FR2976923A1 - Bi-material base element for sealed package for wrapping e.g. meat slices, has support including detachable portion to allow gripping and pulling of support to ensure separation between support and protective film - Google Patents

Abstract

The base element (2) has a support (5) including a bottom face (7) and a top face (6) coated with a protective film (10) secured by plastic adhesion, where the base element is intended to be associated with a seal film (3) after packaging of a product (4). The support includes a detachable portion (15) on a region of an attachment surface integral with the protective film, to allow gripping and pulling of the support to ensure separation between the support and the protective film on the rest of the attachment surface, where the support is made of paperboard. An independent claim is also included for a method for producing a bi-material base element.

Description

The present invention relates to the general field of packaging. It relates more particularly to a novel bi-material, or bi-component, bottom element comprising a support whose top face is coated with a plastic protective film, which bottom element is intended to constitute a part of a sealed package for food product or other. Packages are known comprising a flat bottom element or generally shaped trays, adapted to receive a product, and sealingly closed by means of an attached closure film, plastic 1 o. In some cases, the bottom element of these packages consists of a rigid or semi-rigid support made of cardboard or similar material, the top face of which, at least, is coated with a protective film and plastic sealing, secured by adhesion. To seal the package, after conditioning the product, the peripheral edge of the closure film is secured to the peripheral edge of the protective film, generally by a heat sealing operation. In the case of vacuum packaging, the closure film is applied by atmospheric pressure to the product and to the protective film not covered by the product. After opening the package and detaching the closure film from the bi-material bottom element, it is important to be able to separate the protective / sealing film and the associated rigid or semi-rigid support, that of a as completely as possible, in order to allow their recycling. However, current bi-material bottom elements do not generally make it easy to achieve such a separation, especially when the protective plastic film is secured by adhesion of its entire surface with the top face of the rigid or semi support - 30 rigid.

The present invention aims to overcome this disadvantage and to propose a solution to facilitate the separation of the two components of such bi-material bottom elements. For this, the corresponding bi-material base element is of the type comprising a support which comprises a bottom face and a top face, which top face, only, is coated with a plastic protective film secured by membership; and according to the present invention, said support of said bottom element comprises, on an area of its surface secured to said protective film, a portion 1 o arranged to be detachable, so as to allow its gripping and tearing the rest of said support by driving said protective film, to ensure the separation of these two elements on the rest of their fastening surface. The support portion which remains adjacent to the protective plastic film at the detachable portion between the fingers is only a small portion relative to the separation surface; if necessary, this small part of support can be separated without too much difficulty from the protective film, for a full recycling. According to a preferred embodiment, the part designed to be detachable is delimited by a pre-cut line made exclusively in the thickness of said support. This precut line is not arranged on the protective film, the latter has no weak zone, and it can be separated from the associated support by simply pulling from said detachable area. In order to obtain a package having a good finish, the support and its protective film comprise substantially identical and superimposed perimeter peripheries. In a particular embodiment, the two-component bottom element consists of a flat or substantially planar plate delimited by a peripheral periphery; according to an alternative embodiment, it consists of a tray formed of a plane bottom bordered by a belt of side walls, optionally extended by a peripheral sidewalk, whose upper edge defines its periphery periphery. The part of the support arranged to be detachable can be made on the periphery of the bottom element; it can also be provided in its inner surface, without contact with said peripheral periphery. In the case of a bottom element consisting of a flat or substantially flat plate of polygonal, square or rectangular shape, this detachable part of the support is advantageously made at one of the corners, delimited by a line of pre-cuts connecting two contiguous sides of the support. Preferably, the support of the bi-material bottom element is made of cardboard. For its part, the protective plastic film advantageously has a thickness of less than 200 p, and is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, propylene, polyethylene terephthalate or polyamide. The invention also relates to a sealed package consisting of a bi-material bottom element as defined above, and a closure film, between which a product is packaged. It also relates to a method for producing this bi-material bottom element, this method consisting in: - arranging on the surface of the support said part adapted to be detachable, then - to join by adhesion the protective film on all or part of the surface of the top face of said support. The invention will be further illustrated, without being limited in any way, by the following description of a particular embodiment, given solely by way of example and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: - Figure 1 is a perspective view a package comprising a bottom element according to the invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view at one of the corners of the package of FIG. 1, illustrating the portion of the support of the bottom element arranged to be detachable; - Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, which illustrates the separation between the support of the bottom member and its protective film, after deconditioning the product and removing the closure film of the package. The packaging 1 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a bi-material base element 2 and a closure film 3 between which a product 4 is conditioned, for example a food product such as slices of meat or fish. . The base element 2 comprises: - a support 5, here planar and of generally rectangular shape, delimited by a top face 6, a bottom face 7 and a peripheral periphery 8 consisting of four sides 9, and - a film 10, which completely covers the top face 6 of the support 5, whose bottom face 11 is secured by adhesion with said top face 6 of the support 5, and whose top face 12 serves as a support for the product 4. The support 5 advantageously consists of a rigid or semi-rigid cardboard plate, for example of compact type, whose density is between 100 and 1000 grams / m2 and whose thickness is between 0.2. and 2 mm. Other materials such as corrugated board or pressed pastes can also be used. For its part, the protective film 10 advantageously consists of a plastic film impervious to liquids and possibly to gases, chosen from polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or polyamide.

