EP1247749B2 - Packaging bag for aseptic filling of flowable or pourable products - Google Patents

Abstract

The food/beverage is packed into a flexible film pouch with fill opening having a closure cap. The cap can be moved between first and second closing positions. In first position, the cap can be removed without causing damage. The interior of the empty mainly flat pouch, with cap in first position, is sterilized; the pouch is transferred to a filling station; the pouch exterior is sterilized; the cap is removed; the pouch is filled with the product; the cap is replaced and sealed by being moved into the second position.

Description

The invention relates to a packaging bag made of film material for a substantially germ-free packaging of flowable or pourable products, in particular food or drinks, in bottling plants.

It is known to store liquid or pasty detergent in flexible Nachfüllbeuteln to keep the environmental impact of the accumulation of packaging material as low as possible. Such refill bags may be formed as Aufschneidbeutel or have a Einschweissteil with closure cap, so that a repeated opening and closing the refill bag is possible. Naturally sterilization problems do not arise in this application area of flexible packaging bags. For health reasons and to achieve a sufficiently long shelf life, however, such problems in the packaging of food and drink for human consumption come to the fore. Such products have previously been stored mainly in rigid containers made of glass or sheet metal because of the ease of sterilization. Although these containers can be recycled well. But with the collection of empty containers and their return to the recycling site a significant environmental impact is connected. In addition, the heavy voluminous containers cause difficulties in transport and storage. Thus, there is a need for a food and beverage packaging in flexible easy-to-dispose packaging bags, similar to the known detergent refill bags, without significantly compromising the shelf-life of the food or beverage. While it is noted in EP-A-0 661 208, which discloses a method of manufacturing a flexible packaging bag with a closure cap and its filling in a filling line, that the known procedure for packaging products such as milk, cooking oil and the like, is suitable, but it is not mentioned how such a package sufficient durability can be ensured, even if the production of the packaging bag would be made in a largely sterile environment and the products would be pretreated sterilizing before filling. In addition, there is a tendency in the food industry, a germicidal treatment of food for various reasons (preserving valuable materials, such as vitamins, no loss of flavor etc) without prolonged exposure to high temperatures, so that the product is a complete sterility can not be guaranteed and therefore the packaging must be made according to higher requirements for sterility. It is also known (EP-A-731 037) a system for maintaining sterile conditions in the region of a Ausgiessöffung by on a conventionally by means of a plug lockable pouring opening in a neck region of an insertable in a container part insert a protective hood against irradiation with γ -Radiated and can be removed immediately before filling again. The connection of the insert part with the plug on the one hand and the protective cover on the other hand is carried out by means provided on the respective parts of the rear gripping means.

The object of the invention is to provide a flexible packaging bag of the type mentioned above, which meets the requirements of the food industry in automatic filling equipment, by making it possible to stockpile in particular foods and drinks in an economical, environmentally sound manner without significantly limiting the shelf life.

The inventive packaging bag, which achieves this object, is characterized by the features of claim 1. Starting material is a circumferentially sealed, e.g. heat-sealed flexible packaging bag with a permanently attached thereto by welding Ausgiesseinsetzteil, hereinafter called Einschweissteil briefly on which a cap can be mounted by bouncing to close a defined by the Einschweissteil filling opening, which provides access to the bag interior, tightly close.

The packaging bag may for example have a receiving volume between 0.3 and 5.0 1, without being seen as a limitation of the invention.

The empty flat-laid packaging bag with the closure cap in a first of two closing positions, both of which seal the filling opening, is initially, i. subjected to a further treatment in a bottling plant, a germicidal treatment, preferably with germicidal γ-radiation in an irradiation station, which may have a fundamentally known structure and therefore need not be described in detail. The germicidal treatment can be carried out by the manufacturer of the packaging bag or, if desired, immediately before the introduction of the packaging bag into the filling plant. The aim of the treatment is to put the interior of the packaging bag in a germ-free or at least largely germ-free state. Since the closure cap hermetically seals the interior of the packaging bag in the first closing position, the germ-free state is maintained for the further treatment of the packaging bag even if a longer period of time of, for example, between the germicidal and further treatment. a few days to several months.

A number of, as described above pretreated packaging bag can be combined to form a transport package and is then used in a storage magazine a bottling plant, said an annular collar on Einschweissteil provides an abutment by means of which the packaging bag can be inserted into a rail-like receptacle of the magazine of the bottling plant with upwardly facing Einschweissteil by hand or in any other way. From the magazine of the filling plant, the packaging bags are successively placed on a transport device, wherein the annular collar serves to support the packaging bag during transport, to move the packaging bag sequentially along a plurality of stations in which the further treatment is performed.

