ES2348639T3 - BAG WITH RESELLING DEVICE. - Google Patents

Abstract

Bag-type container (12) for perishable food products, in particular for baked goods such as biscuits, Scottish butter biscuits and the like, packaged loosely, having a mouth (20) hermetically sealed by at least one line (21) sealing and including a resealing device (10) of said mouth (20) when it has been opened to consume the respective products, said device comprising at least one joint (10) with an upper wing (17) and a wing (18 ) bottom fixed to a wall (14a) of said bag-like container (12) and articulated to each other to define an axis (XX) of articulation that is substantially parallel to said at least one sealing line (21) of said mouth ( 20) and means (22) being provided at a predetermined distance from said at least one sealing line (21) to detachably block said at least one joint (10) in a closed state, said upper wing (17) being juxtaposedand said lower wing (18) of said at least one joint (10) and said at least one joint (10) being obtained from a rectangular plate (110) of an appropriate plastic material, having a groove (10a), of predetermined width and depth, which extends along the greater perpendicular bisector of said plate, that is, the perpendicular bisector that is parallel to the long sides of the rectangular plate, characterized in that internal reinforcement ribs (36) are also provided. near and parallel to the two longest sides of the rectangular plate, said groove (10a) defining, on the plate (110), said respective rectangular wings (17, 18), constituting its articulation axis (XX).

Description

Scope

The present invention, in its most general aspect, relates to a bag-type package, particularly though not exclusively intended for perishable food products, such as baked goods and the like.

In particular, this invention relates to a bag-type package according to the preamble of claim 1.

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Prior art

It is known that one of the most urgent requirements in the field of production and distribution of perishable foods is that of packaging aimed at maximizing the shelf life, in other words, extending the period in which it is reasonably possible to ensure that Original organoleptic properties of packaged foods can be preserved.

To this end, appropriate paper materials have been studied, tested and provided to make 20 packages, as well as containers with the appropriate form and appropriate techniques for sealing them, once filled with the desired products.

With respect to baked food products, such as biscuits, Scottish butter biscuits and the like, which are generally packaged loosely in bag-type containers and that are generally consumed "little by little", in other words many times successive, together To the requirement mentioned above, a substantial need has arisen to ensure that the organoleptic properties of products of this type 30 can be maintained even after the package has been opened.

To this end, containers, for example bag-type containers, provided with structural devices or measures designed to allow the container 35 have been designed and provided.

respective can be resealed in a manner comparable to, if not really the same as, the original seal.

In the case of bag-type packages, to which the present invention refers particularly, although not exclusively, a resealing device is based on the use of a self-adhesive article 5, for example a self-adhesive label: such a label is used to fix an upper part of the side walls of the bag-type container, which comprises its mouth, in a condition folded over itself many times.

However, it is known that the self-adhesive labels are suitable for good resealing only for a limited number of times, due to the rapid reduction of their adhesive properties and their use in the presence of grease, pieces of food, etc.

Another known resealing device consists essentially of a kind of loop or rope, of a suitable plastically deformable material, associated with the bag-like container near its sealed mouth, and extending parallel thereto. A loop of this type has a length greater than the width of the mouth of the bag, so that it has end portions that extend or can extend along the side of the bag itself. After it has been opened in a container, the cookies have been consumed and the package part thus "emptied" has been folded many times, the side parts of the loop or rope are folded to keep the container in the folded state. 25

Such a device, however, has numerous drawbacks. Indeed, the ties are often detached from the container from the first time they are used and therefore they are easily lost or even thrown away. In addition, the side parts of said ties quickly lose their properties of maintaining the "folded" position on the package and, therefore, of ensuring an effective resealing of the package.

Other types of bag-type sealing devices provide for the use of separable locking systems of the plurality of folds made at the top of the

container after the partial consumption of its contents: for example, small strips of Velcro® are used associated with the container, near its mouth and on opposite sides of it.

However, there are problems with this type of device. For example, the user must try to carry out a precise folding of the upper part of the package, to make the two Velcro® joint components line up as well as possible: this entails substantial difficulties especially when the container is almost empty and therefore many folds must be made, since in these cases the shape memory of the paper material used for these packages opposes a certain force. In addition, Velcro® itself must also be considered to have its own cost.

