EP1493677A1 - Packaging box for food product with ventilation means - Google Patents

Abstract

The box has prism shape that is elongated according to a main axis, and openings on two lateral walls, for aeration. The inner wall is equipped with a perforated support that has a frame with longitudinal and transversal units. The units define compartments for storing food product e.g. dry ham, and are grooved in many places such that air circulates between the compartments and openings.

Description

The present invention belongs to the field of packaging of food products. It relates to a packaging box of a food product such as dry ham, ensuring good ventilation of the product during transport and storage.

For a long time, drying techniques have been used to preserve the products particularly meat products such as dry sausages. The dried hams, for example, are prepared from the hind limb of the pork by salting and then a the duration of which varies: at least 210 days for a dry ham higher than minus 130 days for a dry ham and 130 days or less for a raw ham. The different salting techniques give the characteristic taste and color of each whether it is a denomination or not.

According to the traditional method, deli meats once dried, must be stored in cool, well-ventilated premises that stabilize the product until consumption. For example, the whole dry ham with its bone was kept in a dry and ventilated place, at a cool temperature, ideally about 15 ° C, slices being taken as needed. Nowadays, after the required drying period according to the quality dried ham can be packaged in the form of pre-packaged slices on sale as is, or whole boneless, which allows to keep it under vacuum to the point of sale where it can then be cut. On the contrary, dry ham with bone is usually sold whole to the piece. Vacuum packaging techniques not being usable for this type of ham, the pieces are simply placed in closed boxes in rigid cardboard for transport and storage. Then you have to extract them to present them on display, on hams trees or hanging on hooks arranged for this purpose.

This mode of packaging poses a certain number of problems, related in particular to the fact that storage times are longer and longer. The hams must be placed in cold room, to ensure their conservation. However, after a few days, we observes the appearance of mold, first at the level of the contact area of the ham with the bottom of the cardboard box, then from place to place on the entire surface of the ham. This phenomenon is attributed to the humidity prevailing in the closed boxes, particularly contact of the underside of the ham with the bottom of the box, while the temperature close to 6 ° C promotes condensation. It is increased when the boxes are stored in compact batteries, which often happens when they have been transported on pallets of handling.

Thus, it is not possible to keep dry hams in a refrigerated room without running the risk of quickly seeing the product deteriorated and unfit for consumption. The product returned to the producer, which leads to significant additional costs of transportation and handling.

Furthermore, when installing on the shelves, the parts must be cleared of their opaque packaging so that the consumer can visually ensure the correct quality of the product he proposes to buy. This operation requires manipulations of the produces a loss of time and a risk of contamination, both during the installation and display of the product on the shelves and at the time of purchase.

The present invention proposes to remedy these drawbacks with a box intended for the packaging of dried hams, or more generally food products whose good conservation requires a dry and ventilated atmosphere.

It thus relates to a box having the shape of an elongated right prism along an axis principal, which has ventilation apertures on at least two opposite walls, and the lower wall is equipped with a perforated support on which the product rests, so that the air circulates through the box between the walls and the product.

By "box" is meant any receptacle having the shape of a right prism, for example a box, a box, a box, whatever its method of manufacture. The type of closure, by cover, folding flap or other, is indifferent as long as the product can be introduced into the receptacle. The box object of the invention is described as it stands during use. It can be made of cardboard, plastic, wood, or any other material sufficiently rigid to support the weight of the packed product without deform and compatible with food use. In particular, it must be able to stacked, for example for transport on pallet handling and storage in cold room, without the weight of the batteries causes crushing packaging. The skilled person has different techniques that he can implement for to make such a box, which will have the following characteristics explained.

The shape of the box is suggested on the one hand by the spatial constraints of the packing, especially on pallets handling and secondly by the product to be packaged. The form the simplest one satisfying these criteria is a right prism, extended according to a main axis, generally confused with the longest median of the upper wall of the box (referred to later as "median principal" noted as MP, the shortest median of the wall superior being designated "secondary median" noted Ms). Commonly a prism rectangular base right is used but a polygonal basic straight prism of some also suitable. In the case of dry ham, a quadrilateral basic straight prism, trapezoidal example, or triangular base may be appropriate. Moreover, the box can present or not, a symmetry with respect to the main median axis. In the description below, it is composed of six walls, namely a lower wall Pi supporting the weight of the produced, an upper wall Ps, two long side walls Pl 'and Pl "oriented approximately along the main axis, and two short side walls Pc 'and Pc ". definitions given for boxes with six walls, can be easily extrapolated to other cases (three side walls in the case of a triangular base prism, five in the case a pentagonal basic prism, etc.) by analogy of the structures or functions described, particular with regard to the definition of a median principal axis and any symmetries.

