EP0242268A1 - Packaging provided with an integral opening, especially for pasty food products - Google Patents

Abstract

A completely openable fluidtight packing wrapper for pasty products and in particular food products such as processed cheese. This wrapper comprises a shell having a bottom (2) of triangular shape bordered by two lateral walls (6, 7) and a wall forming a heel (8). A tearing element (24) comprises two tearing strips (25, 26) each extending in a first portion (27, 32) along one of the lateral edges (22, 23) of the heel (8) and in a direction parallel to this edge and, in a second portion (28, 33) along one of the lateral edges (4, 3) of the bottom (2) and in a direction parallel to this edge, these two strips (25, 26) being at least partly superposed in a third portion (29, 34) in the vicinity of the point (30) of the triangular bottom (2) so as to constitute a single pulling tongue (31) which extends beyond the sheet (1) forming the shell.

Description

The invention relates to a leaktight packaging package with integral opening for a pasty product, in particular for food products such as processed cheeses.

Many packaging systems with so-called easy opening are commercially available or described in the literature; unfortunately, most of these systems do not offer full portion opening; parts of the cheese remain in the packaging and the consumer must touch the cheese to completely release the product.

Some patents have described systems allowing full opening, but they still have drawbacks.

Thus, FR-A-2 362 765 describes a packaging for pasty products which comprises a tear-off member in the form of a fork. This system has several drawbacks: on the one hand, it can only be applied in practice to square or parallelepiped portions; on the other hand, after tearing of the opening strip by traction on the combined ends of the tearing member, only a central portion of the lateral face is removed leaving the corners of this face intact, which does not allow a complete release of the pasty product therein.

European patent 0 057 644 also describes a tearing system which, applying to square or parallelepiped portions, provides along the fold lines which laterally delimit the opening strip of the packaging, reinforcing strips adhering to the first sheet in which this strip is taken and guiding the progression of the tear when the packaging is opened.

• - elle nécessite, au moment de l'emballage à la fermeture de la portion, de nombreux pliages du papier d'aluminium, ce qui d'une part est dispendieux en cette matière et d'autre part n'offre pas toute l'étanchéité requise au niveau de l'emballage pour assurer une bonne conservation.
• - à l'ouverture, au moment de la préhension de la languette d'amorce de rupture, la languette exerce un effort sur toute la longueur du talon et non un effort concentré sur un point de rupture ce qui élimine une amorce franche de rupture et peut entrainer par pression trop forte des doigts un écrasement du fromage.

If this system gives any satisfaction as for the entire opening of the square or parallelepiped portions, its adaptation to the triangular portions poses serious difficulties:

• - it requires, at the time of packaging when the portion is closed, many folds of aluminum foil, which on the one hand is expensive in this material and on the other hand does not offer all the tightness required at the packaging level to ensure good storage.
• - at the opening, when gripping the rupture initiation tongue, the tongue exerts an effort over the entire length of the heel and not a concentrated effort on a breaking point which eliminates a frank initiation of rupture and may cause the cheese to be crushed if the fingers are pressed too hard.

Mention may also be made of US-A-3,412,927 which describes an opening system consisting of 2 straight tear bands situated in the vicinity of the heel edges and along the lateral edges of the bottom, these bands meet at the level of the tip of the portion where they intersect, forming strands of sufficient size to protrude from the tip and serve as a gripping tab.

Unfortunately, this system has the disadvantage of a gripping defect due to the lack of superposition of the two strands, the consumer taking only one. In addition, the straight cut of the two strips does not allow the strips to be superimposed with the edges of the heel and leads to leaving the cheese melted along the edges and angles. Therefore, this system does not in any case offer a correct full opening.

The present invention aims to provide a packaging for products with a triangular base which totally eliminates the drawbacks of the various existing systems and which allows a so-called completely integral opening of the cheese portions.

To this end, the subject of the present invention is a leaktight packaging packaging with integral opening for pasty products, in particular for food products such as processed cheese, with a triangular base, this packaging being composed of two thin sheets, namely a first cut sheet. following an appropriate contour and shaped into a shell by folding so as to form a triangular-shaped bottom, bordered by two side walls and a heel-shaped wall, and a second triangular sheet and laid flat on the surface of the product to be conditioned, previously placed in said shell, as well as a tear-off member fixed inside the shell and comprising a pull tab characterized in that the tear-off member comprises two tear-off strips each extending over a first part along one of the lateral edges of the heel and parallel to this edge and on a second part along one of the lateral edges of the bottom and parallel on this edge, these two bands overlapping at least partially in a third part in the vicinity of the tip of the triangular bottom to form a single pull tab, which extends beyond the sheet forming the shell.

