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
  • B65D75/38—Articles or materials enclosed in two or more wrappers disposed one inside the other
• • 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
  • B65B31/04—Evacuating, pressurising or gasifying filled containers or wrappers by means of nozzles through which air or other gas, e.g. an inert gas, is withdrawn or supplied
• • 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
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/18—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient
  • B65D81/20—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas
  • B65D81/2007—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas under vacuum
  • B65D81/2023—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas under vacuum in a flexible container
• • 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
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/18—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient
  • B65D81/20—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas
  • B65D81/2007—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas under vacuum
  • B65D81/2038—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas under vacuum with means for establishing or improving vacuum

Definitions

• This invention relates to a packaging method and package, and in particular a package for free-flowing material such as powder, granulated material or larger particulate material.
• free-flowing material is used hereinafter to include any solid material in a free- flowing form, from fine powders to granular material, to larger particulate material such as tablets, capsules, nuts, sweets, and the like.
• the invention is primarily directed at the packaging of products for which vacuum packaging is necessary or desirable for hygiene and product preservation reasons and/or to facilitate packaging in a form suitable for bulk transportation.
• Trapped air or gas in a sealed flexible package causes difficulties when a plurality of packages are stacked for storage or transportation purposes.
• One problem is the instability which the trapped air or gas creates in the stacked packages.
• a secondary problem is the risk of bursting of packages under compression.
• a third problem is possible oxidation of product.
• any trapped air or gas adds to the volume of a package which adds to the cost of transportation where that cost is measured by volume rather than weight.
• Packages made of paper may provide the required permeability to allow the escape of trapped air or gases, but they do not provide the protection from contamination required with certain products such as milk powders, flour and other food products. They are also vulnerable to damage through moisture or extremes of temperature.
• Valved plastic bags are also known in which the package is filled with a powder or granulated product through a valve sealed in a side of the package. However, air or gases may still be sealed in the package once the valve is closed.
• Milk powder is an example of a product generally packaged in high vo lumes and therefore requires fast and efficient packaging.
• milk powder for example, is packaged in flexible bags.
• these bags are made of at least two layers, an external layer of craft paper (which may in fact be 3 or 4-ply) and an internal layer of a plastics material.
• the loose milk powder in such a package has a relatively low density in view of the quantity of air trapped in the bags.
• considerable space is taken up in shipping containers and other transport media when the packaged milk powder is transported. This leads to considerable cost in freight charges. Understandably, these costs reflect adversely on the economics of exporting milk powder.
• the conventional bags or containers once packed are not rigid which means that they cannot be efficiently stacked together for transportation.
• the inner plastics layer is generally bonded in some way to the outer paper layer or layers. This results in problems in recycling of used packages, and such packages may not be approved by regulatory bodies in some countries.
• Another particular problem associated with the packaging of milk powder is that it is an extremely dusty product and this creates difficulties in thermoforming and vacuum sealing of packages containing milk powder.
• a method of packaging a free-flowing material including the steps of: filling or partially filling a first container with a free-flowing material, said first container of substantially impermeable material but having at least one gas-permeable portion sealingly engaged or integrally formed with the substantially impermeable portion; closing said first container; applying a vacuum to the first container through said one or more gas-permeable portions; and sealing said first container.
• the first container may be sealed by the application of closure means over the or each gas-permeable portion.
• the first container may be sealed by being sealed within a second container of substantially impermeable material.
• the vacuum may be applied to the second container before sealing.
• the vacuum may be applied in two stages, first to the first container through the one or more gas-permeable portions, and subsequently to the second container, with the first container enclosed, prior to sealing of the second container.
• the method may further include the step of positioning the first container in a forming box prior to filling, to enable form filling.
• a package of free-flowing material under vacuum said package including a first container predominantly of a substantially impermeable material but having at least one gas-permeable portion sealingly engaged or integrally formed with said substantially impermeable material, and closure means adapted to seal the or each gas-permeable portion and retain a vacuum within the package.
• the closure means may include one or more stickers of substantially impermeable material sealingly engaged over the or each gas-permeable portion.
• the closure means may include a second container of substantially impermeable material about said first container, and sealing the vacuum within the package.
• the package may include a first vacuum in the first container, sealed by the application of one or more stickers of substantially impermeable material sealingly engaged over the or each gas- permeable portion, and a separate vacuum retained in the second container.
• the or each gas-permeable portion may comprise a longitudinal strip or patch of gas-permeable material, sealed at its edges to the substantially impermeable material.
