EP0554628B1 - Palletised load and method for making same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a set of finished products stacked on a pallet and the method of manufacturing a set of finished products.

It is known to package finished products in packaging formed by a film of plastic material welded according to a generator of the product, this welding comprising a breaking wire making it possible to open the packaging for consuming the product.

However, this type of packaging and opening is reserved for unitary products whose film constituting the envelope has characteristics of low mechanical resistance.

It is also known to produce sets of finished products stacked on a pallet, so as to constitute easily transportable and manipulable batches. These batches of products must therefore be wrapped with a film having significant mechanical resistance characteristics.

The prior art provided for wrapping these pallets in a sheet of suitable size making it possible to make the turn of the palletized assembly, and to join the edges of the sheet by heat sealing or any other means. In particular, provision is made for the use of a film of the stretchable type which allows the envelope to be tightened on the palletized products. This prior art is illustrated by US-A-4,409,776

However, this type of packaging causes handling difficulties during unpacking when it comes to cutting the envelope. Indeed, very often, users damage the packaged products by cutting the stretch film due to the propensity of the latter to deform. This is particularly true when it comes to products with low mechanical resistance, such as hygienic or household articles based on cellulose, in particular cellulose wadding products: toilet paper, paper towels, etc. .

GB-A-1156275 is known, which describes a package consisting of a heat-shrinkable film with a wire secured to the film or to the wrapped object. This wire makes it easy to tear the envelope for its opening. However, this solution is not suitable for the use of a stretch film arranged in a spiral wound around a palletized load.

A first object of the invention is therefore to propose a set of finished products which allows easy storage and transport while facilitating the unpacking and unit consumption of these products.

This object is achieved by the fact that the assembly, consisting of finished products and their pallet on which they are stacked, wrapped by wrapping on a helix with a stretch film to form a delivery and transport unit is characterized in that a cutting wire is fixed to an element of the assembly in an envelope on the one hand and, on the other hand, removably, at a point of the assembly remote from said element, said wire being of triangular section.

According to a particular embodiment, said element is constituted by the pallet.

According to another feature of the invention, the cutting wire is stapled to the pallet.

According to another method of fixing the wire, the cutting wire is fixed by means of a loop around a pad of the pallet.

Another object of the invention is to allow easy opening of the packaging.

This object is achieved by the fact that the end of the wire detachably fixed at a point distant from the element comprises a loop.

According to another feature of the invention, the loop is of sufficient size to allow gripping and is provided, on at least half of it, with a sheathing.

According to another embodiment, the loop is of dimension allowing the passage of a fixing ring.

According to another feature of the invention, the wire is made of steel.

According to another feature of the invention, the wire is made of nylon.

According to another feature of the invention, two stages of packaged products are separated from the next two stages by a cardboard plane.

According to another feature of the invention, the wire is made of polyethylene.

Another object of the invention is to propose a process for manufacturing finished products that can be easily automated.

• à disposer plusieurs couches de produits superposés, les unes sur les autres, sur une palette ;
• à rendre solidaire d'un élément de l'ensemble, une extrémité d'un fil résistant à section triangulaire ;
• à maintenir l'autre extrémité du fil sur l'empilage ;
• à banderoler un film étirable autour de l'ensemble selon une hélice ;
• à solidariser le film sur lui-même en haut de l'emballage.

This object is achieved by the fact that the manufacturing process consists of:

• placing several layers of products superimposed, one on top of the other, on a pallet;
• making integral with an element of the assembly, one end of a resistant wire of triangular section;
• maintaining the other end of the wire on the stack;
• wrapping a stretch film around the assembly using a helix;
• to secure the film on itself at the top of the packaging.

According to a feature of the invention, the helical wrapping is multilayer and is produced by a film reel rotating around the fixed pallet.

• la figure 1 représente une vue en élévation et en perspective de l'ensemble de produits finis selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 représente une variante de réalisation de l'ensemble de produits finis selon l'invention ;
• la figure 3 représente un premier mode de réalisation de l'extrémité du fil de découpe selon l'invention ;
• la figure 4 représente un deuxième mode de réalisation de l'extrémité du fil de découpe selon l'invention ;
• la figure 5 représente un mode de fixation de l'extrémité du fil de découpe selon l'invention ;
• la figure 6 représente le procédé de fixation de l'ensemble selon l'invention.

The present invention will appear more clearly on reading the description below made with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 represents a view in elevation and in perspective of the set of finished products according to the invention;
• FIG. 2 represents an alternative embodiment of the set of finished products according to the invention;
• FIG. 3 represents a first embodiment of the end of the cutting wire according to the invention;
• FIG. 4 represents a second embodiment of the end of the cutting wire according to the invention;
• FIG. 5 represents a method of fixing the end of the cutting wire according to the invention;
• Figure 6 shows the method of fixing the assembly according to the invention.