The transport device is preferably a turntable having a multiplicity of treatment stations arranged peripherally thereon. In a first treatment station, the packaging bag, with the closure cap still in the first position, is subjected to a germicidal external treatment by spraying a liquid disinfectant by means of a spray nozzle at least on the region of the packaging bag which comprises the closure cap and the welding part. The disinfectant may be any substance known in the food industry, so that a more detailed explanation thereof is unnecessary.

Following the germicidal treatment of the outside of the packaging bag, a drying step takes place in a drying station in which hot air or hot steam is allowed to act on the packaging bag.

The packaging bag pretreated in this way is then transported to a station at which grippers grasp the closure cap and remove it from the weld-in part. The removed cap is guided to a bypass transport path and stored there, to be placed later again on the packaging bag.

Following this, the packaging bag, with the cap removed, enters a filling station, at which a product to be filled, e.g. a food or drink is introduced into the interior of the packaging bag via the filling opening exposed on the welding part.

Thereafter, prior to refitting the closure cap, against the interior of the filled packaging bag, an inert gas, e.g. Nitrogen, or steam introduced in another station to expel residual air fractions in the packaging bag and thereby counteract undesirable oxidation or otherwise aging of the filling.

After this treatment, the cap is taken in a closing station from the bypass transport path by means of a gripping device and placed back on the filled packaging bag and fastened so that the cap comes to rest in the second sealing position, in which they from the Einschweissteil not or only below considerable effort, possibly with destruction of the weld-in part can be removed again.

If desired, the last treatment step is followed by a hot air or steam drying treatment in a drying station before the filled and hermetically sealed packaging bags leave the filling line for further use.

It is preferred that at least in the stations, the removal of the closure cap from the packaging bag, its filling with a product and re-placement of the closure cap on the filled packaging bag, be carried out in a substantially germ-free environment, by these treatment stations as far as possible against the Outdoor environment shielded. The transport of the packaging bags along the individual treatment stations and the treatments carried out therein can be carried out automatically under the control of a process control device. When constructing such a bottling plant with the mentioned treatment stations, the person skilled in the art can in principle resort to known means, so that a more detailed explanation is not necessary.

Fig. 1

in fragmentarischer geschnittener Ansicht einen Verpackungsbeutel nach der Erfindung mit einer in einer ersten Position befindlichen Verschlusskappe, und

Fig. 2

in einer Ansicht ähnlich Fig. 1 den Verpackungsbeutel mit der Verschlusskappe in einer zweiten Position.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. Show it:

Fig. 1

in fragmentary sectional view of a packaging bag according to the invention with a located in a first position cap, and

Fig. 2

in a view similar to FIG. 1, the packaging bag with the cap in a second position.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a bag base part of the packaging bag is designated by the reference numeral 1 and shown only in fragmentary form. The bag base member 1 may have any suitable outline configuration and may be made of any suitable germ-proof sheet material, which may be a sheet of plastic or metal foil, e.g. Aluminum foil, or can act as a composite film of plastic and metal. In the empty initial state of the packaging bag represents a basically flat structure that can be printed with advertising instructions.

At a suitable location along the outer circumference of the bag base part 1, preferably at a corner region, a dimensionally stable insert or weld-in part 2 is inserted in a slot-shaped opening (not shown) of the bag base part 1 and hermetically sealed to the bag base part 1 by welding. Although other types of connection may be provided, the weld-in part 2 is preferably on the bag base part 1 by ultrasonic welding attached. At Einschweissteil 2 Anschweissrippen (not shown) may be provided, which may be formed according to WO96 / 38349, to which reference can therefore be made.

The weld-in part 2 comprises a tubular neck region 3 projecting outwardly from the bag base part 1, which defines a passage passage 4 which creates a connection between the interior of the bag base part 1 and the outside environment. A closure cap 5 can be placed on the neck region 3 in order to hermetically seal the inlet opening of the neck region 3 from the outside environment. On the closure cap 5, a cover part 6 can be articulated via a film hinge 7. A sealing cone 8 protrudes from the lid part 7 and can sealingly engage in a funnel-shaped passage 9 in a bottom wall of the closure cap 5 when the lid part 6 is in the closed position. A tear-off tab 11 can be provided in order to fix the lid part 6 in the closed position shown in the drawing so that movement of the lid part from the closing position to the opening position (not shown) can be made only after the tear-off tab 11 has been torn off. A further sealing cone 10 can be provided on the closure cap, which sealingly engages the inlet opening of the neck region 3 when the closure cap is in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 relative to the neck region 3.

