EP1513739B1 - Wrap for packaging object(s) consisting of a shrinkable plastic material sleeve - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wrapper for packaging one or more articles, the wrapper being constituted by a sleeve of heat-shrink plastics material for shrinking onto the article(s) for packaging, said sleeve being obtained from a film folded in half and looped by uniting the two end zones concerned. According to the invention, the two end zones concerned are essentially touching facing free edges, and they are united by an overlap strip adhering to said zones on one of the faces of the sleeve on either side of the two facing free edges, the other face of said sleeve then being essentially smooth. This makes it possible to provide a heat-shrink sleeve that can be printed on the inside, that is recyclable, and that presents very satisfactory appearance for its smooth face on the inside or the outside.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of the packaging object (s), and more particularly the packaging made by means of an envelope constituted by a heat-shrinkable plastic sleeve intended to be retracted on the object or objects concerned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The technique of packaging one or more objects from a heat-shrinkable sleeve made in the form of a sleeve that has been threaded onto the packaged object or objects has already been used for thirty years, then heat-shrunk onto this or these objects. The heat-shrinking technique is perfectly controlled by applying a thermal field to the outside of the sleeve, in order to retract the sleeve uniformly on the object, even in the case of a highly variable section of said object. Anamorphosis techniques are also well controlled to preserve the impressions present on the sleeve, so that these impressions remain legible after retraction of the sleeve on the object, which is particularly important when it comes to the pharmaceutical field or cosmetic.

In this type of technique, the casing is constituted by a heat-shrinkable plastic sleeve which is obtained from a film folded on itself and closed by joining the two end zones concerned. In all cases, there is provided an overlap of the two end areas concerned film folded on itself, the two zones brought to one another, one of which belongs to the outer face and the other at the inner face of the sleeve thus formed, being adhesively bonded to one another, generally by heat sealing or cold gluing, or sometimes still by means of a thermo-activatable glue.

Such overlapping of the end areas concerned has a number of disadvantages which are well known to those skilled in the art.

The first of these drawbacks is the consequence of the presence of a sharp edge on the inner face of the formed sleeve, which edge may cause scratches when the object concerned is for example metallic or must have a glossy face. A second disadvantage lies in the difficulty of printing around the entire circumference of the inner face of the sleeve in a preliminary operation, the printing of the film being in effect flat, before said film is folded back on itself to form a muff. Indeed, the band corresponding to the overlap of the end areas concerned will induce jamming of the printed decoration, which jamming will inevitably be seen from the outside because it must necessarily use a transparent plastic material to achieve the sleeve.

Finally, it is worth mentioning a disadvantage inherent in the mechanical and chemical bonding which is reinforced at the level of the overlap of the end zones, the almost indestructible character of this connection implying the provision of tear strip systems with micro-perforations line when it is desired to be able to open the heat-shrunk sleeve, for example to have access to a plugging zone of a bottle or a bottle. Experts know that this type of connection, particularly in the case of heat sealing, is impossible to control precisely, so that the coefficient of adhesion, still very high, is never controllable. Finally, when it is desired to use objects that must be recyclable, for example polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, the reinforced connection at the overlap of the end zones makes the sleeve remain associated with the object that surrounds it, but this sleeve is not always made of recyclable plastic material.

The state of the art relating to heat-shrink sleeves is illustrated by the documents US-A-6,126,959 , GB-A-2,280,656 , WO-A-97/28062 and US-A-5 775019 , whose teaching is briefly recalled below.

The document US-A-6,126,959 discloses a heat-shrinkable plastic casing structure with a detachable flap made by double folding and double sealing line. It should be noted that the structure ends, after retraction on an object, a radial ridge protruding over the entire height of the envelope, which goes against the search for a smooth face.

The document GB-A-2,280,656 discloses a heat-shrinkable sleeve having, quite conventionally, a tear strip arranged along a generatrix of the sleeve.

