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
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/70—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for materials not otherwise provided for
  • B65D85/804—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package
  • B65D85/8043—Packages adapted to allow liquid to pass through the contents
• • 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
  • B65B29/00—Packaging of materials presenting special problems
  • B65B29/02—Packaging of substances, e.g. tea, which are intended to be infused in the package
  • B65B29/028—Packaging of substances, e.g. tea, which are intended to be infused in the package packaging infusion material into filter bags
• • 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
  • B65B9/00—Enclosing successive articles, or quantities of material, e.g. liquids or semiliquids, in flat, folded, or tubular webs of flexible sheet material; Subdividing filled flexible tubes to form packages
  • B65B9/06—Enclosing successive articles, or quantities of material, in a longitudinally-folded web, or in a web folded into a tube about the articles or quantities of material placed upon it
  • B65B9/08—Enclosing successive articles, or quantities of material, in a longitudinally-folded web, or in a web folded into a tube about the articles or quantities of material placed upon it in a web folded and sealed transversely to form pockets which are subsequently filled and then closed by sealing
  • B65B9/093—Enclosing successive articles, or quantities of material, in a longitudinally-folded web, or in a web folded into a tube about the articles or quantities of material placed upon it in a web folded and sealed transversely to form pockets which are subsequently filled and then closed by sealing the web having intermittent motion
• • 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
  • B65D31/00—Bags or like containers made of paper and having structural provision for thickness of contents
  • B65D31/12—Bags or like containers made of paper and having structural provision for thickness of contents with two or more compartments
• • 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
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/70—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for materials not otherwise provided for
  • B65D85/804—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package
  • B65D85/808—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package for immersion in the liquid to release part or all of their contents, e.g. tea bags
  • B65D85/812—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package for immersion in the liquid to release part or all of their contents, e.g. tea bags with features facilitating their manipulation or suspension

