Printed Foil Packaging for Insulation Visual Identification

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Solution Overview

Problem

The challenge is to ensure that foil-wrapped insulation elements are correctly identifiable by their properties throughout the production and supply chain, particularly to prevent incorrect installation in buildings with varying fire protection requirements, as the current packaging methods make it difficult to visually distinguish between different types of insulation elements.

Innovation Solution

A device that applies a printed image to the foil packaging specifically assigned to each insulation element, allowing for visual identification of the element's properties, and is integrated into a packaging system to ensure the correct matching of the printed foil with the corresponding insulation element, reducing the risk of misidentification during handling and installation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If foil wrapping is applied to insulation elements for protection and handling, then protection from moisture and ease of handling are improved, but visual identification of insulation element properties deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovehandlingVSAvoidvisual identification
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The foil is printed with identification information before being applied to the insulation element. This preliminary printing action ensures that the identification is already present on the foil, allowing visual identification to be maintained while still providing the protective wrapping function.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Object-affected harmful factors

If foil wrapping is applied to insulation elements, then protection from moisture is improved, but reliability of correct identification deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemoisture protectionVSAvoidcorrect identification
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The foil is printed with identification information before being applied to the insulation element. This preliminary printing action ensures that the identification is already present on the foil, allowing visual identification to be maintained while still providing the protective wrapping function.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If printing is applied to foil before packaging, then visual identification is improved, but risk of incorrect matching between foil and insulation element increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevisual identificationVSAvoidcorrect matching
Core Design Contradiction:
Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The printing process and packaging process are merged into a single integrated operation. The foil is printed and then immediately applied to the corresponding insulation element without separation, ensuring that the printed foil cannot be mistakenly matched to the wrong element. This combining of operations eliminates the risk of incorrect matching while maintaining visual identification.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP3725693A1Device and method for creating a printed film packaged insulating element
Publication Date: 2020.10.21 HERBERT BAILER GMBH
  • EP3725693A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3725693A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3725693A1 patent drawingFigure 3a

AI summary

The present invention relates to a device for producing a printed, foil-wrapped insulation element. The device has a print head configured to apply a printed image to at least one section of a foil. The device is further configured to apply the printed image to the at least one section of the foil after the at least one section of the foil has been assigned to an insulation element.