EP0093480B1 - Improvements in or relating to vacuum packaging - Google Patents
Improvements in or relating to vacuum packaging Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0093480B1 EP0093480B1 EP83300134A EP83300134A EP0093480B1 EP 0093480 B1 EP0093480 B1 EP 0093480B1 EP 83300134 A EP83300134 A EP 83300134A EP 83300134 A EP83300134 A EP 83300134A EP 0093480 B1 EP0093480 B1 EP 0093480B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- support sheet
- cover film
- formation
- product
- collector
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
- 238000009461 vacuum packaging Methods 0.000 title claims description 6
- 239000013039 cover film Substances 0.000 claims description 46
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 claims description 37
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 23
- 238000007789 sealing Methods 0.000 claims description 14
- 238000004806 packaging method and process Methods 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- 239000002131 composite material Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 238000009966 trimming Methods 0.000 claims description 4
- 239000000945 filler Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000000047 product Substances 0.000 description 68
- 238000005755 formation reaction Methods 0.000 description 27
- 239000010408 film Substances 0.000 description 5
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000000994 depressogenic effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000004794 expanded polystyrene Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000004080 punching Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000002356 single layer Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000000725 suspension Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000003466 welding Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000037303 wrinkles Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000001070 adhesive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000003491 array Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000007795 chemical reaction product Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000011065 in-situ storage Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005192 partition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003252 repetitive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000003856 thermoforming Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
- B65B31/02—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas
- B65B31/021—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas the containers or wrappers being interconnected
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B11/00—Wrapping, e.g. partially or wholly enclosing, articles or quantities of material, in strips, sheets or blanks, of flexible material
- B65B11/50—Enclosing articles, or quantities of material, by disposing contents between two sheets, e.g. pocketed sheets, and securing their opposed free margins
- B65B11/52—Enclosing articles, or quantities of material, by disposing contents between two sheets, e.g. pocketed sheets, and securing their opposed free margins one sheet being rendered plastic, e.g. by heating, and forced by fluid pressure, e.g. vacuum, into engagement with the other sheet and contents, e.g. skin-, blister-, or bubble- packaging
Definitions
- the present invention provides an improved method and apparatus for producing a vacuum package, and in particular so as to avoid or reduce the incidence of "webbing" around tall products packaged on a relatively flat support.
- the present invention provides a process for vacuum packaging, comprising placing at least one product article on a support sheet and covering that product article with a cover film sealed to the support sheet with the application of vacuum around the product article or articles and between the support sheet and cover film, as known e.g. from US-A-3 204 384, such process being characterised by the step of providing an upstanding or recess formation on the side of the support sheet to which the cover film is attached during the closing operation, such formation serving as a cover film "collector" to absorb material of the cover film which would otherwise form webbing on the adjacent product article.
- the "collector" formation alongside the product article or array of product articles may comprise a thermoformed upstanding rib in the support sheet, or a filler strip laid on the support sheet, or an upstanding marginal rib in the case of a rigid support sheet, or a recess in the support sheet due to local downward deformation.
- Each of these possibilities for the "collector” formation constitutes a particularly convenient way of defining a location to absorb surplus cover film material so as to avoid webbing.
- the "collector" formation and the collected cover film material is subsequently trimmed from the finished pack to leave an attractive end product with no sign of the surplus cover film.
- this process is incorporated in a fully automated packaging line by carrying out the packaging on a continuous cycle in which the support sheet and the cover film are advanced to a sealing station with a plurality of product articles on the support sheet; and, after sealing, the product articles which are packed simultaneously at the sealing station are trimmed from the continuous composite web comprising the support sheet and cover film.
- Other ways of achieving the collector formation are well within the capability of the expert in this field.
- the invention also provides apparatus for vacuum packaging, comprising: a vacuum chamber adapted to receive a support sheet and a cover film over the support sheet; and means for evacuating a space between the cover film and support sheet to form a vacuum pack of the cover film sealed to the support sheet around a product article; characterised by means defining an upstanding or recess formation in the cover film to define a cover film "collector" in the finished pack to absorb cover film material which would otherwise form webbing on a said product article being packed.
