Laminated Packaging Material Surface Pattern Imprinting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current laminated packaging materials for liquid and semi-liquid food products lack innovative decorative features that can enhance their visual and tactile appeal without compromising barrier properties or increasing production costs, limiting differentiation in the market.
Innovation Solution
A method for manufacturing laminated packaging materials with a transparent outermost polymer layer, a substrate layer, and a barrier layer, where a visual or tactile pattern is imprinted onto the outermost polymer layer using a roller nip with protrusions and plateaus, allowing for enhanced decorative effects like glossy, matte, light-diffractive, or tactile surfaces, while maintaining the integrity of the barrier layer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a conventional laminated packaging material with smooth surface is used, then the barrier properties and packaging integrity are maintained, but the visual and tactile appeal is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating specific surface patterns (glossy, matte, tactile, or light-diffractive effects) in selected areas of the packaging material while maintaining the barrier layer's integrity in other areas. The imprinting roller transfers patterns only to the outermost polymer layer, leaving the barrier properties unaffected.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to packaging materials by superimposing visual and tactile patterns on the two-dimensional surface. This creates multi-dimensional decorative effects that enhance appeal without compromising the functional barrier layer beneath.
2Adaptability or versatility
If decorative patterns are added to enhance visual appeal, then product differentiation is improved, but production complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring the imprinting roller with the desired surface pattern before the packaging material passes through. This allows complex decorative effects to be achieved in a single pass during normal production, avoiding additional processing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves universality by designing a single imprinting roller that can produce multiple types of decorative effects (glossy, matte, tactile, light-diffractive) depending on the roller's surface configuration. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate production lines for different decorative types.
3Shape
If the outermost polymer layer is modified to create surface patterns, then decorative effects are enhanced, but the risk of compromising barrier properties increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by separating the decorative function (outermost polymer layer with surface patterns) from the barrier function (substrate layer and barrier layer). This ensures that modifications to the outer layer for decorative purposes do not affect the integrity of the barrier layer beneath.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the outermost polymer layer as an intermediary between the decorative surface requirements and the barrier layer. The imprinting process modifies only this outer layer, which acts as a protective mediator that preserves the barrier layer's integrity while providing the desired surface patterns.
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 enables the creation of packaging materials with enhanced decorative features that differentiate products without compromising barrier properties or increasing costs, ensuring reliable packaging integrity and food safety.
Implementation Method 1
imprinting the pattern of the mantel surface of the second roller into the outermost transparent polymer layer and into said laminated packaging material, as it is passing in the form of a web or sheet through the nip, by applying pressure to the roller nip
Data Source
Figure 1a~1c
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a laminated packaging material (10a, 10b) comprising a first, outermost layer of a transparent polymer (16), to be directed towards the outside of a package made from the laminated packaging material, a substrate layer (11), and a second, outermost layer (14(a, b, c)) of a thermo-sealable polymer, arranged on the other side of the substrate layer opposite to the first outermost layer, and optionally one or more further material layers between said substrate layer and said second, outermost polymer layer, the laminated packaging material exhibiting a visual or tactile pattern (17), or a combination thereof, in the first outermost transparent polymer layer. The invention also relates to a laminated packaging material produced by the method and to a packaging container for liquid or semi-liquid food, produced from the laminated packaging material.