• a package 1 of the present invention in one embodiment comprises an inner container 2 and an outer container 3, the inner container 2 having a gas permeable portion 4 and a substantially impermeable portion 5. Ends 6 of the inner container and ends 7 of the outer container are sealed, a vacuum having been applied to the outer container 3 prior to sealing of one end of that container. It will be appreciated that the seals on the outer container may be oriented differently, for example longitudinally on one or both sides or faces of the package, depending on the method of sealing the outer container employed.
• the majority of the inner container 2 is of the substantially impermeable material, for example an impermeable, flexible plastics material, such as 60 micron gas barrier plastic.
• the gas permeable portion 4 may be in the form of a longitudinal strip, as in Figure 2, in the form of a patch or patches, as in Figures 3B, 3C, or in the form of a block section, as in Figure 3A. It will be appreciated that these are but examples of the positioning of the gas permeable portion, an important factor being that in production of the package at least a part of the gas permeable portion will be adjacent the site of application of the vacuum.
• the embodiment of the inner container 2 of Figure 2 may be produced from a tube of material having a longitudinal strip of the gas permeable material sealed to the substantially impermeable material along its edges 8.
• the embodiments of Figure 3B, 3C may also be formed from tubular material with the gas permeable portions comprising patches sealingly engaged in or over punched out portions of the substantially impermeable material at intervals along the length of the tube, determined according to the size of the packages required.
• the gas permeable portion of the inner container 2 has properties enabling the applied vacuum to be transferred to the inner part of the inner container 2, whilst prohibiting the transfer of any material contents from the inner container 2 to the outer container 3.
• the gas-permeable portion will preclude the passage of micro-organisms into the first container. Ideally, it or they would allow the efflux but not the influx of air or gas.
• examples may include gas-permeable plastics, paper or textile.
• the degree of permability of the gas-permeable portion or portions will be dependent on the nature of the substantially impermeable portion, the type of sealing employed and the nature of the product packaged.
• the impermeable and permeable portions may be sealed together by welding, and each portion is therefore preferably made from a thermoplastics material.
• an inner container of the present invention may be formed from laminated layers of plastics material, one or more layers omitted in at least parts of the package to provide the gas- permeable portion or portions.
• the substantially impermeable and gas-permeable portions would be integrally formed rather than sealed together.
• a package 1 of the present invention may have a preformed shape, for example a brick-shape to facilitate bulk packaging. It will be appreciated that the shaping of a package may be achieved by shaping of the inner 2 and/or outer container 3, for example, by thermoforming or through the application of pressure.
• the outer container 3 may be made of any material that is gas impermeable so as to retain the vacuum applied. It is preferably a material which is structurally strong and yet flexible, such as a plastics material, so as to provide protection for the inner container 2.
• the material of the outer container may include some material such as nylon to enhance the strength. It may also include mylar as a gas barrier. And it may optionally be of a material, or it may include a barrier layer, which protects photosensitive product, for example it may include a UV barrier.
• the outer container may be easily pealed off the inner container, for simple recycling or disposal. Once the product has been removed from the inner container, then that too can be separately recycled or disposed of.
• the gas-permeable portion or portions of the inner container may themselves be sealed prior to the inner container being placed in the outer container.
• a vacuum may be applied to the inner container, a sticker or the like sealingly engaged over the or each gas-permeable portion, and the vacuum-sealed inner container than subsequently vacuum sealed within the outer container.
• the packages described above when formed and vacuum-packed, for example, in a rectilinear block, are more conveniently and efficiently transportable, since the volume of packaged product is reduced and the stability of stacked packages is increased.
• the gas- permeable portion or portions are configured in such a way that when a plurality of the packages are stacked one on top of the other, any air or gas trapped in a package can escape through the gas-permeable portion or portions, thus facilitating the stability of a stack of packages.
• the gas- permeable portions would preferably be a longitudinal strip or strips extending over the ends of a package (as in Figure 2), a patch or patches at the ends of the package (as in Figure 3B) or strips or patches on the sides of the package. In such configurations, at least a part of the gas-permeable portion or portions are clear of any surface of the package which forms a contact surface with adjacent packages in a stack of packages.
• a package in this form when closed, is secure from contamination by micro-organisms, whilst the gas-permeable portion enables the elimination of air or gas under pressure without breaking the package seal or seals, or the weld between the substantially impermeable and gas-permeable portions.
• a package of the present invention has particular application in the packaging of powdered materials, such as milk powder, protein concentrates, pharmaceutical products, alum, fertilisers and the like, where there can be a substantial amount of air trapped in the product during packaging.
• powdered materials such as milk powder, protein concentrates, pharmaceutical products, alum, fertilisers and the like
• these packages will also have potential application for the packaging of other granulated or solids material, where there is a likelihood of air or gas being trapped in the package during packaging.
• the first roll is for forming the inner container 2, and comprises mainly impermeable material with a longitudinal strip or patches of gas permeable material.
• the second roll is of impermeable material and is for forming the outer container. It will be appreciated that the tubular material for the inner container may be preformed, or separate rolls of the gas permeable and impermeable materials may be sealed together to form the tube in the packaging machine itself.
• a first end of a length of tubular material for the first roll is sealed and the product to be packaged is fed in to the open inner container, for example through a conventional hopper-type feed.
