EP0050069A1 - Rigid double-walled container for liquids - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Liquid container composed of, on the one hand, a rigid box (1) having the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped without any internal partitioning, said box having external ribs (25) and having an openable removable uninterrupted cup-shaped face (11) fitting inside said box (1) and provided with means for being fastened to said box, and on the other hand, a flexible internal pouch (21) formed of a flexible fluid-tight film having an opening provided with a ring (22) on which a plug (23) is adaptable, characterized in that : - the box comprises on its upper face (33) annular ribs for straight and crossed stacking, said face being provided with a funnel (7), the wall of which protrudes partly outside the face (33) and surrounds the ring (22), said external protrusion being part of the annular stacking ribs (2, 3) of the box ; - the outer diameter of the ring (22) is akin to the internal diameter of the funnel (7) ; and - the openable cup-shaped removable face (11) forms the bottom of the box (1), the rims of which are turned towards the inside of the box.

Description

The packaging of drinks with a view to their transport, whether alcoholic or not, or whether it is any other liquid intended for foodstuffs poses numerous problems for which until now no coherent overall solution has been found. has really given complete satisfaction.

Glass containers, bottles or carboys, if they meet the requirements for storage, have drawbacks for transport: fragility requiring packaging, especially in honeycombed cases poor useful volume coefficient on the bulky volume; poor protection against light, the harmful and even toxic effects of which are no longer overlooked.

The packaging in barrels or barrels, or tanks, if it is valid for large quantities, does not allow manual handling.

Packaging in plastic containers, such as plastic bottles, has the same disadvantages as that in glass bottles with regard to storage or stacking: the bottles must be housed in crates or rigid containers. In addition, the permeability of thermoplastics to gases results in deterioration of the products during storage.

The blown thermoplastic cubitainers do not have sufficient mechanical strength and must be packed in cardboard or plastic cases. The products deteriorate either during storage or after partial racking which causes air substitution for the liquid volume, this latter drawback also being observed in all containers of relatively large capacity.

• - Un important gaspillage d'énergie (fabrication du verre, recyclage des bouteilles, cartonnage perdu, etc.)
• - Une nocivité non négligeable sur l'environnement (bouteilles plastique, emballages carton etc.)
• - Des dangers sur le plan de l'hygiène dans le cas de recyclage de récipients nettoyés.

On the other hand, all of these conditioning methods lead to:

• - A significant waste of energy (manufacture of glass, recycling of bottles, lost cardboard, etc.)
• - Significant harm to the environment (plastic bottles, cardboard packaging, etc.)
• - Hygiene hazards in the case of recycling of cleaned containers.

The object of the invention is to present a new type of packaging which eliminates these drawbacks, starting from the most advanced current techniques.

The container according to the invention is a double envelope container composed of a rigid box and a flexible internal pocket, characterized in that the box has the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped without internal partitioning, with entirely external ribs including ribs stacking, having a removable opening bottom in one piece, in the form of a rimmed cup fitting into the external box, the whole of the side walls of the box being provided with non-return hooking means of said bottom, said box being provided with a chimney, the wall of which projects partially outside the box, this external projection forming part of the annular ribs for stacking the box, and in that the flexible pocket is of volume greater than the internal volume of the body, consisting of a waterproof film extra flexible, of thickness less than 0.5 mm provided on its opening with a ring of external diameter close to the internal diameter of the chimney, provided with means for adapting a removable tap and carrying on its external face a flange cooperating with an internal flange of the chimney.

The internal pocket is produced by peripheral welding of two sheets or set of flat sheets of the extruded sheet type (and not blown), so that before filling it is absolutely flat and empty of air, and when filling it swells little by little until it occupies the entire volume of the box and then automatically collapses without air penetration during emptying. It is preferably produced by welding two sets of sheets, each set consisting of two sheets of the extra-thin polyethylene type (a few microns thick) between which is interposed a median film constituting an oxygen barrier.

• La poche extra souple étant introduite dans la caisse par la face ouvrante, et la bague accrochée dans la cheminée, la face ouvrante est ensuite mise en place, puis le conteneur est rempli ; au cours de ce remplissage la poche extra souple vient à occuper le volume interne de la caisse ; le bouchon porte robinet est ensuite mis en place, et le robinet est escamoté dans la cheminée.

