Analysis on Opening Easiness of Package
 Abstract:
Opening easiness is an additional function of small package favored by customer. This article is to analyze the opening easiness of packages including bags and bottles.
Keyword: Packaging bags, packaging bottle, opening easiness, heat seal, torque
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1.Significance of Opening Easiness
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Opening easiness of package is an additional function of the package, which is required by the market. With the market competition becomes stronger and stronger, how to provide the customers with comprehensive service has become the focus of many manufacturers. In some industries e.g. daily chemicals, there is little difference of the product quality between different brands, so additional functions or practical features become an effective way to marketing the products. Small packages come into being to meet the demands of the market which could be used in packaging of small volume, low weight products and is convenient to take compared with large scale packages. Small package is especially applicable in tourism and catering industries. Opening easiness and seal property are the main features of small package. Opening easiness is favored by customers. Bag and bottle are the main forms of packaging which have found wide applications in daily life and various industries such as food, pharmaceuticals and daily chemical industry etc.
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2.  Analysis on Opening Easiness of Packaging Bag
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Opening easiness is required by the small bags of tissue paper, food, puffed food, instant noodle and other daily chemical products etc. Those packages are usually opened by tearing the notch on the edge (usually the sealing edge) of the bag or peeling the sealing edges on one end of the bag. Sometimes scissors or other tools are used to open the bag. Obviously it is ideal to open the small package without tools which could be convenient to take and use the product packed in the small packaging bag.
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2.1 Open the package by tearing the notch in the sealing edge
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Some packaging bags could be opened by tearing the notch in the sealing edge of the bags. Triangle shaped notch is most common and easiest to tear. The opening easiness of the packaging bag depends on the tear strength of the notch. Therefore tear strength test and coefficient of friction test are performed when selecting packaging materials. Tear strength could influence the opening easiness of the package directly while coefficient of friction of the surface of packaging material is important because it decides whether the customer could hold tightly when tear the package. The tear strength is actually the force required when the customer opens the package. Usually the tear force should be proper so that the customer could tear the bag easily. Additionally the coefficient of friction of the package surface should be proper so that the customer could hold the package tightly and tear the notch otherwise the package may slip and make it difficult to open the package. Therefore it is necessary to test the tear strength and the coefficient of friction of the packaging materials when designing the package. As well tests should be performed with different gripping strength.
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2.2 Open the package by peeling the sealing edge on one end of package
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There is another way in which the package could be opened that is open the package by peeling the sealing edge on one end of the package. The sealing edge is required to be airtight as most of leakage problems occur to the sealing edges. Â
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Common heat sealing modes are heating rod sealing or electric sealing which are suitable for different materials. Open the package by peeling the sealing edge on one end of the package. The sealing edge mentioned above refers to sealing by heating rod. Easy open materials could be used to realize the opening easiness of package. For example, easy open materials are widely used in package of chocolate. Easy open film is one of heat sealable films which usually have complex structure. Easy open film could be heat sealed and the seal edge is featured with good seal property and opening easiness which could avoid leakage of the package and prevent the content inside package being contaminated and make it easy to open by peeling the sealing edge on one end of the package. Special adhesive or formulation could be used to ensure the performance of easy open film. Additionally the heat seal strength of the sealing edge from which the package would be opened should be controlled within a proper range. As well the coefficient of the material surface should be taken into consideration.
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3.  Analysis on Opening Easiness of Packaging Bottles
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Packaging bottles are widely applied in the packaging of beverage, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics etc. The packaging materials used for bottles include paper plastic material, plastics and glass. Sealing modes of bottle include cap sealed method and heat seal method. Packaging bottle is opened by opening the cap or peeling the sealing part in the mouth of the container.
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3.1 Open the bottle cap
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The opening force of bottle cap is directly related to the torque. If the torque of the bottle cap is too high, it could be difficult to lock or open the bottle. While if the torque is too low, the safety of the bottle could not be guaranteed in transportation or exhibition. Similar to the tear test of packaging bag, when testing the torque of bottle, the coefficient of friction of the bottle surface should also be taken into consideration.
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3.2 Open the bottle from the sealing part in the mouth of the container
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For the package of coffee, jelly and instant noodles, the packages are usually opened from the sealing part in the mouth of the container. Easy open materials are commonly applied in those packages. When designing the package, both the heat seal strength as well as the coefficient of friction of the packaging materials and the wall of the container should be tested.
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4.Conclusion
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The opening easiness could be controlled by testing the tear strength, coefficient of friction, heat sealing property and torque force of the packaging materials. Additionally the package should be human-oriented e.g. when designing the package of the children’s products, the size, shape, volume and opening force should be based on the children’s requirements accordingly.
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To learn more, pls visit http://www.labthinkinternational.com/. or contact Emily Wu at following:
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Labthink International, Inc.Â
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200 River's Edge Drive, Medford, MA, 02155, USA
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Phone:(+1) 617-830-2190
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FAX: (+1) 781-219-3638
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Email: sales@labthinkinternational.com
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Website: http://www.labthinkinternational.com
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