- the means defining an upstanding or recess formation includes an adjustable rib projecting into the chamber, thereby allowing the height of the rib, and hence the volume of cover film "collected", to be adjusted according to the height of the product article being packaged.
- means may be provided for retracting the rib and for extending it into the chamber once the chamber is closed.
- the base mould has no upstanding formation to impede horizontal advance of a web of packs and indexing of a fresh product article or batch of product articles to the packaging station.
- Figure 1 shows the package as comprising a support sheet 10 on which are placed product articles 11, 12, 13, 14 which are then covered by a cover film 15.
- FIG. 3 shows an upstanding rib 17 which, in accordance with one form of the present invention, is positioned alongside the array of product articles.
- Figure 4 shows the formation of such a package by placing a cover 19, having a downwardly concave cavity to define a vacuum chamber above the cover film 15, a base 20 co-operating with cover 19.
- the "dummy products" are in the form of upstanding ribs formed in the support sheet 10 by liftable plates 21 each of which is actuated by a respective fluid pressure-operated ram (either pneumatic or hydraulic) 22 only one of-which is shown in Figure 4.
- Figure 5 shows an overhead perspective view of the base 20 of Figure 4, including the two "dummy product"-defining plates 21 but, for the purpose of simplicity of illustration, the operating rams 22 have been omitted from this drawing.
- the operation of the apparatus of Figures 4 and 5, and of the process exemplified by Figures 3, 4 and 5 is as follows:-
- the "dummy product"-defining plates 21 are able to be retracted into the base 20 so that the support sheet 10 can be substantially flat as it is moved into position on the base 20.
- the cover 19 descends and the vacuum chamber space defined in the clearance between the cover 19 and the base 20 is evacuated in such a sequence as to draw the cover film 15 down onto the support sheet 10.
- the rams 22 are operated to raise the "dummy product"-defining plates 21 to a position shown in Figure 4 where they deform the now clamped support sheet 10, and the cover film 15 thereon, upwardly to define the illustrated "dummy product" ribs 17.
- the cover film 15 is heated before this vacuum draping operation in which it is draped onto the support sheet 10.
- the heating can be either by means of radiant heaters positioned in the path of the cover film 15 towards the sealing station defined by the chamber cover 19 and the base 20, or alternatively some heating means may be incorporated in the chamber cover 19 and the cover film 15 may be attracted into contact with the hot cavity within the cover 19 by a pressure differential.
- the latter system will be substantially as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,694,991 (Perdue et al).
- Alternative processes may be substantially as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,491,504 (Young et al), U.S. Patent No.
- Figure 4 shows one form of means for opening and closing the chamber 19, 20, namely a fluid pressure-operated jack 23 programmed to operate in a repetitive cycle coordinated with operation of the feed means 25 for the support sheet 10 and the cover film 15 so that the film-advancing movement occurs while the chamber is open, and the film advance is interrupted as the chamber closes.
- a suitable vacuum source is connected to the duct 24 for evacuating the space between the support sheet 10 and the cover film 15, the evacuation operation being coordinated, by means of a central programmer, with the operation of the chamber-opening and-closing means in a programme which is well known to the expert in this art.
- any convenient number of such articles, even including only one article, may be packaged during each operating phase of the vacuum chamber 19, 20 defining the sealing station.
- the package Upon completion of the sealing operation, the package will have the configuration shown in Figure 4 in that the raised "dummy product"- defining ribs 17 will remain in the support sheet 10 and the "webbing" 18 (not shown in Figure 4) will then extend outwardly towards the margin of the support sheet 10.
- the support sheet 10 may itself be heated so as to undergo a degree of thermoforming in the deformation process.
- the chamber cover 19 is then raised, and the composite sheet 10-15 is advanced to a trimming station where the lateral margins of the composite sheet 10, 15, including the remaining "dummy product"-defining ribs 17, are trimmed off and the package shown in Figure 3 is severed from a continuous strip of such packages having a succession of such rectangular arrays of product articles 11-14 thereon.
