Sealed Pouch Slit Lines for Reliable Opening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealed pouches require high forces to open and often fail to open reliably, especially those with evacuation funnels, making it difficult to dispense flowable materials efficiently.
Innovation Solution
The pouch design incorporates slit lines that guide the tearing process to an ideal tear line, allowing for easy opening without mechanical aids, ensuring complete evacuation funnel opening and matching tear patterns on both the front and back sheets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If pouches are sealed with strong sealing seams to ensure integrity, then sealing strength is improved, but the force required to open the pouch increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing seam is segmented into different zones with varying strength characteristics. The majority of the sealing seam maintains high strength for integrity, while specific segments (at the corners and along the opening line) are designed with reduced strength to facilitate easy opening without requiring excessive force.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the sealing seam are given different quality characteristics. The sealing seam has high strength in most areas to maintain pouch integrity, but localized weak points are created at specific positions to enable controlled opening. This allows the sealing seam to simultaneously provide both strong sealing and easy opening functionality.
2Productivity
If pouches are designed with evacuation funnels for efficient dispensing, then material dispensing efficiency is improved, but the reliability of opening the pouch deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pouch is pre-configured with opening lines and weakened sealing segments positioned to guide the opening process. These preliminary structural features ensure that when opening is initiated, the pouch will reliably open along the intended path, preventing failure to open even when evacuation funnels are present.
Solution Approach 2:
Opening lines act as intermediaries between the user's opening action and the actual separation of the pouch sheets. These pre-formed lines with reduced bonding strength facilitate controlled separation, ensuring reliable opening while maintaining the evacuation funnel structure for efficient dispensing.
3Ease of manufacture
If pouches use uniform sealing strength throughout, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but the ease of opening deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing process is modified to create local variations in sealing strength. While the overall sealing procedure remains simple and uniform, specific localized areas are treated differently during sealing to create weakened segments. This allows easy opening without requiring complex manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing parameters (such as temperature, pressure, or dwell time) are varied locally to create different sealing strengths in different areas. This enables the pouch to have both strong sealing for integrity and weak segments for easy opening, achieved through controlled parameter changes during the sealing process.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a sealed pouch (100) for dispensing material, comprising front and back sheets secured together by first and second side seals, a front seal (118), and first and second corner seals. The pouch includes a first slit line (126) and a second slit line (134). The first slit line is substantially parallel with the front edge (106) of the pouch at a position along the length of the pouch located between the first corner seal and the front seal, and has a start position located in the first side seal and an end position located in the first corner seal. The second slit line (134) is not parallel with the front edge, and has start and end positions located in the front seal (118), wherein the start position is located at a position along the width of the pouch at a distance from the second side edge.