EP1197439B1

EP1197439B1 - Lid for flexible or semi-rigid containers, particularly for granular or powder products

Info

Publication number: EP1197439B1
Application number: EP01116187A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Franco Goglio; Daniele Tencalla
Original assignee: Goglio Luigi Milano SpA
Current assignee: Goglio Luigi Milano SpA
Priority date: 2000-09-28
Filing date: 2001-07-04
Publication date: 2007-05-02
Anticipated expiration: 2021-07-04
Also published as: PT1197439E; DE60128195D1; ES2286059T3; EP1197439A3; DE60128195T2; EP1197439A2; ITMI20002105A1; IT1319172B1; ITMI20002105A0; DK1197439T3; ATE361241T1

Abstract

A lid is described for flexible or semi-rigid containers, particularly for granular or powder products, of the type having a substantially parallelepiped shape, with a top aperture (3) defined by a reinforcing frame structure (6), said lid being of plastic material, of the stopper or hinged type, with a substantially flat upper plate (7), a skirt (8) engaging with the outer top edge of the container (1) and an inner skirt (9), continuous or discontinuous, running parallel to the outer skirt (8) and engaging with said frame (6). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a combination of a flexible or semi-rigid container and a lid particularly for granular or powder products, such as coffee, flours or the like
For packaging of granular or powder products, or in any case of products with a solid consistency, containers made of a flexible sheet material are widely used, for example those of the so-called gusset type.
These are made of single-ply or multi-ply material, with one or both surfaces being heat-weldable, for example of polyethylene. The package is obtained in a per se known manner by successive folds, making transverse or longitudinal welds between superimposed parts of the heat-weldable layers.
These containers have the disadvantage of not maintaining their shape, normally parallelepiped, if they are not vacuum packaged and, in any case, if they are vacuum packaged, they tend to collapse after opening.
To overcome these disadvantages, patent EP-A-0522326 in the name of LUIGI GOGLIO, proposes a container of flexible material of the above type, stiffened with a base plate and a top plate consisting of a rectangular frame structure.
Such a container maintains its shape after opening and can therefore be used to remove part of the product, until it is all consumed.
Said container is provided with a lid, generally of cardboard, as described, for example, in European patent EP-A-0663343, also in the name of LUIGI GOGLIO.
It has nevertheless been noted that such a lid has drawbacks due, for example to the presence of notches in the cardboard blank forming the lid, which tend to give rise to tabs protruding from the side profiles of the container, which besides being unsightly, do not allow precise dimensions to be maintained when the containers are placed side by side. Furthermore, the seal of such a container is sometimes not satisfactory.
Further parallelepipedic-shaped containers provided with a lid are disclosed, for example, by documents CH 463 986 A and EP-A-0-658 481.
In particular, CH 463 986 discloses a container and a lid whereby the container is of the type having a substantially parallelepipedic shape with an aperture at the top defining a peripheral frame and a reinforcing frame with a rectangular structure. The lid is made of plastic material and has a substantially flat top plate, an outer peripheral skirt and a continuous inner skirt that can engage with the reinforcing frame. The inner skirt has a tooth able to engage with the inner edge of the reinforcing frame.
Before opening of the container the top aperture is sealed by a peel- away membrane.
The aim of the invention is to eliminate the illustrated drawbacks, providing a lid particularly for semi-rigid containers of the above type, that is simple and cheap to make, ensures a tight seal on the product, and gives the container a perfectly uniform outward appearance.
These objects are achieved by the combination according to the invention, which has the characteristics of appended independent claim 1.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.
The lid according to the invention is made of plastic material and is of the stopper type, which snap fits into the mouth of the container according to the invention and is removed at each use thereof.
With the container sealed and before opening, the stopper lid is applied thereto, in a slightly raised position, so that the opening of the container is closed by a peel-off membrane or layer of easy-open material heat-welded along the perimeter of the rectangular frame, said layer being removed before the first use. For re-closure of the container, the stopper lid is lowered thereon, so that an inner protrusion thereof couples with the inner edge of the frame, thus ensuring an excellent seal.
The lid according to the invention also has on its upper surface a slightly lowered seating, intended to receive a sheet of plastic, possibly with printed writing or drawings, serving to personalize the lid, without having to intervene directly thereon, as is necessary with prior art lids.
The plastic sheet to be applied to the lid is advantageously recovered in the manufacturing process of the container from punching of the aperture thereof with material that hitherto constituted waste.
Further characteristics of the invention will be clearer from the detailed description that follows, referring to a purely exemplary and therefore non-limiting embodiment thereof, illustrated in the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an exploded axonometric view, showing a container and a lid according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the container in Figure 1 with the lid raised;
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the top part of Figure 3, in which the lid is shown applied to the sealed container before opening;
Figure 5 is a sectional view like that of Figure 4, in which the lid is shown re-applied to the container after the first opening.