- the individual product articles 11, 12, 13 and 14 in each array may then be severed from one another to provide four separate vacuum packages.
- a rather more important advantage of the present process is that, by appropriate selection of the height of the "dummy product"-defining ribs 17, it is possible to reduce the magnitude of the "webbing” 18 to such an extent that there will no longer be a risk of leakage of the finished pack.
- this array itself is substantially free of "webbing". It is, after all, vacuum on the product articles themselves which is being aimed for and thus it is the occurrence of "webbing" at those corners which could give rise to unacceptable leakage; this has been avoided by the process of the present invention.
- the height of the "dummy product"-defining ribs 17 is preferably adjustable and consequently the raised position of each of the plates 21 is preferably itself adjustable by means such as the rams 22 shown in Figure 4, so as to allow optimisation of the height of the ribs 17 in dependence on the heights of the individual product articles 11-14.
- the plates 21 may be normally fixed in use of the apparatus but adjustable in height to allow for different heights of product.
- the height of the cavity in the underside of the cover 19 may be adjustable as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3835618.
- the apparatus illustrated in Figure 4 is particularly advantageous in that it does not require the presence of partition walls between the individual product articles and consequently the same chamber configuration can be used for various different layouts of product articles on the support sheet 10.
- An alternative embodiment of the process is one in which the plates 21 are no longer required but, instead, "dummy products" in the form of filler strips are laid on the support sheet 10 in the selvage region where the ribs 17 arise in Figures 3 and 4. These "dummy products” are preferably disposable items so that they can be discarded with the trimmed selvage at the subsequent trimming station.
- a further possibility, particularly suitable in the case of packaging using relatively stiff backing boards, such as an expanded polystyrene tray coated with an air-impervious surface film to facilitate vacuum packaging, is one in which the lateral edges of a generally flat horizontal tray extend upwardly to define "dummy product" formations which will attract the "webbing" and can then be trimmed off as with the embodiment of package shown in Figure 4.
- suspension display of the individual product articles 11, 12, 13 and 14 can be achieved by punching a suspension display hole (not shown) in the peripheral zone of the pack containing such an individual product article, the punching operation taking place simultaneously with the operation of severing the articles one from another.
- any suitable medium may be used for the support sheet, ranging from a single or multi-layer film preferably having a heat-sealable upper surface, to a rigid or semi-rigid material, for example the above-mentioned expanded polystyrene board having a coating on its upper surface to hold vacuum and, preferably, to render it heat-sealable.
- a heat sealing self-welding may be employed as the sealing mechanism, or an adhesive action may be used.
- the cover film 15 may be of single layer or multi-layer construction, preferably having a heat-sealable layer coming into contact with the support sheet to facilitate sealing.
- Such single layer or multi-layer films of self-welding or heat-sealable type are well known in the art.
- Fig. 6 shows an alternative embodiment in which the cover film "collector" formation is defined not by a “dummy product” but instead by a local downwardly deformed region or recess formation 17a in the support sheet.
- surplus cover film of the sheet 15 (around the adjacent product article 14) is absorbed in the recess on the upper concave face of depressed formation 17a and webbing at the product article 14 is considerably reduced and even substantially eliminated.
- the recess type of "collector" formation defines an aperture of adequate size in the support sheet and may simply be a hole in the support sheet.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
- Vacuum Packaging (AREA)
- Containers And Plastic Fillers For Packaging (AREA)
- Blow-Moulding Or Thermoforming Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
Description
- The present invention provides an improved method and apparatus for producing a vacuum package, and in particular so as to avoid or reduce the incidence of "webbing" around tall products packaged on a relatively flat support.
- It is a well known problem that when packaging relatively tall products by placing them on a support board on which a cover sheet is draped while in a heat-softened condition, the cover sheet attaches itself to the support board, as desired, but leaves unsightly "webbing" where folds arise in the cover sheet around the edges of the product. This webbing is particularly undesirable because it gives rise to leakages in the finished package.
