EP0665173A1 - Emballage, thermorétractable à ouverture facile - Google Patents

Emballage, thermorétractable à ouverture facile Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0665173A1
EP0665173A1 EP95300136A EP95300136A EP0665173A1 EP 0665173 A1 EP0665173 A1 EP 0665173A1 EP 95300136 A EP95300136 A EP 95300136A EP 95300136 A EP95300136 A EP 95300136A EP 0665173 A1 EP0665173 A1 EP 0665173A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
film
heat
cut
package
sealed
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP95300136A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Yanase Mitsuyuki
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
WR Grace and Co Conn
Original Assignee
GRACE JAPAN KK
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by GRACE JAPAN KK filed Critical GRACE JAPAN KK
Publication of EP0665173A1 publication Critical patent/EP0665173A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
    • B65D75/52—Details
    • B65D75/58—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D71/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans or pop bottles; Bales of material
    • B65D71/06—Packaging elements holding or encircling completely or almost completely the bundle of articles, e.g. wrappers
    • B65D71/08—Wrappers shrunk by heat or under tension, e.g. stretch films or films tensioned by compressed articles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
    • B65D75/002—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers in shrink films

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an easily openable heat-shrunk package.
  • heat shrink packaging in which an article is wrapped with a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin film, for example in the form of a bag, or a centre-folded (double) sheet, or the like, and the film is heat-sealed and cut off along the edge portions and subsequently heat-shrunk to provide a tight package.
  • Heat-shrunk packaging is gaining increased popularity for two major reasons: firstly, it adds to the aesthetic appeal of the packaged articles or goods, thereby enhancing their commercial value; secondly, it permits easy packaging of articles even if they have complex shapes.
  • heat-shrunk packaging has a serious limitation in that the package is difficult to open.
  • Various methods have so far been proposed with a view to overcoming this problem and facilitating the opening of packages that are made of heat-shrunk films. They include: i) forming a line of perforations in a specified position on a heat-shrinkable film so that one can open the package by tearing it along said line; ii) making a U-shaped hole in a specified site on the film and attaching a paper seal over the hole to form a seal label that serves as an aid in opening the package; and iii) additionally attaching a so-called "opening tape".
  • the perforations will grow in size upon heat treatment of the heat-shrinkable film and contaminants can potentially get into the package through the holes, thereby reducing the commercial value of the contents. In some cases, the perforations may rupture during handling.
  • the second approach (ii) needs a special apparatus for opening the U-shaped hole and, furthermore, the use of paper seals adds to the production cost.
  • the third approach (iii) has the inherent disadvantage of being cumbersome.
  • the present inventors conducted intensive studies in order to develop an easy-to-open heat-shrunk package that (a) was free from the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, (b) retained the advantages of the heat shrink package to a satisfactory extent, (c) was inexpensive and easy to open, and yet (d) was applicable to the L-type sealer packaging machine using doubled heat-shrinkable films with which no complete solution had been found to the difficulty in packaging opening.
  • the present invention provides a packaging method comprising placing an article in an envelope of heat-shrinkable film, sealing superposed portions of said film at an edge region to seal the envelope, and heat-shrinking the envelope on to the article, characterised by forming a cut in the sealed portion of superposed film, substantially before the heat-shrinking step, to form a tab at at least one location on the heat-sealed superposed film portions to serve as an aid in opening the package.
  • a marker line is defined on or around the cut in the film seal and/or the resulting tab in the finished package.
  • Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an article 1 wrapped with a heat-shrinkable film 2.
  • the heat-shrinkable film 2 is centre-folded (doubled) and the article 1 is wrapped with the doubled film 2, followed by heat-sealing and cutting off at edge portions 3, 3' and 4 of the film.
  • the film is heat-shrunk to complete a tight package.
  • a cut 5 is made in at least one position in the edge portions of the film, in this case adjacent a corner of the film envelope and parallel to the edge 4, whereby a cut seal 8 is formed.
  • the cut 5 may be formed at any stage of the process before shrinking; it may be formed during or after wrapping the article with the heat-shrinkable film or, alternatively, the cut may be formed simultaneously with the step of heat-sealing and cutting off along the edge portions of the film.
  • the cut 5 may be formed as the heat shrinking step starts, but must be complete before the film shrinks.
  • heat sealing and impulse sealing that are commonly employed in producing heat-shrunk packages may be used in heat-sealing and cutting off the edge portions of heat-shrinkable films.
  • a heated element typically in the form of a frame, is pressed against the edge portions of the heat-shrinkable film so that the edge portions are fused, sealed and cut off.
