Spouted Pouch Plug for Aseptic Filling Speed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for filling spouted pouches with flowable products, particularly in aseptic environments, face challenges in achieving high-speed filling while maintaining the integrity of the sealing and requiring costly sterilization processes, especially for caps and tamper-evident structures.
Innovation Solution
A spouted pouch system that uses a plug for aseptic filling, where the plug is hermetically sealed before leaving the aseptic environment, allowing for high-speed operation without compromising the seal quality, and the cap is assembled post-filling in a non-aseptic environment, eliminating the need for cap sterilization and simplifying the process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high-speed filling is implemented in aseptic environment, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision of sealing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the sealing function into two separate components: the plug that hermetically seals the spout during filling, and the cap that provides user closure. This segmentation allows the plug to be optimized for high-speed aseptic sealing while the cap can be applied separately in a non-aseptic environment, resolving the contradiction between filling speed and sealing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The cap is extracted from the aseptic filling process and applied in a separate non-aseptic environment. This extraction eliminates the requirement for cap sterilization and allows high-speed filling to proceed without compromising sealing integrity, as the critical seal is formed by the plug before the cap is applied
2Reliability
If cap sterilization is performed, then reliability of aseptic sealing is improved, but device complexity and production cost worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The cap application process is extracted from the aseptic environment and performed separately in a non-aseptic environment. This eliminates the need for cap sterilization while maintaining aseptic integrity through the plug seal, thereby reducing device complexity and production costs
Solution Approach 2:
The plug acts as an intermediary that maintains hermetic sealing during the transition from aseptic to non-aseptic environments. This intermediary component allows the cap to be applied without sterilization while preserving product integrity, simplifying the overall system
3Ease of manufacture
If plug seals on exterior surface of neck, then ease of manufacture is improved, but object-generated harmful factors worsen due to potential contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The plug is designed with differentiated functional zones: an outer sealing surface that contacts the exterior of the neck for hermetic sealing, and an inner configuration that prevents contact with the flowable product. This local quality differentiation enables easy manufacture while eliminating contamination risk
Data Source
AI summary
In combination a spouted pouch to be filled with a flowable product by a filling machine, a plug, and a cap. The interference fit plug is releasably mounted over the top end of the neck of the spout body and hermetically seals the product passage of the spout body. The plug is adapted to be removed by the filling machine and to be replaced by pressing the plug onto the neck after filling of the pouch. The plug removal, filling, and replacing of the plug are preferably performed in an aseptic environment. The cap is after the filling of the pouch and the replacing of the plug onto the neck. The capping is preferably performed by a capping machine in a non-aseptic environment.