With reference to Figures 1 to 5, 1 generically designates a container of the semi-rigid type, for example of the type described in EP-A-0522326, particularly for containing granular or powder products, such as coffee and the like.
According to the invention the container 1 is parallelepiped-shaped, with a wide aperture 3 at the top (see in particular Figure 1), sealed with a peel-away membrane 2 of the easy-open type (Figures 3, 4) that is removed on opening of the container, which can be closed by means of the lid, designated as a whole with reference numeral 4.
As can be seen in Figure 1, said aperture 3 defines in the top wall of the container 1 a peripheral frame 5, beneath which a reinforcing frame 6, advantageously of plastic material, is disposed.
The lid 4, advantageously made of plastic material, is of the stopper type, and has a substantially flat upper base 7 and a peripheral skirt 8. Inside said peripheral skirt 8 a second continuous or discontinuous skirt 9 is provided, at a distance from the outer skirt 8 about equal to the width of the frame 6.
The inner skirt 9, or in any case the small walls protruding downward from the lid 4, have a tooth 10 able to snap engage with the inner edge of the frame 6.
When the container 1 is sealed, before opening, the lid 4 is positioned slightly raised from the container 1, at least for a distance equal to the length of said skirt 9, so that said skirt does not interfere with the peel-away membrane 2 which seals the container, as shown in Figure 4.
After the first opening of the container 1 and thus removal of the peel-away membrane 2, the container can be re-closed by replacing the lid 4 thereon, lowering it until the tooth 10 of the inner skirt 9 engages with the inner edge of the frame 6, as shown in Figure 5.
In this condition, besides secure fastening, an excellent seal between lid and container is ensured, also through the presence of the double skirt 8, 9 which surrounds the frame 6.
The lid 4, once applied to the container 1, as can be seen for example in Figure 5, forms a minimum bulk on the edge of said container, at the same time maintaining the initial size, thus ensuring neat side-by-side arrangement of a plurality of containers.
When the contents of the container 1 have been consumed, the stopper 4 may be used to close a new container, which will thus be sold without the stopper 4, but with only the peel-away membrane 2 and possibly with a protective wrapper.
A depression or hollow 11 is formed on the upper wall 7 of the lid, rectangular in shape and with the perimeter parallel to the outer perimeter of the lid, such as to accommodate a plastic sheet 12, of the same size, which is glued or heat-welded to the lid 4. Said sheet 12 advantageously has writing and/or artwork such as to customize the lid 4, without having to print directly on the lid, a fact that brings undoubted advantages.
Moreover, said rectangular plastic sheet 12 is advantageously recovered from the waste from punching the aperture 3 of the container during manufacture thereof, from a plastic film.
In the embodiment described, said adhesive sheet 12, suitably printed, can be applied to the inside face of the plate 7, thus acting, for example, as a purchase voucher.
From what has been described the advantages of the invention are obvious, in that it fully solves the problems of the prior art described above.
Of course the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described previously and illustrated in the appended drawings, but numerous modifications of detail within the reach of a person skilled in the art can be made thereunto and are to be understood as coming within the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A combination of a flexible or semi-rigid container (1) and a lid (4), particularly for granular or powder products, said container being of the type having a substantially parallelepipedic shape, with an aperture (3) at the top defining a peripheral frame (5) beneath which a reinforcing frame (6) with a rectangular structure is disposed, said lid (4) being made of plastic material and having a substantially flat top plate (7), an outer peripheral skirt (8) that can engage with the upper outside edge of the container (1) and a continuous or discontinuous inner skirt (9) that can engage with said reinforcing frame (6), whereby
the inner skirt (9) has a tooth (10) able to engage with the inner edge of the reinforcing frame (6),
before opening of the container (1), said top aperture (3) being sealed by a peel-away membrane (2) and the lid is positioned slightly raised from the container, at least for a distance equal to the length of said skirt (9),
after the first opening of the container (1) and thus removal of the peel-away membrane (2), the container can be re-closed by replacing the lid (4) thereon, lowering it until said tooth (10) of the inner skirt (9) engages with the inner edge of the reinforcing frame (6).
A lid according to claim 1, characterized in that said upper plate (7) is integral with said skirts (8, 9), so as to form a stopper lid that can be snapped on to said container (1).
A lid according to claim 2, characterized in that said inner skirt (9) extends parallel to said outer peripheral skirt (8), at a distance therefrom substantially corresponding to the width of said frame (6), so as to be able to engage with the inside edge of the frame (6).
A lid according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said top plate (7) has a lowered seating or recess (11) with its edge parallel to the outer edge of the lid (4), said recess (11) being able to accommodate a sheet of printed plastic material (12).
A lid according to claim 4, characterized in that said sheet of plastic material (12) is recovered from punching of said aperture (3) of the container (1), in the process of manufacturing said container from a film of plastic material.