  • the impulse sealing method the heated element is replaced by electric impulses that are applied to fuse, seal and cut off the edge portions of the heat-shrinkable film.
  • the way in which the cut 5 is made at at least one position in the portions of the heat-shrinkable film varies depending on the specific method used for heat-sealing and cutting off the film along the edge portions. If the heat-sealing bar method is to be adopted, a heating element for forming a cut seal is attached to a selected portion of the heating bar element for sealing the edge portions of the film. In this way, a cut seal can be formed simultaneously with the step of heat-sealing the film along the edge portions.
  • the film is heated overall, to cause it to shrink, thereby forming a tight package as shown in Figure 2.
  • Figure 3 shows how the tight package looks if seen in elevation from the left-hand side.
  • the cut seal 8 formed in the one of edge portions 3 of the film will deform in such a way that a tab 6 forms in the selected area of the film that has been heat-sealed and cut off along the edge portions.
  • the size and shape of the tab 6 to be formed can be determined empirically by adjusting the shape and length and position of the cut 5 to be formed in at least one position in the edge portions of the film, as well as by adjusting the width of the cut seal to be formed.
  • the heat-shrinkable film can be thermally shrunk by any conventional methods known in the art, such as by passing the package through a heated air shrunk tunnel.
  • the thus produced package has a pleasing and attractive appearance that is not significantly different from the conventional heat-shrunk packages except that it has the tab 6 as an aid in package opening. To open the package, one may simply pull the tab 6 along the film edge portion 4 which was heat-sealed and cut off.
  • a marker line serving as a supplemental aid in package opening may be defined on or around the tab 6.
  • the marker line thus described gives a clear indication of the position of the tab 6, thereby providing greater ease in the package opening operation.
  • Figures 4 to 6 show a marker line 7 which can be provided in the cut seal portion of the film, by various methods that are readily understood by the skilled artisan.
  • a printing device is incorporated as part of the packaging machine and at the same time as the cut 5 is made in part of the heat-sealed portion 4 of the film, the marker line 7 is printed on or around the thus formed cut seal 8.
  • the making of the cut 5 in the heat-sealed portion 4 of the film may be preceded by the step of providing the marker line 7 on or around the area where the cut seal 8 is about to be formed in that heat-sealed portion.
  • the film may even be pre-printed with the marker lines 7 of several packages.
  • the marker line 7 may be formed on or around the cut seal 8 which has already been formed by making the cut 5 in the heat-sealed portion 4 of the film (see Figure 4). After the cut seal 8 has been formed and the marker line 7 provided, by one of these methods, the film is heat-shrunk to produce a package that has the marker line 7 on or around the tab 6 which serves as an aid in opening the package (see Figures 5 and 6).
  • the cut 5 is made in the heat-sealed portion 4 of the film, which is then heat-shrunk to produce a package having the tab 6. Thereafter, the marker line 7 may be provided on or around the tab 6.
  • any inks that are known in the art may be used to print the marker line 7 and, to name only one example, a commercial quick-drying ink may be used.
  • a cut is made in at least one position in the superposed edge portions of a heat-shrinkable film to form a cut seal and the film is subsequently heat-shrunk, to cause a tab to result from the cut seal.
  • the packages, and the methods of their preparation retain the inherent advantages of heat-shrunk packages such as good hermeticity and aesthetic appeal and yet they render heat-shrunk packages easily openable in a very simple and economical manner without employing any special equipment or additional members such as paper labels.
  • the industrial benefits of the invention are obviously great.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Packages (AREA)
EP95300136A 1994-01-11 1995-01-11 Emballage, thermorétractable à ouverture facile Withdrawn EP0665173A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP122394 1994-01-11
JP1223/94 1994-01-11
JP120931/94 1994-06-02
JP6120931A JPH07242266A (ja) 1994-01-11 1994-06-02 易開封性熱収縮包装体

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0665173A1 true EP0665173A1 (fr) 1995-08-02

Family

ID=26334402

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP95300136A Withdrawn EP0665173A1 (fr) 1994-01-11 1995-01-11 Emballage, thermorétractable à ouverture facile

Country Status (10)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0665173A1 (fr)
JP (1) JPH07242266A (fr)
KR (1) KR960705724A (fr)
CN (1) CN1135741A (fr)
AU (1) AU1015595A (fr)
BR (1) BR9500068A (fr)
CA (1) CA2139901A1 (fr)
NZ (1) NZ270317A (fr)
TW (1) TW262452B (fr)
WO (1) WO1995018753A1 (fr)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1997010158A1 (fr) * 1995-09-15 1997-03-20 Nicola Francesconi Boites a boissons a ouverture par arrachage pourvues d'une gaine de protection en film thermoretractable
EP0911259A1 (fr) * 1997-10-24 1999-04-28 Kyowa Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Article enveloppé, thermorétréci et facile à déballer, ainsi que le procédé et l' appareil pour envelopper
US6889483B2 (en) 2002-10-31 2005-05-10 Cryovac, Inc. Easy-opening feature for flexible packages and process and apparatus for forming same