The originality of the box according to the invention lies in the fact that it is equipped with allowing the product it contains to be bathed on all sides in an atmosphere constantly renewed. This is achieved thanks to the fact that the lower wall is equipped with a openwork support on which the product rests and that the box has ventilation openings on at least two opposite walls of the box. In this way, the surrounding air produces it, circulates freely inside the box and through it, which allows ventilation complete product and prevents the formation of mold.

The perforated support fitted to the lower wall of the box can be made of different ways, provided that it meets a number of criteria. He must support the product above the lower wall of the box, at a distance of the order of a few millimeters a few centimeters. It must offer a contact surface with the product as small as possible. It must finally be perforated, that is to say that its structure must include parts recesses allowing the circulation of air between the compartments formed by the elements of support but also between the peripheral compartments and the outside of the box through ventilation openings, this without giving way to crushing. Any shapeable material industrially and adapted to the intended use can be used, alone or in combination: cardboard, corrugated cardboard, honeycomb cardboard, plastic cardboard, plastic, wood, or other, under form of plates, sheets, bars, tubes, honeycomb structures etc. The openwork support can be simply placed on the bottom of the box, or fixed by a means for example glued, stapled, or it may be attached to one or more walls of the box, as can be done by folding a blank. The person skilled in the art knows these techniques he uses judiciously, according to a set of specifications.

The perforated support may consist of a framework comprising longitudinal elements and transversal elements delimiting compartments, the longitudinal elements and cross-sections are hollowed out in their thickness in several places so that the compartments communicate with each other and with the ventilation openings in the walls.

For example, the frame may comprise a plurality of longitudinal elements and transverse elements of small thickness, crossed at any angle or straight, laid on the field.

The framework may also include a limited number of support elements, for example two longitudinal elements and three transverse elements, which will then have to be thicker. In this case, the perforated support comprises two substantially rectangular compartments, and is preferably made in one piece, from a material of the desired thickness, by cutting pieces according to known techniques. The compartments are then constituted by the space freed by the plates cut out between the support elements (that is to say by deleted material after cutting), which are usually considered as waste.

According to a particular embodiment, these plates are taken advantage of by means of certain adaptations, to provide the necessary elements for mounting an easel allowing the consumer to cut ham slices more easily. The plates can indeed be placed in the box next to the ham during the packaging, in order to be subsequently placed face to face, at both ends of the perforated support, and held in vertical position by a system of type mortise and tenon.

To this end, each plate has two opposite lateral lugs, so that it forms finally a T in a plan view, the lugs being represented by the arms of T. Consequently, each compartment has two opposite lateral notches, corresponding to the arms of the T, obtained by a cut in the longitudinal elements close to the end of the openwork support.

When the consumer wishes to assemble the easel, he inserts the pins of the plates constituting the mortises, in the notches of the compartments constituting the tenons. For that the vertically placed plates are well fixed, it is appropriate that the width of the tenons is identical to the thickness of the material constituting the plates.

Thus, according to the embodiment variant described here, a box, whose perforated support comprises two longitudinal elements and three transversal elements delimiting two compartments, further contains the plates obtained by cutting said compartments, said plates being able to be placed face to face at both ends of said perforated support and held in a vertical position by a tenon-mortise type system.

Preferably, said tenon-mortise type system consists of two lateral notches opposite cut into the longitudinal elements near the end of the support perforated, and two opposing lateral lugs forming a T with said plates, said lugs being able to cooperate with said notches. It is specified that this mode of realization has the advantage of limiting the number of manufacturing steps, to the extent that where by a single cut during which the compartments are formed, it is possible to obtain the two elements (tenon and mortise) of complementary shape.

It is further provided that the upper portion of the plates is curved to accommodate the ham to maintain.

In another variant embodiment, the perforated support equipping the lower wall of the box includes only transverse elements, arranged preferably perpendicularly to the main axis. The compartments thus formed occupy the entire width of the box and therefore communicate with the ventilation openings in the side walls. The transverse elements can be further hollowed out in their thickness in several places so that the compartments also communicate with each other.

According to another embodiment, the perforated support equipping the lower wall of the box consists of a thin plate in relief with high points supporting the product and low points resting on the lower wall, the plate defining an upper space and a lower space each communicating with some of the ventilation openings provided in the walls. To illustrate the shape of such a support, one can for example refer to a tray of the type used for storing eggs, made of a material adequate. Preferably, the thin plate is pierced in several places to promote the air circulation.

