Tear Guide Seal Bar for Straight Opening Above Zipper Assemblies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tear strips in enclosures often fail to tear in a straight line parallel to the zipper assembly, leading to the zipper assembly being compromised and preventing re-sealing, which can result in product spoilage.
Innovation Solution
A seal bar with protrusions is used to create a deformation pattern in the panel of the enclosure, thinning out specific areas to guide the tear along the desired path, ensuring the tear strip tears within the deformation pattern and avoids the zipper assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a tear strip is pulled to tear through the front panel, then an opening is created to access the zipper assembly, but the tear may not remain straight and parallel to the zipper assembly, causing the opening to cross over and tear through the zipper assembly
Solution Approach 1:
A deformation pattern is pre-formed in the panel above the zipper assembly using a seal bar with protrusions. This preliminary deformation creates a predetermined tear path that guides the tear strip to tear straight and parallel to the zipper assembly, preventing the tear from crossing over and damaging the zipper assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformation pattern creates localized thinned-out areas in the panel at specific positions above the zipper assembly. These locally modified areas have different mechanical properties (easier to tear) compared to the surrounding panel, causing the tear to preferentially follow the deformed path and remain confined above the zipper assembly.
2Ease of operation
If the tear strip creates a non-straight tear, then the opening may provide access to the zipper assembly, but the zipper assembly becomes compromised and cannot be used for repeated sealing
Solution Approach 1:
The deformation pattern is pre-formed in the panel to establish a predetermined tear path that is straight and parallel to the zipper assembly. This ensures that when the tear strip is pulled, it will tear through the panel along this guided path, creating a clean opening that provides access to the zipper assembly without compromising its integrity for future repeated sealing operations.
3Force
If the panel is made easier to tear, then the tear strip can be pulled with less force, but the tear may propagate uncontrollably and damage the zipper assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The deformation pattern creates localized thinned-out areas in the panel at specific positions above the zipper assembly. These locally modified areas require less force to tear while the surrounding undeformed panel maintains its structural integrity. This spatial variation in material properties guides the tear to follow the deformed path controllably, preventing uncontrolled propagation that would damage the zipper assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformation pattern is pre-formed in the panel to establish a predetermined tear path with controlled material properties. This preliminary modification ensures that when force is applied to the tear strip, the tear will propagate along the pre-defined path through the thinned-out areas, maintaining control over the tear trajectory while reducing the force required compared to tearing through the full-thickness panel.
Data Source
AI summary
An enclosure assembly can include panels on opposite sides of an interior volume, and a zipper assembly between the panels. The zipper assembly may include a tear strip that can be pulled and tear through one of the panels and create an opening through which the zipper assembly is accessible. This panel can include a deformation pattern formed from thinned out areas of the panel that one or more of overlap or do not overlap the tear strip. The deformation pattern can reduce a pulling force needed to tear through the panel within the deformation pattern relative to outside the deformation pattern.