Packaging Material Crease Lines for Bottom Corner Folding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging materials face challenges in accurately forming and folding the bottom corners of liquid food packages, especially at higher production speeds, due to increased difficulty in shaping and forming three-dimensional cuboid packages.
Innovation Solution
A packaging material with a core layer and polymer layers, featuring a first set of crease lines designed for the bottom end and a second set for the main body, where crease lines intersect to form triangular cross-sections, allowing for precise folding by terminating some crease lines before intersection and using asymmetric ridges to ensure well-defined corner formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If machine speed is increased to improve productivity, then production efficiency improves, but the difficulty of forming and shaping packages increases
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging material is pre-equipped with crease lines and fold marks during the lamination process, enabling the forming operation to proceed more easily at high speeds. The crease lines are created by pressing ridges into the core material layer before final package formation, so that when the package is formed, the material already has predetermined folding paths that guide the forming process, reducing the difficulty of shaping at increased production speeds.
2Manufacturing precision
If crease lines are extended to intersect at corners to improve folding accuracy, then corner shaping improves, but the complexity of the crease line arrangement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The crease line arrangement is optimized locally at the corner areas where folding occurs, with crease lines extending to intersect at the corners to provide precise folding guidance. However, the main body of the packaging material has a simpler crease line configuration. This localized optimization at critical folding points without complicating the overall design enables accurate corner shaping while maintaining overall design simplicity.
3Productivity
If folding guides follow curved motion paths to accommodate machine constraints, then the folding process becomes more complex, but this is necessary for high-speed operation
Solution Approach 1:
The crease lines are designed with specific geometries and orientations that accommodate the dynamic motion paths of folding guides. By optimizing the crease line angles and positions, the system adapts to the curved motion paths required for high-speed operation, allowing the folding process to proceed smoothly along non-linear trajectories without requiring complex guide mechanisms or sacrificing folding accuracy.
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
This configuration enables precise and robust folding of bottom corners, improving the accuracy and stability of package formation, particularly for Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge type packages, by providing a narrow axis of rotation and controlled shear fracture initiation, resulting in well-defined creases and improved corner shaping.
Implementation Method 1
When these ridges are pressed in to the core material layer, crease lines are formed. A crease line is thus a linear deformation of the core material layer, which allows the package to be folded at the specific position of the crease line.
Implementation Method 2
The combination of the distribution of the crease lines at the respective areas, and the triangular cross-section of the crease lines provide for very well-defined corner folding. The triangular cross-section of the crease lines ensures a narrow and well-defined single axis of rotation during folding.
Implementation Method 3
The packaging material comprises a core material layer and at least one polymer layer being laminated thereto
Data Source
AI summary
A packaging material is provided, comprising a core material layer and at least one polymer layer being laminated thereto. The core material layer is provided with at least one area being configured to assist in folding the packaging material into a bottom end corner of a package to be formed, wherein the packaging material comprises a first set of crease lines being designed to form a bottom end of the package, and a second set of crease lines being designed to form a main body of the package. The at least one area comprises an intersection of a plurality of crease lines, each having a triangular cross-section, while a plurality of crease lines of the first set of crease lines, each having a triangular cross-section and having a virtual extension through the intersection, are terminated such that they end at a distance from the intersection.