EP0093849B1 - Package for fluid materials with a reclosable opening - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a pack for flowable filling goods, consisting of tubularly connected to one another via at least one longitudinal sealing seam, of carrier material consisting of at least one side with thermoplastic, e.g. B. cardboard, existing side walls and end walls, which are attached to the ends of the tube, form the bottom and lid of the pack and of which a cover end wall is made of thermoplastic material without carrier material, is injection molded along its outer edge on the side walls and one after has a pouring device folded inside the outer contour of the pack, and the other end wall, which represents the bottom, is square.

The type of pack that has currently become the most popular for the transport of liquids, particularly milk and fruit juices, is a parallelepipedic pack, which consists of a tube made of a plastic material coated on both sides, which is closed at the ends by cross-sealing ribs in the area of the end walls and is brought into a parallelepiped shape, so that there are two opposite, double-walled triangular flaps on each end wall, which first protrude outwards from the end walls of the pack and are finally folded over against adjacent side walls or the end walls of the pack.

Many such packs are also used for powdery and granular contents. In some known packs, the pouring opening is formed by punching perforation lines or other lines of weakness in the outer pack layer, which are torn off after the corresponding triangular flap has been unfolded.

In contrast, from DE-OS 2210013 a liquid pack of the type mentioned is known. Here, the side walls are also made of cardboard coated with thermoplastic, but the lid and base are made of thermoplastic without a carrier material. Disadvantageously, it is difficult to produce the lid and base separately without expensive injection molding tools and to attach them to the paper tube in a correctly adjusted manner. When ready for filling, the package is designed such that the lid is injection molded along its four edges, but the bottom is only molded onto the side walls along one edge to fill the package. The package is upside down for filling; because the one-piece lid provided with the opening device is initially arranged at the bottom, while the base, which is only molded on along its one side edge, is arranged at the top with the tube of the ready-to-fill pack open next to it.

After filling, the well-known package is closed on its bottom. Difficulties in the centering and exactly liquid-tight welding can sometimes arise here, or at least the mechanical outlay is not inconsiderable even when closing the end wall forming the base.

From EP-A-52 261 a package for flowable filling goods is already known which, like the package according to the invention, contains the features described at the beginning, the cross section of the package being square in the area of the bottom and round in the area of the lid. This is an older proposal in accordance with Article 54 (3), in which the floor also consists of cardboard coated with thermoplastic at least on one side and has at least two opposite triangular tabs, which point inwards around the lower edge between the floor and side wall into the floor level folded and fixed in this position. In this proposal, however, the triangular lobes are not covered by other bottom wall parts. However, since this is provided according to the invention, the subject matter of the invention is new compared to this older proposal. The older proposal is irrelevant to the question of inventive step.

The invention is therefore based on the object of creating a package of the type specified in the introduction and thereby improving the known packaging in such a way that good sealing properties are ensured with optimum saving of material and a practical base with an easier closure is formed in a simple manner.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the base is also made of carrier material coated on at least one side with thermoplastic, e.g. Cardboard, exists and has at least two mutually opposite triangular flaps, which are folded inwards around the lower edge between the floor and side wall into the floor plane, are fixed in this position and are at least partially covered by other floor wall parts. This makes it easy to design a practical floor that offers good stability, is material-saving and has good sealing properties.

It is also advantageous if two opposite triangular flaps of the base are folded around the bottom edge in the bottom plane and are completely covered by the adjacent base wall parts. The two opposite triangular tabs are placed in the plane of the package bottom and are then arranged substantially perpendicular to the side walls. The still open parts are closed by the adjacent bottom wall parts by subsequently folding them down, whereby the complete covering of these bottom wall parts, which were last folded down to the level of the floor, creates an appealing closure device, each covering the floor half with a smooth wall.

It is also expedient here if the bottom has a transverse sealing seam which extends between two opposite lower edges between the bottom and the side wall. If, in a further embodiment of the invention, the transverse sealing seam is folded four times as thick and folded flat around the center folding edge common to the bottom, this results not only in a very stable but also practical and easy-to-stack pack for the user.