Definitions

• This invention relations to infusion packages and particularly, but not exclusively to infusion packages for coffee, and also to their formation.
• an infusion package comprising a semi-porous open container for an infusible material and a support for supporting the container from the rim of a vessel, said support being capable of defining an opening through which liquid can be poured into the container, said container comprising opposite side walls and divider means which divides the container into two compartments such that
• infusible material in one compartment is separated from that in the other compartment by said divider means.
• the support may comprise a pair of juxtaposed members which are sealed at opposite ends.
• the sealing of the two members may be by means of a heat seal.
• the upper end portion of the container may be sandwiched between the juxtaposed members of the support and sealed thereto by a heat seal.
• the support means may be foldable so that it can lie alongside the container to act as a closure which closes the open container until it is ready for use.
• an infusion package comprising a semi-porous open container for an infusible material and a support for supporting the container from the rim of a vessel, said support being capable of defining an opening through which liquid can be poured into the container, said support being formed from juxtaposed members
• a plurality of score lines may be formed on each of the juxtaposed
• the score lines may extend axially of the package.
• the area containing the score lines on a member may be offset laterally relative to the area containing the score lines on the offset member.
• the support means may be joined to the semi porous container by a heat seal.
• an apparatus for forming an infusion package from a web of material comprising folding means for folding the web of material into substantially a W-shape, means for sealing the material at positions corresponding to edges of
• one limb of the W-shape defining a first compartment and the other limb defining a second compartment
• means for cutting the material to form from the web individual container parts means for securing a support member to the upper open end portion of each container part to form the infusion package, filling means for filling each infusion package, and means for
• the apparatus may include second folding means for folding each support member to a position in which it closes the infusion package.
• the apparatus may include a reel on which the web of material is wound.
• the apparatus may include means for feeding the material from the reel to the folding means.
• the feeding means may include tension and/or tracking control means for controlling the tension in the web of material.
• the folding means may comprise means for forming the web of material into substantially a U-shape and means for forming a gusset into the base of the U-shape in order to create the W-shape.
• the sealing means may comprise heat sealing means.
• the heat sealing means may include electrically heated jaws which engage opposite sides of the folded web.
• the jaws may be pneumatically operated.
• the seal may be formed by crimping.
• the cutting means may be designed to form a generally vertical cut along the sealed portions of the folded web.
• the apparatus may include a source of pre-formed support members disposed downstream of the cutting means.
• the support members may be formed from a web of material which is fed from a reel.
• the apparatus may include a walking beam assembly for advancing the container parts and their accompanying support member through a support member sealing section.
• the support member sealing section may comprise one or more sealing stations for heat sealing each support member to the upper open end of its associated container part.
• the filling means may include a hopper disposed above the path of each formed infusion package, said hopper containing material to be delivered to each container part of each infusion package.
• the hopper may contain coffee.
• the mouth of the hopper may include an auger for delivering a predetermined quantity of material to each package.
• the separation maintaining means may comprise an elongate beam which is straddled by said compartments.
• the beam may extend from a position close to said cutting means along the path of the container parts to said filling means in order to maintain separated the two compartments defined by the W-shape of each container part.
• the separation maintaining means may comprise a finger locatable between said two compartments at the filling means.
• the finger may be disposed beneath the filling means and be movable upwardly to locate between said compartments.
• the finger can pneumatically or cam actuated.
• the apparatus may include a sachet forming portion disposed downstream of the support member folding section.
• an apparatus for forming an infusion package from a web of material comprising: folding means for folding a web of material to define limbs which are to form the walls for a container part of the package, sealing means for sealing the limbs at positions corresponding to the edge of the container, means for cutting the material to form from the web individual container parts, means for securing a support member to the upper open end portion of each container part to form the infusion package and means for filling each infusion package, wherein the means for securing the support member includes an elongate heated member disposed so that an upper part of said limbs can pass one of each side thereof and a pair of opposite disposed sealing jaws actuable to press the upper part of each limb against a juxtaposed part of a support member to effect heat sealing therebetween.
• a method of attaching a support element to the upper open part of a container portion of an infusion package comprising providing a support element comprising oppositely disposed support members, locating the support members on either side of said upper container portion part, passing the support members with said upper container portion parts one on either side of a heated member and pressing each support and upper container portion part against the heating member to effect heat sealing between each support member and the
• Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating how the container is divided into two compartments
• Figure 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of an infusion package
• Figure 6 is a schematic view showing the infusion package of Figure 5 in use
• Figure 7 is a plan view of a support element
• the recesses (22) are aligned with and correspond in shape to the respective projections (18).
• the central gusset (34) forms a divider means which divides the bag or container into two compartments (36, 38). Coffee in each of these compartments is separated by the central gusset. It has been found that this type of arrangement creates a coffee drink of enhanced flavour in an acceptable time. It will be appreciated that a minimum infusion time is achieved when each compartment has substantially equal amounts of coffee therein.
• the bag In use the bag is removed from a sachet in which it has been stored and the support members are folded upwardly to bring the infusion package into the condition shown in Figure 1. A compressive force is applied to the opposite ends of the support member causing the members to bow outwardly in the region of the score lines (24). As shown in Figure 3 the result is that the
• the support members (14) can be formed by the method described in
• the support members can be produced essentially as a single flat element as shown in Figure 7 of the drawings.
• the two members are foldable about an axis (28) to the position in Figure 1.
• the axis is principally a cut line but the portions defining the two members are joined at relatively short sections 29. It will be seen that these are spaced inwardly a short distance from the end of each member so that there is a relatively long central cut line