To allow the circulation and the renewal of the air in a box according to the invention, ventilation openings are made on at least two opposite walls so as to create a stream of air sweeping the product. Preferably, such openings are made on four opposite walls two by two, and even better on the six walls of the box. Their number, size and shape are chosen to ensure maximum ventilation while taking into account the rigidity constraints of the box with regard to the weight of the packaged product, as well as the pressure that can be exerted on the boxes when they are stacked. He will be taking into account the geometry chosen for the perforated support, so that the compartments formed by the support coincide as much as possible with openings ventilation.

Advantageously, the ventilation openings are arranged on the walls in such a way that air circulation is not interrupted when several boxes are placed on the next to each other, or on each other, whatever the meaning in which they are are asked. As a result, it will be possible to stack boxes and store them as they are without risking the deterioration of the product. This is particularly the case when storing handling pallets.

It is understood that such stacks are intended to create geometric volumes and compact boxes, in order to save space and stability of batteries. Two boxes "exactly juxtaposed" are boxes placed on the same plane in contact one with the other by opposite side walls touching each other along their entire length. Two boxes "exactly superimposed" are boxes stacked one on the other so that their axis median principal is superimposed. In the case of boxes of rectangular base, the boxes "exactly superimposed" overlap completely, regardless of the direction of installation; in the case of trapezoidal base boxes, the boxes can be completely covered if they are placed in the same direction, or partially when they are turned upside-down, the axes medians trapezes superimposed.

So that the ventilation openings of the side walls of two boxes exactly juxtaposed coincide even if one of the boxes has rotated during handling so that it is placed head to tail next to the first box, ventilation openings provided in at least two opposite side walls are arranged symmetrically with respect to the vertical median line of these walls. Air circulation is thus always possible between two boxes exactly juxtaposed.

So that the ventilation openings of the upper and lower walls of two boxes exactly overlapping coincide even if one of the boxes has rotated during handling so that it is placed head to tail on the first box, the ventilation openings of the upper and lower walls are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the two median lines of these walls. Air circulation is thus always possible between two boxes exactly superimposed.

In addition, on the pallet handling, for reasons of stability, the boxes must be disposed in successive layers forming a compact volume substantially inscribed in a right prism whose base is the palette, and the main axis of the boxes of each layer is oriented perpendicular to the main axis of the boxes of the previous layer. According to one advantageous feature, the ventilation openings in the upper walls and lower part are placed so that, when stacking a plurality of boxes in successive layers to form a compact volume substantially inscribed in a prism right, the main axis of the boxes of each layer having a substantially perpendicular to the main axis of the boxes of the previous layer, the ventilation openings boxes of two successive layers coincide at least partially. The circulation vertical air between two boxes belonging to two successive layers is possible.

According to an advantageous characteristic, the box according to the invention comprises a means of stalling of the product, so that this one, whose weight can commonly reach several kilograms, do not come to damage and deteriorate the walls of the box, while traveling poorly controlled.

A wedging means, object of the present invention, is realized by the fact that the perforated support equipping the lower wall of the box, has variable heights at different points and all the weaker as the curve of the product coming into contact with these points is important. Thus, the points of contact of the perforated support with the product are arranged on a plane of which the curvature matches the shape of the product, limiting the possibilities of sliding of it on the perforated support.

Advantageously, the box also comprises locking means of the foot of ham. Different systems can be used, known to those skilled in the art. A ring secured to a wall of the box can enclose the foot of ham, a reinforcement on the wall adjacent can be provided. Advantageously, in the box according to the invention, the support openwork will be designed to incorporate a means of blocking the ham foot. For example a transverse element of the support may comprise a notch receiving the bone. An element of support may also for example take the form of a hood covering the head of the bone.

According to an advantageous characteristic, in the box according to the invention, at least two of the ventilation openings in opposite side walls are provided with a reinforcement, so that they can be used as handles for handling boxes. This reinforcement can be made for example by a double thickness of the materials constituting the wall, or by the addition of a ring circling the opening, or by any other means to the disposition of the person skilled in the art.

According to another advantageous characteristic, the upper wall of the box comprises a extended central opening allowing observation of the product and its attractive presentation at consumer.

According to another advantageous characteristic, the external face of the material used to manufacture the box is printable. It can be printed before forming the box or when the box has already acquired its form of use, by any appropriate technique. Indications regulatory and commercial requirements can be brought directly to the box, which is particularly convenient in that, thanks to the present invention, the product is conditioned once and for all.