- We now proposed to provide a vacuum package comprising at least one product article on a support, substantially without any wrinkles or webbing around the product in the finished package.
- Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for vacuum packaging, comprising placing at least one product article on a support sheet and covering that product article with a cover film sealed to the support sheet with the application of vacuum around the product article or articles and between the support sheet and cover film, as known e.g. from US-A-3 204 384, such process being characterised by the step of providing an upstanding or recess formation on the side of the support sheet to which the cover film is attached during the closing operation, such formation serving as a cover film "collector" to absorb material of the cover film which would otherwise form webbing on the adjacent product article.
- The "collector" formation alongside the product article or array of product articles may comprise a thermoformed upstanding rib in the support sheet, or a filler strip laid on the support sheet, or an upstanding marginal rib in the case of a rigid support sheet, or a recess in the support sheet due to local downward deformation. Each of these possibilities for the "collector" formation constitutes a particularly convenient way of defining a location to absorb surplus cover film material so as to avoid webbing.
- Preferably the "collector" formation and the collected cover film material is subsequently trimmed from the finished pack to leave an attractive end product with no sign of the surplus cover film.
- Advantageously this process is incorporated in a fully automated packaging line by carrying out the packaging on a continuous cycle in which the support sheet and the cover film are advanced to a sealing station with a plurality of product articles on the support sheet; and, after sealing, the product articles which are packed simultaneously at the sealing station are trimmed from the continuous composite web comprising the support sheet and cover film. Other ways of achieving the collector formation are well within the capability of the expert in this field.
- The invention also provides apparatus for vacuum packaging, comprising: a vacuum chamber adapted to receive a support sheet and a cover film over the support sheet; and means for evacuating a space between the cover film and support sheet to form a vacuum pack of the cover film sealed to the support sheet around a product article; characterised by means defining an upstanding or recess formation in the cover film to define a cover film "collector" in the finished pack to absorb cover film material which would otherwise form webbing on a said product article being packed.
- Preferably the means defining an upstanding or recess formation includes an adjustable rib projecting into the chamber, thereby allowing the height of the rib, and hence the volume of cover film "collected", to be adjusted according to the height of the product article being packaged.
- Advantageously, means may be provided for retracting the rib and for extending it into the chamber once the chamber is closed. Thus, in an automated packaging line the base mould has no upstanding formation to impede horizontal advance of a web of packs and indexing of a fresh product article or batch of product articles to the packaging station.
- In order that the present invention may more readily be understood the following description is given, merely by way of example, of one embodiment of a method in accordance with the present invention, in which an array of four product articles is packed simultaneously across a web.
- This embodiment is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-
- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a prior art package showing "webbing" formed at the corners of the rectangular array of four rectangular parallelepiped-shaped product articles;
- Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;
- Figure 3 is a top plan view of a similar package but when formed by the method in accordance with the present invention;
- Figure 4 is a schematic sectional view showing the vacuum chamber closed around the product articles and films during the formation of the package of Figure 3;
- Figure 5 is an overhead perspective view showing the base portion of the chamber illustrated in Figure 4;
- Figure 6 is a detail, on the same section plane as Figure 4, but showing a depressed cover film "collector" formation.
- Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 shows the package as comprising a
support sheet 10 on which are placedproduct articles cover film 15. - At the four corners of the rectangular array of product articles are "webbing"
formations 16, one of which is shown in sectional view in Figure 2. - We have now discovered that if a cover film "collector" formation such as a "dummy product"-like formation is arranged alongside an article such as 11, 12, 13 or 14 any "webbing" is formed around that "dummy product" rather than on the nearest adjacent article of the array. Thus, Figure 3 shows an
upstanding rib 17 which, in accordance with one form of the present invention, is positioned alongside the array of product articles. In this case there are two such "dummies" 17, one at each end of the array of product articles and (by careful choice of heights of these "dummies") each attracting a much smaller "webbing"formation 18 extending in a direction towards the adjacent edge of thesupport sheet 10, and therefore away from theadjacent product article - In this particular embodiment there are four product articles each of rectangular parallelepiped-shape, and arranged in a rectangular array with the two "dummy products" extending parallel to the shorter sides of that array. However, any other configuration is possible provided the "dummy products" formed in accordance with the present invention are positioned relative to an adjacent product article (which may be the only product article on the support base) such as to avoid the formation of "webbing" with that article.
