Thermoplastic Container Manufacturing With Reused Excess Material
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing containers with a stiff outer container and a deformable inner bag result in significant excess material waste, leading to increased manufacturing costs due to rising raw material prices for thermoplastic plastic materials.
Innovation Solution
Reusing the excess material from the base region of the container by mixing it with virgin thermoplastic plastic material of lower viscosity to form a middle layer in the extruded tube, ensuring the inner bag can be detached without exposure on the outer surface, thereby reducing the amount of virgin material needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If excess material is discarded or delivered to third parties for inferior applications, then the inner bag can be completely detached from the outer container wall, but manufacturing costs increase due to loss of valuable thermoplastic plastic material
Solution Approach 1:
The patent recovers the excess material that would otherwise be discarded by collecting it from the blow mould and reprocessing it through the extruder. The material is fed back into the production cycle, transforming waste into reusable resource while maintaining complete inner bag detachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and properties of the excess material by melting and reprocessing it through the extruder with virgin material. This parameter change transforms the squeezed-out excess material into a usable form that can be extruded as a new tube with controlled layer structure.
2Loss of substance
If excess material is reused in the outer container, then manufacturing costs decrease, but the inner bag may form weld connections with the outer container preventing complete detachment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating distinct layers with different material compositions. The extruded tube has an outer layer from virgin material and an inner layer from reused excess material. This local differentiation ensures the inner bag contacts only the virgin material layer, preventing weld connections while allowing reuse of excess material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining virgin thermoplastic plastic material with reused excess material in a layered structure. The composite extruded tube consists of different material layers that serve different functions: the outer virgin material layer prevents welding, while the inner reused material layer enables resource recovery.
3Manufacturing precision
If virgin material is used exclusively for the outer container, then the outer layer has consistent quality and no excess material is exposed, but manufacturing costs increase due to inability to reuse excess material
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains quality consistency where it matters most (the outer layer in contact with the environment and inner bag) by using virgin material exclusively for this layer. The inner layer can utilize reused excess material, optimizing both quality and resource efficiency through local material differentiation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material composition parameters of different layers. The outer layer uses virgin material with consistent properties for quality assurance, while the inner layer uses reused material that has been reprocessed and melted, transforming it into a usable form suitable for the inner layer application.
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
Significantly reduces manufacturing costs by allowing up to 75% reuse of excess material, maintaining the integrity of the container structure without weld connections.
Implementation Method 1
first screw conveyor (51) and a second screw conveyor (52), which are connected to an extruder nozzle (40)
Implementation Method 2
first screw conveyor (51) and a second screw conveyor (52), which are connected to an extruder nozzle (40)
Implementation Method 3
extruder nozzle (40), which coextrudes a preform (10) consisting of two tubes
Implementation Method 4
the preform is inflated by a pressure medium into engagement with the wall of the blow mould
Implementation Method 5
a web is formed from welded material of the outer container, in which the welded base seam of the inner bag is clamped and held in the axial direction
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing containers consisting of a substantially stiff outer container and a readily deformable inner bag of first and second thermoplastic plastic materials, where the inner bag is detached from the wall of the outer container, includes the step of the excess material is supplied again to the first screw conveyor, which mixes the excess material with the first thermoplastic plastic material and supplies it to the extruder nozzle, wherein the first thermoplastic plastic material has a lower viscosity in the molten state than the excess material so that the outer layer of the extruded tube consists only of the first thermoplastic plastic material.