GB2322115A - Labelling packaged goods in a plastics pack - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of labelling packaged goods is provided, in which the goods (4) are packaged in a plastics film material (6) and a strip (10) of plastics material is attached to the pack (2) by welding. The strip (10) provides means for identifying the goods which may comprise indicia and/or colouring. The plastics film of the pack may also be coloured to indicate further characteristics of the goods. The strip may be attached in the welding operation in which the ends of the pack are sealed.

Description

METHOD OF LABELLING PACKAGED GOODS The present invention relates to a method of labelling packaged goods, and to a package of goods. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a method of labelling goods such as packs of containers for use in the food industry.

Containers of many different types are used by the food industry for packing goods such as milk, water, fruit juices and dry produce. Even where the containers are of similar types, many different varieties may be used. For example, in the case of plastics bottles for milk or fruit juice, these may vary in capacity, height, neck type (i.e.

screw threaded or heat-sealed) and in many other characteristics.

A typical filling plant usually stores many different types of container, which are selected according to the preferences of the client. It is obviously very important that the correct type of container is selected for each filling operation. If the wrong type of container is accidentally selected, this can cause considerable wastage, particularly if the filling operation continues for an appreciable time before the mistake becomes apparent.

Efforts have been made to ensure that the containers can be easily and correctly identified. For example, it has been the practice of container manufacturers for a number of years to package plastic bottles in a film of polyethylene that is colour coded to indicate the capacity of the bottles. However, as the bottles may also vary in characteristics such as height and neck type, this is not sufficient on its own to identify the correct type of bottle. Self-adhesive paper labels carrying additioua! information are therefore generally attached to the páck.

These labels may carry an alphanumeric code such-as'''4PST78, which indicates that the bottles in question have a four pint capacity, a seven thread neck and a height of 278mm.

There are several disadvantages associated with this method of labelling. First, attaching the labels to the packs is laborious and time-consuming. The labels can also easily become detached and, even worse, may become attached to a pack of another type, so giving misleading information.

The labels are also rather small and cannot be read easily from a distance, and the codes can be difficult to understand, particularly for inexperienced staff. Finally, the paper labels make it difficult to recycle the plastics film, as the labels first have to be removed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a labelling method that mitigates at least some of these disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of labelling packaged goods, wherein the goods are packaged in a plastics film material that is sealed by welding, characterised in that a strip of plastics material is attached to the pack by welding, said strip providing means for identifying the goods.

The invention provides the following advantages. The identifying strip can be attached to the pack automatically during the sealing operation, thereby avoiding a laborious manual labelling step. The identifying strips are very firmly attached to the packs by welding and cannot easily become detached and, even if a strip does become detached, it cannot attach itself to another pack containing goods of a different type. The strips are large and easily identified from a distance, and are easy to understand, even for inexperienced staff. Finally, if the strips are made of the same plastics material as the film, they do not have to be removed before recycling.

The strip and/or the pack are preferably colour coded, the goods being identified by the colour combination of the pack and the strip. The colours of the pack and the strip may indicate different characteristics of the goods. The strip may carry a code that relates to the goods, for example an alphanumeric code.

The strip may be attached to the pack during the sealing operation, and is preferably attached to opposite ends of the pack. The plastics film material may be supplied in the form of a tube, which is sealed by welding opposite ends of the tube.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a package of goods, the package comprising the goods and a wrapping of a plastics film material that is sealed by welding, characterised by a strip of plastics material that is attached to the pack by welding, said strip providing means for identifying the goods.

Advantageously, the wrapping comprises a tube of plastics film material that is sealed at opposite ends by welding.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a top view of a pack of plastic bottles; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same pack, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of an installation for packing plastic bottles.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings show a pack 2 of plastic bottles 4 that has been labelled by the method of the present invention. The pack 2 contains one hundred and four bottles 4, which are packed in polyethylene film 6.

The film 6 is supplied in the form of a tube, which is sealed after the bottles have been inserted, for example by means of r.f. welding equipment. A weld line 8 therefore extends across the pack at each end.

The pack 2 is labelled by means of a strip 10 or sash of polyethylene film that extends along the length of the pack and is attached to the weld line 8 at each end of the pack.

