EA031961B1 - Sheet of laminate and wrapper for soap bar - Google Patents

Abstract

A laminate sheet comprising a paper component laminated with a plastic component, said sheet including and capable of being divided into a plurality of individual wrappers, each including opposite first (1) and second (2) edges and opposite third (3) and fourth (4) edges wherein the paper component of each wrapper comprises: (i) a first section (6), covered with an adhesive, located along substantially the entire length of said first edge, (ii) a second section (7), covered by an adhesive, located between said first and second to Ayami and along part of the length of said third edge, and (iii) a third portion (8) coated with adhesive, located opposite said second portion along part of the length of said fourth edge.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to packages of pieces of soap or similar products.

State of the art

Pieces of soap are usually packaged in cardboard boxes and paper composite materials (laminated sheet material), usually along with a cardboard stiffener. Cardboard usually has a barrier layer of plastic. The box provides a rectangular shape for stacking boxes and protects pieces of soap before use. The combination of wrapping material and stiffener provides a cost-effective alternative to cardboard boxes.

A paper composite material is made from a layer of paper along with one or more layers of plastic material. The paper component provides a rigid base and extra strength, and also provides a surface for applying sealant. The plastic film provides the finish and barrier properties to moisture and odor. This wrapping material is the most common form of packaging for pieces of soap.

Pieces of soap are used all over the world. They are available in various forms, although the sizes are more or less standardized except for the difference in grammage. Rectangular or saddle-shaped pieces are the most common, as they are easy to grip when used.

A typical bar of soap is packaged in envelope format. First, a bar is placed on a rectangular sheet of wrapping material, and then a stiffener, usually a thick sheet of paper, is placed on top of the piece to surround the piece along the longitudinal dimension, while leaving the short ends of the piece open. After that, two overlapping long edges of the sheet are sealed with an overlap. Then the shorter edges of the sheet are sealed with an envelope on both sides. This completes the packaging operation.

Understand that usually the entire surface of the paper side of the wrapping material is coated with adhesive in order to provide adhesion and ease of use. Adhesives that can seal when heated are more common. The adhesive is usually used at an average density of 12-15 g / m ² . However, most of the adhesive is not used for adhesion or sealing. However, this practice has continued for decades, because it is considered convenient to cover the entire surface of the wrapping material.

US Pat. No. 4,877674A (Misprint Inc, 1989) discloses a single article, a crease-resistant wrapping material for pieces of soap, which is made from sheets of sheets of flexible plastic film and water-absorbing paper. Film and paper are layered and bonded together along their borders by continuous adhesive strips. The exposed surface of the paper sheets is coated with a cold gluing cohesive along the edges in the register with adhesive strips. When wrapping around a piece of soap, the adhesive and adhesive fall into the areas of the back side and the end side of the soap seal, thus double wrapping the piece with sheets of film and paper and with the air space between the sheets prevents or minimizes wrinkling of the outer wrapper. This publication discloses that overlapping boundaries are joined by continuous bands of adhesive. This method is slightly better than the normal process.

Document WO / 1996/037418 (Highland Supply Corporation) provides a wrapping material having a binder material deposited either on an upper surface or on a lower surface. The document, however, discloses a wrapping material that is folded on top of each other with an adhesive so that each wrapping sheet is connected and detachably connected to another sheet of wrapping material to form a gasket, whereby one of the sheets of material can be disconnected from the other sheet of material, pulling sheets of material in different directions. This gasket made of many wrapping materials, stacked on top of each other and connected and detachably connected to each other is better suited for manual and small-scale packaging. This disclosure also explicitly states that the invention is suitable for use in combination with a cooking center (not shown), such as McDonald's or a restaurant such as Wendis or another restaurant where food is prepared for consumption in the center or for take-away by the customer for consumption in location away from the center. However, this method is not suitable for mass large-scale production of wrapping material for pieces of soap.

Pieces of soap as a product are what are usually produced and packaged on a mass scale in a factory by specially designed machines that pack pieces of soap at a speed as high as 180-550 units per minute, i.e. pieces of soap per minute. Therefore, there is a need to have wrapping material for soap in sheet form, which can be divided into many separate wrappers, which are suitable for feeding into a modern automatic packaging / wrapping machine for quick packaging of soap.

