Laminated Lidstock with Die-Cut Opening Flap
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current packaging solutions for food products, such as sliced luncheon meats and cheeses, require additional steps and costs for applying decorative or informational labels, and often lack a hermetic and easily reclosable feature that can be integrated with existing packaging equipment.
Innovation Solution
A laminated lidstock comprising a thermoplastic substrate film with an outer laminating layer and an inner sealing layer, combined with a support web using pressure-sensitive adhesive, which allows for hermetic sealing and manual opening/reclosing without the need for discrete labels or significant equipment modifications, featuring product and opening die cuts for access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If discrete printed labels are applied to packages after they are made, then decorative or informational printing can be provided, but additional cost and processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies printing directly to the lidstock material during its manufacturing process, before the lidstock is formed into packages. This preliminary action eliminates the need for separate post-packing label application steps, reducing both cost and process complexity while ensuring proper registration of printed indicia.
2Loss of information
If discrete labels are applied to lidstock before packaging, then printing can be provided, but registration accuracy and equipment complexity are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The printing is performed on the lidstock material during its original manufacturing process, when the material is still in its base form. This ensures that printed indicia are properly registered to the lidstock itself, maintaining manufacturing precision while eliminating the complexity of separate label application equipment.
3Ease of operation
If manual opening features are added to hermetic packages, then consumer accessibility is improved, but hermeticity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the lidstock into distinct functional zones: a hermetic seal portion that maintains the sealed environment, and a separate manual opening portion with die-cuts and flaps that allows consumer access. This segmentation enables both hermeticity and ease of operation by isolating the opening mechanism from the seal integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a reclosing flap as an intermediary element between the hermetic seal and the external environment. This flap allows consumers to access the package contents while maintaining the ability to reclose and preserve hermeticity, acting as a mediator that balances accessibility with seal integrity.
4Ease of operation
If reclosable features are integrated into the package, then consumer convenience is improved, but package complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reclosable feature is integrated by segmenting the lidstock into functional zones, including a reclosing flap portion that works in conjunction with the hermetic seal. This segmentation allows the reclosable mechanism to be built into the basic package structure using the same lidstock material, adding convenience while minimizing overall package 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
Enables hermetic, manually openable, and reclosable packaging with integrated printed indicia, reducing production costs and simplifying the packaging process by eliminating the need for separate labels and equipment modifications.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure sensitive adhesive disposed between and adhering the substrate film and the support web
Implementation Method 2
the inner layer having a surface which can be sealed to a tray
Data Source
AI summary
A laminated lidstock includes a substrate film, a support web; a pressure sensitive adhesive disposed between the substrate and support webs, and covering the substrate film and support web; a product die cut disposed in the substrate film; and an array of opening die cuts disposed in the substrate film; wherein at least one of substrate film and the support web comprises an oxygen barrier, and wherein at least one of the substrate film and the support web carries a registration device. A method of making the lidstock, and a package, are also disclosed.