JP 06 127557 discloses a resealable bag comprising all the technical features of the preamble of claim 1, wherein to reopen the opening 1 of the bag after extracting the contents, it is held a locking element a1 for folding the opening 1 backwards, the blocking element a1 is superimposed on a locking element a2, coupling protrusions 4, 4 at both ends are engaged in coupling holes 5, 5, and is closed the opening 1 of the bag again.

Document FR 2697507 discloses a bag that has two parallel carrier walls (10,11) that are connected by side bellows (12,13). At the upper free end 25 of the walls there are carrier windows (14, 15). The open upper part (1) is fixed by a reinforced part (2) having two parallel folding lines (20, 21) defining an intermediate part (22) attached to the wall. The height of this intermediate part is equal to the vertical distance between the upper edge 30 of a window and the upper edge of the walls. A flap (27) is introduced into the carrier window and held in this position by a flap (23) whose ends (24) passing through them are provided with a frame (25).

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Summary of the invention

The problem underlying the present invention is that of providing a bag-type package with a resealing device of the type considered above, which has structural and functional characteristics such as overcoming all the aforementioned drawbacks with reference to the prior art in a simple manner. and economic: in particular, a bag, whose resealing device always guarantees, for an undetermined number of times, the same fast and efficient resealing. 10

This problem is solved, according to the present invention, by a bag-type package as defined in the attached claim 1.

The advantages and characteristics of the bag-type package with resealing device, particularly for perishable food products, of the present invention will become clearer from the description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, hereinafter made herein. document with reference to the attached drawings given by way of indication and not limitation. twenty

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 schematically represents a perspective view of a resealing device of a bag for perishable food products, according to the present invention. 25

Figure 2 schematically represents a plan view from above of the device of Figure 1, in an open configuration thereof.

Figure 3 schematically represents a plan view from above of the device of Figure 1, in a closed configuration thereof.

Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 schematically represent perspective views of the resealing device of Figure 1 mounted in a bag-type container, at different stages of use. 35

Figure 8 schematically represents a top side view of the bag-type package of Figure 4, with the resealing device in open configuration.

Figure 9 schematically represents a top side view of the bag-type package of Figure 5, with the resealing device in closed configuration.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

With reference to the figures, a resealing device is shown, according to the present invention and indicated in general with 10 10, of a bag-like container 12 for perishable food products, in particular for baked goods such as biscuits, Scottish butter biscuits and the like, which are packaged loosely.

The bag-like package 12, simply referred to as the bag below, is substantially parallelepiped with identical anterior walls 14 and posterior 14a, and substantially bellow-shaped walls 16, 16a.

The bag 12 has a mouth 20 that can, for example, 20 be sealed tightly by heat sealing along at least one sealing line 21, which extends along the entire length of said mouth and parallel thereto.

Near said mouth 20, the bag 12 is equipped with a resealing device consisting essentially of a joint 10, with long rectangular wings 17 and 18 preferably substantially rigid and articulated with each other by their opposite long sides, which define a XX axis of articulation.

According to the invention, said joint 10 is obtained from a rectangular plate 110 of an appropriate plastic material, which has a groove 10a, of predetermined width and depth, which extends along the greater perpendicular bisector of said plate, that is, the perpendicular bisector that is parallel to the long side of the rectangle. 35

Near the two longer sides of the rectangular plate, there are also internal reinforcing ribs 36. Said slot 10a defines, on the plate 110, the respective rectangular wings 17 and 18, constituting its articulation X-X axis.

The joint 10 is applied on a wall of the bag 5 12, for example on the rear wall 14a thereof, near the mouth 20. In particular, the wings 17 and 18 of said joint are fixed, for example glued or welded , to said wall with the articulation axis XX substantially parallel to said mouth 20 and at a predetermined distance from the sealed line 21. This distance must be such that it prevents the upper wing 17 of the joint from even partially overlapping said sealing line 21. Preferably, said distance is selected such that between the long free side of said articulation wing 17 and the sealing line 21 there is sufficient space 15 to allow easy "cutting", for example by tearing, of the package, as provided usually for the first time it opens.

It should be noted that, with the joint 10 applied to the rear wall of the bag 12, the respective articulation axis 20 (or the slot 10a of the plate 110) is positioned such that, when the joint is closed, the walls 14, 14a of the bag are placed between its wings 17, 18.

