WO1996010525A1

WO1996010525A1 - A package comprising a bottom part and a flexible cover sheet

Info

Publication number: WO1996010525A1
Application number: PCT/DK1995/000394
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Hansen
Original assignee: Danisco Flexible Raackmann AS
Current assignee: International N&H Denmark ApS
Priority date: 1994-09-30
Filing date: 1995-09-29
Publication date: 1996-04-11
Anticipated expiration: 1997-03-30
Also published as: DK113394A; AU3562095A

Abstract

A package comprising a bottom part (1) and a lower, flexible cover sheet (9) of plastic sealed to the bottom part (1) along the rim (8) thereof by means of a circumferential sealing line (10). The lower cover sheet (9) is provided with a transverse, slot-like opening (11) to the interior of the package. The slot-like opening (11) divides to lower cover sheet (9) into a major and a minor cover part (12, 13). The slot-like opening is covered by an upper covers sheet (15) of plastic extending in an overlapping manner onto the two cover parts (12, 13) of the lower cover sheet (9). The upper cover sheet (15) is sealed to the lower cover sheet (9) along sealing lines (10) on each side of the slot-like opening (11) and along opposing edge portions between said sealing lines for closing the package. The upper covers sheet (15) peelably sealed at least to the major cover part of the lower cover sheet (9) and is provided with a gripping member (16) in the overlapping portion therewith.

Description

Title: A package comprising a bottom part and a flexible cover sheet.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a package comprising a bottom part and a flexible cover sheet of plastic sealed to the bottom part along the rim thereof by means of a circumferential sealing line.

Technical Background

Danish patent application No. 1524/92 discloses a package comprising a bottom part and a flexible cover part sealed to the bottom part along a circumferential rim thereof so as to form a sealed compartment. The cover part comprises a first cover sheet, sealed to the bottom part along a portion of the rim thereof, and a second cover sheet being peelably sealed to the bottom part along the remaining portion of the rim thereof and to the first cover sheet, and having a gripping member extending beyond the sealing line with the bottom part or with the first cover sheet. By gripping about the gripping member, the second cover sheet may be completely or partially removed from the package to allow access to the interior thereof. By not completely removing the upper cover sheet, said sheet may be used to reclose the package.

Brief Description of the Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and economical package of the above type, which is user-friendly in the sense that it is easy to open and reclose for storing the contents thereof after a portion thereof has been removed, and which is, further, suitable for mass production.

The package according to the invention is characterised in that the lower cover sheet is provided with a transverse, slot-like opening to the interior of the package dividing the lower cover sheet into a major and a minor cover part, said slot-like opening being covered by an upper, flexible plastic cover sheet extending in an overlapping manner onto the two cover parts of the lower cover sheet and being sealed to the lower cover sheet along sealing lines on each side of the slot-like opening and along opposing edge portions between said sealing lines for closing the package, the upper cover sheet being peelably sealed to at least the major cover part of the lower cover sheet and having at least one gripping member in the overlapping portion therewith.

By gripping about the gripping member, the upper cover sheet may be removed from the major cover part of the lower cover sheet to the slot-like opening in the lower cover part, thus allowing access to the interior of the package through said opening. The package may be reclosed by bringing the peeled portion of the upper cover sheet into abutment with the lower cover sheet and, if necessary, placing the package with the upper cover sheet facing downwards.

According to the invention, at least one of the sealing lines for sealing the two cover sheets to each other on each side of the slot-like opening may be coincident with the circumferential seal between the bottom part and the lower cover sheet. When both said sealing lines are coincident with the circumferential seal and the upper cover sheet thus extends to the rim of the package, all of the seals of the package may be made in a single sealing operation by means of sealing tools. Moreover, as the upper cover sheet extends to the rim of the package, several adjacent, coherent packages may be manufactured simultaneously by means of a single sheet web forming the upper cover sheet of the multiple adjacent packages. Owing to conside¬ rations of space and control, it is advantageous to make use of a single wide sheet web instead of several, narrow sheet webs. Using a single wide web is particularly advantageous, when said web is printed and is to be registered, i.e. the print on the sheet web is to be placed accurately relative to the bottom part, only a single register control being necessary. In this connection, it should be noted that existing package machines for this type of packages, i.e thermoforming machines, only have a single register control. Furthermore, according to the invention, at least the major cover part of the lower cover sheet may be peelably sealed to the bottom part. As a result, it is possible to peel the major cover part of the lower cover sheet, after the upper cover sheet has been peeled, whereby the contents of the package is completely accessible. Accor- dingly, it is possible to reclose the package by bringing the major cover part of the lower cover sheet into abutment with the rim of the bottom part and the upper cover sheet into abutment with the lower cover sheet.

