Thermoformed Container With Interposed Wicking Layer
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging materials fail to effectively sequester liquids from food items, leading to unsightly puddles and potential microbial growth, while thermoforming methods are limited in producing containers with enclosed interiors, such as bottles, due to challenges in shaping and recycling.
Innovation Solution
A three-layer container system comprising a perforated interior tray, a thermoformable exterior tray, and a fibrous wicking material between them, allowing liquid to flow through perforations and be absorbed or directed away from the food, while the wicking material facilitates recycling by being made from the same material as the trays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If liquid-impermeable packaging materials are used to contain food items, then liquid exclusion is improved, but liquid pooling and visibility of puddles worsen
Solution Approach 1:
An absorbent layer is introduced as an intermediary component between the food item and the liquid-impermeable packaging material. This intermediate layer absorbs and sequesters liquid that migrates from the food item, preventing it from pooling and becoming visible through the packaging, while maintaining the liquid-exclusion properties of the outer packaging material.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging structure is designed with different local properties: the outer packaging material remains liquid-impermeable for overall protection, while a specific localized region (the absorbent layer) is made liquid-absorbent to handle liquid migration from the food item, creating a functional gradient within the packaging system.
2Reliability
If absorbent materials are placed in contact with foodstuff for liquid absorption, then liquid sequestration is improved, but bacterial harboring and taste/odor transfer worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The absorbent layer serves as a mediator that absorbs liquid away from the food item without requiring direct long-term contact with the foodstuff itself. The liquid-impermeable packaging material then acts as a barrier, preventing bacteria from the absorbent layer from contacting the food, thus maintaining food safety while achieving liquid sequestration.
3Shape
If thermoforming methods are used to produce containers with enclosed interiors, then container shape complexity is improved, but manufacturing difficulty and recycling challenges worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into separate components (outer packaging material and inner absorbent layer) that can be manufactured independently using simpler processes, then assembled together. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function and ease of manufacture, while the final assembled structure achieves the complex enclosed interior shape needed for liquid management.
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 system effectively sequesters liquids from food items, preventing visible puddles and microbial growth, and allows for the recycling of materials, enhancing the marketability and safety of packaged foods, while overcoming the limitations of traditional thermoforming methods in producing hollow containers.
Implementation Method 1
a fibrous wicking material between them, allowing liquid to flow through perforations and be absorbed or directed away from the food
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to containers and other shaped articles (e.g., trays and dishes) for containing articles such as food products (e.g., cuts of meat and poultry or liquid-sensitive electronic parts) in shaped articles in which a wicking material is interposed between two thermoformed trays, at least one of which is perforated. Liquid can flow through the perforated tray into the wicking material and then elsewhere (e.g., to a cavity) in the space between the two trays. The disclosure also relates to hollow shaped articles (e.g., bottles and jars) for containing fluids. In manufacture of such hollow shaped articles, the wicking material serves as a manufacturing aid and can be removed after formation of the article.