EP 1340690 (Sony Corp.) relates to packaging material used to wrap the product to be packaged and to seal and package the product to be packaged, thermally bonding mutually overlapping end parts. The packaging material consists of a film that is biodegradable (biodegradable). The layers of the thermal gluing agent are selectively applied to the positions of thermal gluing (thermo-sealing) or thermally adhesive parts of the biodegradable film. The layers of thermal bonding agent are selectively applied to the front surface and the back surface, the front surface and the front surface, or the back surface and the back surface of a mutually overlapping biodegradable film when the product to be packaged is packaged.

US 2006201115A1 (Colgate Palmolive) discloses a wrapping material that has some features of packaging in cardboard boxes. A single sheet of material is die-cut to form a main section with upper, lower, and longitudinal side panels and an end valve attached to each panel. To maintain folding at the desired points, the sheet of material is loosened with nicks, perforations, or nicks at the folding points. Hot-melt adhesive is applied to the valves and overlapping edges.

Therefore, due to the shortcomings of the prior art, there is an unmet need for more durable and stronger wrapping materials for pieces of soap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect, a laminate sheet is disclosed comprising a paper component laminated with a plastic component, said sheet including, and being divided into, a plurality of individual wrappers, each including opposite first and second edges and opposite third and fourth edges, in which the paper component of each wrapping material includes:

(i) a first area coated with an adhesive, located along essentially the entire length of the specified first edge:

(ii) a second adhesive coated portion located between said first and second edges and along a portion of a length of said third edge; and (iii) a third adhesive coated portion located opposite said second portion along a portion of the length of said fourth edge.

In accordance with a second aspect, a wrapping material (or wrapper) for a bar of soap is disclosed, the wrapping material comprising a paper component laminated with a plastic component, and opposite first and second edges and opposite third and fourth edges, in which the paper component of each wrapper includes:

(i) a first adhesive-coated portion located along substantially the entire length of said first edge;

(ii) a second adhesive-coated portion located between said first and second edges and along a portion of a length of said third edge; and (iii) a third adhesive-coated portion located against said second portion along a portion of a length of said fourth edge.

The invention will now be explained in detail.

Brief Description of the Figures

FIG. 1 is a top view of a preferred embodiment of a wrapping material.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of another preferred embodiment of a wrapping material used to complete wrapping a bar of soap.

Detailed description of figures

FIG. 1 is a top view of a preferred embodiment of a wrapping material, as seen from the side of the paper component. This view is a rectangular wrapping material having four edges, a first edge (1) opposite the second edge (2), a third edge (3) and a fourth edge opposite it (4). An imaginary line (5) between the first (1) and second (2) edges divides the wrapping material into two equal halves. The first portion (6) coated with an adhesive is located along essentially the entire length of the first edge (1). The second portion (7) coated with an adhesive is located between the first and second edges and along part of the length of the third edge (3). The third portion (8) coated with adhesive is located opposite the second portion (7) along part of the length of the fourth edge (4). Each area coated with adhesive has a grooved coating, as can be seen from the figure. The width of the second adhesive-coated portion (7) is approximately 16% of the total width of the wrapping material as defined by the third (3) and fourth (4) edges. Also, the width of the third portion (8) coated with an adhesive is approximately 16% of the total width of the wrapping material, as defined by the third (3) and fourth (4) edges.

The second and third sections (7 and 8) coated with adhesive, each, is located approximately next to the imaginary line (5) between the first (1) and second (2) edges, which divides the wrapping material into two equal halves, while the main part of the second (7) and the third (8) areas coated with adhesive are located in half closer to the second edge (2).

The width of the first portion (6) coated with an adhesive is 14% of the total length of the wrapping material, as defined by the first (1) and second (2) edges.

FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of another preferred embodiment of the wrapping material used to complete the wrapping of a bar of soap (shown without a stiffener). A bar of soap (9) is placed on the wrapping material, as shown in the figure. The edges (1) and (2) are folded around the piece (9). The third area (8) coated with adhesive is intended to be used for sealing with an envelope. Similarly, the second portion (7) coated with adhesive (which is not visible in this projection) is also intended for sealing with an envelope.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to a first embodiment, there is provided a laminate sheet comprising a paper component laminated with a plastic component, said sheet including and dividing into a plurality of individual wrapping materials, each including opposite first and second edges and opposite third and fourth edges, in which the paper component of each wrapping material includes:

(i) a first adhesive-coated portion located along substantially the entire length of said first edge;

(ii) a second adhesive coated portion located between said first and second edges and along a portion of the length of said third edge; and (iii) a third adhesive coated patch located against said second portion along a portion of a length of said fourth edge.