Moreover, according to the invention, the slot-like opening may be a slit formed by slitting the lower cover sheet immediately before being placed on the bottom part. Owing to considerations of space and control, this embodiment of the invention is advantageous in that only a single sheet web is used for forming the cover sheet per se, when a multiple of adjacent, coherent packages are manufactured at the same time. The embodiment is particularly advantageous when the lower cover sheet is printed and is to be registered on the bottom part, as only a single register control is required to this object.

In yet another embodiment according to the invention, in which the circumferential sealing line is essentially rectangular and provided with two pairs of opposing straight sides, the slot-like opening in the lower cover sheet may be parallel to one of the pair of sides.

In this connection, it is considered particularly advantageous that the slot-like opening is immediately adjacent one of the sides. This embodiment of the invention is advantageous in that the major cover part of the lower cover sheet is arranged in a protective manner above the packed product, when the upper cover sheet has been peeled, and thus provides optimum protection of the product, while easy access thereto is obtained, whereby said product may be removed from the package without any difficulty.

Finally, according to the invention, the bottom part may be formed of a flexible plastic sheet. With a view to reducing the material consumption, it is naturally preferable to use a relatively flexible or semi-rigid bottom part. However, a rigid bottom part may obviously also be used.

Brief Description of the Drawings.

The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the drawings, in which

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of a first embodiment of a package according to the invention,

Fig. 2 shows the open state of the package in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a second embodiment of a package according to the invention,

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic and partly sectional view of three packages according to Fig. 1 and 2 made on a thermoforming machine and still coherent, and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic side view of the method of simultaneous formation of a multiple of packages according to the invention in a thermoforming machine.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

With reference to Fig. 1 and 2, a package according to the invention comprises a tray-shaped bottom part 1 being rectangular and comprising a bottom 2, from which two pairs of opposing side walls 3,4, and 5,6 extend upwardly. At their upper end, the side walls continue into a common flange 7 forming the upper rim 8 of the bottom part. A first or lower cover sheet 9 is arranged on the bottom part, said sheet being sealed to the upper rim 8 of the bottom part 1 along a circumferential sealing line 10. The lower cover sheet 9 is divided into a major cover part 12 and a minor cover part 13 by means of a transverse slit 11. The slit 11 is parallel to and arranged immediately adjacent the side wall 3. The lower cover sheet 9 may be sealed to the flange of the bottom part 1 either by means of a fusion seal or by a peel seal. In the first instance, access to the packed product is possible through the opening formed by the slit 11. In the latter instance, the major cover part 12 of the cover sheet 9 may be peeled as shown by the arrow 14, whereby a wider opening to the packed product is obtained.

A second or upper cover sheet 15 is sealed to the lower cover sheet 9 along a circumferential sealing line 17, in a top view being coincident with the sealing line 10 between the lower cover sheet 9 and the upper rim 8 of the bottom part 1. The seal 17 between the upper cover sheet 15 and the lower cover sheet 9 is peelable. Moreover, the sealing line 10 extends in such a manner that a gripping member 16 is formed in the overlapping portion of the upper cover sheet with the major cover part 12 of the cover sheet 9. As indicated by the arrow 18 in Fig. 1, the upper cover sheet 15 may be peeled beyond the slit 11 in the lower cover sheet 9 by gripping about the gripping member 16, thus allowing access to the interior of the package and the packed product (cf. Fig. 2).

Fig. 3 illustrates a second embodiment according to the invention comprising a planar, rectangular bottom part 31, for illustrative reason being shown as tray-shap¬ ed, and having two pairs of opposing, parallel side edges 33,34,35,36. The bottom part is provided with a lower cover sheet 39 of the same size as the bottom part 31 and being sealed thereto by means of a circumferential sealing line 40 extending along the edges of the bottom part and spaced apart therefrom. The lower cover sheet 39 is divided into a major cover part 42 and a minor cover part 43 by means of a transverse slit 41. The slit 41 is parallel to and arranged adjacent the edge 33 of the bottom part within the circumferential sealing line 40. As mentioned in the description above of the first embodiment of the invention, the lower cover sheet 39 may either be sealed to the bottom part 31 by means of a fusion seal or by means of a peel seal.

An upper cover sheet 45 is arranged on the lower cover sheet 39 for covering the slit 41. The upper cover sheet 45 is of essentially the same width as the lower cover sheet 39 between the side edges 35 and 36 of the bottom part 31, and extends outwardly from the side edge 33 of the bottom part 31 beyond the slit 41 in the lower cover sheet 39. The upper cover sheet 45 is peelably sealed to the lower cover sheet 39 along a circumferential sealing line 47 provided with sealing line portions 47a, 47b, 47c, in a top view being coincident with the sealing line 40 between the lower cover sheet 39 and the bottom part 31, and with a transverse sealing line portion 47d extending parallel to the sealing line portion 47a on the opposite side of the slit 41 in the lower cover sheet 39. The transverse sealing line portion 47d is spaced apart from the edge 32 of the upper cover sheet 47 so that a gripping member 46 is provided between said edge 32 and the sealing line portion 47d. The gripping member 46 is used for peeling the upper cover sheet 45, as shown by means of the arrow 48.

