EP1283806B1 - Airtight closed container or package - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a method which consists in mounting a ring or rigid peripheral base (7) designed to be closed by a sealing and tight inner seal (8) at the circumference of the end part (10) of said container or said package, designed to form an opening to provide access to the content or for emptying same. Said ring can receive a moulded or clipped on cover on one of its edges. The invention also concerns the container provided with said closure member.

Description

The invention relates to a container or packaging provided with a closure member, intended to seal the latter in a sealed and hermetic manner.

Typically, the invention uses a cover, attached to the level of the closure member. This closure may consist of a cover with reversible closure, but may also consist of a repositionable adhesive, releasing an orifice closed by a cover.

In the field of packaging, in particular of agro-food products, and more specifically of liquid or bulk products, a major problem arises relating to sealing and maintaining the sealing of the contents.

To date, various solutions have been proposed, but they are not satisfactory, either in terms of technical results, or in terms of the cost price of these packages.

Among these different solutions, one of them consists in producing a rigid preform, typically made of a relatively thick cardboard, or even aluminized, that is to say receiving an aluminum film, preform to which the final shape is given. that we want to see adopted by the packaging.

Once this preform has been carried out, one traditionally proceeds to the automatic deposition of a sealing film or cover, by introducing a mandrel inside the volume defined by the preform, constituting a support, and by bringing the cover itself by outside collinearly with respect to the direction of travel of said mandrel, by means of an upper mandrel, the fixing of the cover at the end of the preform being carried out in particular by heat sealing.

The upper mandrel is therefore advantageously heating to ensure this heat-bonding phase. Once the cover has been put in place, an automatic reversible opening and closing cover is deposited at the same end of the preform. The packaging thus produced is turned over, then filled with the agro-food product which it is intended to contain and finally, is closed by a traditionally heat-sealed bottom, this fixing being further optimized by a stamping towards the inside of the preform. , so as to constitute a reinforcing shoulder for said bottom.

According to this production method, the body of the container or of the packaging is rigid, so that the film constituting the cover is put in place relatively easily.

• tout d'abord, une telle ligne de fabrication d'emballages et de conditionnements est relativement onéreuse, et ne peut être réalisée que pour un seul type d'emballage, notamment en termes de dimensions ou en termes de forme et donc de volume. En effet, les différents organes qui la constituent, qu'il s'agisse des mandrins, des robots de préhension et de déplacement, etc., sont paramétrés et réalisés pour des dimensions et des côtes déterminées de l'emballage en question. Aussi, dès lors qu'une opération promotionnelle est souhaitée, du type par exemple, offre gratuite d'une quantité supplémentaire du contenu, nécessitant un emballage du type « girafe », tous ces organes sont à modifier, et toute la ligne de fabrication et de remplissage est à reparamétrer, engendrant de fait des coûts financiers élevés ;
• ensuite, si les emballages de forme parallélépipédique sont réalisables par une telle ligne, en revanche, des formes moins traditionnelles, par exemple de type cylindrique, ovoïde ou plus excentriques encore, sont irréalisables, car alors, il n'est plus possible de procéder à une pré-formation préalable nécessaire pour la réalisation du corps principal du contenant ;
• à titre surabondant, les lignes en question sont munies de convoyeurs et autres pinces de préhension des préformes au fur et à mesure de la réalisation de l'emballage, nécessitant l'actionnement d'organes sur deux faces antagonistes de la préforme, impossible à réaliser avec une forme autre qu'un parallélépipède et donc limitant drastiquement les possibilités en termes de variétés des formes de l'emballage.

On the other hand, it has many disadvantages, among which we can cite:

• first of all, such a packaging and packaging production line is relatively expensive, and can only be carried out for a single type of packaging, in particular in terms of dimensions or in terms of shape and therefore volume. Indeed, the various organs which constitute it, whether they are mandrels, gripping and displacement robots, etc., are configured and produced for given dimensions and dimensions of the packaging in question. Also, as soon as a promotional operation is desired, of the type for example, free offer of an additional quantity of the content, requiring a packaging of the "giraffe" type, all these organs are to be modified, and the entire production line and filling is to be readjusted, thereby generating high financial costs;
• then, if the packages of parallelepiped shape can be produced by such a line, on the other hand, less traditional shapes, for example of the cylindrical, ovoid or even more eccentric type, are impracticable, because then, it is no longer possible to carry out a preliminary pre-training necessary for the realization of the main body of the container;
• for the sake of completeness, the lines in question are provided with conveyors and other grippers for gripping the preforms as and when the packaging is produced, requiring actuation of organs on two opposing sides of the preform, impossible to achieve with a shape other than a parallelepiped and therefore drastically limiting the possibilities in terms of varieties of packaging shapes.

