Vacuum Flexible Packaging for Precision Glass Parts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Precision glass parts, such as capillary tubes used in pressure sensors, are prone to damage during transport due to mutual contact, which can lead to chipping, flaking, scratches, contamination, and particle adhesion, compromising their high quality standards.
Innovation Solution
Packaging glass parts in a flexible material with negative pressure to secure them against each other, reducing relative movements and minimizing damage, especially by using a bag-like structure with weld seams and potentially incorporating compressible materials to maintain contact pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If glass parts are packaged in large quantities in traditional packaging, then packaging efficiency is improved, but damage frequency increases due to mutual contact and relative movements during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible packaging film that can conform to the shape of multiple glass parts and apply uniform pressure across all parts. The film's flexibility allows it to adapt to the irregular arrangement of glass parts while maintaining contact pressure, preventing relative movements and reducing damage during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes vacuum pressure (pneumatic principle) to press the flexible packaging film against the glass parts. By creating a vacuum inside the packaging, atmospheric pressure externally compresses the film onto the glass parts, securing them firmly in place and preventing movement that could cause damage.
2Reliability
If glass parts are pressed together to prevent relative movements, then damage from mutual contact is reduced, but the complexity of packaging increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible packaging film serves multiple functions simultaneously: it applies uniform pressure to prevent glass part movement, conforms to the irregular shapes of multiple parts, and simplifies the packaging structure by eliminating the need for rigid containers or complex positioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The vacuum packaging system is self-regulating: once the vacuum is applied, atmospheric pressure automatically presses the film against the glass parts with sufficient force to prevent movement during transport, without requiring additional active control mechanisms or complex adjustment systems.
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 damage to glass parts during transport, maintaining high quality standards and ensuring that the glass parts remain undamaged or minimally damaged, with less than 15% showing significant breakouts after transport, compared to traditional packaging methods.
Implementation Method 1
The pressure exerted on the glass parts by the packaging is caused in particular by the fact that a vacuum exists in the flexible packaging, so that the packaging clings to the glass parts, pressing the glass parts together.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to packaged glass parts, in particular precision glass parts with tubular or rod-shaped geometry, wherein a plurality of glass-enclosing glass parts are enclosed in a flexible package in mutual contact with each other, and wherein the package exerts pressure on the glass parts, in particular by maintaining a vacuum in the package, so that the package conforms to the glass parts, so that the glass parts are pressed together and secured against relative movements to each other.