RU2833586C1 - Confectionary packaging - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: packing.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to packaging for confectionary products.

EFFECT: described is a type of package for a confectionary product, which provides easy opening and quick access to the edible part of the product without detriment to the ability of the package to ensure proper preservation of the product.

9 cl, 9 dwg

Description

The invention relates to packaging for a confectionery product that provides easy opening and quick access to the edible portion of the product without compromising the proper storage of the product in the packaging, and at the same time separating the edible portion from contact with the external environment.

LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY

Confectionery products in the form of hard candies, with or without filling, with or without coating, supported on a stick of various materials, including paper, cardboard, wood, plastic or any other material that provides a rigid support in the form of a stick, are known. Such products are usually called lollipops.

Nowadays, lollipops are sold mainly in individual portions, packaged in various ways. Different packaging methods are used depending on the shape of the lollipop, which can be flat, round or shaped.

For example, flat lozenges may be inserted into a pouch containing the edible portion and which is hermetically attached to a holding stick (as shown in Fig. 1).

Round/spherical lollipops may be enclosed in a package containing the entire product (as shown in Fig. 2), namely the holding stick as well as the edible portion. However, although this type of packaging is the easiest to open, it significantly limits the possibilities of demonstrating the product and its accessibility to people. In particular, said packaging prevents the use of a display stand, such as a wheel, etc. (as shown in Fig. 3), which is the preferred means of demonstration.

The lollipops may also be packaged by reproducing the traditional "twist wrap" candy packaging as described in International Publication WO2006011793 (Fig. 4).

The lollipop, in order to be inserted into stands such as those shown in Fig. 3, cannot be entirely contained within the packaging; on the contrary, the holding stick must necessarily be unwrapped.

If the lollipop is spherical in shape and is inserted into a display stand similar to that shown in Fig. 3, the wrapper located around the edible portion of the product is closed by very tightly winding and heat sealing around the portion of the stick located immediately below the edible portion of the product.

Such sealing may, for example, be achieved by means of varnishes or other adhesives, as specified in documents EP 1447347 and EP 1080877.

The use of varnishes gives part of the wrapper a different colour from the rest of it, which creates an undesirable optical and aesthetic effect.

When using the above packaging methods, the wrapper is very difficult to open, so in almost all cases it is torn into several pieces.

The difficulty in opening is partly due to the lack of a tear-off strip protruding from the wrapper that could be conveniently grasped to remove the wrapper by pulling it.

In addition, due to the nature of the product, it cannot be labeled with instructions on how to open the wrapper.

Finally, the known methods described above lead to a solution in which the wrapper adheres excessively to the product and is characterized by a visual effect that can be described as a "wet look", namely an aesthetically undesirable transparent effect.

Patent document KR 20150059006 describes a package for a confectionery product, such as a lollipop, with a cut in the packaging material. The cut does not ensure easy opening of the package if the consumer does not have means to facilitate opening.

Patent document GB 2570662 describes a wrapper or film for a confectionery product which has a slit partially extending through the film and a tab applied to the slit and having a portion without adhesive to facilitate grip by the consumer: the adhesive is present in a limited area not corresponding to the area near the slit.

Patent document GB 2570662 discloses the implementation of a weakening line in the film, but the tab placed above the slit and intended to ensure tightness does not adhere to the inner zone, as a result of which the tab does not tighten the film. In addition, the described solution is not applicable to a spherical article, such as a lollipop, since the intermediate and inner zones must be in the same plane, as directly described in this document.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The applicant has therefore developed a solution that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages by ensuring easy opening of the wrapper.

The invention relates to packaging for a confectionery product containing an edible portion and a support in the form of a stick, wherein the packaging is distinguished by the presence of a cut and a tongue at least partially superimposed on the cut.

The packaging or wrapper of a confectionery product, typically a lollipop, comprises a multilayer film of laminated or non-laminated material, or a combination of laminated and non-laminated material. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, to prevent a wet appearance, an opaque tab is used, glued to one non-laminated biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film so that it coincides with the part of the lollipop located exactly opposite the stick.

The film thickness must be sufficient to make the cut without cutting through the entire thickness of the wrapper and thereby not exposing the edible portion of the product to the external environment. The preferred film thickness is at least 25 microns.

However, the said cut should also create a tear line that allows for easy tearing and removal of the wrapper.

The cut may be made by known methods, such as laser cutting, mechanical cutting, or by making a fold line, or any other method that provides the same result.

The cut in the wrapper may be made in any position that ensures the use of the above-mentioned tongue. In particular, the cut may be vertical, horizontal or diagonal along the entire length of the wrapper or only along part of it (as shown in Fig. 5). The cut may be made in any position on the wrapper.