The mode of use is as follows:

• The extra flexible pocket being introduced into the box through the opening face, and the ring hung in the chimney, the opening face is then put in place, then the container is filled; during this filling the extra flexible pocket comes to occupy the internal volume of the box; the faucet holder plug is then put in place, and the tap is retracted into the chimney.

The container according to the invention is then ready for transport; its rigidity allows its stacking as well as the protection of the internal pocket, and its shape ensures a useful volume of almost 80% of its size.

There is no risk of alteration of the products during storage due to the gas permeability of the thermoplastics, since the median film constituting the oxygen barrier is opposed to it, this which is not the case for cubitainer envelopes produced by blowing thermoplastics.

There is also no risk, at the time of use, by substituting air for the volume of liquid withdrawn because the extra-flexible bag has no resistance to atmospheric pressure and flattens as and when racking measurement, without rising air, to zero volume, which excludes any risk of oxidation.

• 1). Les faces latérales de la caisse sont munies de lumières dans lesquelles s'engagent des redents ou crochets portés par les faces externes des bords de la cuvette formant fond ouvrant.
  De cette manière, une fois le fond mis en place et la poche remplie, le fond ne peut plus être retiré tant que la poche n'a pas été au moins partiellement vidée, ce qui confère au conteneur selon l'invention une véritable inviolabilité.
• 2). La face pourvue d'une cheminée est la face opposée à la face ouvrante.
• 3). Le bouchon muni d'un robinet est en forme de tétine souple portant ledit robinet à son extrémité, ce qui permet de l'escamoter dans la cheminée pour le stockage et le transport.
• 4). Il est prévu un bouchon-capsule d'inviolabilité fixé par clipsage dans la cheminée.
• 5). La face de la poche interne qui porte la bague est fixée sur au moins la périphérie d'un châssis relativement rigide de dimensions externes voisines des dimensions internes de la face de la caisse externe qui porte la cheminée, ledit châssis étant muni de moyens de fixation sur la caisse rigide externe.
• 6). Le châssis est fixé par soudure sur la poche interne par l'intermédiaire d'un rebord en matière plastique telle que du polyéthylène d'épaisseur relativement mince, de l'ordre de 0,5 à 1 mm.
• 7). Le moyen de fixation du châssis sur la caisse externe consiste en des pattes portées par le châssis et coopérant avec des logements prévus dans la caisse.
• 8). La face ouvrante de la caisse externe du conteneur est celle qui porte la cheminée et le châssis sur lequel est fixée la poche interne se fixe sur ladite face ouvrante.
• 9). La poche extra-souple interne est réalisée par soudage périphérique d'un ensemble de deux jeux de feuilles planes ayant la forme de rectangle aux angles abattus en forme de pans coupés, chaque côté du rectangle ayant pour dimension approximative la somme de la longueur utile interne d'un côté de la face de la caisse rigide externe qui porte la cheminée, et de la longueur utile interne de ladite caisse dans la direction perpendiculaire à-cette face, et les angles étant abattus en pans coupés à 45° environ de telle sorte que leur distance aux angles de la face portant la bague soit voisine de la demi-longueur de la caisse dans la direction perpendiculaire à cette face.

The invention also relates to the preferential arrangements below:

• 1). The lateral faces of the box are provided with openings in which engage redents or hooks carried by the external faces of the edges of the bowl forming an opening bottom.
  In this way, once the bottom is in place and the pocket filled, the bottom can no longer be removed until the pocket has been at least partially emptied, which gives the container according to the invention a real inviolability.
• 2). The side with a chimney is the side opposite the opening side.
• 3). The stopper fitted with a tap is in the form of a flexible nipple carrying said tap at its end, which allows it to be retracted into the chimney for storage and transport.
• 4). There is a tamper-evident closure cap attached by clipping into the chimney.
• 5). The face of the internal pocket which carries the ring is fixed on at least the periphery of a relatively rigid chassis with external dimensions close to the internal dimensions of the face of the external box which carries the chimney, said chassis being provided with fixing means on the external rigid body.
• 6). The chassis is fixed by welding to the internal pocket by means of a rim of plastic material such as polyethylene of relatively thin thickness, of the order of 0.5 to 1 mm.
• 7). The means of fixing the chassis to the external body consists of lugs carried by the chassis and cooperating with housings provided in the body.
• 8). The opening face of the outer case of the container is that which carries the chimney and the frame on which the internal pocket is fixed is fixed on said opening face.
• 9). The internal extra-flexible pocket is produced by peripheral welding of a set of two sets of flat sheets having the shape of a rectangle with cut corners in the form of cut sides, each side of the rectangle having the approximate size of the sum of the internal useful length on one side of the face of the external rigid box which carries the chimney, and of the internal useful length of the said box in the direction perpendicular to this face, and the angles being cut in sections cut at approximately 45 ° so that their distance from the angles of the face carrying the ring is close to the half-length of the body in the direction perpendicular to this face.

