Laser-Printable Display Material for Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packaging technologies face issues with transparency and productivity due to delamination and reduced transparency caused by functional layers, especially when using heat-sensitive films or laser-based printing methods, which also lead to complex label management and increased waste.
Innovation Solution
A display material with a laser printing layer that changes color upon irradiation, using pigments like bismuth, gadolinium, neodymium, titanium, antimony, or aluminum, which are added in specific concentrations to achieve high transparency and distinct printing, while maintaining a thickness that allows for clear visual differentiation between printed and non-printed regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a heat-sensitive layer is provided on a film substrate to enable direct printing, then productivity is improved and label management complexity is reduced, but the transparency of the film is reduced due to the presence of functional layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heat-sensitive pigment from a separate functional layer and incorporates it directly into the film substrate material itself. This eliminates the need for a distinct heat-sensitive layer while maintaining the printing function, thereby preserving the film's transparency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the heat-sensitive printing function with the film substrate by incorporating heat-sensitive pigments into the substrate material. This combination eliminates the need for separate functional layers, maintaining transparency while enabling direct laser printing.
2Reliability
If multiple functional layers are coated on the film substrate to provide printing capability, then printing functionality is improved, but the number of operations increases reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the printing functionality directly into the film substrate material through pigment incorporation, eliminating the need for separate coating operations. This single-integration approach maintains reliable laser printing while streamlining production to a single operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the printing function from separate coating layers and integrates it into the substrate material itself, reducing the number of operational steps from multiple coating/drying/winding operations to a single integrated process.
3Reliability
If metal particulate additives are used to enable laser printing, then printing capability is improved, but transparency of the film is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the concentration parameter of heat-sensitive pigments to an optimized range (10-1000 ppm) that provides sufficient laser printing capability while minimizing impact on film transparency. This parameter optimization balances printing functionality with optical clarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies heat-sensitive pigments locally at specific concentration levels within the film substrate, providing printing capability only where needed while maintaining overall film transparency. The localized pigment distribution enables printing function without uniformly reducing transparency throughout the entire film.
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 high transparency and enables distinct laser-based printing on packaging materials, reducing waste and complexity in label management, while maintaining the transparency and mechanical strength of the packaging.
Implementation Method 1
a layer permitting printing as a result of laser irradiation, the display material being such that the printing occurs due to change in color caused by the laser irradiation
Implementation Method 2
this additive can be made to undergo excitation by the energy from a laser, making it possible to cause a change in the color of the plastic
Data Source
AI summary
[PROBLEM] To provide a packaging and a display material which permit printing in distinct fashion by a laser, and which are of high transparency. [SOLUTION MEANS] A display material having at least one layer permitting printing as a result of laser irradiation, the display material being such that the printing occurs due to change in color caused by the laser irradiation in at least one region of said layer; when a digital microscope is used to carry out cross-sectional observation of said printed region and a nonprinted region, a significant difference in at least any one of RGB values indicating color elements is observed; and thickness of said printed region is not less than 5 μm but not greater than 200 μm.