Liquid-Tight Container Ply Structure for Ultrasonic-Welded Seams
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food packaging containers, such as cans and glass jars, have disadvantages including high energy consumption in production and transport, difficulty in opening, risk of injury, and issues with gas-tightness due to sharp folds and imperfections in laminate construction, leading to reduced shelf life and susceptibility to mechanical impacts.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-tight container design featuring a jacket element and a first end element connected to form a container wall with a specific ply sequence and thickness variation, ensuring a high-tightness connecting seam, particularly resistant to mechanical impacts and maintaining gas-tightness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If containers are made from sheet-like composites with sharp folds to achieve dimensional stability, then the container structure is stable, but the barrier layer is damaged and gas-tightness is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into separate components (container body, lid, bottom) that are connected via ultrasonic welding. This segmentation eliminates the need for sharp folds in the laminate structure, preventing barrier layer damage while maintaining dimensional stability through the separate structural components.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical folding system is replaced with ultrasonic welding technology. Instead of creating sharp folds mechanically that damage the barrier layer, the patent uses ultrasonic vibration to melt and weld thermoplastic layers, creating leak-free connections without compromising the barrier layer integrity.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional sealing methods are used to connect container components, then the connection is simple, but liquid-tightness and resistance to mechanical impacts are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
Traditional mechanical sealing methods are replaced with ultrasonic welding. The ultrasonic welding process uses high-frequency vibration to melt and fuse thermoplastic layers, creating strong, liquid-tight connections that are highly resistant to mechanical impacts while remaining efficient to manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the thermoplastic layers during welding by applying ultrasonic energy, which temporarily melts the material to create bonds. This parameter change (from solid to molten state and back) enables strong, hermetic connections without complex sealing mechanisms.
3Shape
If laminate plies are folded multiple times to form container ends, then the container shape is achieved, but cavities form between layers enabling gas and liquid transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the folding operation from the container end formation process. Instead of folding laminate plies to create container ends, the design uses pre-formed end pieces that are ultrasonic-welded to the container body, eliminating cavities between folded layers that would enable gas and liquid transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses separate, pre-formed end pieces (lid and bottom) that are designed to be connected via ultrasonic welding. These discrete components eliminate the need for complex folding operations, preventing cavity formation while maintaining container shape and ensuring tightness.
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 design provides improved mechanical stability, reduced leakage, and extended shelf life by minimizing sharp folds and enhancing the connecting seam's integrity, even under mechanical stress.
Implementation Method 1
the use of an ultrasonic generator and/or an ultrasonic sonotrode
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a liquid-tight container comprising a container wall which surrounds a container interior at least in part,wherein: a jacket element and a first end element are connected to one another and each form a portion of the container wall;wherein the jacket elementdelimits the container interior in a transverse direction extending from the inside to the outside in relation to the container interior, andcomprises a rim portion having a first edge;wherein the first end elementdelimits the container interior at a first end of the liquid-tight container in a longitudinal direction extending along the length of the container, andcomprises a further edge which points in the longitudinal direction;wherein the rim portiona. is located at the first end of the container, andb. encloses the further edge counter to the transverse direction from the outside to the inside in such a way thati. the first edge of the jacket element points counter to the longitudinal direction, andii. the liquid-tight container comprises, at the first end in the transverse direction, a ply sequence comprisingA. a first ply of the jacket element,B. a ply of the first end element, andC. a further ply of the jacket element;wherein the rim portion comprises, at least on a side pointing inwards counter to the transverse direction, a plurality of portions of a first type and a plurality of portions of a further type, which portions differ from one another in their thickness in the transverse direction.The invention also relates to a precursor for producing the liquid-tight container, to a method for producing a liquid-tight container, to the use of a liquid-tight container, and to the use of an ultrasonic generator and/or an ultrasonic sonotrode.