At the peripheral edge 12 of the closure cap 5, a radially inwardly slightly projecting annular collar 13 is provided near the free end.

The closure cap 5 can be positioned in two positions relative to the neck region 3, wherein in both positions the passage passage 4 is sealed by the closure cap 5 against the outside environment. The two positions are defined by the engagement of the cap-side annular collar 13 with the first and second engagement regions on the neck region 3 of the weld-in part 2. In particular, along the outer circumference of the neck region 3 a plurality of radially outwardly projecting Hintergreifnocken 14 are provided (in the drawing only two diametrically opposed Hintergreifnocken 14 can be seen), which are arranged at the same angular distance from each other. Each Hintergreifnocken 14 has a pointing in the direction of the bag base part 1 rear engagement surface. As shown in Fig. 1, the cap-side annular collar 13 is in the first position of the closure cap 5 in engagement with the engagement surfaces of the Hintergreifnocken 14th

At the neck region 3, a rearward engagement collar 15 projecting radially outwards is also provided near the rear engagement cams 14, which is engaged by the cap-side annular collar 13 when the closure cap 5 is in the second position, as shown in FIG.

In both positions of the closure cap 5, the interior of the bag base part 1 is hermetically sealed from the outside environment. In the first position of the closure cap 5 shown in FIG. 1, the seal is conveyed by the fact that the cap-side annular collar 13 rests against the rear grip collar 15 by being arranged close to the rear engagement cams 14. In the second position of the closure cap 5 shown in FIG. 2, the cap-side annular collar 13 engages under the rear grip collar 15 along the entire circumference, thereby providing the desired seal. In the second position, the closure cap 5 can no longer easily be removed from the neck region 3. In contrast, the engaging relationship between cap 5 and neck portion 3 in the first position so that the cap 5 can be removed without destruction with little effort from the neck region 3 by the cap-side collar 13 is brought out of engagement with the Hintergreifnocken 14.

At an axial point between the bag base part 1 and the rear gripping collar 15, a radially outwardly projecting annular collar 16 is further provided on the neck region 3, which serves as a holding means for the transport of the packaging bag by means of a transport device in a bottling plant (not shown). The annular collar 16 may be continuous or interrupted. Instead of an annular collar and a plurality of circumferentially distributed lugs could be provided as a holding means.

Claims (4)

1. A packaging pouch of foil material for essentially germ-free packaging of fluid or powdery products, in particular foodstuffs or beverages, in filling plants, including a dimensionally stable insert member (2) sealingly fitted in a slit-like opening of a peripherally sealed pouch base member (1), said insert member having a neck portion (3) defining a through passage (4) and having interlocking means (14, 15) adapted to engage with matching interlocking means (13) on a closure cap (5) for mounting the closure cap (5) on the neck portion (3) of the insert member (2) for closing the through passage (4), characterised

   - in that said interlocking means (13, 14) on one of said members including the neck portion (3) and the closure cap (5) comprises first and second interlocking portions (14, 15) adapted for engaging one after the other with the associated interlocking means (13) on the other member in such a way that the closure cap is mountable on the neck portion (3) in a first and a second sealing position, whereby the closure cap is removable non-destructively from the neck portion (3) at least in the first sealing position, and

   - in that the interlocking portions comprise a plurality of interlocking cams (14) peripherally spaced from each other and an interlocking collar (15) located in close-spaced axial relationship thereto on the neck portion (3) of the insert member (2), and the interlocking means on the closure cap (5) comprises an annular collar (13), whereby said annular collar (13) is held in the first sealing position of the closure cap in interlocking engagement with the interlocking cams (14) whilst simultaneously resting on the interlocking collar (15) in sealing manner.
2. The packaging pouch according to claim 1, characterised by means (16) on the neck portion (3) for temporarily holding the packaging pouch in a transporting device of a filling plant.
3. The packaging pouch according to claim 2, characterised in that said holding means comprises a continuous or discontinuous annular collar (13) on the neck portion (3).
4. The packaging pouch according to claim 2, characterised in that the holding means comprise a plurality of noses projecting from the neck portion (3).

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