Packaging Tray With Capillary Wells for Tilted Exudate Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food packaging solutions for liquid-exuding foods, such as meat, poultry, and fish, fail to effectively retain and manage exudates due to limited absorption capacity, leakage issues, and environmental impact, particularly when tilted, and often require additional non-recyclable materials.
Innovation Solution
A packaging tray with integrated capillary wells featuring a raised rim to enhance liquid retention capacity, utilizing capillary action to trap exudates even when tilted, and manufactured from recyclable materials like Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene, with optimized well dimensions and arrangements to maximize fluid retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If absorbent pads are used to soak away exudate, then liquid absorption capacity is improved, but the pads can break up and delaminate when saturated, leading to contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging tray utilizes the tray floor itself as a porous absorbent structure, eliminating the need for separate absorbent pads. The porous design allows the floor to directly absorb and retain exudate through capillary action while maintaining structural integrity, preventing the delamination and breakdown issues associated with traditional pads.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the absorbent function with the tray floor structure itself, combining the containment and absorption functions into a single integrated component. This eliminates the separate absorbent pad layer that was prone to breaking up and delaminating when saturated.
2Quantity of substance
If double-walled trays with cavity are used to trap exudate, then liquid retention is improved, but the liquid can still escape from edges when tilted
Solution Approach 1:
The tray floor is designed with a porous structure that provides capillary action to actively draw in and retain exudate, creating a more reliable retention mechanism than passive geometric cavities. The capillary forces in the porous material prevent liquid escape even when the tray is tilted.
3Quantity of substance
If open-cell foam trays are used to absorb exudate, then absorption capacity is improved, but liquid collected within foam structure leads to recycling issues
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a porous structure in the tray floor that provides absorption capacity similar to foam but without the environmental drawbacks. The porous design allows for better recyclability while maintaining the necessary exudate management functionality.
4Quantity of substance
If absorbent pads are used, then exudate absorption is improved, but the pads have limited capacity and can release absorbed drip back to meat under pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The porous tray floor structure provides distributed capillary channels that can accommodate and retain larger volumes of exudate under compression without releasing it back to the meat. The capillary forces throughout the porous structure prevent liquid expulsion even when compressed by meat weight or handling.
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 tray significantly improves fluid retention capacity, maintaining product quality and safety by preventing leakage and reducing environmental waste, even under tilted conditions, while offering recyclable alternatives to conventional absorbent pads.
Implementation Method 1
The wells are arranged and configured to retain a liquid exudate from a product packed in the tray by capillary action
Data Source
Figure 1A~1F
Figure 2A~2F
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention concerns a substrate for increased retention capacity of fluids, ideally for use in or as part of a packaging tray, wherein said substrate comprises a plurality of wells provided therein; and a packaging tray comprising said substrate.