Typically, a laminate sheet is made on a continuous basis from a pair of tapes (paper component and plastic component) that are brought into face contact with each other. Before the individual tapes are combined, the longitudinal boundaries of at least one tape are coated with adhesive, and the transverse adhesive strips, longitudinally separated by spaces, are also applied to the tape. The hot melt or any other suitable adhesive is then applied to the paper side of the laminate, which, as described previously, is usually applied along the length and width of the paper side of the laminate. The sheet is then wound and transported to the station, where it is unwound for use as packaging material.

After unwinding, the sheet material is cut longitudinally and transversely into individual units of wrapping material for individual pieces or products. The sheet is especially useful for advanced automatic machines that pack soap bars at speeds as high as 180-550 units per minute, that is, bars of soap per minute. The sheets are mainly introduced into the machines in the form of rolls, and therefore it is important that the adhesive or insulating material is activated only during packaging by an activator, such as heat or pressure. If the insulating agent or adhesive is active under all conditions, it will be difficult to feed such roll sheets into soap packaging machines.

Paper weight (better known as grammage) is a term used in the pulp and paper industry to denote a measure of the mass of a product per unit area for a type of paper or paperboard. Grammage is generally expressed in terms of grams per square meter (g / m ^2). Preferably, the grammage of the paper component is 30-75 g / m ² , more preferably 40-70 g / m ² .

The paper component is preferably selected from offset, chrome or mirror coated paper, but other forms of paper can also be used. Further, the paper may be paper containing titanium dioxide or deprived of it.

Preferably, the plastic component is selected from polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, and combinations thereof. Suitable plastic (thermoplastic) materials for which the plastic component of the laminate is formed include polypropylene (such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (DOPP), polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyester, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and appropriate combinations thereof. The thermoplastic material is preferably selected in order to slow down the loss of moisture from the bulk soap composition during storage, preferably the thickness of the plastic component is from 6 to 12 microns, more preferably from 8 to 12 m km. These plastics can contain various additives, such as pigments, fillers, thickeners, catalysts and compounds that absorb ultraviolet radiation and other light.

Preferably, the grammage of each of the first, second and third sections coated with an adhesive is in the range of 3 to 10 g / m ² . Each area coated with adhesive may include any type of coating. Preferably, the coating has a grooved pattern. In the case of preferred laminates, the width of the second portion coated with adhesive is 5-30% of the total width of the wrapping material, as defined by the third and fourth edges. It is particularly preferred that one of the ends of the second portion coated with adhesive is flush with the third edge of the wrapping material. It is likewise preferable that the third portion coated with adhesive makes up from 5 to 30% of the total width of said wrapping material, as defined by said third and fourth edges. It is also particularly preferred that one of the edges of the third portion coated with the adhesive is flush with the fourth edge of the wrapping material. In a particularly preferred embodiment, each of the second and third sections coated with adhesive is located adjacent to an imaginary line between the first and second edges, which divides the wrapping material into two equal halves with the main part of said second and third sections coated with adhesive lying in half, which located closer to the second edge. In other words, the second and third sections coated with adhesive are positioned so that they are slightly shifted from the imaginary center line of each wrapping material with the main part of each section lying in half, which is closer to the second edge. The second and third sections coated with adhesive are used to form the end sealing or the envelope of the packaging of the wrapping material.

In addition, it is preferable that the width of the first portion coated with adhesive is from 5 to 20% of the total length of said wrapping material, as defined by said first and second edges. It is further preferred that one end of this first adhesive-coated portion is flush with the first edge of each wrapping material. The first area coated with adhesive is useful for forming longitudinal sealing with an overlap of the packaging of the wrapping material.

It is generally understood that for these specifications of a laminated wrapping material, for example a wrapping material containing 30 g / m ² paper component, a laminated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) component 12 μm thick, the paper component is usually coated with 15 g / m ² gram of hot molten adhesive, A full gram of finished, ready-to-use wrapping material is approximately 75-80 g / m ² . In the case of the proposed wrapping materials with identical specifications of paper and polyethylene terephthalate components, but having adhesive applied only to areas coated with adhesive, with a grammage of 5 g / m ² , the full grammage of the wrapping material is in the range from 65 to 70 g / m ² . This implies that metering, that is, the number of pieces of soap that can be packed in 1 m of wrapping material, will be greater in the case of wrapping material disclosed here.