• the design allows the bag to be supported from the rim of the vessel so that the coffee containing portion sits in the liquid in the vessel once the water has been poured into the bag.
• the side edges (32) of the bag are parallel. It will be appreciated that this is not essential and they could for example taper towards the bottom edge.
• apparatus for forming an infusion package of the type described with reference to Figures 1 to 7 comprises a housing 90.
• the web advance gripper includes a pneumatically or cam actuated clamp mounted on a linear slide which grips the web.
• the clamp and slide are driven by a cam actuated lever (125a).
• the clamp is designed to release the web and the gripper and slider are returned to their start position. Whilst the web is not being indexed forward the web is held in position by a clamp.
• the blank is then released above the container part and driven forward with the container part by drive pins on a walking beam assembly shown generally at 132.
• the blanks are folded from their flat condition into a V-shape by means of a folding shoe. An initial fold is made over a central support to an included angle of approximately 50 0, The shoe holds the fold in this position until at a support element sealing section yet to be described completes the folding operation.
• the folding shoe is driven pneumatically or
• sealing positions are shown in Figures 9 to 12 of the drawings at 140, 141, 142 and 143.
• sealing station 140 sealing occurs along area 150
• sealing station 141 sealing occurs at areas 151
• the filling section Downstream of the tag sealing section is a filling section 145.
• the filling section includes a hopper 146 disposed above the path of the infusion packages.
• the mouth of the hopper includes a servo driven auger which is arranged to deliver an accurate amount of coffee which is stored in the hopper 146 to each infusion package as it passes below the mouth of the hopper.
• each package is opened by means of pneumatically or cam actuated suction cups in order to allow coffee to enter through the mouth of the package.
• the two compartments defined by the W section of the container part 12 are still disposed on opposite sides of the beam part 129 at this stage and hence coffee delivered from the hopper 146 enters both of these compartments substantially in equal quantities.
• the compartment separating means which in this embodiment is the beam part 129 plays an important function in ensuring that the two compartments receive equal quantities of coffee.
• Sensors can be provided to check that each infusion package is correctly positioned and open and the compartments of the container part can be opened by means of an air blast prior to the coffee being dispensed therein.
• the apparatus can include a vibrator for vibrating the package in order to prevent coffee bridging in the container part.
• the reject station 160 is designed to provide for automatic rejection of the packages if they do not meet certain criteria.
• each tag or support element is folded over so that is lies alongside its associated container part the fold line occurring in the container part material. This act of folding the tag over securely closes the infusion package and maintains the coffee in the container part during transit.
• a plough can be used to fold the
• the final section of the apparatus is a sachet forming section 180 which is designed to enclose each filled infusion package in a sealed sachet.
• the apparatus includes a reel 200 on which a web of material for forming the sachet is wound. Material is fed from the reel 200 along a path 201 past a spring loaded dancing arm 202 to the sachet forming section 180.
• a sachet advance gripper draws material from the reel 200 up to a sachet seal and cut module 204 which carries out the operation shown at 205 and 206 in Figure 9. The material is sealed vertically and then the sachets are then cut by forming a cut in the leading edge of the web that cut line being central to the formed
• the heated blade (112) of the sealing section (110) comprises two side by side electrically conductive blade parts which are separated by electrically insulating material. Electrical current can be supplied to the blade parts via leads (210) shown in Figure 12.
• the blade end portion (112a) is relatively thick whilst the blade end portion (112b) is relatively thin and therefore becomes hotter because of its higher resistance.
• the blade (112) is made of high resistance material such as titanium.
• the sealing section 135 also includes a centrally located heated blade (220).
• the support elements after being dispensed from hopper (130) are folded so that they straddle this blade (220)
• the blade comprises a first part (221) which is formed from phosphor bronze and a second part (222) which is formed from titanium.
• the transversely movable sealing jaws of the sealing stations in the sealing section (135) press the folded support element against the blade (220) with the upper part of a container being sandwiched between the blade (220) and the support element. Heat from the blade head seals the support element to the container upper or mouth part. Heat sealing from the inside in this manner is an efficient and effective way of carrying out this operation.
• the station shown at (225) in Figure 12 includes creasing jaws which have cooperating grooves and ridges. These jaws are actuable to engage opposite sides of the support element (14) in order to form the creases (25) described above with reference to Figures 5 to 7. Forming the creases (25) at this stage in the process rather than in the preformed blank ensures that the creases are accurately aligned.
• the support elements or tags 14 are formed from pre-cut blanks stored in a magazine 130. It is possible to also form the tags from a continuous web of material fed from a reel such as that shown at 210. Also as described the compartment separating means at the filling station comprises a beam part 129. Alternative arrangements are possible. For example a finger could be provided below the filling station 145, the finger being actuable to locate between the two compartments of each container part to hold apart those compartments. The finger can be movable upwardly to its operative position by pneumatic or cam actuating means.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Containers And Plastic Fillers For Packaging (AREA)
• Tea And Coffee (AREA)
• Apparatus For Making Beverages (AREA)
• Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
• Medicines Containing Plant Substances (AREA)
• Making Paper Articles (AREA)
• Bag Frames (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (7)

Related Child Applications (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=27761099

Family Applications (4)

Family Applications Before (3)

Country Status (8)

Families Citing this family (16)

Family Cites Families (12)

• 2003
  • 2003-02-24 EP EP05077038A patent/EP1642845A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-02-24 AT AT03706727T patent/ATE328812T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-02-24 JP JP2003569504A patent/JP4083687B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-02-24 EP EP05077040A patent/EP1634822A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-02-24 US US10/505,225 patent/US20050224373A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-02-24 EP EP05077039A patent/EP1634821A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-02-24 CA CA002476875A patent/CA2476875A1/fr not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-02-24 EP EP03706727A patent/EP1476371B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-02-24 DE DE60305883T patent/DE60305883T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-02-24 WO PCT/GB2003/000769 patent/WO2003070583A2/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 2003-02-24 AU AU2003208439A patent/AU2003208439A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2007
  • 2007-12-06 JP JP2007316073A patent/JP2008162696A/ja active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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