- Figure 4 shows the formation of such a package by placing a cover 19, having a downwardly concave cavity to define a vacuum chamber above the
cover film 15, abase 20 co-operating with cover 19. - In this particular embodiment the "dummy products" are in the form of upstanding ribs formed in the
support sheet 10 byliftable plates 21 each of which is actuated by a respective fluid pressure-operated ram (either pneumatic or hydraulic) 22 only one of-which is shown in Figure 4. - Figure 5 shows an overhead perspective view of the
base 20 of Figure 4, including the two "dummy product"-definingplates 21 but, for the purpose of simplicity of illustration, theoperating rams 22 have been omitted from this drawing. The operation of the apparatus of Figures 4 and 5, and of the process exemplified by Figures 3, 4 and 5 is as follows:- - A
continuous support sheet 10 is advanced over thebase 20 in a direction parallel to the extent of the two "dummy product"-definingplates 21 to index a fresh portion of the support sheet, with an array of fourproduct articles base 20, ready to be sealed by the vertical reciprocable cover 19. - In this particular embodiment of the process, the "dummy product"-defining
plates 21 are able to be retracted into thebase 20 so that thesupport sheet 10 can be substantially flat as it is moved into position on thebase 20. Once thecover film 15 has arrived under the chamber cover 19, the cover 19 descends and the vacuum chamber space defined in the clearance between the cover 19 and thebase 20 is evacuated in such a sequence as to draw thecover film 15 down onto thesupport sheet 10. At this time, or slightly earlier but after closing of the cover 19 onto thebase 20, therams 22 are operated to raise the "dummy product"-definingplates 21 to a position shown in Figure 4 where they deform the now clampedsupport sheet 10, and thecover film 15 thereon, upwardly to define the illustrated "dummy product"ribs 17. - Although not mentioned above, it will of course be understood that the
cover film 15 is heated before this vacuum draping operation in which it is draped onto thesupport sheet 10. The heating can be either by means of radiant heaters positioned in the path of thecover film 15 towards the sealing station defined by the chamber cover 19 and thebase 20, or alternatively some heating means may be incorporated in the chamber cover 19 and thecover film 15 may be attracted into contact with the hot cavity within the cover 19 by a pressure differential. The latter system will be substantially as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,694,991 (Perdue et al). Alternative processes may be substantially as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,491,504 (Young et al), U.S. Patent No. 3,634,993 (Pasco and Wolfelsperger), U.K. Patent No, 1,445,285 (Du Pont), U.S. Patent No. 3,260,032 (Hill et al) or in Modern Packaging (May 1971) at pages 60 to 62. - Figure 4 shows one form of means for opening and closing the
chamber 19, 20, namely a fluid pressure-operated jack 23 programmed to operate in a repetitive cycle coordinated with operation of the feed means 25 for thesupport sheet 10 and thecover film 15 so that the film-advancing movement occurs while the chamber is open, and the film advance is interrupted as the chamber closes. A suitable vacuum source is connected to theduct 24 for evacuating the space between thesupport sheet 10 and thecover film 15, the evacuation operation being coordinated, by means of a central programmer, with the operation of the chamber-opening and-closing means in a programme which is well known to the expert in this art. - Although the above description relates to the simultaneous packaging of a set of
articles vacuum chamber 19, 20 defining the sealing station. - Upon completion of the sealing operation, the package will have the configuration shown in Figure 4 in that the raised "dummy product"- defining
ribs 17 will remain in thesupport sheet 10 and the "webbing" 18 (not shown in Figure 4) will then extend outwardly towards the margin of thesupport sheet 10. To enhance this operation, thesupport sheet 10 may itself be heated so as to undergo a degree of thermoforming in the deformation process. - The chamber cover 19 is then raised, and the composite sheet 10-15 is advanced to a trimming station where the lateral margins of the
composite sheet ribs 17, are trimmed off and the package shown in Figure 3 is severed from a continuous strip of such packages having a succession of such rectangular arrays of product articles 11-14 thereon. Optionally, theindividual product articles - It has been found that the process described above considerably reduces the formation of "webbing" and bearing in mind that the webbing is then formed in the selvage at the edge of the composite web the wrinkles can be completely eliminated from the finished package by trimming. Thus the aesthetic appeal of the finished package is much better than with the prior art pack where more substantial corner "webbing" 16 is noticeable.