Another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that two pairs of opposing triangular flaps are folded over to form the bottom at the bottom around the respective lower edge, the bottom wall parts arranged therebetween are sealed to one another in a liquid-tight manner and are connected to one another in a liquid-tight manner at the common center by a plastic sealing drop. This type of star closure requires not only two but four triangular flaps, each opposing each other, which practically already predefine the bottom wall after folding over the lower edge into the above-mentioned floor level. Due to the sealing of the bottom wall parts lying between the triangular lobes, all edges are liquid-tight except for the center. The common center is then additionally closed liquid-tight according to the teaching of the invention by a sealing drop made of thermoplastic plastic.

In order to create a practical appearance of such a floor with good stability, the invention further provides that the bottom wall parts arranged between the triangular lobes are triangular and folded over onto the triangular lobes.

The invention creates a plasticizer package in which a hitherto unusual combination of completely different closure walls is used on the end walls. In contrast to the known package described above, only the end wall forming the lid should consist of pure thermoplastic material; the floor, on the other hand, is to be closed by a fold and seal, as in the conventional packs, and the opening of the end wall designs which have been customary up to now has repeatedly caused difficulties.

This combination of the two completely different bulkhead manufacturing systems is by no means obvious, especially since there are no manufacturing machines that promise to solve the above-mentioned problem when using such a principle.

With the new principle according to the invention, that of creating a front wall as a pure plastic cover and the base in the classic square shape, it is possible to produce flux packs in the form of cubes, cuboids or other designs. For example, it is expedient if the lid and the cross section of the package are round at least in the area of the lid and if the shape of the lid is the form of use during and immediately after the spraying process. The last-mentioned feature means that the lid, which is only made of thermoplastic, is injection molded in the shape of its use. So he has of course during the spraying process and also to the next processing stage, the z. B. includes deforming the lid, the form of use, d. H. the form in which the end user opens the pack, pours out the contents and, if necessary, closes the pack again. The advantage of this measure lies in the fact that, as a rule, thermoplastic plastic tends to return to its production mold after it has been deformed. It is easy and pleasant for the housewife to convert an opening device from a deformed design into the production injection mold by pulling or pushing. In the present case, the lid molded onto the side walls is folded in immediately before and then after filling and during transport with respect to its opening device such that the outer contour is not disturbed by protruding parts of the opening device. Therefore, the end user has to pull out the opening device in the lid before use, and this process is considerably facilitated because the thermoplastic tends to return to the manufacturing mold anyway.

• Fig. 1 perspektivisch die verschlossene, gebrauchsfertige Packung einer bevorzugten Ausführungsform der Erfindung von oben, nämlich von der Seite der Ausgiessöffnung her gesehen,
• Fig. 2 ebenfalls perspektivisch die gleiche Pakkung, jedoch mit dem Boden nach oben, wobei der hier unten angeordnete und nicht sichtbare Dekkel so eingedrückt ist, dass keinerlei Teile der Öffnungsvorrichtung über die untere Kante des Deckels über die Gesamtkontur der Packung herausstehen,
• Fig. 3 abgebrochen das Bodenende des Tubus mit Prägelinien für das Klotzbodenformen mit dem Umlegen der Dreiecklappen nach innen, wie in Fig. 2,
• Fig. 4 eine perspektivische Ansicht nach der Klotzbodenfaltung, wobei durch das Einfalten der Dreiecklappen nach innen die Quersiegelnaht kürzer ist,
• Fig. 5 den fertigen Zustand des Bodens dieser Ausführungsform nach den Fig. 3 und 4, wobei die Quersiegelnaht auf den Boden umgelegt gezeigt ist,
• Fig. 6 eine andere Ausführungsform eines Bodens in ähnlicher Darstellung wie Fig. 3, wobei jedoch vier Dreiecklappen vorgesehen sind,
• Fig. 7 eine ähnliche Darstellung wie Fig. 4, perspektivisch wie die Fig. 3 bis 6, vor dem Fertigstellen des Bodens mit noch hochstehenden dreieckförmigen Bodenwandteilen und
• Fig. 8 perspektivisch den fertigen Boden nach der Ausführungsform der Fig. 6 und 7, bei welchem die Bodenwandteile in die Ebene des Bodens umgelegt sind.