The film, which is the wrapper of the lollipop, preferably has a graphic image or text applied to it, and the cut is positioned so that it coincides with the said graphic images or text.

In order to ensure greater ease of opening, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cut should be located laterally to ensure that the wrapper is divided into two parts, each of which corresponds to a minimum of one third and a maximum of two thirds of the wrapper (as shown in Fig. 6a).

In another preferred embodiment, the location of the cut corresponds to dividing the wrapper into two halves (as shown in Fig. 6b).

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the cut is made in that part of the wrapper which, when applied to the product, is located in the "upper" part, namely in the part located opposite the area in which the holding stick is inserted into the edible part of the product.

The cut may be straight or have the form of curved or broken lines corresponding, for example, to the letters U or V or any other preferred shape, for example, a shape reproducing a trademark or logo applied to the product (as shown in Fig. 7).

The function of the cut is to facilitate the opening of the package by means of a tab that the consumer can grasp with two fingers. Removing the tab attached to the film according to the said cut enables the underlying wrapper to be torn and removed. Thus, the graphic image applied to the candy wrapper, the cut and the tab are preferably aligned with each other.

The pull-tab, made of a material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene (PE), bi-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) or any other contact material approved for use in the food industry, can have any shape, color or other required characteristics, and can also be customized by applying the required text or design. For example, the pull-tab can be provided with instructions on how to properly open the package, and, as an option or additionally, a list of product ingredients, a barcode or a QR code can be applied.

However, said tab should not be completely adjacent to the wrapper, otherwise it will be impossible to grasp it; therefore, the tab has a part that is not glued to the wrapper, and its size is at least 5 mm, preferably at least 7 mm or from 5 mm to 20 mm. The tab also preferably has a part that projects from the vertical tangent of the wrapper, as shown in Fig. 8, by a length "L". In order to ensure easy grasping of the tab, the projecting part L should project by at least 3 mm, but not more than 20 mm. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tab extends from the wrapper perpendicular to the holding stick, as shown in Fig. 8.

The tab may be adhered to the scored portion of the wrapper using glue, pressure sensitive adhesive, or alternatively, heat sealing or ultrasonic sealing.

In addition to the above-described methods, it is possible to use any other gluing method, providing that the force required to remove the tab should be greater than the force required to remove the part of the wrapper with a cut. In particular, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the force required to tear the cut should be at least 1.47 N/15 mm (150 gf/15 mm) or, more preferably, more than 2.94 N/15 mm (300 gf/15 mm) or more than 5.88 N/15 mm (600 gf/15 mm) (gf/15 mm indicates the amount of force in grams required to tear the cut, relative to the wrapper, 15 mm wide).

EXAMPLE 1

Prepare a film from non-laminated packaging material DOPP, required for wrapping, with a thickness of at least 25 microns, wound on reels 1000 mm wide.

The selected graphic image or text is applied to the specified film, obtaining prints of future individual wrappers both along the width and along the length of the roll.

Using the film specified in the previous paragraph, make a vertical linear cut in the center of each print of the future single wrappers, without cutting through the entire thickness of the film.

Separately, the material (BOPP) required for making the tabs is prepared, which, after printing the required graphic images or text, are cut out in the preferred shape and glued by heat sealing to the said film so that each of them is perpendicular to the corresponding one of the already made cuts and aligned with it.

The tongue is not sealed along its entire length - a 5 mm strip is left unsealed so that when the wrapper is placed on the confectionery product, this strip extends outwards so that the consumer can grab it (see Fig. 8).

The resulting wrapper is wound onto reels suitable for feeding to packaging machines that perform the final packaging of the product.

Claims (9)

1. Packaging for a confectionery product containing an edible portion and a support in the form of a stick, characterized in that it has a cut and a tongue at least partially superimposed on the cut. 2. Packaging according to item 1, having a thickness of at least 25 µm. 3. Packaging according to item 1, in which the cut is made only on part of the thickness of the packaging material. 4. Packaging according to item 1, in which the cut is linear and runs vertically, horizontally or diagonally across the material. 5. Packaging according to item 1, in which the cut has a U-shape or V-shape or a shape corresponding to the product logo. 6. Packaging according to item 1, wherein the tongue does not stick to the area where the cut is located, over a length in the range from 3 to 20 mm. 7. Packaging according to item 1, in which the force required to remove the tab must necessarily be greater than the force required to remove the part of the packaging material with the cut. 8. Packaging according to claim 7, wherein the force required to break the notch must be at least 1.47 N/15 mm (150 gf/15 mm), preferably more than 2.94 N/15 mm (300 gf/15 mm) or even more preferably more than 5.88 N/15 mm (600 gf/15 mm). 9. Packaging according to item 1, in which a graphic image and/or text is applied to the tongue.