With the closure of the joint 10, said walls 14, 14a fold around a folding line that coincides with said X-X axis of articulation. Basically, according to one of the main features of the present invention, each time the bag 12 is resealed, the fold line of the walls 14, 14a is forced.

Preferably, the joint 10 has a length 30 greater than the width of the mouth 20 of said bag. In such a case, its wings 17, 18 have end portions 17a, 17b and 18a, 18b, respectively, which protrude laterally from the opposite sides of said mouth.

Means 35 are provided on parts 17a, 18a and 17b, 18b.

22 and complementary means 23, respectively, acting together for a detachable locking of the wings 17, 18 in juxtaposition, in other words of the joint 10 in the closed position.

Supplementary locking means 22 and separable means 5 are preferably of the snap-in type. For example, on the parts 18a, 18b of the lower wing 18, an appendix 32 is provided, formed as a hook and being outside the walls 14 and 14a of the bag 12, which are coupled with the parts 17a and 17b of the upper wing 17, when the joint is in a closed position.

The operation of the bag-type package 12 with resealing device 10, according to the invention, is already clear to the reader and is specified hereinafter, with particular reference to Figures 4, 5, 6, 15 and 7.

Figure 1 shows a bag 12 on which the joint 10 is applied. The joint 10 is in an open position, with an angle of 180 ° between the two wings 17 and 18.

In Figure 2 it can be seen how the resealing of the bag 12 takes place. The two walls 14, 14a of the bag 12 approach each other, so that the mouth 20 is substantially closed: at this time it is closed the joint 10, that is the upper wing 17 is folded over the lower wing 18, so that the angle between the two wings 17 and 18 is reduced substantially to 0 °. The two appendages 32 thus protrude from the anterior wall 14 opposite the rear wall 14a in which the joint 10 is applied and the two hooks of the appendages 32 themselves are in turn coupled with the end portions 17 and 17b of the upper wing 17. 30

A reopening stage of the resealed bag 12 is shown in Figure 3, which is produced by releasing the two hooks of the appendages 32 of the side end portions 17a and 17b. Taking into account that the joint 10 is preferably made of plastic material, it has a certain degree 35

of flexibility so that only one part 20 of the mouth (which is advantageously free of the joint 10 is to be pulled since, as mentioned, it is arranged slightly below the sealing line 21) upwards, for example centrally, to cause the automatic disconnection of the two 5 hooks.

In figure 7, the bag 12 is shown fully open, with the upper and lower wings 18 substantially arranged at 180 °.

Preferably, the resealing device 10 of the invention is manufactured by injection molding of thermoplastic material. Alternatively, a central reel of cardboard / paper or thermoformed plastics can be made with the appendages made by injection molding applied to the sides: in this case, obviously it is also necessary to provide a cutting stage of the individual joints from the reel thermoforming

In packaging operations, the articulation of the invention is preferably applied after the formation, filling and closing of the bag along the sealing line. twenty

As already mentioned, the sealing of the bag is obtained by heat sealing, by welding together the upper inner flaps of the bag. Preferably, the bag is lined on the inside with a so-called removable film and this allows a reliable closing operation by welding. Conventionally, the removable film is an oriented, co-extruded, white, expanded and metallized polypropylene (known in the art as "metallic expanded white OPPcoex"); There are, however, other materials that guarantee this type of performance, based on polyolefins 30 (PP polypropylene or PE polyethylene) but also on other materials (ionomeric resins,.

It is desired to highlight how, with the resealing device 10 of the invention, the bag 12 always reseals along the same fold line X-X, regardless of how much

food product is left in the bag 12.

The main advantage achieved by the bag-type package with resealing device for perishable food products, according to the present invention, is that it allows a practical, fast and efficient resealing of the bag itself, which can be repeated a substantially greater number of times with respect to what is possible with the prior art.

The bag-type package with resealing device, particularly for perishable food products, just described is susceptible to other variants and 10 modifications, all of which are within the scope of the person skilled in the art and, as such, fall within the scope of protection of the present invention defined by the following claims.

In particular, the fact that resealed device 10 of 15 may comprise, instead of a single joint, a plurality of joints, having the same X-X axis of articulation is highlighted.