With reference to Fig. 4 and 5, it is explained how a number (in the shown example three) of adjacent packages according to Fig. 1 and 2 are made in a thermoforming machine.

Initially, a bottom web 19 for forming the tray-shaped bottom part 1 is advanced through a forming station 20, in which the web is heated and three, adjacent, tray-shaped bottom parts 1 are formed. Then the formed web passes a filling station 21, in which the product is filled in the tray-shaped bottom parts 1. Subsequent hereto, a lower cover web 22, forming the lower cover sheet 9, is placed onto the formed bottom web. Prior to being placed on the bottom web, the lower cover web 22 is slit at three points to form the longitudinal slits 11 thereof. Simultaneously or immediately after the lower cover web 22 is brought into abutment with the bottom web, an upper cover web 23 is brought into abutment with the lower cover web 22. Then, the three webs 19, 22, 23 are jointly passed into a sealing station, in which the bottom web 19 is sealed to the lower cover web 22, the cover web being sealed to the lower cover web 22 at the same time, for simultaneous formation of the circumferential seals 10,17 on the three adjacent packages. Subsequent to sealing, the three packages are separated from the web (shown by the line 28 in Fig. 4) by means of a knife 26, whereafter the three coherent packages are separated from each other (the lines 29 and 30 in Fig. 3) by means of longitudinal knives 27.

The package according to Fig. 3 is made in a manner corresponding to the package according Fig. 1 and 2 on a thermoforming machine except for the following modifications:

As the bottom part is planar, it is not thermoformed or deepdrawn. For simulta¬ neous formation of three adjacent packages, three separate upper cover webs are used to form the upper cover sheet of the packages. The three cover webs are sealed to the lower cover web to form the transverse sealing line portion 47b immediately before or subsequent to slitting of the lower cover web for formation of the slit 41 in the lower cover sheet 39.

A great number of different plastic sheets may be used for the parts of the package. In the package according to Fig. 1 and 2, a PA/PE-laminate or a PET/PE-laminate may be used for the upper cover sheet and a PE sheet for the lower cover sheet, and a PA/PE-laminate for the bottom sheet, the layers of the laminates being stated in the order, in which they appear, when seen from the exterior of the package to its interior. In the package according to Fig. 3, a copolymer of PP, PE/PP/PE-laminate may be used for the lower and upper cover sheet and a PA/PE-laminate or a PET-laminate for the bottom part. Depending on the field of application, said laminates may comprise various barrier layers, optionally in form of metallization.

In this connection, it should be noted that it would be obvious for a person skilled in the art to select a combination of material having the desired properties e.g. as to barrier properties of the package and the necessary strength of the seals of the packages, whereby said seals may either be peelable or non-peelable.

Even though a package having a tray-shaped bottom part is shown in the drawings, it is implied that said part may also be essentially deeper and essentially more flat than shown, e.g. completely flat.

Claims

Claims.

1. A package comprising a bottom part (1, 31) and a lower, flexible cover sheet (9, 39) of plastic, sealed to the bottom part (1,31) along the rim (8) thereof by means of a circumferential sealing line (10, 40), characterised in that the lower cover sheet (9,39) is provided with a transverse, slot-like opening (11,41) to the interior of the package dividing the lower cover sheet (9,39) into a major and a minor cover part (12,13;42,43), said slot-like opening (11,41) being covered by an upper, flexible cover sheet (15,45) of plastic extending in an overlapping manner onto the two cover parts (12,13;42,43) of the lower cover sheet (9,39) and being sealed to the lower cover sheet (9,39) along sealing lines (17; 47) on each side of the slot-like opening (11, 41) and along opposing edge portions between said sealing lines to seal the package, the upper cover sheet (15,45) being peelably sealed to at least the major cover part (12,42) of the lower cover sheet (9,39) and being provi¬ ded with at least one gripping member (16,46) in the overlapping portion therewith.

2. A package as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that at least one of the sealing lines for sealing the two cover sheets (9,15;39,45) to each other on each side of the slot-like opening (11,41) is coincident with the circumferential seal (19,40) between the bottom part (1,31) and the lower cover sheet (9, 39).

3. A package as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that at least the major cover part (12,42) of the lower cover sheet (9,39) is peelably sealed to the bottom part (1,31).

4. A package as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, charac¬ terised in that the slot-like opening (11,41) is a slit formed by slitting the lower cover sheet (9,39) immediately prior to placing this on the bottom part (1 ,41).

5. A package as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, and in which the circumferential sealing line (10,41) is essentially rectangular with two pairs of opposing, straight sides, characterised in that the slot-like opening in the lower cover sheet (9,3) is parallel to the one pair of said sides.

6. A package as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the slot-like opening (11,41) is provided immediately adjacent one of the sides.

7. A package as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, charac¬ terised in that the bottom part (1, 41) is made of a flexible plastic sheet.