It is also commonly understood that conventional wrapping material tends to rewind when unwound, which is a difficult technical problem for the packaging industry. Reverse twisting means that the wrapping material has a tendency for the corrugated pattern to deviate away from the folding direction that is planned during the packaging process. Packaging soap bars is an automated process where even a minor obstacle, such as back curling, can cause a serious loss in productivity. However, surprisingly, it was found that the laminate disclosed here has a significantly less tendency to reverse twist.

The laminate sheet can be rigid in any form, especially 4-sided form. However, it is preferable that the wrapping material has a rectangular shape. The dimensions of each wrapping material can be appropriately selected so as to fit the shape and size of the article, especially the bar of soap.

The paper component of the laminate is preferably selected from offset, chrome or mirror coated paper.

The plastic component is preferably printed, printed in more detail. It is also preferred that this plastic component is further coated with a heat-sensitive varnish (heat sealable varnish) that helps heat seal with the paper component when two surfaces are overlapped or sealed with an envelope.

The purpose of the adhesive is to provide a sealing surface. Accordingly, any suitable adhesive may be selected depending on availability and desired properties. It is preferable to choose an adhesive that is active only during the packaging activator. More preferably, the adhesive is selected from thermally activated sealing materials, waxes, mixtures, resins, heat sealable varnishes, or rosin. An example of a thermally activated sealing material is a hot, molten adhesive, which is preferably capable of sealing in the range of operating temperature from 130 to 190 ° C.

A hot, molten adhesive is particularly preferred over a cold adhesive for overlapping sealing, since a cold adhesive requires application to both surfaces that are applied for sealing, while applying a hot, molten adhesive to any single surface of two overlapping surfaces is sufficient for overlapping seals. In addition, the bonding of two sealed surfaces is more durable with hot, molten adhesive compared to cold adhesive, thereby offering better protective and sealing properties. Cold sealing packaging materials should also be stored in a climate-controlled room, which is undesirable due to cost. Also, a hot seal film is generally cheaper than a cold seal film. Therefore, hot, molten adhesive is preferred over cold adhesive for a better price choice.

For coating with an adhesive, especially a hot, molten adhesive, it is preferable to use a sieve of 60-80 lines per square inch. The adhesive is applied using an engraved cylinder and a squeegee.

Wrapping material

In a second embodiment, a wrapping material for a bar of soap is provided, the wrapping material comprising a paper component laminated with a plastic component and opposite first and second edges and opposite third and fourth edges, in which the paper component of each wrapping material includes:

(i) a first adhesive-coated portion located along substantially the entire length of said first edge.

(ii) a second adhesive coated portion located between said first and second edges and along a portion of a length of said third edge; and (iii) a third adhesive coated patch located opposite said second portion along a portion of a length of said fourth edge.

Stiffener

A typical commercial packaged bar of soap typically contains a stiffener, therefore, preferably, a bar of soap packaged in the proposed wrapping material also contains a stiffener. The main goal of the stiffener is to add mechanical strength. The grammage of a typical stiffener is from 100 to 200 g / m ² and the thickness is on the order of 50 to 250 μm, more preferably from 160 to 180 μm. Preferably, the stiffness of the stiffener is at least 3 units when measured using a Taber device (Taber stiffness) both in the longitudinal direction (machining direction) and in the transverse direction, and more preferably at least 8 Taber stiffness units in at least direction of processing. The stiffener may be made of coated and uncoated paper. The stiffener can also be made of coated and uncoated cardboard. The stiffener may also be made of plastic or a laminate of plastic and paper, commonly known as polymer coated paper. More preferably, the stiffening element is made of cardboard coated on one side with a polyethylene coating. Polymer coated papers have advantages since, in addition to providing strength, they also prevent or reduce the loss of aroma / odor and volatile constituents from the packaged piece.

In a typical wrapping method, the wrapping material is wrapped around a bar of soap and a stiffener, and its first and third edges are superimposed to form an overlapping seal. This allows these sections of the edge to strengthen each other. Overlap sealing is particularly preferred and desirable with respect to the seam connecting the edges, since it requires less packaging material.