• La figure 1 est une vue perspective montrant un exemple de réalisation du conteneur selon l'invention, avec arrachement partiel ;
• La figure 2 est une vue de détail en coupe au niveau du fond ouvrant ou amovible ;
• Les figures 3 et 4 sont des variantes de la figure 2 ;
• La figure 5 est une coupe longitudinale du fond amovible de la figure 1 1
• La figure 6 est une vue de détail en coupe du mode de réalisation du bouchon selon la figure 1, en position rétractée ;
• La figure 7 est une vue en perspective de la poche extra-souple dans la forme qu'elle prend au remplissage ;
• La figure 8 est une vue en plan montrant la forme des feuilles constitutives de la poche de la figure 1 ;
• La figure 9 est une vue en plan illustrant la façon dont les coins se replient ;
• La figure 10 est une vue en coupe selon A-A de la figure 1 i
• La figure 11 illustre une variante dans laquelle la face ouvrante de la caisse externe est aussi celle qui porte la cheminée ;
• La figure 12 est une coupe selon B-B de la figure 11.

The invention is more fully described with reference to the attached drawing in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the container according to the invention, with partial cutaway;
• Figure 2 is a detail view in section at the opening or removable bottom;
• Figures 3 and 4 are variants of Figure 2;
• Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the removable bottom of Figure 1 1
• Figure 6 is a detailed sectional view of the embodiment of the plug according to Figure 1, in the retracted position;
• Figure 7 is a perspective view of the extra-flexible bag in the form it takes to fill;
• Figure 8 is a plan view showing the shape of the sheets constituting the pocket of Figure 1;
• Figure 9 is a plan view illustrating how the corners fold;
• Figure 10 is a sectional view along AA of Figure 1 i
• FIG. 11 illustrates a variant in which the opening face of the external box is also that which carries the chimney;
• FIG. 12 is a section along BB of FIG. 11.

Referring to these figures, it can be seen that the container according to the invention is composed by the combination of two envelopes, namely an external envelope 1 constituting a rigid box in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped having a removable bottom 11 forming an opening face, thus that a face 33 provided with a chimney 7; and an internal envelope 21 formed by a removable pocket with a volume greater than the internal volume of the box 1, consisting of a thin, waterproof plastic film of the order of 0.2 to 0.4 mm thick, of which l the opening carries a ring 22 hung in the chimney 7 and carrying a nipple-shaped drain plug 23 provided with a tap 24.

Box 1 is made of thermoplastic, molded by monobloc injection as well as the removable bottom 11, The body 1 carries reinforcing ribs 24 on the lateral faces, and on the top it carries annular ribs 2, 3 which cooperate with the belt 6 for the straight or crossed embedding of containers during their stacking, A retractable handle 4 is advantageously housed in these ribs.

One of the ribs 2 constitutes the lip or upper edge of the chimney 7.

Figures 2 to 5 show various variants for mounting the bottom 11. According to Figures 1, 2 and 5, the bottom has the shape of a bowl whose edges carry tabs, redents, or hooks 13 which cooperate with openings or lights 5 provided in the side walls of the box 1, Thus once the bottom 11 is in place and the internal pocket 21 filled, the bottom is locked which ensures the inviolability of the container. The establishment and extraction of the bottom 11 are carried out as shown in dotted lines.

In the example of FIG. 3, reliefs or recesses 26, 27 internal to the wall of the body 1 serve as support and locking for the bowl 11. In the example of FIG. 4, the role of support is provided by pins 28 fixed by clipping through the wall 1.

The advantage of the solution of Figures 1, 2 and 5 is that the hooks 13 oppose the deformation of the body 1 by swelling of the walls. The hooks 13 are preferably surmounted or surrounded by a lip 12 extending the edges of the bowl 11 and obstructing the openings 5, so that the pocket 21 is protected and inaccessible from the outside.