In addition, the document WO-A-97/28062 describes a narrow pocket envelope. The search for a smooth face is in no way concerned.

The document US-A-5,775,019 discloses a retractable sleeve with two compartments juxtaposed, one of which, possibly detachable, does not wrap the object and can provide an additional function (pocket for housing a record or gloves, or handle gripping through the presence of cutouts opposite).

Finally, there are other documents illustrating the technological background, which do not relate directly to heat-shrinkable sleeves.

For paper envelopes, we can thus refer to JP-A-08 058756 which describes a bridging connection between the two edges of a paper sleeve, this bridging being provided by a heat-shrinkable tape section (at retraction, the paper sleeve is thus tightened by the circumferential shortening of the strip section), and at JP-A-04 018 250 which describes a system to two strips of reinforced paper folded, fixed on either side of an object, and whose free end is detachable to form two flaps coming face-to-face and constituting a gripping handle of the object.

For rubber envelopes, reference may be made to the document US-A-4,796,937 which describes a rubber sleeve closed on a cylinder and having a protruding forming handle grip. The facing edges are sealed to form the wrapping cylinder.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to design a packaging envelope of object (s) which is more efficient and does not have the abovementioned disadvantages inherent to the presence of a sealed or bonded covering of the end zones of the folded film on itself. even.

GENERAL DEFINITION OF THE INVENTION

This problem is solved according to the invention by means of an object packaging envelope (s) constituted by a heat-shrinkable plastic sleeve intended to be retracted onto the object or packaged objects, said sleeve being obtained from a film folded on itself and closed by securing the two end regions concerned, said end zones having free edges facing essentially contiguous, and being joined together over their entire length by a covering strip adhering to these areas on one side of the sleeve on either side of the two free edges facing each other, the other face of said sleeve then being essentially smooth.

In a particular embodiment, the cover strip adheres to the end zones on the outer face of the sleeve, the inner face of said sleeve being essentially smooth. In particular, the substantially smooth inner face of the sleeve can be decorated, the decoration then being visible from the outside by transparency.

The presence of an internal face essentially Smooth prevents scratching of objects for fragile or shiny object walls.

Alternatively, it can be provided that the cover strip adheres to the end zones on the inner face of the sleeve, the outer face of said sleeve being substantially smooth.

The smooth outer face of the sleeve may for example be especially appreciated in the field of perfumery, for a perfect appearance to the touch of the outer shell.

The covering strip may adhere to the end zones by a connecting means such as heat sealing, or ultrasonic welding, or alternatively by bonding or the like, with in this case a coefficient of adhesion which may be identical or different from on both sides of the two free edges. It will then be possible, in the case of a gluing or the like, that the product such as glue or varnish used is soluble in a suitable solution, so as to promote the recyclability of the packaged object or objects. Indeed, when the wrapped object is discarded after use, simply soak in a bath of this solution so that the sleeve naturally opens and detaches from the packaged object. The product such as glue or varnish may alternatively be a peelable adhesive, so as to facilitate the removal of the cover strip and the opening of the sleeve.

According to another embodiment, the cover strip is extended laterally, at least on one side thereof, by a flap which does not adhere, or at most at isolated points, to the outer face of the muff. In particular the or each flap is connected to the portion of the cover strip which adheres to the outer face of the sleeve by a precut line, so that said flap is detachable.

Alternatively, it can be provided that the or each shutter has an inner clipping, so that said flap can serve as gripping handle or objects packaged.

According to another particular embodiment, the cover strip has at least one line of microperforations extending in the longitudinal direction of said strip, in the vicinity of the opposite edges facing, so as to allow opening of the sleeve by tearing .

It may also be provided that the wall of the sleeve has, in the vicinity of at least one adhesion area of the cover strip, a line of microperforations, so as to allow opening of the sleeve by tearing.

Advantageously in this case, the cover strip is extended at one end by an opening tab.