The pack 2 is sealed and the strip 10 is attached to the pack 2 in a single welding operation, simply by inserting the strip 10 and the open end of the tube together into the welding machine.

The strip 10 and the film 6 from which the pack 2 is made are both colour coded to indicate different characteristics of the bottles 4. For example, the pack colour may indicate the capacity of the bottles and the strip colour may indicate their neck type (i.e. screw top, heat sealed top etc.). Normally, contrasting colours will be used for the pack 2 and the strip 10, although there is no reason why the same colour should not be used for both. The strip 10 will still show up clearly because of the difference in tint where it overlies the pack film.

The colour combination of the pack 2 and the film 10 will in most cases be sufficient to enable even an unskilled worker to identify the correct pack of containers for a particular filling operation. The worker will not therefore have to check complicated and possibly confusing product codes. Not withstanding this, the strip 10 may be printed with the product code 12, to confirm correct identification of the containers.

A bagging installation for inserting the bottles 4 into the packs 2 and attaching the identifying strips 10 is shown in Fig. 3. The installation 14, which is conventional in most respects, includes a bottle collection area 16, a pack filling station 18, a filled pack delivery area 20 and a materials supply area 22. At each end of the pack filling station 18 there is provided an r.f. welding machine 24a,24b for heat sealing the filled packs.

In the materials supply area 22 there is provided a large roll 26 of polyethylene film 6, which is supplied in the form of an open ended tube. In addition there is a smaller reel 28 of polyethylene strip material 10. The film and the strip material are already colour coded and the strip material 10 is printed with the product identification code 12.

During the filling operation, the open end of the tube of polyethylene film 6 is drawn by an arm (not shown) through the first welding machine 24a, across the filling station 18 and through the second welding machine 24b. The polyethylene strip material 10 clings to the film 6 due to electrostatic charges and it is thus drawn through the welding machines 24a,24b together with the film 6. The first welding machine 24a is then activated, sealing the bottom end of the tube and simultaneously attaching one end of the polyethylene strip 12 to the pack 2.

The new bottles 4 are delivered from the manufacturing plant (not shown) to the bottle collection area 16, where they are arranged into a batch by a first ram 30. When the correct number of bottles to fill a pack have been collected, they are driven into the open mouth of the tube by a second ram 32. The second welding machine 24b is then activated, sealing the top end of the tube and simultaneously attaching the other end of the strip 10 to the pack 2.

Finally, a guillotine 34 separates the filled pack 2 from the reels 26,28 of polyethylene material and the pack 2 is pushed into the delivery area 20 by a third ram 36. The entire process is then repeated.

Claims (18)

Claims

1. A method of labelling packaged goods, wherein the goods are packaged in a plastics film material that is sealed by welding, characterised in that a strip of plastics material is attached to the pack by welding, said strip providing means for identifying the goods.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the strip is colour coded.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the pack is colour coded, the goods being identified by the colour combination of the pack and the strip.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the colours of the pack and the strip indicate different characteristics of the goods.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip carries a code that relates to the goods.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip is attached to the pack during the sealing operation.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip is attached to opposite ends of the pack.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plastics film material is supplied in the form of a tube which is sealed by welding opposite ends of the tube.

9. A package of goods, the package comprising the goods and a wrapping of a plastics film material that is sealed by welding, characterised by a strip of plastics material that is attached to the pack by welding, said strip providing means for identifying the goods.

10. A package according to claim 9, wherein the strip is colour coded.

11. A package according to claim 10, wherein the pack is colour coded, the goods being identified by the colour combination of the pack and the strip.

12. A package according to claim 11, wherein the colours of the pack and the strip indicate different characteristics of the goods.

13. A package according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the strip carries a code that relates to the goods.

14. A package according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the strip is attached to the pack at a sealing weld.

15. A package according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the strip is attached to opposite ends of the pack.

16. A package according to any one of claims 9 to 15, wherein the wrapping comprises a tube of plastics film material that is sealed at opposite ends by welding.

17. A method of labelling packaged goods, the method being substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

18. A package of goods, the package being substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.