Reclosable Package Zipper and Tear-Off Strip Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tamper-evident package closures, such as heat-shrink films with tear tapes, do not provide a reclosable option and often present difficulties during the initial opening process.
Innovation Solution
A reclosable package design featuring a zipper on one side and a permanently sealed opposite side, combined with a tear-off strip for easy opening and closure, ensuring a secure and compact package form.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a tamper-evident closure such as heat-shrink film with tear tape is used, then the package provides tamper evidence, but the first opening of the package becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The closure system is segmented into distinct functional components: a zipper closure for easy opening and reclosing, and a tear-off strip for tamper evidence. The tear-off strip is separated from the zipper closure, allowing the zipper to be opened easily without the tear tape interfering, while the tear-off strip remains intact to provide tamper evidence when removed.
Solution Approach 2:
The tear-off strip acts as an intermediary element between the zipper closure and the sealed closure. It provides a dedicated tamper-evident function without interfering with the zipper's opening mechanism, solving the conflict between easy opening and tamper evidence by mediating between these two requirements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a zipper closure is used for reclosable access, then repeated access is enabled, but the package structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the zipper closure and tear-off strip into a unified closure system where both elements work together seamlessly. The tear-off strip is integrated between the zipper and sealed closure, creating a combined structure that provides both reclosable access and tamper evidence without requiring separate, complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure system is designed with multi-functionality: the zipper provides reclosable access, the tear-off strip provides tamper evidence, and the sealed closure provides permanent sealing. This universal design allows a single closure structure to fulfill multiple functions (reclosing, tamper detection, and sealing) without requiring separate complex systems for each function.
3Shape
If the sealed closure is attached to the container, then the package maintains a compact shape, but the first opening procedure becomes more complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The tear-off strip is pre-positioned between the zipper closure and sealed closure before the package is opened for the first time. This preliminary arrangement ensures that when the user opens the package, the tear-off strip is the first element to be removed, providing tamper evidence before the zipper is opened, thus simplifying the opening procedure while maintaining the compact shape.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The invention relates to a reclosable package, comprising a cavity for storing products arranged within a container, surrounding the cavity, the container extending along a longitudinal direction and having a back side and a front side joined to each other at longitudinal sides parallel to the longitudinal direction and further having an upper side and a bottom side, both extending along intersecting directions to said longitudinal direction, wherein a zipper is arranged at one of either the upper side or the bottom side of the container, the zipper reversibly connecting two closure parts of the container, wherein respective end portions of the two closure parts of the container are sealed to each other as a sealed closure, the sealed closure being folded flat and attached to either the front side or the back side of the container before the first opening of the reclosable package, wherein, before said first opening of the reclosable package, a tear-off strip is arranged between the zipper and the sealed closure, the tear-off strip connecting unsealed first and second portions of each of the two closure parts of the container.