The set of finished products is made up of sales units (10) consisting, for example, of rolls of toilet paper assembled in packs of 9 elements, or else of paper towels rolled together in packs of 3, or well, periodic towels, tampons, baby diapers and other products that can be damaged when cutting the wrapping. Each sales unit (10) is arranged on a pallet (1), on which a cardboard plate (8) has been placed, so as to constitute a first layer (2) of units of sale (10). A second layer (3) of sales units (10) is placed on the first layer (2) and so on until counting the number of layers necessary to constitute, with the pallet, the set of products finished corresponding to a transport unit having the desired dimensions. When the last layer of products made up of sales units is placed, it is covered with a cover (7), and, one comes to fix in a place of this set, preferably on the sides of the pallet (1), the end of a wire (6), the other end of which is provided with a loop (60), is made detachably integral with the assembly at a location remote from the first, such as the upper cap (7) . It is also within the scope of the invention to reverse the fixed and removable points, that is to say to choose a fixing point on the cap and to allow the wire to hang down. After having arranged the sales units in layers so as to constitute the load of the pallet, the latter is transported to a wrapping unit in which a reel of stretchable resistant plastic film, for example of low density polyethylene based on octene having a thickness of the order of 17 microns, a surface mass of 15.1 g / m² and a breaking strength in the direction of the strip of 35.1 N / mm² and in the transverse direction of 27 N / mm², is used to carry out a multilayer helical wrapping around the set of finished products. This coil therefore moves around the pallet in a rotational movement as well as in an upward movement. When the assembly has been wrapped, a final film turn is made in the upper part and made integral with the lower film layer, either by gluing or by heat sealing. The assembly thus produced constitutes a particularly advantageous transport packaging for the units for selling toilet paper or paper towels, which correctly ensures their protection while allowing easy opening of the packaging by tearing the wrapping film, thanks to to the cutting wire (6). To facilitate this cutting, the wire will preferably be of triangular or else twisted section, and made of smooth or twisted steel, having a diameter of 0.12 to 0.2 mm, or of nylon of 0.2 mm in diameter.

The cutting wire can be made of any other material, provided that it has good tensile strength and a sharp effect, making sure to choose a small diameter and possibly working on the shape of the wire.

The function of the wire is to cut the portions of strips passing over it and, since this strip is not weakened by a weld line or any other pre-cut line whose position is difficult to define, the wire must have characteristics that facilitate cutting. Thus its shape and / or its roughness are chosen so as to increase the pressure on the one hand, and to prevent the film from sliding, on the other hand when the loop is pulled.

Advantageously, as shown in FIG. 3 or in FIG. 4, the wire (6) may have, at its free end, a loop (60) formed by a crimping (61) of the end of the wire on himself. This loop (60) can be covered with a sheath (62) formed in a suitable material over at least half of the periphery of the loop, so as to constitute a grip handle.

A second alternative embodiment may consist in the production of a loop (60, fig. 4) of smaller size which does not allow gripping using a hand, but of a size sufficient to allow the passage of 'a metal ring (63) whose dimensions allow the gripping by a hand or a finger.

The other end of the wire can be fixed to the pallet (1), either by stapling to the pallet, or, as shown in Figure 5, by a loop (65) formed around a stud (11) by the wire (6) which passes through an eyelet (64).

A second embodiment of the set of finished products can be constituted, as shown in FIG. 2, by a stack of two stages (2, 3) of sales units (10) above which a separation is placed. (9) in cardboard to then again have on this separation (9) two new floors of sales units and above these two new floors another separation in cardboard, and so on, until the dimensions are obtained desired for the palette. The last two floors of sales units are covered by a cover (7), as for the first variant.

The assembly (12) of products stacked before wrapping is conveyed on a carpet to the wrapping unit, which is constituted by a device allowing a reel (50) of ribbon (5), formed of a film of polyethylene, to move in rotation around the stack (12) according to the movement referenced (53), the coil rotating on its axis of symmetry according to the movement (51) and moving in an upward or downward movement referenced by the arrow (52). All of these three movements combined make it possible to carry out the wrapping in a helix, possibly on several superimposed layers. At the top of the stack, the ribbon makes an additional turn without continuing its longitudinal progression, so as to superimpose the film on a part of the ribbons located on the lower layer, and allow the assembly to be joined together, either by gluing, either by heat sealing.

Claims (12)

1. Set which is made up of finished products and their pallet on which they are stacked (1), and is wrapped by strip-winding along a spiral line with a stretchable film so as to form a delivery and transport unit, characterized in that a cutting-away filament (6) is fixed, on the one hand, to an element of the set under the wrapping and, on the other band, in a detachable manner to a point on the set remote from the said element, the said filament (6) being of triangular section.
2. Set according to claim 1, characterized in that the said element is constituted by the pallet.
3. Set according to claim 2, characterized in that the cutting-away filament (6) is fixed via a loop (65) around a stud on the pallet, or stapled onto the pallet.
4. Set according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the end of the filament, which filament is fixed in a detachable manner, has a loop (60, 62, 63).
5. Set according to claim 4, characterized in that the loop (60) is of sufficient size to permit gripping and is provided, over at least half its length, with a sheathing (62).
6. Set according to claim 4, characterized in that the loop (60) is of a size which permits the passing-through of the fixing ring (63).
7. Set according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filament (6) is made of steel.
8. Set according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the filament (6) is made of nylon.
9. Set according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that two tiers of packaged products are separated from the next two tiers by a cardboard blank (9).
10. Set according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the film (5) is made of polyethylene.
11. Method of producing the set according to one of the preceding claims, consisting

    - in arranging a number of layers of superposed products on top of one another on a pallet (1);

    - in joining one end of a strong filament (6) of triangular section to the pallet;

    - in retaining the other end of the filament (6) on the stack;

    - in strip-winding a stretchable film (5) around the set along a spiral line, and

    - in joining the film onto itself.
12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the helicoidal strip-winding is multilayer and is produced by a reel of film revolving around the fixed pallet.

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