In the case of a single joint, it has a length substantially equal to the width of the anterior and posterior walls 14, 20 14a of the bag 12, while in the case of more than one joint, the two external joints are arranged in two ends, for example of the rear wall 14a, so that one of its sides is substantially next to a side edge 28 of the rear wall 14a of the bag 12. 25

The single joint is equipped with two appendages 32, while in the case of many joints, there is an appendix 32 for each of the two external joints, and therefore one for each side edge 28 of the wall 14a.

Supplementary locking means 22 and detachable locking means 30 of the snap-in type may alternatively comprise a button, or they may be of the Velcro® type.

Claims (15)

1. Bag-type container (12) for perishable food products, in particular for baked goods such as biscuits, Scottish butter biscuits and the like, packaged loosely, having a mouth 5 (20) hermetically sealed by at least one line (21) sealing and including a device (10) resealing said mouth (20) when it has been opened to consume the respective products, said device comprising at least one joint (10) with a top wing (17) and a 10 lower wing (18) fixed to a wall (14a) of said bag-like container (12) and articulated to each other to define an axis (XX) of articulation that is substantially parallel to said at least one sealing line (21) of said mouth (20) and means 15 (22) being provided at a predetermined distance from said at least one sealing line (21) to detachably block said at least one joint (10) in a closed state, said juxtaposed being said wing (17 ) upper and said lower wing (18) of said at least one joint (10) and 20 obtaining said at least one joint (10) from a rectangular plate (110) of an appropriate plastic material, having a groove (10a ), of predetermined width and depth, which extends along the major perpendicular bisector of said plate, that is, the perpendicular bisector that is parallel to the long sides of the rectangular plate, characterized in that ribs are also provided (36). ) internal reinforcement near and parallel to the two longer sides of the rectangular plate, said groove (10a) defining, in the plate 30 (110), said respective rectangular wings (17, 18), constituting its axis (XX) of articulation

2. Bag type container (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one joint (10) has long, rectangular wings (17, 18), substantially 35

rigid, articulated with each other on said axis (X-X) of articulation by its contiguous long sides.

3. Bag type container (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that said wings (17, 18) of said at least one joint (10) are glued or welded to said wall (14a), said predetermined distance being from said at least one sealing line (21) such that it prevents said upper wing (17) from overlapping even only partially said at least one sealing line (21)

4. Bag-type package (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that, with said at least one joint (10) applied to said wall (14a), the respective articulation shaft (XX) is positioned so that, at closing said at least one joint (10), said wall (14) and the opposite wall (14a) are located between said wings (17, 15 18).

5. Bag type container (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one joint (10) has a length greater than the width of said mouth (20), said wings (17, 18) having parts (17a, 17b, 18a, 20 18b) of end which protrude laterally from the opposite ends of said mouth (20)

6. Bag type container (12) according to claim 5, characterized in that said complementary means (22) and means (23) for separable locking of the joint in a closed state are provided in said parts (17a, 17b, 18a, 18b ) of end.

7. Bag-type container (12) according to claim 6, characterized in that said separable locking means (22) and means (23) are of the snap-in type 30.

8. Bag type container (12) according to claim 6, characterized in that, on said end portions (18a, 18b) of the lower wing (18), they are provided, outside the walls (14, 14a) of said container ( 12), appendices (32) 35

with a hook, which are coupled with said end portions (17a, 17b) of the upper wing (17), when said at least one joint (10) is in the closed position.

9. Bag type container (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that said resealing device (10) is produced by injection molding of thermoplastic material.

10. Bag type container (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that said resealing device (10) is made from a central reel of cardboard / paper 10 or thermoformed plastic.

11. Bag type container (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that said mouth (20) can be sealed tightly by heat sealing along said at least one sealing line (21), which extends over the entire length of said mouth (20) and parallel thereto.

12. Bag type container (12) according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of joints are provided, having the same axis (XX) of articulation, in which there are two external joints 20 arranged at two ends of said wall ( 14a) of said container (12), so that one of its sides is substantially next to a lateral edge (28) of said wall (14a).

13. Bag type container (12) according to claims 8 and 25 12, characterized in that an appendix (32) is provided for each of the two external joints, and therefore one for each side edge (28) of said wall ( 14 to).

14. Bag type container (12) according to claim 7, characterized in that said complementary means (22) and detachable locking means (23) are of the button type.

15. Bag type container (12) according to claim 6, characterized in that said complementary means (22) and detachable locking means (23) are Velcro® type. 35