A thin film, in particular less than 200 μ, preferably between 20 and 80 μ, is preferably used. The peripheral contour 13 of the plastic film 10 is identical or substantially identical to the peripheral contour 8 of the support 5; and these two peripheral contours 8, 13 are superimposed (the contour 13 of the film 10 can be cut slightly larger than the contour 8 of the support 5, for technical reasons). As can be seen in Figure 2, the plastic film 10 does not cover the underside 7 of the support 5. The latter is therefore devoid of a film insert; it can nevertheless receive any desired impression, aesthetic or informative. An adhesive or adhesive may be used to join the support 5 with the plastic film 10, deposited on all or only part of the top face 6 of said support 5 and / or on the whole of the bottom face 11 of the plastic film 10, this before the operation of applying these two elements against each other. The glue used may be acrylic type. The connection between the support 5 and the protective film 10 can be further achieved by heat-bonding, after heating the film 10.

The bi-material base element obtained here is in the form of a rectangular flat plate. In alternative embodiments this plate can take any other form, for example square, circular, oval

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the presence of a pre-cut line 14, made only in the thickness of the support 5 of the bottom element 2, on a zone of attachment between the protective film 10 and the support 5, here at one of its corners, to form a small portion 15 between the fingers and detachable or strippable from the rest of said support 5. The plastic protective film 10 is devoid of pre-cut line at this level.

It will be understood that once the product 4 has been unpacked from the package 1 and the closure film 3 removed, the two constituents 5 and 10 of the bottom element 2 can be separated from each other, from the as shown in FIG. 3, by gripping the detachable part 15, folding, tearing and pulling of this detachable part 15, according to the orientation arrow 16. The traction on the detached part 15, while maintaining the rest of the support 5, realizes the separation between the plastic film 10 and the support 5; the securing means of the two elements is adapted to obtain this separation without the need to apply too much traction force. Thus, on the one hand, a cardboard support part or the like (from which the small part corresponding to the detachable part 15), devoid of plastic film, has been removed and, on the other hand, a plastic film part, corresponding to the entirety of the protective film 10, to which is attached said small detached portion 15 of the support 5. The two parts obtained can be recycled each on their side. The small portion of the remaining support 5 attached to the protective film 10 is minimized to optimize the recycling capacity of the plastic film portion; if necessary, it can be easily removed manually from the associated plastic film. The absence of plastic film coating of the bottom face 7 of the support 5 allows the separation of the two components 5, 10 of the bottom element 2, as described above. On the other hand, the provision of the detachable portion 15 on the peripheral edge 8, 13 of the bottom member 2, facilitates its finger grip for the separation operation. Here, this detachable portion is provided at one of the four corners of the bottom member 2, making this separation operation even easier. In this case, in the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the detachable portion 15 is delimited by the straight line of precuts 14 which connects two contiguous sides 9 of the support 5, and by the juxtaposed ends of said two contiguous sides 9. In an alternative embodiment, this detachable portion 15 may be provided along the length of one of the sides 9 of the support 5, between two of its angles; it will then be delimited by a line of polygonal or arcuate pre-cuts. In another embodiment, the detachable part may be provided entirely in the inner surface of the support, without contact with its peripheral periphery 8. This detachable part then takes the form of a circular, oval or polygonal pellet, entirely delimited by a line of pre-cuts. In order to obtain the packaging 1 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2: a support 5 is prepared in the surface of which the part 15 adapted to be detachable (delimited by a line of precuts) is made; the protective film 10 is adhesively secured to the top face 6 of the support 5 to obtain the bottom element 2, and then - on the packaging site, the product 4 is brought onto the bottom element 2, on the side plastic film 10, keeping free a band of peripheral material on the top face 12 of said plastic film 10, and finally, - the package is closed, in a conventional manner, by bringing a plastic closure film 3 over it the product 4, and by securing the peripheral edge of this closure film 3 with the peripheral edge of the protective film 10 (at the aforementioned peripheral material strip of the top face 12 of said protective film 10).