Finally, it will be possible to provide that the covering strip is made of heat-shrinkable plastic material, mono or bi-oriented, with high shrinking power in the direction of the width thereof, so as to be itself retracted onto the object or the objects at the same time as the wall of the sleeve.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly in the light of the following description and the accompanying drawings, illustrating particular embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

• la figure 1 illustre la pose d'une enveloppe d'emballage conforme à l'invention sur un objet qui est ici un vaporisateur de parfum, le manchon constitutif de l'enveloppe présentant une bande de recouvrement adhérant à la face externe du manchon ;
• la figure 2 est une coupe selon II-II de la figure 1 au niveau du manchon seul ;
• la figure 3 illustre l'objet sur lequel le manchon précité a été thermorétracté ;
• la figure 4 est une coupe partielle montrant la zone de la bande de recouvrement faisant partie du manchon rétracté sur l'objet ;
• les figures 5 à 7, qui sont à rapprocher des figures 1, 2, et 4 précédentes, illustrent une variante dans laquelle la bande de recouvrement adhère à la face interne du manchon ;
• la figure 8 est une vue en perspective illustrant un manchon dont la face interne essentiellement lisse est décorée ;
• la figure 9, et la figure 10 qui en est la coupe selon X-X, illustrent une variante dans laquelle la bande de recouvrement est prolongée latéralement par un volet détachable ;
• la figure 11, et la figure 12 qui en est la coupe selon XII-XII, illustrent une autre variante dans laquelle la bande de recouvrement est prolongée par deux volets latéraux détachables ;
• les figures 13 et 14 illustrent deux autres variantes dans lesquelles la bande de recouvrement est prolongée latéralement respectivement par un ou deux volets formant poignée de.préhension ;
• les figures 15 et 16 illustrent encore deux autres variantes dans lesquelles la bande de recouvrement est respectivement prolongée par un volet ou présente un onglet d'ouverture servant d'organe d'arrachage pour ouvrir le manchon à l'état rétracté sur l'objet ou les objets concernés.

Reference will be made to the figures where:

• Figure 1 illustrates the installation of a packaging envelope according to the invention on an object which is here a perfume vaporizer, the sleeve constituting the envelope having a covering strip adhering to the outer face of the sleeve;
• Figure 2 is a section along II-II of Figure 1 at the sleeve alone;
• Figure 3 illustrates the object on which the aforementioned sleeve has been heat shrunk;
• Figure 4 is a partial section showing the area of the cover strip forming part of the sleeve retracted on the object;
• Figures 5 to 7, which are similar to Figures 1, 2, and 4 above, illustrate a variant in which the cover strip adheres to the inner face of the sleeve;
• Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating a sleeve whose substantially smooth inner face is decorated;
• Figure 9, and Figure 10 which is the section along XX, illustrate a variant in which the cover strip is extended laterally by a detachable flap;
• Figure 11, and Figure 12 which is the section along XII-XII, illustrate another variant in which the cover strip is extended by two detachable side flaps;
• Figures 13 and 14 illustrate two other variants in which the cover strip is extended laterally respectively by one or two flaps forming a grip de derehension;
• FIGS. 15 and 16 further illustrate two other variants in which the covering strip is respectively extended by a flap or has an opening tab serving as a tearing member for opening the sleeve in the retracted state on the object or the objects concerned.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an object packaging envelope (s) according to the invention, intended to envelop a single object herein denoted 1, which is in this case a perfume diffuser, of which the body 2 can be distinguished surmounted by a cap forming pusher 3 equipped of a spray nozzle 4, the circular connection zone denoted 5 corresponding to a large variation of section between the body 2 and the cap 3.

The packaging envelope denoted 10 is constituted by a sleeve 11 of heat-shrinkable plastic material, which is open at both ends, being delimited by two free edges 17 which extend in two parallel transverse planes. The sleeve 11 is shown here not perfectly cylindrical, but in the form of an open sleeve with two end folds, to remind that this type of sleeve is obtained by cutting a flattened sheath wound on a coil.