Examples

The invention will now be described in detail using non-limiting examples.

Example 1. Comparative characteristics of a conventional laminate with respect to a preferred laminate.

The specifications and properties of the usual and preferred laminates are given in table. 1. Research results are also included in the table.

Table

Specifications / Property Normal Preferred Paper type Paper grammar Plastic component TYuG offset paper with 40 g / m ² Polyethylene reverse printing TYuG offset paper with 40 g / m ² Polyethylene reverse printing Plastic thickness component Wrap Length (i.e. the distance between the first and second edges) 8 microns 175 mm 8 microns 175 mm Wrap Width (i.e. the distance between the third and fourth edges) 130 mm 130 mm Adhesive Hot molten adhesive Hot molten adhesive Adhesive applied Completely covered paper component; Only 3 areas of the paper component are covered.

- 5 031961

Picture No picture Embossed pattern Adhesive Grammage 15 g / m ² 5 g / m ² Width of First Covered Area no adhesive 25 mm; the entire area from the third to the fourth edge is covered Width of Second Covered Area no adhesive 21 mm Width of Third Covered Area no adhesive 21 mm The length of the second covered area no adhesive 50 mm Length of Third Covered Area no adhesive 50 mm Research results Measurement (meter) / per kg of material ~ 98 m ~ 112m The number of packed pieces of soap 125 g per kg of material from 550 to 560 from 630 to 645 Reverse twisting are watching don't watch

The illustrated example clearly indicates how the preferred embodiment satisfies the unmet need for more stable and strong wrappers for pieces of soap.

Claims (14)

CLAIM 1. A laminate sheet for producing individual wrappers, comprising a paper component laminated with a plastic component, said sheet including and capable of being divided into a plurality of individual wrappers, each including opposite first (1) and second (2) edges and opposite third (3) and the fourth (4) edge, in which the paper component of each wrapper includes: (i) a first adhesive coated portion (6) located along substantially the entire length of said first edge; (ii) a second adhesive coated portion (7) located between said first and second edges and along only part of the length of said third edge; and (iii) an adhesive coated third portion (8) located opposite to said second portion along only a portion of length the specified fourth edge, in which the adhesive is applied to the paper side of the laminate. 2. The laminate sheet according to claim 1, in which the grammage of the specified paper component is from 30 to 70 g / m ² . 3. The laminate sheet according to claim 1 or 2, in which the thickness of the specified plastic component is from 6 to 12 microns. 4. The laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, in which the grammage of each of the specified first, second and third sections coated with adhesive is in the range from 3 to 10 g / m ² . 5. The laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, in which each specified area coated with an adhesive includes a corrugated type coating. 6. A laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the width of said second portion (7) coated with an adhesive is 5 to 30% of the total width of said wrapper defined by said third (3) and fourth (4) edges. 7. The laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, in which the width of the specified section (8) coated with an adhesive is from 5 to 30% of the total width of the specified wrapper defined by the specified third (3) and fourth (4) edges. 8. A laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, in which each of said second (7) and third (8) adhesive coated sections is located adjacent to an imaginary line (5) between said first (1) and second (2) edges, which divides the said wrapper into two equal halves, the main part of the specified second (7) and third (8) sections coated with adhesive, located half closer to the second edge (2). 9. A laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, in which the width of said first portion (6) coated with an adhesive is from 5 to 20% of the total length of said wrapper defined by said first (1) and second (2) edges. 10. A laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, in which each wrapper has a rectangular shape. 11. A laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said paper component is selected from offset, chrome or mirror coated paper. 12. A laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said plastic component is selected from polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, and combinations thereof. 13. The laminate sheet according to any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein said adhesive is selected from thermally activated sealing materials, waxes, mixtures, resins, heat sealable varnish or rosin. - 6 031961 14. A wrapper for a bar of soap containing a paper component laminated with a plastic component, opposite first and second edges and opposite third and fourth edges, the paper component of each wrapper comprising: (i) a first adhesive-coated portion located along substantially the entire length of said first edge; (ii) a second adhesive coated portion located between said first and second edges and along only a portion of the length of said third edge; and (iii) a third adhesive coated portion located opposite said second patch along only a portion of the length of said fourth edge, wherein cut from a laminate sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 12.