Soft Polymer Vessel Closure for Hermetic Sealing and Recyclability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for storing moisture-sensitive foods in sealed vessels are inefficient, as they often require costly recycling of plastic and film barriers, and do not provide optimal aroma and moisture protection after resealing.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a vessel closure with a polymer composition having a Shore A hardness of at most 80, applied to the vessel mouth at a temperature of at most 80°C, which includes an inert gas introduction to create a nitrogen atmosphere, ensuring a tight seal and improved recyclability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a film barrier is added to cover the vessel opening, then moisture and flavor barrier is improved, but device complexity and recycling cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the separate film barrier from the system by integrating sealing functionality directly into the vessel closure. The closure itself forms a hermetic seal with the vessel opening, eliminating the need for an additional film layer that would otherwise be required to provide moisture and flavor protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the sealing function and the barrier function into a single integrated vessel closure component. Instead of having separate elements (closure + film), the closure is designed to provide both the mechanical closure and the hermetic seal, merging multiple functions into one element.
2Reliability
If a film barrier is used to seal the vessel opening, then moisture barrier is improved, but recycling cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the film barrier from the sealing system, eliminating the need for this separate component. The vessel closure alone provides the hermetic seal, allowing the film to be removed from the system and thus eliminating its associated recycling costs and environmental burden.
Solution Approach 2:
By eliminating the film barrier, the patent avoids the cycle of discarding and recovering film materials. The single-component closure system can be fully recycled without the complexity and cost of separating and recycling film materials, simplifying the recovery process.
3Ease of operation
If the vessel is resealed with plastic closure after portion removal, then ease of operation is improved, but aroma and moisture barrier deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the sealing parameters by using a soft, elastomeric material for the closure that can deform to create a hermetic seal. This material property change allows the closure to maintain an effective seal even after being opened and reclosed multiple times, preserving aroma and moisture barriers despite repeated operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure incorporates a composite structure with a sealing element made of elastomeric material that combines flexibility for easy operation with sealing properties for maintaining barriers. The composite design integrates both functional requirements into a single component.
4Strength
If high hardness polymer is used in vessel closure, then strength is improved, but sealing performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using different material properties in different parts of the closure system. The main closure body can be made of stronger material for structural integrity, while the sealing element specifically uses soft, elastomeric material optimized for creating hermetic seals. Each region has the material properties appropriate for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure system uses composite materials combining structural components with sealing elements of different material properties. This allows the overall assembly to have both the strength needed for handling and the softness needed for effective sealing, achieving both requirements simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing a sealed vessel, in which vessel it should be possible to store moisture-sensitive contents, and the vessel closure associated with which vessel should have improved recyclability. A vessel closure having a sealing element is provided. The sealing element comprises a polymer composition containing at least one polymer. The Shore A hardness of the polymer composition, determined in accordance with DIN ISO 7619 with a hold time of 15 s and a temperature of 23° C., is at most 80. A vessel having an opening is provided, the opening of the vessel being surrounding by a vessel mouth. The vessel closure is applied to the vessel mouth such that the opening of the vessel is sealed, the sealing element having a temperature of at most 80° C. during the application of the vessel closure to the vessel mouth, and/or an inert gas is introduced into a head space of the vessel and the vessel closure is applied to the vessel mouth such that the opening of the vessel is sealed by the vessel closure.