The sleeve 11 is thus obtained from a film folded on itself and closed by joining the two end areas concerned. According to an essential characteristic of the invention, the two end zones concerned, denoted 12, 13, have opposite edges 12.1, 13.1 which are essentially contiguous, and these zones are joined to each other by a covering strip 15 adhering to said zones on one face of the sleeve 11 on either side of the two opposite free edges 12.1, 13.1, the other face of said sleeve then being substantially smooth.

Thus, in contrast to the uniformly widespread techniques for producing heat-shrinkable sleeves obtained from a film folded on itself and closed by joining the two mutually overlapping end zones, the end zones are here arranged edge-to-edge. edge, so that the face of the sleeve which is opposite to the face carrying the covering strip 15 is perfectly smooth.

In the variant of Figure 1, the cover strip 15 adheres to the end zones 12,13 on the outer face 14 of the sleeve 11, the inner face 16 of said sleeve being essentially smooth.

Once the sleeve 11 is threaded on the object 1, it proceeds then heat-shrinking said sleeve on said object, in a conventional manner, which leads to the representation given in Figure 3. The object 1 is then surrounded, both for its body 2 and its cap 3, by the heat-shrunk sleeve.

The cover strip 15 may be made of amorphous plastic material, in which case said strip is not affected by the retraction, which is not a problem since the width of this covering strip will be small in practice. However, it may be preferable for the covering strip 15 to be made of heat-shrinkable plastic material, mono or bi-oriented, with high shrinkage capacity in the width direction thereof, so as to be itself retracted onto the object. at the same time as the wall of the sleeve 11, thus "following" the deformation of said wall during the retraction.

The section of Figure 4 makes it possible to clearly distinguish the two ends of the constituent film of the sleeve 11 which are brought free edge against free edge (edges 12.1, 13.1). This edge-to-edge removal removes the sharp edge that was inevitably present in the traditional case of an overlap of the end zones of the film closed on itself. This avoids any risk of scratching the object when the wall of said object is fragile.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, it is possible, in a variant, to provide that the covering strip 15 adheres to the end zones 12, 13 on the internal face 16 of the sleeve 11, in which case it is the external face 14 of said sleeve which is then essentially smooth. Such an embodiment will be more particularly sought when one seeks to have a perfectly clean external appearance for the object packaged by a heat shrink sleeve thus formed, as may be the case in the field of perfumery.

Another advantage of the smooth inner wall of the sleeve lies in the possibility of organizing an impression with a sophisticated decor on the entire inner face of the sleeve, the printing being performed when the film is still flat, before winding said film on itself to form the sleeve . FIG. 8 illustrates this advantage, and it can be seen that the essentially smooth inner face 16 of the sleeve 11 is here decorated, the decoration noted 20 being visible from the outside by transparency. In this case, the decoration 20 is represented by three letters A, one of which is precisely arranged passing over the free edges facing 12.1, 13.1. Due to the absence of overlap of the end zones 12, 13, and the free edge against free edge of the ends of the film, the impression made flat is not affected by the folding of the film on itself to form the sleeve. This provides a total cylindrical surface 360 °, fully available for printing and / or decoration of the sleeve. It will be possible for this purpose to use printing techniques using a sublimable ink, the force generated by the retraction of the sleeve participating in the transfer of the decor made in sublimable ink on the packaged object.

In general, irrespective of the position of the cover strip 15, it is possible to provide that this covering strip adheres to the end zones 12, 13 by heat sealing or ultrasonic welding, or alternatively that it adheres to the end zones 12, 13 by gluing or the like.