Advantageously to facilitate folding at the point, advantageously the third parts of the two bands which overlap at least partially are arranged on the same side of the median axis of the triangular bottom and along it.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the folding of the packaging at the heel is carried out in such a way that two triangles formed along the lateral edges of the heel are folded over the side walls, and not on the heel as is usually the case in traditional folding. This folding method causes additional resistance of the side walls along the side edges of the heel, which facilitates tearing along these edges.

The two tear strips constituting the tear member are in particular two appropriately cut strips which are welded to each other in their overlapping zone.

These tear strips can be made from materials conventionally used for this purpose such as aluminum sheets, polypropylene or laminated materials. They generally comprise a layer of heat-sealable lacquer which allows, by a single heat-sealing operation, the welding of the strips together and the fixing to the sheet forming the shell.

The sheets forming the packaging are preferably made of aluminum but can also be made of different materials suitable for food products.

It goes without saying that in the present invention the products with a triangular base are as well those having a base whose sides are straight as those having a base of which at least one of the sides is curved and in particular those having a base in the form of circular sector.

• - la Fig.1 est une vue en plan d'une première feuille d'un emballage selon l'invention avant pliage,
• - la Fig. 2 est une vue en perspective de la feuille de la Fig. 1 en cours de pliage,
• - la Fig. 3 est une vue en perspective de l'emballage achevé,
• - les Fig. 4 à 6 sont des vues représentant les différentes phases de l'ouverture de l'emballage de la Fig. 3 et
• - la Fig. 7 est unevue en perspective d'un appareil pour le découpage des bandes de déchirage.

The invention is set out below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which

• - Fig.1 is a plan view of a first sheet of a package according to the invention before folding,
• - Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the sheet of FIG. 1 during folding,
• - Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the completed packaging,
• - Figs. 4 to 6 are views showing the different phases of the opening of the packaging of FIG. 3 and
• - Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an apparatus for cutting the tear strips.

The packaging sheet 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is intended for packaging processed cheese in the form of a portion having a base in the shape of a circular sector. The cutting of such packages is conventional.

As shown in Fig. 2, the sheet is shaped into a shell by folding, along the lines shown in phantom in FIG. 1. This shell comprises a bottom 2 in the form of a circular sector delimited by two straight edges 3 and 4 and an edge in an arc of a circle 5. Perpendicular to the plane of the bottom 2 the shell comprises two side walls 6 and 7 along the straight edges 3 and 4 and a curvilinear wall forming a heel 8 along the edge in an arc of a circle 5. The walls 6,7 and 8 are extended by flanges 9,11 and 12 respectively intended to be folded down along the fold lines 13,14 and 15, when the packaging is closed.

The sheet 1 before folding further comprises intermediate zones 16, 17 and 18 respectively between the zones forming the walls 6 and 7 (and their edges 9 and 11), between the zones forming the walls 7 and 8 (and their edges 11 and 12) and between the zones forming the walls 6 and 8 (and their edges 9 and 12). The zones 17 and 18 have an edge respectively 19 and 21 forming an angle a of approximately 20 to 35 ^* with the lateral edges 22 and 23 of the zone constituting the wall forming the heel 8.

The angle between the lateral edges 3,4 of the bottom 12 and the lateral edges 22,23 of the heel 8 is generally between 140 and 170 ′ and is obviously a function of the angular width of the portion.

According to the invention a tearing member or "tircel" (shown in dotted lines in Fig.1) is fixed to the sheet 1 on the side intended to form the internal face of the shell.

This tearing member consists of two strips 25 and 26 each having a very flat "Z" shape. The strip 25 comprises a first rectilinear part 27 extending over the heel-forming part 8 along the lateral edge 22 of this heel and parallel to it. This first part 27 is extended by a second rectilinear part 28 extending on the bottom 2 along the lateral edge 4 and parallel to the latter. This second rectilinear part 28 is extended by a third rectilinear part 29 disposed along the median axis 31 of the triangular bottom 2 (passing through the tip 30 of this bottom) parallel to this axis and on the side of the edge 4. The strip 26 comprises a first rectilinear part 32 extending over the part forming the heel 8 along and parallel to the lateral edge 23. This first part 32 is extended by a second rectilinear part 33 extending on the bottom 2 along the lateral edge 3 and parallel to it. This second part 33 is pro runs along a third rectilinear part 34 which is arranged along the median axis 31 parallel to the latter on the side of the edge 4, and which thus covers the end of the part 29 of the other strip but extending beyond this end. The part 34 is long enough to protrude from the sheet 1 and allow gripping by the consumer. Part 34 thus constitutes the single pull tab.