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7861490B2 (en) * 2006-03-17 2011-01-04 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Method of packaging articles
EP2674372A1 (fr) * 2012-06-12 2013-12-18 Ipi S.R.L. Dispositif d'ouverture d'un récipient pour produits pouvant être versés
JP2015217970A (ja) * 2014-05-19 2015-12-07 大日本印刷株式会社 包装体
CN105905432A (zh) * 2015-10-30 2016-08-31 乐视移动智能信息技术（北京）有限公司 热缩膜

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3641732A (en) * 1970-03-05 1972-02-15 Masaaki Fujio Method of packaging packs or articles with a heat-shrinking material
US3663239A (en) * 1969-04-07 1972-05-16 Nabisco Inc Toaster packages having four spouts
FR2480713A1 (fr) * 1980-04-16 1981-10-23 Sticht Walter Feuille d'emballage, en particulier pour denrees alimentaires
US4958735A (en) * 1985-06-28 1990-09-25 W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn. Easy open, hemetically sealed, display package made from heat shrinkable film

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS4827516Y1 (fr) * 1972-04-13 1973-08-13
JPS5312300Y2 (fr) * 1973-08-07 1978-04-03

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3663239A (en) * 1969-04-07 1972-05-16 Nabisco Inc Toaster packages having four spouts
US3641732A (en) * 1970-03-05 1972-02-15 Masaaki Fujio Method of packaging packs or articles with a heat-shrinking material
FR2480713A1 (fr) * 1980-04-16 1981-10-23 Sticht Walter Feuille d'emballage, en particulier pour denrees alimentaires
US4958735A (en) * 1985-06-28 1990-09-25 W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn. Easy open, hemetically sealed, display package made from heat shrinkable film

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1997010158A1 (fr) * 1995-09-15 1997-03-20 Nicola Francesconi Boites a boissons a ouverture par arrachage pourvues d'une gaine de protection en film thermoretractable
EP0911259A1 (fr) * 1997-10-24 1999-04-28 Kyowa Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Article enveloppé, thermorétréci et facile à déballer, ainsi que le procédé et l' appareil pour envelopper
US6889483B2 (en) 2002-10-31 2005-05-10 Cryovac, Inc. Easy-opening feature for flexible packages and process and apparatus for forming same
US7021827B2 (en) 2002-10-31 2006-04-04 Cryovac, Inc. Easy-opening feature for flexible packages and process and apparatus for forming same

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH07242266A (ja) 1995-09-19
WO1995018753A1 (fr) 1995-07-13
BR9500068A (pt) 1995-10-17
NZ270317A (en) 1997-11-24
CN1135741A (zh) 1996-11-13
CA2139901A1 (fr) 1995-07-12
AU1015595A (en) 1995-07-20
KR960705724A (ko) 1996-11-08
TW262452B (fr) 1995-11-11

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US4958735A (en) Easy open, hemetically sealed, display package made from heat shrinkable film
US5240111A (en) Thermally shrunk package
US5413412A (en) Easy open bag
JPH1179114A (ja) 易開封性包装袋およびその製造装置
US5806280A (en) Easy open method, package, and apparatus
KR0148998B1 (ko) 직육면체 형상의 물품용 포장지
EP0665173A1 (fr) Emballage, thermorétractable à ouverture facile
EP0734966B1 (fr) Feuille d'emballage facilement enlevable
EP0745539B1 (fr) Procede de fabrication d'emballage a ouverture facile pour des produits tels que des aliments
US3892057A (en) Packaging method and apparatus
JP4579424B2 (ja) シュリンク包装体及びその製法
JP3628499B2 (ja) 易開封性熱収縮包装を行うためのフィルム溶着・溶断装置
JP3025920U (ja) 複数物品結束包装材
JP2552739Y2 (ja) 包装体
JP2700235B2 (ja) 熱収縮包装方法
JPS62168872A (ja) 熱収縮性合成樹脂フイルムによる包装体の開封方法
JP2646320B2 (ja) 熱収縮包装体
JPH06321256A (ja) 包装部材
JPH03200557A (ja) 熱収縮性合成樹脂フイルムによる包装体
JPH08175567A (ja) 易開封包装体
JPH09165014A (ja) 熱収縮フィルムによる易開封性熱収縮包装用溶断装置
JP2893255B2 (ja) 熱収縮包装方法
JPH1111517A (ja) 収縮包装用フィルムとその製造方法及び包装方法
JPH08169467A (ja) 包装体
JPH04367424A (ja) 熱収縮包装方法

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IE IT LI LU NL PT SE

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 19960123

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 19970115

RAP1 Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred)

Owner name: W.R. GRACE & CO.-CONN.

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 19980721