In the case of a bonding, it will be possible to provide an identical adhesion coefficient, or as the case may be different on either side of the free edges facing each other 12.1, 13.1. The strip 15, which may be a self-adhesive strip, may in fact receive glue or varnish coatings which are selective for half the width which concerns one side and half of the other width which concerns the other side by report to the contact area of edges of the wall of the sleeve. It then becomes possible to perfectly control the adhesion coefficient according to the mode of application concerned, and consequently to accurately predict the pulling force in the case of a sleeve that is to be opened, which effort is specific to each application concerned.

In addition, in the case of gluing or the like of the covering strip, it will be possible for the glue or varnish used to be soluble in an appropriate solution, for example hot water, so as to promote recyclability. the packaged item (s). Indeed, when the packaged object has become out of use, it is sufficient to recover the empty packaging and to immerse in a bath of this solution, to take off the film covering the object through the opening of the sleeve which occurs naturally at the level of the cover strip. It is then sufficient to recover the open sleeve which has returned to the state of flat film, to be able to recover the packaged containers, for example polyethylene terephthalate bottles. Naturally, it will be possible in this case, to promote the recyclability of the packaged assembly, that the sleeve is made from a plastic material also recyclable, for example OPP (oriented polypropylene).

It can also be provided that the product such as glue or varnish used for bonding or the like of the cover strip 15 is a peelable adhesive, so as to facilitate the removal of said strip and the opening of the sleeve 11.

According to another variant of the invention, it is possible to provide that the cover strip 15 is extended, at least on one side thereof, by a flap that does not adhere, or at most in points isolated, on the outer face 14 of the sleeve 11. Such variants are illustrated in Figures 9 to 15.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, it can be seen that the overlap 15 is extended laterally on one side thereof by a flap 15.1 here not adhering to the outer face 14 of the sleeve 11. In Figure 9, there is shown in gray the part of the cover strip 15 which is affixed to the outer wall 14 of the sleeve 11. Such a flap can serve as an information carrier, or alternatively constitute a detachable coupon, in which case the flap 15.1 is connected to the portion of the cover strip 15 which adheres to the outer face 14 of the sleeve 11 by a precut line such as line 21.

Figures 11 and 12 illustrate a variant in which the cover strip 15 is extended laterally on both sides thereof by a flap 15.1, 15.2, each of these flaps being detachable through an associated precut line 21.

Another function can be provided by such a flap not adhering to the outer face 14 of the sleeve 11, in particular a gripping function of the object. This case is illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, in which it can be seen that the single flap 15'.1 (FIG. 13), or the two flaps 15'.1, 15'.2 (FIG. 14), have a clipping path. interior 18.1, 18.2, so that the concerned shutter (s) can serve as gripping handle of the packaged object (s). The presence of an inner clipping on these flaps, which is cut when the film is still flat, may be likely to induce unsightly deformations during the retraction of the sleeve, but this is not a problem when the shutters are of small width. In the case of flaps of large width, reinforcing elements may be provided surrounding the peripheral contour of the cutouts (variant not shown here).

Figure 15 illustrates another function provided by a flap 15.1 laterally extending the cover strip 15. This is a pulling function of the heat shrunk sleeve on the object concerned. It is indeed provided, in this case, that the cover strip 15 has at least one line of microperforations 19 extending in the longitudinal direction of said strip, in the vicinity of the facing free edges 12.1, 13.1, so as to allow opening of the sleeve 11 by uprooting. The flap 15.1 then facilitates gripping to exert the necessary pulling effort.

In Figure 16, there is illustrated another variant, wherein the cover strip 15 provides a tear strip function in addition to its function of fastening for closing the film on itself. In this case, the wall of the sleeve 11 has, in the vicinity of at least one adhesion zone of the cover strip 15, in this case on both sides, a line of microperforations 22 so as to allow opening of the sleeve 11 by pulling by pulling on the cover strip. To facilitate the application of the required pulling force, it may be provided, as also illustrated in FIG. 16, that the cover strip 15 is extended at one end by an opening tab 23.

