Reclosable Package With Mechanical Locking And Movable Mold
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Solution Overview
Problem
Reclosable packages with adhesive seams often fail to maintain a gas-tight seal, especially after repeated opening and closing, due to insufficient adhesive force, and thermoformed trays with undercuts pose challenges in mold cavity removal during production.
Innovation Solution
A package design featuring a thermoformed tray with a horizontal edge and a clamping portion connected via a dividing line, which can be angled to separate and reattach, combined with undercuts for locking, and a thermoform packaging machine with displaceable mold cavity segments for easy tray removal, ensuring multiple reclosures and air-tight sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If adhesive seams are used for reclosing packages, then the package can be reclosed after opening, but the adhesive seam fails to provide sufficient adhesive force after repeated closing and opening
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the chemical adhesive bonding system with a mechanical locking system. The clamping portion with undercut geometry engages with corresponding features on the tray to provide a mechanical interlock that maintains sealing reliability through multiple reclosure cycles, eliminating the degradation issues associated with adhesive bonds.
2Adaptability or versatility
If trays have undercuts to widen downwards, then the tray design provides functional benefits, but the tray cannot be easily removed from the mold cavity after thermoforming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic, movable wall segments to the mold cavity that can be displaced during the removal phase. These wall segments are movable in the vertical direction and can be tilted relative to the vertical direction, allowing the mold to adapt its geometry to release trays with undercut features without requiring complex demolding operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold cavity is divided into multiple movable wall segments that can independently displace. This segmentation allows different portions of the mold to move in coordinated ways - some walls move vertically while others tilt - to create sufficient clearance for removing trays with undercut geometries from the mold cavity.
3Ease of operation
If the clamping portion is separated from the horizontal edge by bending, then the package can be opened and reclosed, but the clamping portion must be reliably locked to maintain sealing
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping portion features an asymmetric undercut geometry with a locking direction that is oblique to the bending direction. This asymmetric design allows easy separation during opening while providing reliable mechanical interlocking during reclosure, as the undercut geometry prevents reverse motion that would compromise the seal.
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 package can be reliably opened and closed multiple times while maintaining an air-tight seal, and the machine design allows for efficient production of trays with undercuts without collision issues, enhancing both product containment and manufacturing efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the clamping portion can be angled or bent away from the horizontal about the dividing line
Implementation Method 2
thermoform packaging machine and a method for operating the thermoform packaging machine for producing such the reclosable package
Implementation Method 3
A side face of the tray has arranged thereon an undercut provided with a projection, the projection being suitable for locking the clamping portion
Implementation Method 4
the top film may be releasably connected to the edge by a circumferentially extending first sealed seam, thus sealing the tray in a gas-tight manner
Data Source
AI summary
A reclosable package, and a machine and method for making that reclosable package that includes a tray for receiving a product and a substantially horizontal edge, wherein the horizontal edge extends circumferentially on an upper side of the tray and has a clamping portion releasably connected thereto. The package includes a top film across the tray, the edge and the clamping portion, and which may be releasably connected to the edge by a first sealed seam to seal the tray in a gas-tight manner. The top film may be connected to the clamping portion by a second sealed seam. A side face of the tray may include an undercut provided with a projection, the projection being suitable for locking the clamping portion in position when the clamping portion has been detached from the edge and is located between the projection of the undercut and the side face of the tray.