• the second end of the inner container is then sealed.
• the closed inner container is then positioned in a length of the tubular impermeable material from the second roll, one end of which is sealed.
• the second end of the outer container 3 is then closed about a snorkel and a vacuum is applied causing the walls of the outer container and the inner container to contact one another, and drawing a vacuum on the inner container through at least a part of the gas permeable portion adjacent the point of application of the vacuum.
• the second end of the outer container 3 is then sealed.
• the package may have a preformed shape defined by preformed shaping of the inner and/or outer container, or it may be shaped during the packaging and vacuuming process.
• Example 2
• an alternative method of applying the outer container 3 may be by thermoforming.
• the application of thermoforming enables the use in some embodiments of an easy-peel layer on the external packaging of the milk powder.
• standard thermoforming machinery may be set up with a bottom layer of gas impermeable film in a standard thermoforming cavity.
• the filled and closed inner container is placed into this thermoforming cavity.
• the cavity is then indexed to a thermoforming hood in order to apply a vacuum to the inner container and provide a sealed gas impermeable outer container.
• FIG 4A illustrates the first stage in the thermoforming process.
• an inner container 1 1 filled with product 1 2 is placed into a thermoforming cavity 1 3.
• the cavity 1 3 is lined with a gas impermeable plastics layer 14.
• the cavity 1 3 is then indexed forward to where a thermoforming hood 1 5 (see Figure 4B) is positioned.
• a vacuum is applied to the cavity 1 3 causing air to leave the contents 1 2 of the inner container 1 1 , via the gas permeable portion or portions (not shown).
• This application of a vacuum also causes the inner container 1 1 to settle below the top of the cavity 1 3, to form a substantially blocklike shape (see Figure 4C).
• a web of material 51 from which the inner container is formed is opened up and the end cuffed over an open end 53 of a forming box 52.
• Means 66 are provided to separate a sealed end of the inner container 54 from the rest of the web 51 .
• a blow/suck operation employing an air inlet/outlet 55, is used to first inflate and then invert the inner container 54 into the forming box 52.
• the forming box 52 is then rotated to a vertical position, and the product to be packaged is introduced to the inner container 54 via hopper 56.
• the cuff 64 of the inner container 54 is then released and this end of the inner container 54 is sealed by sealing means 67.
• the forming box 52 is rotated to the horizontal and supported by carriage 59.
• a lid 65 which may form part of the carriage, is closed over the open end 53 of the forming box 52 (see Figure 8).
• One side 57 of the forming box 52 includes slots or perforations (not shown) at a central part. This side 57 now forms an upper surface of the forming box 52.
• the inner container 54 within the forming box 52 is configured such that the permeable portion or portions are on the side of the inner container 54 adjacent this side 57 of the forming box 52.
• rams 60 are positioned above side 57 of the forming box 52.
• This side 57 is a false side, moveable in and out, such that the thickness of the forming box 52 may be reduced by the application of pressure to this side 57.
• the forming box 52 with its inner container 54 and contents, is subjected to vibration on the carriage 59 and pressure from the rams 60 to expel air and form the shape of the inner container 54 within the forming box 52.
• a vacuum is then applied through the slotted/perforated central part of the side 57 of the forming box 52, drawing any remaining air or gases from the inner container 54 through the gas-permeable portion or portions.
• the lid 65 then removed and the formed inner container 61 is removed from the forming box 52.
• a sticker or stickers may be applied over the or each gas-permeable portion to seal the inner container.
• the formed inner container 61 may be transported to the outer container sealing apparatus 62 via suction means (e.g. one or more suction cups) which continue to apply a vacuum to the inner container via the gas-permeable portion or portions.
• suction means e.g. one or more suction cups
• the formed inner container 61 is then positioned in an outer container 68 of substantially impermeable material, a snorkel 63 inserted into the outer container 68, a vacuum is applied to the outer container 68 and this container is then sealed.
• the outer container may be applied by flow wrapping, with a vacuum applied within the outer container during the flow wrapping process.
• this example differs from example 2, primarily in that the primary shape of the package is formed on the inner container rather than the outer container. It also differs in the optional application of a sticker or stickers over the gas-permeable portion(s) to provide for additional sealing of the product in the package as a whole.
• the method and package of the present invention has particular application in the packaging of powdered materials such as milk powder, protein concentrates, pharmaceutical products, alum, fertilisers and the like, although it also has potential application for other free- flowing solids material such as granular material.
• the method and package of the present invention provides an efficient means for packaging of powder or granulated products.
• the application of a vacuum substantially increases the density of the contents of the inner container resulting in a reduced volume of the packaged products and a more conveniently shaped package for easier handling, stacking and bulk transportation, thus providing the opportunity to considerably reduce freight costs.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Vacuum Packaging (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (5)

Publications (1)

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ID=26651800

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

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Family Cites Families (4)

• 1998
  • 1998-06-05 EP EP98929921A patent/EP1012043A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-06-05 AU AU79427/98A patent/AU729378B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1998-06-05 CA CA002291725A patent/CA2291725A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-06-05 WO PCT/NZ1998/000077 patent/WO1998055359A1/en active Search and Examination

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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