For better impermeability to gases, better mechanical resistance, in particular to friction, as well as superior organoleptic qualities, preferably such a film by means of several films of approximately 0.1 mm thick, laminated together, to give a multilayer film of the order of approximately 0.2 to 0.4 mm thick. The pocket itself is made of two sheets of such a film welded together at their periphery,

The upper face 35 of the internal pocket 21, which carries the ring 22, is mounted on a relatively rigid chassis 37, made of plastic, the external dimensions of which are close to the internal dimensions of the face 33 of the body 1.

This arrangement has the effect that, once the pocket is in place, it deploys at the time of filling while retaining its upper face 35 suspended from the upper part of the box 1. As a result, it fills regularly while occupying the free volume of the box, filling which was not previously assured.

For better suspension of the pocket 21, the chassis 37 advantageously includes lugs 38 which are fixed in attachment housings 39 provided in the wall of the body 1. Only three lugs 38 have been provided, at the corners of the chassis 37, the ring 22 constituting for its part a fourth point of attachment to the body 1.

According to a preferred arrangement, the frame 37 is fixed to the face 35 by means of a plastic flange 41 of thickness of the order of 0.5 to 1 mm. Indeed, the chassis 37, to be sufficiently rigid must have a significant thickness, for example of the order of 3 mm and its fixing on the pocket would be difficult to achieve by welding, which on the contrary allows the use of a flange sufficiently thin. The chassis 37 is shown as openwork in its central part, which is not essential.

The pocket 21 is produced by peripheral welding 34 of two flat sheets 21a, 21b, having the shape of a rectangle at knocked down corners (Figure 8). Each side of this rectangle is equal to one side of the upper face 35 of the pocket plus twice the half height of the pocket, the dimensions of the pocket being close to the dimensions of the useful internal volume of the case 1. The angles are felled at approximately 45 ° to form cut sections 40 whose distance from the corners of the face 35 is approximately equal to the half-height d of the pocket.

With this arrangement, when the pocket fills it gradually takes the general shape of a parallelepiped as shown in FIG. 7, by folding the zones 36 according to the diagram in FIGS. 7 and 9 (although in a less geometrical way than shown in the drawing) .

This could not be obtained by using rectangular sheets whose corners were not cut down because the pocket then filled in taking an uncontrollable shape so that the regularity and the accuracy of the filling could not be obtained. On the contrary, with the arrangement shown, filling does not pose any problem and the volume of the filled pocket can be guaranteed, especially when this arrangement is combined with the suspension of the upper face 35 by means of the chassis 37.

It can be provided that the plug 23 provided with a tap is not put in place until the time of emptying, the pocket being temporarily closed, for storage and transported by a plug such as a lid screwed onto the ring. and the boucho; with tap coming to replace this cover at the time of use. However, the invention preferably provides for the use of a plug 23 in the form of a flexible teat provided with a tap 24; thus after filling the final plug can be put in place, the valve 24 being retracted into the chimney 7 by pressing the teat during transport (Figure 6) and extracted so that the valve 24 overflows out of the chimney 7 during employment. The fixing of the plug 23 on the ring 22 is then produced after filling, by clipping onto a flange 28 carried by the ring. In addition, an inviolable protective cap 9 is advantageously provided which covers the cap 24 and is clipped by the rods 8 in the washer 29 internal to the chimney 7. This protective cap can be used, in the case of wines, for affixing the holiday stamp.

The washer or flange 29 is also used, in the example shown for fixing the ring 22 in the chimney 7. For this purpose the ring 22 also carries a flange 30, of external diameter less than the internal diameter of the flange 29 and the ring 22 is forced in by elastic deformation, so that the flange 29 is located between the two flanges 30 and 31 of the ring 22.

In the variant of FIGS. 11 and 12, the opening face 11 of the external rigid box 1 is that which carries the chimney 7 and to which the internal pocket 21 adapts. In this variant, the pocket 21 is adapted on the opening face 11, either directly or preferably by means of a chassis 37. The fixing means 38 of this chassis 37 will preferably cooperate with housings 39 provided in the face 11. The positioning of the pocket 21 in the body 1 is made by forcibly placing the legs 38 of the chassis 37 in the housings 39 and the plug 22 in the chimney 7 so that the flange 30, by elastic deformation, comes to protrude and is fixed on the flange 29,

In the case of FIGS. 1 to 10, the removable base 11 is placed after the pocket 21 has been put in place and the filling is carried out.

In the case of FIGS. 11 and 12, it is in face 11 that the pocket is put in place, and all of the face 11 and the pocket is put in place in the box 1 before filling.