- A rather more important advantage of the present process is that, by appropriate selection of the height of the "dummy product"-defining
ribs 17, it is possible to reduce the magnitude of the "webbing" 18 to such an extent that there will no longer be a risk of leakage of the finished pack. In any case, bearing in mind that the "webbing" 18 is now formed at the "dummy product"- definingribs 17 away from the corners of the array of product articles 11-14, this array itself is substantially free of "webbing". It is, after all, vacuum on the product articles themselves which is being aimed for and thus it is the occurrence of "webbing" at those corners which could give rise to unacceptable leakage; this has been avoided by the process of the present invention. - As indicated above, the height of the "dummy product"-defining
ribs 17 is preferably adjustable and consequently the raised position of each of theplates 21 is preferably itself adjustable by means such as therams 22 shown in Figure 4, so as to allow optimisation of the height of theribs 17 in dependence on the heights of the individual product articles 11-14. If desired theplates 21 may be normally fixed in use of the apparatus but adjustable in height to allow for different heights of product. Likewise the height of the cavity in the underside of the cover 19 may be adjustable as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3835618. - As will be appreciated, the apparatus illustrated in Figure 4 is particularly advantageous in that it does not require the presence of partition walls between the individual product articles and consequently the same chamber configuration can be used for various different layouts of product articles on the
support sheet 10. - An alternative embodiment of the process is one in which the
plates 21 are no longer required but, instead, "dummy products" in the form of filler strips are laid on thesupport sheet 10 in the selvage region where theribs 17 arise in Figures 3 and 4. These "dummy products" are preferably disposable items so that they can be discarded with the trimmed selvage at the subsequent trimming station. - A further possibility, particularly suitable in the case of packaging using relatively stiff backing boards, such as an expanded polystyrene tray coated with an air-impervious surface film to facilitate vacuum packaging, is one in which the lateral edges of a generally flat horizontal tray extend upwardly to define "dummy product" formations which will attract the "webbing" and can then be trimmed off as with the embodiment of package shown in Figure 4.
- It is not essential for the
various product articles formation 17 and thenearest product article stiff support sheets 10 in which the "dummy product" formation will be sufficiently rigid to support the weight of the pack. - Otherwise, suspension display of the
individual product articles - Any suitable medium may be used for the support sheet, ranging from a single or multi-layer film preferably having a heat-sealable upper surface, to a rigid or semi-rigid material, for example the above-mentioned expanded polystyrene board having a coating on its upper surface to hold vacuum and, preferably, to render it heat-sealable. Instead of heat sealing, self-welding may be employed as the sealing mechanism, or an adhesive action may be used. Similarly, the
cover film 15 may be of single layer or multi-layer construction, preferably having a heat-sealable layer coming into contact with the support sheet to facilitate sealing. Such single layer or multi-layer films of self-welding or heat-sealable type are well known in the art. - Fig. 6 shows an alternative embodiment in which the cover film "collector" formation is defined not by a "dummy product" but instead by a local downwardly deformed region or recess formation 17a in the support sheet. Upon vacuum sealing, surplus cover film of the sheet 15 (around the adjacent product article 14) is absorbed in the recess on the upper concave face of depressed formation 17a and webbing at the
product article 14 is considerably reduced and even substantially eliminated. - Generally the recess type of "collector" formation defines an aperture of adequate size in the support sheet and may simply be a hole in the support sheet.