This joining is performed by a bonding operation, by means of an adhesive or an adhesive added, or by heat-sealing. On the peripheral edge of the package, a small zone of absence of attachment between the protective film 10 and the closure film 3 (for example at an angle of the package, as illustrated in FIG. in Figure 2) to facilitate gripping of the film 3 3 for tearing during the opening operation. The closure film 3 consists of a sealed plastic film, for example a plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or polyamide. The product 4 is packaged between the two sealed films 3 and 10, 5 joined together tightly. The corresponding packaging can be carried out under a modified atmosphere or under vacuum. In the case of a vacuum packaged product, the closure film 3 may simply be plated and maintained at atmospheric pressure. As a variant, it will be noted that the bi-material base element 2 may be in the form of a tray formed of a plane bottom bordered by a belt of substantially vertical lateral walls possibly extended by an upper border. horizontal forming sidewalk. In this case, the zone designed to be detachable may be provided on its peripheral periphery (defined by the juxtaposition of the upper edges 15 of the side walls or by the peripheral sidewalk). Preferably however, this detachable area will be provided entirely in the inner surface of the bottom member 2, that is to say without contact with said peripheral perimeter of the tray. This detachable part, always formed exclusively in the support of the bottom element, is then in the form of a circular, oval or polygonal pellet, positioned in the flat bottom or in one of the side walls of the container. .

Claims (1)

1. bi-material bottom element for a sealed package, which bottom element (2) comprises a support (5) which has a bottom face (7) and a top face (6), which side of only (6) is coated with a plastic film (10) made of plastic material secured by adhesion, and which bottom element (2) is intended to be associated with a closure film (3), after conditioning of a product (4), characterized in that said support (5) of said bottom member (2) comprises, on an area of its surface secured to said protective film (10), a portion (15) arranged to be detachable , so as to allow its gripping and tearing of the rest of said support by driving said protective film (10), to ensure the separation between said support (5) and said protective film (10) on the rest of their joining surface. 2. bi-material bottom element according to claim 1, characterized in that said portion (15) arranged to be detachable is delimited by a precut line (14) made exclusively in the thickness of said support (5). 3. Bi-material bottom element according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said support (5) and said protective film (10) comprise peripheral contours (8, 13) substantially identical and superimposed . 4. bi-material bottom element according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it consists of a flat or substantially flat plate, defined by a peripheral periphery (8, 13). 5. Bi-material base element according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it consists of a tray formed of a plane bottom bordered by a side wall belt, optionally extended by a peripheral sidewalk , whose upper edge defines the peripheral periphery of said tray. 6. bi-material bottom element according to any one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that said portion (15) arranged to be detachable is formed on its periphery (8, 13). 7.- bi-material bottom element according to claims 4 and 6 taken in combination, characterized in that it has a generally square or rectangular shape, and in that said portion (15) arranged to be detachable is made at the level at one of its angles and is delimited by a line of precuts (14) connecting two contiguous sides (9) of said support (5). 8. bi-material bottom element according to any one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that said portion arranged to be detachable is formed in its inner surface, without contact with said periphery. 9. bi-material bottom element according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises a support (5) of cardboard. 10. Bi-material base element according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises a protective film (10) of plastic, selected from the group comprising polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or polyamide, and whose thickness is less than 200 p. 11. A process for producing a bi-material bottom element (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising a support (5) whose top face (6) is coated with a film protection device (10) made of plastic material, said support (5) comprising a part designed to be detachable, characterized in that it consists: - of arranging on the surface of said support (5), said part (15) adapted to be detachable, then - adhesively bonding said protective film (10) on all or part of the surface of the top face (6) of said support (5) .Il 12.- waterproof packaging, characterized in that it consists of a bi-material bottom element (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 1 o, and a closure film (3) between which is conditioned a product (4).