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
  • 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
  • B65D81/24—Adaptations for preventing deterioration or decay of contents; Applications to the container or packaging material of food preservatives, fungicides, pesticides or animal repellants
  • B65D81/30—Adaptations for preventing deterioration or decay of contents; Applications to the container or packaging material of food preservatives, fungicides, pesticides or animal repellants by excluding light or other outside radiation
• • 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
  • B65D1/00—Containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/02—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents
  • B65D1/0207—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents characterised by material, e.g. composition, physical features
• • 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
  • B65D81/2069—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 in a special atmosphere
  • B65D81/2076—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 in a special atmosphere in an at least partially rigid container

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a bottle made of plastic for a sterilized dairy product.
• plastic bottles including so-called PP, polycarbonate, PE and PET bottles. These bottles are used for various applications and are suitable, inter alia, for holding beverages, including dairy products.
• WO-A-97/30122 discloses a plastic bottle for beverages whose gas-tightness and resistance to leaching of chemical compounds from the wall into the contents of the bottle is enhanced by the incorporation of cyclodextrins into the wall.
• the wall of this bottle is not lightproof.
• NL-A-8104678 teaches a container whose wall consists of a plurality of layers of the same polymer, PE being the only example mentioned.
• This container is lightproof and suitable for packaging sterilized milk, inter alia.
• the wall is permeable to gases.
• a major problem with packaged sterilized dairy products is the considerable sensitivity of these sterilized dairy products to external influences such as bacterial contamination, light, oxygen etc.
• the dairy product should be suitably protected by the container both against UV radiation and visible light.
• This radiation particularly the radiation of a wavelength shorter than 500 nm, causes chemical degradation of, inter alia, vitamin B2, reaction products (free radicals) being formed in the process which in turn can react with other constituents within the dairy product. This produces the so-called light-induced off-flavour.
• the shelf life of the dairy product is also reduced -thereby.
• the invention provides a bottle made of plastic having a transparent, substantially oxygen-tight wall, said bottle enclosing a sterilized dairy product, the wall of the bottle having the following properties: substantially no transmission of light of a wavelength shorter than 350 run, - less than 30% transmission of light of a wavelength of from 350 to 450 nm,
• a bottle according to the invention allows sterilized dairy products to be kept therein at room temperature for a very long time.
• US-A-4535901 discloses a transparent plastic bottle having good oxygen barrier properties and UV barrier properties, but the specific light transmission characteristics as pertain to the bottle according to the invention are not disclosed, nor is there any mention of the bottle being used to hold sterilized dairy products.
• GB-A-2086342 discloses a bottle made of plastic for sterilized milk.
• This bottle comprises two layers, the first layer screening out light of a wavelength greater than or equal to 800 nm, and the second layer screening out light of a wavelength of less than 800 nm. In other words, this bottle is therefore not transparent.
• completely transparent is meant to indicate that the wall of the bottle will therefore have substantially perfect image transmitivity .
• the wall may have a colour, but the contents can at all times be perceived in focus.
• bottles having different colours can be fabricated, ranging from green, yellow-green, orange, orange-red to red. Preference is given to yellow-green and orange-red bottles .
• the wall of the bottle has the property: 40% or more, preferably 50% or more transmission of light of a wavelength of 450-650 nm.
• the wall of the bottle has the following properties: substantially no transmission of light of a wavelength shorter than 350 nm, - less than 30% transmission of light of a wavelength of from 350 to 500 nm, substantially complete transmission of light of a wavelength of 500-650 nm.
• the wall of the bottle has the property: 40% or more, preferably 50% or more transmission of light of a wavelength of 500-650 nm.
• the wall of the bottle at least comprises polyethylene terephthalate (PET) .
• PET polyethylene terephthalate
• PET has better wear resistance and higher breaking strength. Consequently, PET is more suitable as a material for refillable bottles.
• a thread on the bottle for the purpose of fastening eg. a cap can be defined much more precisely than in the case of PE.
• gas-tightness at the cap and resealability of the bottle can be ensured more effectively without additional measures being taken.
• PET has a classier appearance, which comes very close to that of glass, so that PET is more suitable for so-called "premium quality products".
• sterilized milk Apart from sterilized milk (beverages), sterilized dairy products also include sterilized yoghurt (beverages) , cream, coffee cream etc.
• sterilized dairy product refers to a commercial sterile dairy product which can be obtained, for example, via the so-called UHT process.
• Other conceivable ways of sterilizing dairy products are high-pressure sterilization, irradiation, electropulse sterilization, microfiltration etc.
• a bottle is any bottle suitable for holding a sterilized dairy product.
• the shape can vary from a standard milk bottle to a milk carton, nor are smaller packaging types such as small beverage bottles and beverage cartons excluded.
• the bottle according to the invention can comprise any suitable seal ranging from caps to rupturable membranes .
• the bottle according to the invention can comprise a single- or multilayer wall.
• the wall of the bottle successively comprises a layer of PET, a layer made of EVOH and PA, and a layer of PET.
• This combination of layers provides an excellent possibility of fabricating a bottle according to the invention which is transparent and oxygen-tight and additionally has the desired transmission properties.