For example, the container shown may have an overall section of 200 mm x 300 mm and a height of approximately 340 mm for a stacked height of 320 mm (ie in stacking a volume of 19.2 1 for 15 useful liters hence a volume utilization coefficient of 78

On a standard pallet of 1.2 mx 1 m, it can be housed without risk of collapse and with excellent stability (4 x 5) x 6 = 120 boxes of laden weight 16.5 kg unit or a total weight of 2 tonnes for 1,800 useful liters.

Claims (14)

1. Liquid container composed of a rigid box and a flexible internal pocket (21), characterized in that the box (1) has the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped without internal partitioning, with ribs (25) entirely external comprising stacking ribs, having a removable opening bottom (11) in one piece, in the form of a rimmed bowl fitting into the external body (1), all of the side walls of the body being provided with means non-return hooking of said bottom, said box being provided with a chimney (7) the wall of which projects partially outside the box, this external projection forming part of the annular ribs (2, 3) for stacking the box, and in that the flexible pocket (21) is of volume greater than the internal volume of the box, consisting of an extra-flexible waterproof film, of thickness less than 0.5 mm provided on its opening with a ring (22) of external diameter close to the internal diameter of the chimney (7), provided with means s for the adaptation of a removable valve (24) and carrying on its external face a flange (30) cooperating with an internal flange (29) of the chimney. 2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal pocket (21) is produced by peripheral welding of two sets of flat sheets, each set consisting of two extra thin sheets of the extruded polyethylene type between which a middle film is interposed constituting oxygen barrier. 3. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the external box is made of injected thermoplastic, the ribs (25) of rigidity being placed on the external face and the ribs (2, 5) of the upper face. being arranged so as to ensure stacking both normal and crossed by a configuration in annular studs (3) cooperating with the lower belt (6) of the container, the chimney (7) being placed inside one of these studs annulars. 4. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lateral faces of the box are provided with lights (5) in which engage the recesses or hooks (13) carried by lips (12) carried by the edges of the tank (11), turned towards the inside of the box, said lips (12) obstructing the openings (S). 5. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the face provided with a chimney (7), the upper edge of which forms part of the stacking ribbing and in which the tap (24) carried by the ring (22) is the face opposite the removable bottom (11). 6. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plug (23) provided with a tap (24) is in the form of a flexible teat carrying said tap at its end, the skirt of this teat being clipped onto a flange provided at the end of the ring (22) linked to the flexible bag (21) so that the tap (24) in the folded position is set back relative to the upper face of the chimney (7). 7. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the attachment of the ring (22) in the chimney (7) is obtained by cooperation of at least one internal flange (29) carried by the chimney ( 7) with at least one external flange (30, 31) carried by the ring (22), the flange (29) having an internal diameter smaller than that of the flange (30) and the ring (22) being put in place by force sinking and elastic deformation. 8. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a tamper-evident capsule cap (9) is provided fixed by clipping into the chimney (7) by means of rods (8) cooperating with the box. outer casing independently of the flexible pocket including the sleeve of fixing on box and access to the tap become inviolable. 9. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the face (35) of the internal pocket (21) which carries the ring (22) is fixed on at least the periphery of a chassis (37) relatively rigid external dimensions close to the internal dimensions of the face (33) of the external box (1) which carries the chimney (7), said frame (37) being provided with fixing means (38) on the external rigid box. 10. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the chassis (37) is fixed by welding to the internal pocket (21) by means of a flange (41) made of plastic material such as polyethylene , of relatively thin thickness, of the order of 0.5 to 1 mm. 11. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for fixing the chassis (37) to the external body (1) consists of lugs (38) carried by the chassis (37) and cooperating with housings (39) provided in the body (1). 12. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the opening face (11) of the external box (1) of the container is that which carries the chimney (7) and the frame (37) on which is fixed. the internal pocket (22) is fixed on said opening face (11). 13. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the internal extra-flexible pocket is produced by peripheral welding of two sheets or series of flat sheets having the shape of a rectangle with the angles cut down in the form of cut sides (40 ). 14. Container according to claim 13, characterized in that that each side of the rectangle having the approximate dimension the sum of the internal useful length of one side of the face (33) of the external rigid box (1) which carries the chimney (7) and of the internal useful length of said box in the direction perpendicular to this face, and the angles being cut down into sections (40) cut at approximately 45 ° so that their distance from the angles of the face (35) carrying the ring (22) is close to the half length of the body (1) in the direction perpendicular to this face (35).

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