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
  • B65D33/00—Details of, or accessories for, sacks or bags
  • B65D33/01—Ventilation or drainage of bags
• • 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
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/24—Adaptations for preventing deterioration or decay of contents; Applications to the container or packaging material of food preservatives, fungicides, pesticides or animal repellants
  • B65D81/26—Adaptations for preventing deterioration or decay of contents; Applications to the container or packaging material of food preservatives, fungicides, pesticides or animal repellants with provision for draining away, or absorbing, or removing by ventilation, fluids, e.g. exuded by contents; Applications of corrosion inhibitors or desiccators
  • B65D81/263—Adaptations for preventing deterioration or decay of contents; Applications to the container or packaging material of food preservatives, fungicides, pesticides or animal repellants with provision for draining away, or absorbing, or removing by ventilation, fluids, e.g. exuded by contents; Applications of corrosion inhibitors or desiccators for ventilating the contents
• • 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
  • B65D85/30—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for articles particularly sensitive to damage by shock or pressure
  • B65D85/34—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for articles particularly sensitive to damage by shock or pressure for fruit, e.g. apples, oranges or tomatoes

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a packaging assembly comprising a rigid outer package with a bottom and walls and a flexible inner package placed therein, wherein the walls and/or the bottom of said outer package and said flexible inner package are provided with openings, wherein the total surface area of the openings in the bottom and/or walls of said outer package is greater than the total suface area of the openings in said inner package.
• Such a packaging assembly is generally known in the prior art.
• lily bulbs are packaged in film bags which film bags are placed in crates.
• These crates have relatively large openings in the walls and bottom (slatted crates), whereas the film bags are provided with small openings with a diameter of about 5 mm (round).
• Transport and storage take place at a few degrees centigrade below zero.
• Such a package is adequate for the transport and storage of lily bulbs.
• the surface area of openings in a bag for lily packages amounts to less than 0.5% of the total surface area of such a flexible inner package.
• Such a packaging assembly is in particular suitable for the packaging of peppers.
• the openings proposed according to the invention are very much bigger than the openings used in the prior art mentioned above. This has the result that unlike the prior art there is very good aeration of the plant in the package. That means that good aeration of the plant can be guaranteed even if the packages are placed out of line on a pallet. Depending on the plant, the atmosphere (microclimate) to which the plant is exposed will be adjusted gradually (within a day). On the other hand, the openings in the flexible inner package are of such limited size that there is no great loss of moisture, i.e. the product does not dry out.
• the present package provides very rapid cooling of the plant. That means that directly after harvesting and packaging the plant is put in a cold store and rapid cooling of the plant to the desired temperature can be achieved. It has been found that for certain plants such as peppers the rapid attainment of the desired storage temperature has a major effect on storage life. In research it has been found that if from the time of picking the desired storage temperature is attained one hour faster, the storage life of the pepper in the package is lengthened by about one day. An optimal storage temperature for peppers is between 6 and 8°C.
• the total surface area of the openings of the outer package is between 8 and 50% of the total surface area of the walls and bottom of the rigid outer package. More particularly, the surface area of the openings of the outer package is between 30 and 50% of the total surface area.
• a value of less than 15% and more than 1% is applicable for all peppers for example. More particularly a range between 1 and 10% is applicable.
• 200 holes each with a diameter of 1.5 cm are made in the flexible inner package. This is in a bag which is suitable for being placed in a crate with dimensions of60 x 40 x 20 cm.
• the inner package is provided with means for absorption of ethylene.
• the storage life of the plants can be improved and more particularly the rotting process can be counteracted.
• the inner package can be shock-absorbent, e.g. it can consist of bubble film.
• the inner package preferably comprises a bag. It is also possible, however, to start with a sheet of plastic film and to fold this over. Complete sealing is not necessary and, in view of the openings present in the inner package described above, also not relevant.
• the invention also relates to a method for harvesting peppers, comprising picking said peppers and packaging them within 24 hours in an assembly as described above, with said peppers being kept for at least a week in said package.
• said peppers are yellow peppers.
• the invention will be made clearer by means of an example illustrated in the drawing. In this the only figure shows schematically a packaging assembly according to the present invention.
• This packaging assembly is generally referred to by 1 and consists of an outer package 2 which in this example is in the form of a slatted crate.
• a slatted crate can consist of plastic and has a relatively large area of openings.
• This slatted crate can furthermore be in collapsible form. It is then possible to make the slatted crate non- returnable. Another possibility is to sell the slatted crate after use.
• cardboard boxes provided with an adequate opening area or other packaging can also be used instead of a plastic slatted crate.
• the walls of the slatted crate are indicated as 3 and the bottom as 4.
• a bag 5 is placed, consisting of a plastic film such as HDPE.
• Peppers 7 are packaged therein.
• the bag 5 is provided with about 200 circular openings with a diameter of 15 mm. It will be understood that these openings can have another shape, such as slot-shaped, and that the diameter thereof can vary somewhat, lying between 10 and 25 mm.
• a package as described above is suitable in particular for the packaging of peppers. It has been found that there is hardly any deterioration in the quality of the packaged product after a prolonged period, such as one week. As a result it is also possible to store/transport yellow peppers for a prolonged period. During a trial it has been found that a weight loss of 1% occurs during storage for thirteen days if yellow peppers in a film as described above are packaged in the outer package described above. This is in contrast to a weight loss of 3% in the case of an ordinary box known in the prior art. It will be understood that the number of openings and the circumference thereof will be adapted to the product to be packaged, the time that the product is expected to remain in the package, and the conditions during this time.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Packging For Living Organisms, Food Or Medicinal Products That Are Sensitive To Environmental Conditiond (AREA)
• Wrappers (AREA)
• Paper (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=29728918

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2002
  • 2002-06-14 NL NL1020872A patent/NL1020872C2/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2003
  • 2003-06-16 AT AT03760177T patent/ATE318775T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-06-16 WO PCT/NL2003/000440 patent/WO2003106291A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-06-16 DE DE60303808T patent/DE60303808T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-06-16 IL IL16576803A patent/IL165768A0/xx active IP Right Grant
  • 2003-06-16 AU AU2003247223A patent/AU2003247223A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-06-16 ES ES03760177T patent/ES2257692T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-06-16 EP EP03760177A patent/EP1513742B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2004
  • 2004-12-14 IL IL165768A patent/IL165768A/en not_active IP Right Cessation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events