In order to overcome this drawback, there has been proposed, for example in document FR-A-2 777 863, a packaging which precisely allows this multiplicity of forms, which is increasingly sought after in terms of marketing.

This process consists of a flat or sheet, intended to constitute the body of the package. This sheet is given the desired shape by means of a mandrel and pliers coming to take the two extreme edges of the sheet, in order to make them overlap edge to edge, typically over a width of 2 millimeters, and to ensure their joining on their entire height, this joining being typically carried out by ultrasound, or even by gluing or heat-bonding. This sheet is therefore made of synthetic material, or even of cardboard, treated so as to allow this ultrasonic welding or heat sealing.

The body thus produced receives at its base a bottom, typically consisting of a cup, also made of a synthetic material, the shape and dimensions of which correspond of course to the shape and dimensions of the body produced during the previous step, and the periphery of which is provided with a groove within which is intended to be inserted the lower end of said body. After insertion, a bonding or welding phase is carried out in order to ensure the required tightness and hermeticity at this level.

Once the assembly thus produced, the packaging is returned and filled. To do this, it is kept in shape by means of pliers or a system of external pliers, taking into account the relative flexibility of the constituent walls of the body. Then it is closed by means of a cup similar to that constituting the bottom, generally provided with an appropriate closure system, and attached and secured in the same manner as the latter.

Undoubtedly, this embodiment makes it possible to achieve a multiplicity of forms, since one starts from a flat, to which one can give the desired shape and dimensions, and that the final shape then results from the shape of the cups.

On the other hand, it is not possible to carry out any sealing operation precisely taking into account the flexibility of the sheet constituting the body. This lack of sealing is prohibitive for a certain number of applications, in particular in the field of food products, so that this type of packaging cannot be envisaged for these applications.

Document GB-A-2 107 291 describes a shutter member provided with a cover for a plastic or cardboard packaging, comprising a ring forcefully inserted into the body of the packaging, so as to give it a certain seal.

The object of the invention is to overcome the various drawbacks associated with the techniques of the prior art.

Basically, it aims to implement a container of the type previously described, while adding a closure integrating a cover, and corresponding to the subject of claim 1.

• une bague ou base périphérique rigide, destinée à être fermée par un opercule étanche et hermétique, et solidarisée au niveau de la circonférence de l'embout dudit récipient ou dudit emballage par collage, thermocollage ou soudage, et destinée à constituer l'ouverture d'accès ou de vidange du contenu du récipient ou de l'emballage ;
• et un fond, constitué par une coupelle rigide réalisée en matériau synthétique, en bois ou en carton, et dont la forme et les dimensions correspondent à la forme finale souhaitée de l'emballage, ladite coupelle étant munie à sa périphérie de moyens propres à coopérer avec l'extrémité inférieure de ladite feuille de telle sorte à pouvoir être solidarisée à celle-ci de manière étanche et hermétique par collage ou soudage.

This packaging or container, the body of which is made from a flat or sheet of any material, and in particular cardboard, synthetic material, paper or even metal, said flat being shaped according to the desired profile, includes:

• a rigid peripheral ring or base, intended to be closed by a tight and hermetic seal, and secured at the circumference of the tip of said container or of said packaging by gluing, heat sealing or welding, and intended to constitute the opening of access or drain the contents of the container or packaging;
• and a bottom, consisting of a rigid cup made of synthetic material, wood or cardboard, and the shape and dimensions of which correspond to the desired final shape of the packaging, said cup being provided at its periphery with means suitable for cooperating with the lower end of said sheet so as to be able to be secured thereto in a sealed and hermetic manner by bonding or welding.

In many applications of the invention, this nozzle receives a cover with reversible closure. For this purpose, a cover proper is articulated on the base or peripheral ring.

This cover can be obtained from molding, and formed a whole with the ring or peripheral base, the assembly then being provided with a hinge formed at one of the edges of the ring, or else the cover can be clipped on one of the edges of said ring, these two elements then being provided with the necessary complementary members.

The manner in which the invention can be implemented and the advantages which ensue therefrom will emerge more clearly from the examples of embodiment which follow, given by way of indication and not limiting in support of the appended figures.

Figure 1 is a schematic sectional representation of an embodiment of the invention with the cover closed, Figure 2 is a similar view, cover open.
Figure 3 is a very schematic plan view of a cover according to the invention.
Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the different steps of placing the cover within the cover according to the invention, of which Figure 5 is a representation of a detail seen in plan.
FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a variant of the embodiment of FIG. 4.
The remainder of the description relates more particularly to the field of food products. It is however understood that the invention cannot be limited to this single application.