The cut strips 25 and 26 made of a heat-sealable material are heat-sealed both to each other and to the sheet 1. The parts 29 and 31 are thus welded to each other.

During the shell conformation shown in FIG. 2, the zones 19 and 21 connecting the side walls 6 and 7 and the wall forming the heel 8 are folded from the bottom 2 in the middle and the triangles thus formed 35 and 36 are folded over the side walls 6 and 7 respectively. As for the zone 16 comprising the end of the bands 25 and 26, it is also folded in its middle corresponding to the median axis 31 and the triangle thus formed 34 is folded over the wall 6. The part 34 of the band 26 forming the pull tab thus appears on the side wall 6.

In the shell thus formed is poured hot a determined quantity of cheese over a height equal to the height of the walls 6 and 7 and the heel 8.

On the surface of the cheese is deposited a second sheet 38, of dimensions identical to those of the bottom 2, on which the edges 9, 11 and 12 are folded down. The edges 9, 11 and 12 are then welded around the periphery of the sheet 35. .

The opening of the packaging according to the present invention is carried out as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. At the opening, the consumer takes the packaged portion between the thumb and forefinger with one hand on the two side walls 6 and 7 and grasps the pull tab 34 of the tearing member 24 of the other hand. By pulling on this tongue 31 with a single movement, it successively discovers the upper tip 39 of the portion (FIG. 4) then the triangular upper face 41 (FIG. 5) and finally the entire heel 42, thus completely freeing up the side walls 6 and 7 which will only have to be folded down according to the diagram shown in Figure 6.

It is clear that the packaging according to the invention allows full opening thanks to a tearing member whose "µ" shape matches the folding edges of the portion, hence the great advantage of not leaving the opening of processed cheese residues in the edges and unlike other systems, making an actual opening along all the edges. In addition, the user hardly has to think about opening the packaging, the sequence of opening operations being particularly logical. In addition, due to the existence of the welded ends of the two branches 25 and 26, and of a single pull tab, the gripping of the tab is facilitated and this eliminates any risk of poor grip due to the non-superposition of the two. extremities. Finally, the opening is particularly easy to obtain and on this subject it should be noted that the folding of the zones 19 and 21 against the side walls 6 and 7 facilitates tearing along the side edges of the heel.

There is shown in FIG. 7 an apparatus for cutting strips such as strips 25 and 26.

A strip of sheet material 43 intended to form the strips is brought via rollers 44, 45 onto the plate 46 of a cutting member comprising a fixed blade 47 in the plane of this plate and a movable blade 48 secured a drive member 49 itself integral with a guide member 51 which slides in the plate 46.

The blades 47 and 48 have the profile of a strip to be cut.

When the blade 48 moves downwards it cuts the sheet 43 protruding from the fixed blade 47. A strip of determined width is thus cut and brought by the lower edge of the blade 48 downwards where it is placed on a sheet intended to form the shell. After laying a second strip the two strips are welded to the sheet intended to form the shell.

Claims (6)

1. Sealed packaging packaging with integral opening for pasty products in particular for food products such as processed cheese, with a triangular base, this packaging being composed of two thin sheets, namely a first sheet (1) cut according to an appropriate contour and shaped in shell by folding so as to form a triangular bottom (2), bordered by two side walls (6,7) and a heel wall (8), and a second sheet (38) of triangular shape and laid flat on the surface of the product to be conditioned previously placed in said shell, as well as a tearing member (24) fixed inside the shell and comprising a pull tab (31), characterized in that the tearing member (24) comprises two tear strips (25,26) each extending over a first part (27,32) along one of the lateral edges (22,23) of the heel (8) and parallel to this edge and on a second part (28.33) along one of the edges s lateral (4,3) of the bottom (2) and parallel to this edge, these two bands (25,26) overlapping at least partially in a third part (29,34) in the vicinity of the tip (30) of the bottom triangular (2) to form a single pull tab (31) which extends beyond the sheet (1) forming the shell. 2. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the third parts (29,34) of the two strips (25,26) which overlap at least partially are arranged on the same side of the median axis (31) of the triangular bottom (2) and along it. 3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the folding of the packaging is carried out so that the two triangles (35,36) formed along the lateral edges (22,23) of the heel (8) are folded over the side walls (6,7). 4. Packaging according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the two tear strips (25,26) constituting the tear member (24) are two appropriately cut strips which are welded to each other at their recovery point. 5. Packaging according to claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the strips (25,26) are welded together and fixed to the sheet (1) closing the shell by a single heat sealing operation. 6. Packaging according to claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the tear strips (25, 26) have the shape shown in FIG. 1.

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