Starch-Impregnated Tissue Core for Flushable Paper Rolls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cardboard cores used in paper rolls, such as toilet paper, do not easily disintegrate in water, leading to potential blockages in toilet pipes and increased waste due to improper disposal, which contradicts modern ecological concerns.
Innovation Solution
A tissue strip core impregnated with starch, formed by winding multiple layers of tissue paper with adhesive and starch-based layers, providing mechanical strength while allowing for easy disintegration in water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a cardboard core is used to provide mechanical strength for roll production and distribution, then the core can withstand mechanical stresses during manufacturing and stacking, but the core does not disintegrate easily in water, causing pipe blockages when disposed of in toilets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters by using tissue paper instead of cardboard and controlling the starch impregnation degree (0.05-0.50 g/g) to achieve optimal balance between mechanical strength and water disintegration. This parameter adjustment allows the core to maintain sufficient strength during use while disintegrating rapidly in water for easy disposal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite material system by impregnating tissue paper with starch. The tissue paper provides the base structure with inherent disintegration capability, while the starch additive enhances mechanical strength. This composite approach combines the advantages of both materials to resolve the contradiction between strength and disintegration.
2Ease of manufacture
If tissue paper is used instead of cardboard to enable easy disintegration in water, then the core can be disposed of in toilets without blocking pipes, but the core lacks sufficient stiffness to withstand mechanical stresses during production and distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adjusts the starch impregnation degree parameter within the range of 0.05-0.50 g of starch per gram of tissue to optimize the balance between disintegration capability and mechanical strength. This controlled parameter change allows tissue paper to gain sufficient stiffness while maintaining its water-soluble characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
Starch acts as an intermediary substance that bridges the gap between tissue paper and cardboard properties. It provides the necessary mechanical reinforcement to tissue paper without compromising its inherent ability to disintegrate in water, thus mediating between the two opposing requirements.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If cardboard cores are disposed of in dustbins instead of toilets to prevent pipe blockages, then pipe blockages are avoided, but the volume of waste increases and recycling becomes difficult, contradicting ecological concerns
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the core as a disposable product made from tissue paper that is intended to be used once and then disposed of in water. This approach eliminates the need for separate waste collection and recycling processes, reducing overall waste management complexity and volume while maintaining ecological sustainability.
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 starch-impregnated tissue strip core maintains mechanical strength suitable for production and distribution while disintegrating significantly faster than cardboard cores, preventing pipe blockages and reducing waste by allowing direct toilet disposal.
Implementation Method 1
the strip being impregnated, at least locally, with starch so as to improve its stiffness
Implementation Method 2
the tissue strip comprises several layers of tissue separated from each other by adhesive layers
Implementation Method 3
cardboard, being a material that is a lot less absorbent than tissue paper, disintegrates very slowly, and with great difficulty, in water
Data Source
AI summary
A core intended to be used as a support for a roll of paper, especially toilet paper, is formed by winding at least one strip made of tissue, the strip being impregnated, at least locally, with starch so as to improve its stiffness. Thus configured, a core is provided having both a mechanical strength suitable for the envisaged use and a greatly improved ability to disintegrate relative to a cardboard core so as to allow it to be able to be disposed of directly in a toilet bowl without risk of blocking the soil pipe.