Packaging Insert With Nested Wells For Wine Bottle Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current packaging methods for glass containers, such as wine bottles, fail to provide adequate internal protection and tamper evidence during shipping and storage, allowing for movement and potential breakage, and do not allow recipients to easily verify if the contents have been tampered with.
Innovation Solution
The use of packaging inserts with a base structure and base members that accommodate bottles of different sizes, featuring outer and inner wells, cylindrical side walls, and raised annular ribs, which securely position bottles and provide tamper-evident shrink-wrapping, reducing movement and breakage, and allowing for easy verification of shipment integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If thin cardboard separators and foam are used to cushion bottles, then cost is kept low, but bottles can still move relative to one another and breakage is not sufficiently reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nested wells within base members, where an inner well is positioned inside an outer well. The inner well accommodates the bottle while the outer well provides additional cushioning space. This nested structure allows multiple protective functions to be integrated into a single packaging unit, reducing bottle movement and breakage risk without proportionally increasing overall complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging insert is divided into multiple discrete base members, each containing separate outer and inner wells. This segmentation allows each well to serve a specific protective function: the inner well provides structural support and positioning, while the outer well offers additional cushioning. The modular segmented design enables effective protection while maintaining reasonable complexity through standardized repeatable units.
2Reliability
If simple cardboard box packaging is used, then ease of manufacture is high, but recipients cannot easily determine if contents have been tampered with
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs shrink wrap film as a flexible thin film that envelops the entire packaging insert and bottles. This shrink wrap provides tamper evidence because any attempt to access the bottles would compromise the sealed film, making tampering visible to recipients. The flexible film conforms to the packaged items while maintaining security, adding reliable tamper detection without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
3Adaptability or versatility
If uniform packaging is used for all bottles, then manufacturing is simplified, but bottles of different sizes cannot be securely accommodated
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging insert is designed as a universal system where each base member contains both an outer well and an inner well that can accommodate bottles of varying sizes. The same insert design can secure different bottle dimensions by utilizing the nested well structure, making the packaging versatile without requiring multiple specialized designs. This multi-functional approach allows a single packaging type to adapt to various bottle sizes while maintaining reasonable design complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An insert configured for packaging of individual containers having top and bottom portions of different sizes includes a base structure having first and second planes separated by a distance; a plurality of identical base members extending between the first and second planes of the base structure, the base members being evenly distributed about the base structure, each base member further comprising: an outer well open to the first plane and having an at least partial side wall and a bottom surface, the outer well configured to accommodate a larger of the top and bottom portions of one of the glass containers; and an inner well open to the first plane and arranged concentrically within the outer well, the inner well configured to accommodate a smaller of the top and bottom portions of one of the glass containers. An associated method of packaging individual containers is also described.