Molded Pulp Winged Tray and Sleeve for Fruit Packaging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current food packaging solutions, such as cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping, fail to adequately protect fruit from mechanical forces and environmental changes during transportation and storage while also being cost-effective and allowing for product visibility and labeling.
Innovation Solution
A semi-closed winged tray made of molded pulp with integral flaps and an outer sleeve that holds the flaps in a closed position, providing protection and visibility of the fruit, while allowing for easy stacking and labeling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fruit is packaged in a cardboard box with separate pulp base tray, then fruit protection is provided, but manufacturing cost increases and complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the cardboard box and pulp base tray into a single integrated molded pulp container. The container features a bottom tray portion with cavities for fruit and upwardly extending side walls that form a closed box structure, eliminating the need for separate components and reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining protection
Solution Approach 2:
The molded pulp container serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as both the protective box and the fruit-holding tray, provides structural support through its rigid walls, allows fruit visibility through its transparent or translucent material, and offers stacking capability through its designed geometry
2Reliability
If plastic wrapping surrounds the fruit and base tray, then fruit protection is improved, but manufacturing cost increases and labeling area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses transparent or translucent molded pulp material instead of opaque plastic wrapping. This parameter change in material transparency allows fruit visibility and labeling while maintaining protection, and the molded pulp can be manufactured cost-effectively through injection molding processes
3Illumination intensity
If cardboard box is opened to display fruit, then fruit visibility is improved, but protection during transport is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a molded pulp container with walls that are both protective and transparent. The thin-walled molded pulp structure provides sufficient protection during transport while maintaining transparency for fruit visibility, combining protection and display functionality in a single structure
4Reliability
If winged tray with flaps is used, then fruit protection and stacking stability are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the molded pulp container into functional segments: a bottom tray portion for fruit placement and upwardly extending side walls for protection and stacking. This segmentation allows each portion to perform its specific function while maintaining overall structural integrity and reducing complexity compared to traditional winged trays
Data Source
AI summary
A semi-closed base tray of molded pulp material having cavities for holding individual food articles, such as apples, and a pair of opposing wings or flaps integral with the base tray and hingedly attached to opposing front and rear edges of the base tray, for partially enclosing the apples positioned in the base tray, in combination with an open-ended sleeve positionable over the base tray (when filled with the food articles) that serves to hold the wings in the closed position while allowing the fruit to be visible in the tray and sleeve combination.