In the food sector, a large number of applications require the use of a cover with reversible closure. It is therefore in relation to this particular application that the following description will be made.

There is shown in Figure 1 a schematic cross-sectional representation of a container according to the present invention. This container bears the general reference (1), and in the embodiment described, consists of a vertical parallelepiped body (2), the two ends of which respectively constitute the bottom (3) and the access nozzle to the inside the container (10).

Basically, the body (2) of the container consists of a sheet or flat, made of plastic material, capable of being printed by a traditional method such as, in particular screen printing, flexography, and in general, all methods of 'impression.

This sheet, the dimensions of which are determined according to the desired volume of the final packaging, is joined edge to edge at two of its extreme edges, welded by a traditional welding or gluing process, in order to constitute a body of parallelepiped shape. At this point in the production of the packaging, this shape is not acquired, taking into account the relative flexibility of the material which constitutes it, and consequently, the buckling phenomena liable to result therefrom. In fact, the desired final shape will be given to it by the installation of the constituent elements of the bottom and of the access nozzle.

The bottom (3) of this body (2) is in fact constituted by a cup (3), therefore of corresponding dimensions and having the shape of a square. The periphery of this cup (3) has an annular groove (4) directed upwards, and intended to receive the lower edge of the body (2) thus produced.

Once the latter has been inserted into this groove, it is secured to one another, in particular by ultrasonic welding, or even by bonding or heat-bonding. This provides the tightness and airtightness required at this level. This cup is made of synthetic material, or of wood or cardboard.

According to a fundamental characteristic of the invention, the open end (10) of the packaging thus produced, intended to constitute the means of access to the interior thereof and of evacuation of the content that it is intended for. to be received, is closed by means of a cover (5) described in more detail below.

This cover basically comprises a rigid peripheral ring (7), also of square shape, the dimensions of which correspond to those of the body (2). This ring (7) is attached to the upper end of said body by any traditional means, such as in particular bonding, heat sealing or even welding.

In variants of the invention, this ring could be attached in the vicinity of the considered end of the body, but inside, outside, or even on horseback on either side of the end of said body.

This peripheral ring is made of plastic, and has a hinge (9) for articulation of the actual cover (6), also of square shape. The assembly constituted by the cover (6), the peripheral ring (7) and the hinge (9) is produced by injection molding.

In a variant of the invention, the actual cover (6) and the ring (7) are produced completely independently, the cover being clipped onto one of the edges of said ring after the latter has been placed on the body (2).

The reversible closure device for the cover (6) on the peripheral ring (7) has not been shown in the various figures. Such devices are widely known, so there is no need to describe them in detail.

According to a characteristic of the invention, the ring (7) incorporates a cover (8), intended to seal the contents of the container (1). During the first use, after opening the cover, the user removes the cover (8) to gain access to the interior of the packaging.

There is shown in Figure 2 a view similar to Figure 1, wherein the cover (6) is in the open position.

As will be understood, it is possible to shape the packaging (1) according to a multiplicity of shapes and dimensions.

Regardless of the shape, the desired volume of the packaging can also be modified at leisure by simply modifying the dimensions of the starting sheet or flat constituting the body (2) of the packaging. As in addition, such a sheet can be printable at will, it also becomes possible to communicate in a variety of ways.

There is shown in connection with Figure 4, a line for positioning the cover within the cover (5).

At the outlet of the injection molding machine (11), at the level of which the covers (5) (proper cover (6) + peripheral ring (7) are produced, a manipulator robot (13) grips them, in this case in groups of eight, and in their positioning on a conveyor (12) in four series of two covers. At the end of the travel of this conveyor (12), a manipulator arm (14) takes the covers in groups of two by means of of suction cups, and positions them on a turntable (15) (Phase A), at the level of a female socket fitting into the opening defined by the peripheral ring (7), in order to maintain them in a horizontal position.

This turntable (15) is motorized by means of a stepping motor, so as to convey the pairs of covers directly above the various successive stations, necessary for the installation of the lids.

Thus, in phase B, the pairs of covers are routed directly above two identical barrels (17) storing the covers flat.

When the covers, still maintained in the open position, come into line with the pair of barrels (17), the cover located at the lower end of the stack contained in each of the barrels is apprehended by a cylinder (19) with stroke vertical, provided with suction cups, passing through the opening defined by the peripheral ring (7), then placed at the level of the ring (7), and more precisely at the level of an internal shoulder (not shown). To do this, at this level, the vacuuming of the suction cups is cut, thus allowing the release of the seal. The latter is rigid enough to rest on the shoulder mentioned, in the absence of any other constraint.

