear and allowing for high-speed automated production with less expensive, simpler needles, and minimizing the length of the knotting string to prevent loose ends and improve package aesthetics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex machinery with specialized needles is used for knotting, then knotting stability and reliability are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential knotting function from complex specialized machinery and implements it using a simple needle with a lateral eye, eliminating the need for complex auxiliary elements and specialized mechanisms while maintaining reliable knotting stability
Solution Approach 2:
The simple needle with lateral eye serves multiple functions: it pierces the filter bag, forms the knot, and secures the string, replacing what would traditionally require complex specialized machinery with a single multi-functional simple tool
2Reliability
If high friction is applied during knot tightening, then knot stability is improved, but needle wear increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces the filter bag material as an intermediary between the needle and the string. The needle pierces the filter bag material rather than directly frictioning against the string, reducing needle wear while still achieving stable knotting through the friction between the string and filter bag material
Solution Approach 2:
The filter bag material acts as a sacrificial intermediary that wears instead of the needle. The filter bag is already a disposable component, so using it to protect the needle from direct friction aligns with the disposable nature of the packaging material
3Ease of operation
If long string is used for knotting, then knotting flexibility is improved, but package aesthetics and waste generation worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the string length parameter to the minimum necessary for effective knotting. By changing from traditional long string usage to a minimized string length that still allows proper knot formation, the patent reduces waste while maintaining operational flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent minimizes string waste by using only the necessary length for knotting, and the filter bag material that is pierced during the process is already intended to be discarded with the infusion, so no additional material recovery is needed
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 method increases needle lifespan, reduces production costs, minimizes environmental waste, and ensures stable knotting during infusion, while allowing for high-speed production and improved safety and appearance of packaging.
Implementation Method 1
the torsion previously imparted to the loop and the winding of the string on itself caused by it generate a friction between the various parts of the string which is such that it prevents, in package use conditions, backward movement of the portion of string relative to the loop
Implementation Method 2
hooking the string with the needle and by means of a sequence of passes forming a knot, and tightening the knot
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for applying a component (2; 3) of a package for a substance for infuse comprising a filter bag (3) for containing a substance and a pickup tag (2) for manually picking up the filter bag (3), the method comprising a method for knotting a string (1) to at least one of the components (2; 3) which is characterised in that it comprises the steps of - interposing, between a string (1) which is held taut along a first axis (x) and a needle (5) having an open lateral eye (6) and angled transversally to the axis (x) of the string (1), at least one of the components (2; 3) of the package, the component being angled so that the plane in which it lies is substantially parallel with the axis (x) of the string (1); - hooking the string (1) with a single needle (5) and by means of a sequence of passes through the plane in which the component (2; 3) lies forming stitching (12) which knots at least two loops (7, 8) of string (1) which are linked together one after another; and - tightening the stitching (12) to stably knot the string (1) to said one or each component (2; 3) of the package.