Reusable Frozen Food Container With Air-Gap Insulating Jacket
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing frozen confectionery packaging is not sustainable and results in waste due to mixed materials, and the texture of frozen confectionery becomes hard or soft prematurely, compromising consumption quality.
Innovation Solution
A reusable container design with a first container, lid, and jacket that allows for efficient freezing and insulation, enabling reusability and controlled melting during consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If traditional paper carton with plastic coating is used for frozen confectionery packaging, then the packaging provides basic protection and sealing, but the mixed materials make the packaging non-recyclable and create waste
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging is divided into separate functional components: a reusable container body, a separate lid, and an insulating jacket. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and facilitates recycling or reuse of individual parts, addressing the waste issue while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The container body is designed to be reused multiple times, while the lid and insulating jacket can be separately managed. The system enables recovery and reuse of the main container, reducing the need to discard the entire packaging after single use, thereby addressing the waste problem.
2Ease of operation
If the frozen confectionery tub is taken out of the freezer prior to serving and left to soften, then the texture becomes softer and easier to scoop, but the unfrozen portion becomes too soft or melted compromising quality
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating jacket is applied to the container before the frozen confectionery is removed from the freezer. This preliminary insulation preparation allows the product to be taken out and served immediately while maintaining optimal texture, as the insulation prevents rapid warming and melting during the serving period.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulating jacket acts as an intermediary thermal barrier between the frozen confectionery and the warmer environment. It mediates the thermal transfer, allowing the product to remain frozen during storage and transport while enabling controlled access during serving, thus maintaining quality while facilitating ease of operation.
3Loss of substance
If a reusable container with insulating jacket is used, then sustainable packaging is achieved with minimal waste, but the container structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The reusable container system is segmented into distinct components (container body, lid, insulating jacket) that can be manufactured separately using standard processes. This segmentation simplifies the overall design by allowing each component to be optimized independently while maintaining reusability, thus achieving sustainability without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The container body is designed as a universal reusable component that can be used across multiple serving periods. The standardized design enables the same container to serve multiple functions (storage, transport, serving) while maintaining structural simplicity, thereby reducing packaging waste without significantly increasing device complexity.
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 container provides sustainable packaging by minimizing waste and ensures a soft texture throughout consumption, allowing faster freezing and reusability while maintaining product quality.
Implementation Method 1
the engaged position of the fastening means forms an air gap between the first container and the first jacket
Data Source
AI summary
A method stores or transports a frozen food composition in a reusable container. The method includes receiving the food composition in a first container, the first container comprising an opening and a bottom, and a portion of the first container has a frustoconical shape. The method also includes attaching a first lid to the first container to cover the opening in a closed position in which the first lid closes off the opening of the first container. The method further includes forming an air gap between the first container and a first jacket, by moving a fastening member into an engaged position that engages the first jacket to at least one of the first container with a frozen food composition therein or the first lid on the first container with the first frozen food composition therein. The first container, the first lid and the first jacket are separate parts in a non-engaged position of the fastening member. The fastening member, in the engaged position where the fastening member engages the first jacket to the at least one of the first container or the first lid on the first container, does not hermetically seal the air gap that is created between the first container and the first jacket. The method yet further includes causing a convection of air between a wall of the first jacket and the portion of the first container having the frustoconical shape, while the fastening member is in the engaged position, whereby the air receives heat transfer from the wall of the first jacket and rises along the wall of the first jacket towards a wall of a top half of the first container, the air then cools down due to a temperature of the frozen food composition and begins to move downwards along the wall of the first portion of the first container toward the bottom of the first jacket where the air is heated up again, thereby causing a circulation of the air.