During the next step (phase C), after rotation of the plate (15), said covers come in line with a welding head (18), ensuring the sealing of the lids at the level of the internal wall of the ring peripheral (7).

During the next phase (phase D), after further rotation of the rotary plate (15), each of the two covers is kept blocked by an underlying suction cup (20) at the level of the cover, so as to allow the flap of the cover (6) on the peripheral ring (7). This operation is carried out by means of a manipulator arm (not shown).

The cover (6) is clipped onto the ring (7) during the subsequent step (phase E), then, after further rotation of the plate (15), the pair of covers (5) is grasped by a manipulator arm (21), which deposits said covers on a conveyor (16) by means of suction cups (phase F).

It is therefore conceivable the relative simplicity of production of the covers, and in particular the integration of the cover within them. This cover is of traditional invoice and typically consists of a complex consisting of an aluminum film surmounted by a polyethylene film, said polyethylene film being intended to allow fixing by heat sealing or heat sealing at the internal face of the ring or peripheral base (7) of the cover (5).

In another embodiment of the invention described in connection with FIG. 6, this cover is placed directly on the production site, that is to say when filling the container intended to receive the cover.

For this purpose, the covers (5) obtained after injection are stored in a vibrating bowl (22), then conveyed at the level of a conveyor (23), at the end of which a manipulator arm (24) ensures their positioning at the level of the upper end of a package, the lateral body (2) of which alone is produced, said body being held in place at a rotary plate (15) by members not shown.

More precisely, each cover is fixed to the upper end of the body (2) by means of the peripheral ring (7), and this by gluing or heat-bonding, or even by welding.

According to a variant of the invention, the cover is not fixed in its entirety (5), but only the rigid peripheral ring (7), also by gluing, heat sealing or by welding.

When the use of a cover is required, the fixing thereof on said ring, in particular by clipping, takes place during a later phase, in particular after fitting the cover at the level of the ring (7). .

The principle of the turntable described in connection with the previous embodiment is retained.

After rotation of said plate, a mandrel (25) with vertical stroke rises through said lateral body (2) to come and take the seal located at the lower end of a barrel (17), to come and place it at the level of the peripheral ring (7) of the cover (5), and more precisely, at the level of an internal shoulder, formed within the peripheral ring (7).

During the next step, and like the embodiment described above, a welding head secures said seal at the internal face of the peripheral ring (7).

Then, the actual cover (6), when required, is folded down and then clipped onto the ring (7).

At the end of rotation of the plate (15), the packages (25) are conveyed at the level of the filling line (not shown).

One can easily imagine all the advantages of the present invention:

First, it is worth highlighting the possibility of having an almost infinite variety of shapes and volumes.

Furthermore, it should be emphasized that the production costs of such packaging have been considerably reduced, when it is desired to make changes in shape and dimensions. The fact of working from a flexible body also makes it possible to considerably reduce the logistics, and consequently the related costs.

Finally, there is a packaging with a flexible body and a tight and hermetic closure, which we never knew how to do until then.

Claims (6)

1. Container or package comprising:

   • a body (2), produced by erecting a sheet or blank of any flexible material, such as board, synthetic material, paper or even metal, the said sheet or blank being erected to the desired profile and being joined along two of its extreme edges;

   • a base consisting of a rigid cap (3) made of a synthetic material, wood or board, whose shape and dimensions correspond to the desired final shape of the container or package, the said cap (3) being provided at its periphery with means (4) capable of fitting onto the lower edge of the said sheet or blank, in such a way as to be able to be joined to the latter in a leaktight and hermetic manner by adhesive bonding, heat sealing or welding,

   • and an endpiece (10), designed to form the opening of an access to the contents of the container or package, consisting of a rigid peripheral ring or base (7) joined by bonding, heat sealing or welding to the perimeter of the said endpiece, and the said peripheral ring or base (7) incorporating a hermetically leaktight membrane.
2. Container or package according to Claim 1, characterized in that the peripheral ring or base (7) is joined on the inside, on the outside or so as to straddle both sides of the end of the endpiece (10).
3. Container or package according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that a lid (6) pivots on one of the edges of the peripheral base or ring (7).
4. Container or package according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the means (4) with which the rigid cap (3) is provided consist of an upward peripheral groove, into which the end of the body (2) is inserted.
5. Container or package according to either of Claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the lid (6) pivots on the peripheral ring (7) by means of a hinge (9), the lid/ring/hinge assembly being a single moulding.
6. Container or package according to either of Claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the lid (6) proper is attached to one of the edges of the peripheral ring (7) by snap-fastening.