- The process for forming the pack shown in Figure 6 will be analogous to the process employing upstanding "dummy pack" formations and the "collector" recess or aperture may be preformed or formed in situ in the chamber. The design of suitable apparatus for achieving this is well within the capability of the expert in this art. As will be readily appreciated, the description given above is merely by way of example and is capable of being varied to a wide degree by the expert skilled in this art, while remaining within the scope of the following claims.
Claims (10)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
IT21030/82A IT1151393B (en) | 1982-04-30 | 1982-04-30 | PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT FOR VACUUM PACKAGING |
IT2103082 | 1982-04-30 |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0093480A2 EP0093480A2 (en) | 1983-11-09 |
EP0093480A3 EP0093480A3 (en) | 1984-12-19 |
EP0093480B1 true EP0093480B1 (en) | 1986-04-16 |
Family
ID=11175646
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP83300134A Expired EP0093480B1 (en) | 1982-04-30 | 1983-01-11 | Improvements in or relating to vacuum packaging |
Country Status (8)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0093480B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JPS58193225A (en) |
AU (1) | AU561552B2 (en) |
BR (1) | BR8302137A (en) |
CA (1) | CA1259024A (en) |
DE (1) | DE3362974D1 (en) |
DK (1) | DK157742C (en) |
IT (1) | IT1151393B (en) |
Families Citing this family (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
IT1153034B (en) * | 1982-11-15 | 1987-01-14 | Grace W R & Co | PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT FOR VACUUM PACKAGING AND REACTIVE PACKAGING |
US4684025A (en) * | 1986-01-30 | 1987-08-04 | The Procter & Gamble Company | Shaped thermoformed flexible film container for granular products and method and apparatus for making the same |
GB2271546A (en) * | 1992-10-19 | 1994-04-20 | Grace W R & Co | Vacuum packaging chamber and method |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3204384A (en) * | 1962-09-13 | 1965-09-07 | Ludlow Corp | Skin packaging method and apparatus |
US3835618A (en) * | 1973-01-22 | 1974-09-17 | Grace W R & Co | Apparatus for producing vacuum skin packages in multiples |
JPS54159090A (en) * | 1978-06-05 | 1979-12-15 | Ishikawa Seisakusho Kk | Method of preventing creases in vacuum film wrapping |
-
1982
- 1982-04-30 IT IT21030/82A patent/IT1151393B/en active
- 1982-12-06 CA CA000417056A patent/CA1259024A/en not_active Expired
-
1983
- 1983-01-11 DE DE8383300134T patent/DE3362974D1/en not_active Expired
- 1983-01-11 EP EP83300134A patent/EP0093480B1/en not_active Expired
- 1983-01-14 DK DK015283A patent/DK157742C/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1983-04-27 BR BR8302137A patent/BR8302137A/en unknown
- 1983-04-28 JP JP58074131A patent/JPS58193225A/en active Pending
- 1983-04-29 AU AU14095/83A patent/AU561552B2/en not_active Ceased
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
AU1409583A (en) | 1983-11-03 |
DK157742C (en) | 1990-07-30 |
BR8302137A (en) | 1983-12-27 |
EP0093480A3 (en) | 1984-12-19 |
DK157742B (en) | 1990-02-12 |
AU561552B2 (en) | 1987-05-14 |
DK15283A (en) | 1983-10-31 |
IT1151393B (en) | 1986-12-17 |
JPS58193225A (en) | 1983-11-10 |
DK15283D0 (en) | 1983-01-14 |
DE3362974D1 (en) | 1986-05-22 |
EP0093480A2 (en) | 1983-11-09 |
IT8221030A0 (en) | 1982-04-30 |
CA1259024A (en) | 1989-09-05 |
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