• suitable materials having light barrier and oxygen barrier characteristics can be incorporated into the material of the wall or be laminated thereonto.
• the materials having light barrier and oxygen barrier characteristics are incorporated in the plastic of the wall of the bottle.
• the plastic material of the wall of the bottle can be admixed with suitable colorants.
• the oxygen barrier characteristics are obtained, for example, by the wall of the bottle having ethylvinyl alcohol
• EVOH ethylene glycol
• PA polyamide
• PVDC poly (vinylidene) chloride
• the bottle is filled with the sterilized dairy product by means of an aseptic bottling method. Any bacterial contamination can thus be avoided.
• the air in the void space of the bottle is replaced by a gas which is inert with respect to the dairy product, for example sterilized nitrogen, Ar, C0 2 , He, N 2 0 (nitrous oxide), S0 2 or mixtures of these.
• a gas which is inert with respect to the dairy product for example sterilized nitrogen, Ar, C0 2 , He, N 2 0 (nitrous oxide), S0 2 or mixtures of these.
• the bottle comprises a substance that is able to scavenge oxygen from the bottle ("oxygen scavenger") and can also be used with foodstuffs.
• oxygen scavenger a substance that is able to scavenge oxygen from the bottle
• This substance can be chosen, for example, from an alkali metal sulphite, eg. sodium sulphite, an alkali metal ascorbate, eg. sodium ascorbate, or metal ions in such an oxidation state that they can react with oxygen, or mixtures of these substances.
• the location of the oxygen scavenger in the bottle is not critical. Advantageously, however, it is present in the headspace of the bottle. If the bottle comprises a cap or similar closure means, the oxygen scavenger can be attached thereto or be incorporated therein.
• the bottle comprises a seal.
• a seal provides quality assurance, as the user in that case is at all times able to ascertain whether the bottle has already been opened.
• the seal which, for example, can comprise a rupture ring for the cap, but can equally comprise a sealing strip glued to the cap and the bottle.
• the rupture edge on the cap is a so- called d-strip. This permits very effective cleaning of the bottle, with a smaller risk of rinse water and chemical and/or bacterial contamination's remaining behind at the rupture edge, this being in contrast to the so-called J-strip.
• the sterilized dairy product is sterilized milk.
• the properties of the bottle according to the invention are of essential importance.
• the invention further provides a bottle made of plastic having a transparent, substantially oxygen-tight wall, the wall of the bottle having the following properties: substantially no transmission of light of a wavelength shorter than 350 nm, - less than 30% transmission of light of a wavelength of from 350 to 450 nm,
• the wall of the bottle has the property: 40% or more, preferably 50% or more transmission of light of a wavelength of 450-650 nm.
• the bottle according to the invention has the following properties: substantially no transmission of light of a wavelength shorter than 350 nm, less than 30% transmission of light of a wavelength of from 350 to 500 nm,
• the wall of the bottle has the property:
• the bottle is designed for holding a sterilized dairy product, preferably a sterilized dairy product.
• the invention will be explained below in more detail with reference to an example.
• a bottle was fabricated as shown in Figure 1, by injection moulding a parison, followed by blow moulding.
• the bottle wall is composed of multilayer material comprising an inner layer of PET (thickness approximately 120 ⁇ m) , a core layer of polyamide (thickness approximately 60 ⁇ m) and an outer layer of PET (thickness approximately 120 ⁇ m) .
• the barrier core layer can also consist of EVOH.
• a mixture of colorants was added to both PET layers. The option of restricting the colorant or the mixture of colorants to one PET layer or possibly to the barrier core layer is not excluded.
• the bottle had a transmission spectrum as shown in
• 1 denotes the bottle which is fabricated from PET/PA/PET as stated in the example.
• the bottle 1 is filled with sterilized milk 2.
• Another example of a suitable multilayer material for fabrication of a bottle 1 according to the invention comprises an inner layer of PET, an interlayer of PET or polyamide with colorants, a core layer of PET, an interlayer of polyamide and an outer layer of PET including colorants. All the layers in this structure have a thickness of 60 ⁇ m. The option of all the PET layers containing colorants is not excluded, the important point being that the transmission spectrum of the bottle wall is comparable with the spectrum according to the invention.
• the void space 3 in the bottle is mainly filled with sterilized nitrogen.
• 4 denotes a cap, and 5 denotes a seal.
• This seal 5 comprises a plastic sealing membrane which seals the outlet orifice 6 of the bottle 1 underneath the cap 4. Prior to initial use, the membrane needs to be perforated or removed.
• the membrane On its side facing the milk, the membrane comprises a thin layer of sodium ascorbate which is able to scavenge any remaining oxygen from the headspace of the bottle. Equally, it will scavenge oxygen entering the headspace from the milk while the bottle is stored.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Laminated Bodies (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (5)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=26643084

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (8)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 2000
  • 2000-11-03 AU AU17401/01A patent/AU1740101A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-11-03 WO PCT/NL2000/000800 patent/WO2001032514A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-11-03 EP EP00980100A patent/EP1232096A1/de not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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