Further advantages, features and possible uses of the present invention result from the following description of preferred embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. Show it:

• 1 is a perspective view of the closed, ready-to-use pack of a preferred embodiment of the invention from above, namely seen from the side of the pouring opening,
• 2 also shows the same package in perspective, but with the bottom facing upwards, the cover arranged here and not visible being pressed in so that no parts of the opening device protrude beyond the lower edge of the lid over the overall contour of the package,
• 3 broken off the bottom end of the tube with embossing lines for the block bottom forming with the folding of the triangular flap inwards, as in Fig. 2,
• 4 shows a perspective view after the block bottom fold, the transverse sealing seam being shorter due to the folding in of the triangular flaps,
• 5 shows the finished state of the floor of this embodiment according to FIGS. 3 and 4, the transverse sealing seam being shown folded over on the floor,
• 6 shows another embodiment of a base in a representation similar to FIG. 3, but with four triangular lobes,
• Fig. 7 is a representation similar to Fig. 4, in perspective as Figs. 3 to 6, before finishing the floor with triangular bottom wall parts still standing up and
• Fig. 8 perspective of the finished floor according to the embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7, in which the bottom wall parts are folded into the plane of the bottom.

The pack is described using the figures.

The finished pack for flowable filling goods shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 consists of a total of 1 side walls, because in the embodiment shown here a round cross section is provided in the area of the cover 2 (because the cover 2 is circular in plan view), so that one could differentiate between four side walls at most on the end wall side forming the base 3. For the sake of simplicity, the side walls 1 are referred to in the present description. These are shaped into a tube and connected along the longitudinal sealing seam 4 for the final formation of the closed tube. In Fig. 2 it can be seen that the longitudinal sealing seam 4 extends into the bottom 3, as can be seen from the blank. This tube has the height H in the shape of FIG. 2, which, taking into account the shaping before completion of the base 3, is evidently smaller than the section length from the free top edge 5 of the tube to the top edge 6 of the cover 2.

The lower edge of the finished package results from the line labeled 7, which is shown in Fig. 2. By means of the various fold or embossing lines, which are not described in any more detail and which are shown in FIG. 4, the double cardboard strip 8 (FIG. 2) is formed when the block bottom is formed, in which the barely visible transverse sealing seam 9 is located. The triangular lobes 10a, 10b are also formed here. The base 3 is created in such a way that first the corners, the later tips of the triangular tabs 10a, b, are moved outwards. Then the double cardboard strip 8 is pressed together, the transverse sealing seam 9 is applied, the triangular flaps 10a, b are folded over onto the floor and attached there, for example by point-like heating, so that the state of FIG. 2 is then reached.

This closing on the side of the bottom 3 occurs after the pack has been filled, as will be described below. In other words, the lid 2 is already sealed in a liquid-tight manner on the lower side of the package in FIG. 2. In contrast to the square bottom 3, in the new pack the cover 2, which is preferably, but not necessarily, round, is constructed only from thermoplastic material and without a carrier material. Therefore, the lid can be molded along the outer edge of the tube or the side walls 1, in the shape of the use form, as shown in Fig. 1. In the case of the transport configuration, the pouring device, generally designated 13, is folded inward within the outer contour of the package so that no individual parts of the pouring device 13 protrude beyond the outer edge 6. This ensures perfect stability and good outer packaging (using shrink films or the like).

The pouring device 13 is seated centrally on the lid 2 in the form of an annular collar 14 which stands upwards outwards, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper edge 15 of which is connected to a sealing plug 16 with a welded gripping ring 17.

Between the outer edge of the lid and the annular collar 14 is a truncated cone surface, which in the state of FIG. in use, protrudes outwards and protrudes inwards at approximately the same angle in the transport form. A line of weakness at the upper edge of the ring collar 14 forms an almost 360 ° weak point around the sealing plug 16 so that it can be easily torn out to open the package. The connection point 23 (FIG. 1) of the gripping ring 17 is located next to the line of weakness.

The ring collar 14 of the cover, which is only made of thermoplastic, can be circular, oval, polygonal or the like and is high on the outside. With the truncated cone shape of the cover, it is expedient if the ring collar is arranged in the center. With other lid shapes, the ring collar can also be arranged laterally near the edge, so that the pouring edge has to be closer to the edge of the lid when pouring.

In the embodiment according to FIGS. 3 to 5 it can be seen that the end walls 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d are tubularly connected by a longitudinal sealing seam 4a lying in a corner. 3 to 8, the bottom 3a can only be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 on the one hand and FIG. 8 on the other hand.