It has thus been possible to produce a packaging envelope constituted by a heat-shrinkable sleeve having an internal face or an essentially smooth outer face, thanks to the fact that the free edges facing the film are essentially contiguous. The term "substantially joined" used in the context of the present description encompasses an edge-to-edge gap of from 0 to only ten tenths of a millimeter. Indeed, in case of exaggeratedly large intervals, we would find the disadvantage of traditional overlap with sharp edges.

Although the envelopes previously described relate to the packaging of a single object, provision may be made to apply the invention to the case of multi-compartment sleeves, for enveloping a plurality objects.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments that have just been described, but on the contrary covers any variant using, with equivalent means, the essential characteristics mentioned above.

Claims (15)

1. A wrapper for packaging one or more articles, the wrapper being constituted by a sleeve (11) of heat-shrink plastics material for shrinking onto the article(s) for packaging, said sleeve being obtained from a film folded in half and looped by uniting the two end zones concerned, the wrapper being characterized in that the two end zones concerned (12, 13) are essentially touching facing free edges (12.1, 13.1), and they are united over the entire length thereof by an overlap strip (15) adhering to said zones on one of the faces (14; 16) of the sleeve (11) on either side of the two facing free edges (12.1, 13.1), the other face (16; 14) of said sleeve then being essentially smooth.
2. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 1, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) adheres to the end zones (12, 13) on the outside face (14) of the sleeve (11), the inside face (16) of said sleeve being essentially smooth.
3. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 2, characterized in that the essentially smooth inside face (16) of the sleeve (11) is decorated, the decoration (20) being visible from the outside by transparency.
4. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 1, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) adheres to the end zones (12, 13) on the inside face (16) of the sleeve (11), the outside face (14) of said sleeve being essentially smooth.
5. An article-packaging wrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) is bonded to the end zones (12, 13) by means such as heat-sealing, ultrasound welding, or adhesive.
6. An article-packaging wrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) adheres to the end zones (12, 13) by adhesive or the like, with the coefficient of adhesion on either side of the two facing free edges (12.1, 13.1) being identical or different.
7. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 6, characterized in that the substance such as adhesive or varnish used for bonding the overlap strip (15) is soluble in a suitable solvent, so as to make the packaged article(s) more suitable for recycling.
8. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 6 or claim 7, characterized in that the substance such as adhesive or varnish used for bonding the overlap strip (15) is a peel-off adhesive, so as to facilitate removal of said strip and opening of the sleeve (11).
9. An article-packaging wrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and 5 to 8, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) is extended laterally, at least on one side thereof, by a flap (15.1, 15.2, 15'.1, 15'.2) that does not adhere to the outside face (14) of the sleeve (11), or that adheres thereto via isolated points only.
10. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 9, characterized in that the or each flap (15.1, 15.2) is connected to the portion of the overlap strip (15) which adheres to the outside face (14) of the sleeve (11) via a precut line (21) so that said flap is detachable.
11. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 9 or claim 10, characterized in that the or each flap (15'.1, 15'.2) presents an internal cutout (18.1, 18.2), so that said flap can be used as a handle for grasping the packaged article(s).
12. An article-packaging wrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) presents at least one line of microperforations (19) extending in the longitudinal direction of said strip, in the vicinity of the facing free edges (12.1, 13.1) so as to enable the sleeve (11) to be torn open.
13. An article-packaging wrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the wall of the sleeve (11) presents a line of microperforations (22) in the vicinity of at least one of the zones where the overlap strip (15) adheres thereto, thereby enabling the sleeve (11) to be torn open.
14. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 12 or claim 13, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) is extended at one end by a pull tab (23).
15. An article-packaging wrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the overlap strip (15) is made of a mono- or bi-oriented heat-shrink plastics material having high shrinkage power in the width direction thereof, so that it is itself shrunk onto the article(s) together with the wall of the sleeve (11).

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