The box according to the invention is thus particularly useful for packaging dry ham sold by the piece, because it allows to use a single package of the output of manufacture to its final point of sale, ensuring maximum quality. We will understand that such advantages can be put to good use to condition other products food products, whether deli or other products, possibly after adaptation of the shape and dimensions of the box if necessary.

The invention will be better understood and other features and advantages will be apparent to the reading of the examples of realization accompanied by drawings, given for illustrative and not limited

Figure 1 shows a rectangular base box having ventilation openings on two opposite side walls. Figure 1-has shown the symmetry elements, Figure 1-b shows the transparency of the provision of the ventilation openings. Figure 2 shows a trapezoidal base box having ventilation openings on its six walls. Figure 2 shows the elements of symmetry, Figure 2-b shows the transparency of the arrangement of the ventilation openings.
Figure 3 shows a perforated support for equipping a rectangular base box.

Figure 4 shows the relative arrangement of ventilation openings for the circulation of air between boxes exactly superimposed (Figure 4-a) and between boxes superimposed on pallets (Figure 4-b).
Figure 5 shows a box with ventilation openings on its six walls, an upper opening for the observation of the product, and two reinforced side openings.
Figure 6 shows the elements necessary for mounting an easel in mounted position.

For the clarity of the drawings, examples of boxes without their support have been shown. perforated, so as to easily show the ventilation openings on all walls. Obviously, the openwork support is a constituent element of the box according to the invention. In practice, depending on the type of perforated support chosen and its method of manufacture, it is either permanently attached to one or more walls, be added before introduction of product to be packaged.

EXAMPLE 1

In a first example illustrated by Figures 1-a and 1-b, is presented a box having the shape of a right rectangular base prism elongated along the main median axis MP, of which the longest side walls Pl 'and Pl "are each provided with two openings ventilation. The openings of each wall are here arranged opposite each other and symmetrically on both sides of the vertical medians Ml 'and M1 "of the walls Pl' and Pl" bearing them, respectively. Thus an air circulation exists in a box taken separately, through the openings vis-à-vis. Also, when two boxes are exactly juxtaposed, the circulation of air is maintained, since the openings of the side walls of two boxes contiguous coincide, even if a box has turned 180 ° during its handling.

EXAMPLE 2

In a second example illustrated by Figures 2-a and 2-b, is presented a box having the shape of a right prism whose base is any trapezium, elongated along the median axis main MP. The shorter side walls Pc 'and Pc "have an opening each, which can conveniently be reinforced to serve as a handle during the handling. The long side walls Pl 'and Pl "respectively comprise 3 and 2 ventilation openings, arranged symmetrically on either side of their vertical medians Ml 'and Ml "(M" not figured). The two openings of the wall Pl "partially coincide with two openings of the wall Pl 'when the boxes are exactly juxtaposed, in the same meaning, and all the openings coincide when the boxes are exactly juxtaposed head to tail. The upper wall Ps has an opening centered on the main median MP and secondary median Ms. This opening is sufficient important to view a large portion of the product in the box. Wall lower Pi has two ventilation apertures plumb with the main median MP, symmetrical with respect to the median Ms. These openings, of moderate size for reasons of solidity of the wall, however, partly coincide with that of the wall higher Ps, thus ensuring a vertical circulation of air in a stack of boxes, that these are placed in the same direction or head to tail.

EXAMPLE 3

An example of openwork support is illustrated in FIG. 3. The conformation of this support on intended for a rectangular base box as described in Example 1. A modification simple allows to make a support of the same type for a box of different shape. This support consists of a framework comprising two longitudinal elements and three transversal elements. The elements are pierced through holes through which the air circulates. The arrangement of the holes is indicated by way of example, it being understood that it is It is advantageous to place them as close as possible to the ventilation openings. The transverse elements have a decreased thickness in their central part, the thickness of the central transverse element being the weakest, to receive the product and to avoid its lateral slip. The dimensions given in cm give an indication of the dimensions to provide for the packing of whole dried hams.

EXAMPLE 4

According to an advantageous variant of implementation of the present invention, illustrated by the Figure 4-a, the ventilation openings of the upper wall of a first box and the wall bottom of a second box placed on the first box coincide when the boxes are exactly superimposed. In Figure 4-a, only the walls coming from in contact during stacking, made here upside down for reasons of compactness and stability. The circular ventilation openings made in the lower walls and superior are placed symmetrically with respect to the main and secondary medians. As a result, as shown by the dotted lines intersecting the ventilation apertures in their center, when the boxes are superimposed, the ventilation openings coincide and the air can move from bottom to top and from top to bottom.