Between the side wall parts 1b and 1d and the triangular flap 10a and 10b, one can see the lower edge 7a with the respectively adjacent lower edges 7b, which are arranged in between and extend perpendicular to these. Furthermore, at the level of the tip of the triangular flaps 10a and 10b, folding edges are provided all around, which are provided to form the transverse sealing seam 9a according to FIGS. 4 and 5. Above the lower edges 7a and 7b, the all-round field is formed, apart from the triangular tabs 10a and 10b, by two mutually opposite adjacent bottom wall parts 100a and 100b and four likewise opposite triangular fields 101a and 101.

If you now fold this block bottom, then the two opposite triangular flaps 10a and 10b are first folded down around the lower edges 7a inwards, that is to say towards each other, so that the two short folding edges 102 move towards one another and remain in close proximity to one another, as is the case recognizes from the perspective top view of FIG. 4. The adjacent bottom wall parts 101a and 101b have been taken along when the triangular flaps 10a and 10b are folded in and thereby also take up at the same time the two adjacent quadrangular bottom wall parts 100a and 100b in such a way that they ultimately reach the position according to FIG. 4. If the transverse sealing seam 9a is then folded over onto the level of the bottom 3a, the final state according to FIG. 5 is reached.

A similar design of the floor can be found in the other embodiment according to FIGS. 6 to 8. Numerous lines and fields are similar to the embodiment according to FIGS. 3 to 5, so that a brief description is sufficient here. The two opposite triangular lobes 10a and 10b can again be seen in FIG. 6, but because of this star-shaped arrangement also in FIGS. 7 and 8. In this embodiment, however, there are two further opposite triangular fields, namely those designated 10c and 10d . These can also be seen in FIGS. 7 and 8. The total of eight triangular base wall parts arranged between them have no reference numbers in FIG. 6. However, when the triangular lobes 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d fall in, they form double-laid, triangular bottom wall parts, which can be seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 and are designated 102a to 102d.

In FIG. 7 it can be seen that the common center point 103 can easily be closed in a liquid-tight manner by means of a plastic sealing drop, which is not shown in the drawings, whereby the four triangular tabs 10a to 10d are thereby also connected to one another.

Claims (6)

1. A pack for filling materials which are capable of flow, comprising side walls (1; 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) which are connected together in a tubular configuration by way of at least one longitudinal sealing seam (4; 4a) and which comprise carrier material for example cardboard which is coated at least on one side with thermoplastic material, and end walls which are disposed at the ends of the tube and form the bottom (3; 3a) and the top (2) of the pack and of which an end wall which forms the top (2) comprises thermoplastic material without carrier material, is injected onto the side wall (1) along the outside edge of said end wall forming the top, and has a pouring means (13) which is folded inwardly of the outside contour of the pack, while the other end wall forming the bottom (3, 3a) is quadrangular, characterised in that the bottom (3; 3a) also comprises carrier material, for example cardboard, which is coated at least on one side with thermoplastic material, and has at least two mutually oppositely disposed triangular flaps (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) which are folded inwardly into the plane of the bottom about the lower edge (7a, 7b) between the bottom and the side wall (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) and are fixed in that position and are at least partially covered over by other bottom wall portions (100a, 100b; 101a, 101b).

2. A pack according to claim 1 characterised in that two mutually oppositely disposed triangular flaps (10a, 10b) of the bottom (3a) are folded over about the lower edge (7a, 7b) right underneath into the plane of the bottom and are completely covered over by the adjacent bottom wall portions (100a, 100b, 101a, 101b) (Figures 3 to 5).

3. A pack according to claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that the bottom (3a) has a transverse sealing seam (9a) extending between two oppositely disposed lower edges (7a, 7b) between the bottom and the side wall (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d).

4. A pack according to claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the transverse sealing seam (3a) is folded to quadruple thickness and is folded about its middle folding edge which is common with the bottom (3a), flat onto the bottom (Figure 5).

5. A pack according to claim 1 characterised in that two pairs of mutually oppositely disposed triangular flaps (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) are folded over around the respective lower edge (7a, 7b) right underneath, forming the bottom (3a), the bottom wall portions (100a, 100b, 101a, 101b) arranged therebetween are fluid-tightly sealed together, and are connected together fluid-tightly in the common centre point (103) by a plastics sealing drop (Figures 6 to 8).

6. A pack according to claim 1 or claim 5 characterised in that the bottom wall portions (102a, 102b, 102c, 102d) arranged between the triangular flaps (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) are triangular and are folded over onto the triangular flaps (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) (Figure 8).

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