Pleated Biodegradable Polymer Sheets with Apertures for Lower Material Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
The environmental impact of excessive plastic waste and the need for biodegradable materials with sufficient hardness and tensile strength for various applications, while minimizing material usage and manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A biodegradable polymeric sheet with apertures and pleats, composed of biopolymers and bioplasticizers, allowing for reduced material usage and weight, with a tensile modulus of 1.75 to 1.35 GPa, and capable of folding without heat.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If biodegradable polymers are used to replace conventional plastics, then environmental harm is reduced, but tensile strength and hardness may be insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials by combining biodegradable polymers with natural fibers (cellulose, starch, protein) and mineral fillers to create a composite biodegradable plastic that maintains both environmental benefits and mechanical strength. The composite structure allows different materials to contribute their advantageous properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the physical and chemical parameters of biodegradable polymers through additives, plasticizers, and processing conditions to achieve the desired tensile strength and hardness while maintaining biodegradability. This includes adjusting molecular weight, crystallinity, and cross-linking density.
2Strength
If conventional non-biodegradable plastics are used, then tensile strength and hardness are sufficient, but environmental harm increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the chemical composition and physical structure of biodegradable polymers to match the mechanical properties of conventional plastics, enabling them to serve as viable replacements without compromising strength requirements.
3Quantity of substance
If polymeric sheets with apertures are used, then material usage and weight are reduced, but structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent deliberately creates porous structures with controlled aperture size, shape, and distribution in biodegradable polymeric sheets. This allows material reduction and weight decrease while maintaining structural integrity through optimized pore architecture that preserves load-bearing capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The incorporation of reinforcing fibers and fillers in the porous structure provides additional structural support, compensating for the material removed by apertures and maintaining overall structural integrity.
4Area of stationary object
If pleats are formed in polymeric sheets, then filtration surface area is increased, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates pleats directly into the sheet during the forming or extrusion process, rather than adding them as a separate post-processing step. This preliminary integration of pleating simplifies manufacturing by combining multiple operations into one.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adjusts processing parameters such as temperature, pressure, and cooling rates during forming to enable easy pleat creation without requiring complex manufacturing equipment or multiple processing steps.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a polymeric plasticized film or sheet having one or more apertures to reduce the amount of material needed, as well as overall weight, per desired volume of material required. The polymeric plasticized film or sheet may also be capable of folding and keeping the crease for a desired amount of time. The polymeric plasticized film or sheet may be biodegradable.