EXAMPLE 5

Another advantageous variant of implementation of the present invention is illustrated by the Figure 4-b. Only the walls coming into contact during a stacking are represented. compact boxes in successive layers, for example on a pallet handling, the axis main box of a layer being oriented perpendicular to the main axis of the previous layer. The ventilation openings are represented by a dark pattern. Projection openings of the upper layer on the lower layer (indicated by a clear pattern) shows the zones of superposition of the ventilation openings. When the boxes are palletized, the air can circulate through the boxes in the pile.

EXAMPLE 6

In this example illustrated in FIG. 5, a rectangular base box is represented in FIG. volume. The upper wall has a central ventilation opening sufficiently important to visualize a large portion of the product contained in the box, and two smaller openings placed symmetrically on either side of the central opening. A long side walls, having a tongue at each end, is raised, indicating the means of opening and closing the box. The most sidewalls Each of them has a ventilation opening reinforced by a rigid ring serving handle when handling.

EXAMPLE 7

This example, illustrated in FIG. 6, shows the production of elements for mounting a bridge from a perforated support comprising two longitudinal elements and three transversal elements. The support is made in one piece and delimits two compartments substantially rectangular.

The plates are obtained by cutting the compartments. Each plate features two opposite lateral lugs. Each compartment has two lateral notches opposite, corresponding to the lugs, obtained by cutting in the elements longitudinals near the end of the perforated support. The width of the notches is identical to the thickness of the plates. The upper part of the plates is curved for welcome the ham to maintain.

For mounting the easel, the pins of the plates are inserted into the notches of the compartments.

Claims (16)

Box for packaging a food product such as a dry ham, having the shape of a straight prism elongate along a main axis, characterized in that it comprises ventilation apertures on at least two opposite walls , and that its lower wall is equipped with a perforated support on which the product rests, so that the air circulates freely through the box between the walls and the product. Box according to claim 1, characterized in that the perforated support equipping the lower wall of the box consists of a frame comprising longitudinal elements and transverse elements delimiting compartments, the longitudinal and transverse elements being recessed in their thickness in several locations. so that the compartments communicate with each other and with the ventilation openings in the walls. Box according to claim 1, characterized in that the perforated support equipping the lower wall of the box consists of transverse elements defining compartments which communicate with the ventilation openings in the side walls, the transverse elements being preferably hollowed out in their thickness in several places so that the compartments communicate with each other. Box according to claim 1, characterized in that the perforated support equipping the lower wall of the box consists of a thin plate in relief with high points supporting the product and low points resting on the bottom wall, the plate defining a upper space and a lower space each communicating with ventilation openings in the walls and preferably being pierced in several places to promote the vertical circulation of air. Box according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that ventilation openings are provided in at least two opposite side walls and are arranged symmetrically with respect to the vertical center line of these walls, so that the circulation air is always possible between two boxes exactly juxtaposed. Box according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that ventilation openings are provided in the upper and lower walls and are arranged symmetrically with respect to the median lines of these walls, so that the circulation of the air is always possible between two boxes exactly superimposed. Box according to claim 6, characterized in that the ventilation openings in the upper and lower walls are placed so that when stacking a plurality of boxes in successive layers to form a compact volume substantially inscribed in a right prism, the main axis of the boxes of each layer being oriented perpendicularly to the main axis of the boxes of the previous layer, the air openings of the boxes of two successive layers coincide at least partially, thus allowing the vertical circulation of the air between two boxes stacked. Box according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means for wedging the product. Box according to claim 8, characterized in that the wedging of the product is achieved by the fact that the perforated support equipping the lower wall of the box has variable heights at different points and even lower than the curve of the product coming to contact of these points is important. Box according to one of claims 8 or 9, characterized in that it comprises means for locking the ham foot. Box according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least two of the ventilation openings in opposite side walls are provided with a reinforcement for their use as box handling handles. Box according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper wall has an enlarged central opening for observing the product. Box according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer face of the material used is printable. Box according to claim 2, the perforated support comprises two longitudinal elements and three transverse elements delimiting two compartments, characterized in that it further contains the plates obtained by cutting said compartments, said plates being able to be placed face to face at both ends of said perforated support and held in a vertical position by a tenon-mortise type system. Box according to the preceding claim characterized in that said tenon-mortise type system consists of two opposite lateral notches cut in the longitudinal elements near the end of the perforated support, and two opposite lateral lugs forming a T with said plates, said lugs being capable of cooperating with said notches. Box according to claim 14 or 15 characterized in that the upper part of the plates is curved to accommodate the ham to maintain.

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