EP1520802A2

EP1520802A2 - Isothermal pack for cold food products

Info

Publication number: EP1520802A2
Application number: EP04104572A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Nicola Bianchi
Original assignee: Omcs Srl
Current assignee: Omcs Srl
Priority date: 2003-09-23
Filing date: 2004-09-21
Publication date: 2005-04-06
Also published as: ITVC20030003U1; EP1520802A3

Abstract

Isothermal pack (10) to contain and preserve a cold food product, which comprises a first container (11) having heat insulation properties, and a second container (12) able to be arranged inside the first container (11) and to contain the cold food product. The first container (11) is made of paper material and is shaped so as to define a box-like structure (15), while the second container (12) comprises a containing shell (16, 17) made of plastic material for foodstuffs, defining inside a containing compartment (19) for the cold food product.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns an isothermal pack to contain and preserve, at a suitable temperature and for a determinate period of time, a cold food product, such as for example an ice cream or suchlike. To be more exact, the present invention concerns a pack suitable to preserve the ice cream when the latter has to be transported for a relatively short distance without any specific refrigeration members, for example when it is purchased "to go", and taken from the shop to the place where it will be eaten.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Isothermal packs are known, for containing and preserving a cold food product, such as for example an ice cream or suchlike, when it is transported without specific refrigeration members such as for example refrigeration circuits, ventilators, freezers, conditioners or other.
Known packs generally comprise a first container, or insulating tub, with a relative lid, having a thickness of several millimeters and made of expanded polystyrene, and a second container, or containing tub to contain the ice cream, made of plastic material for foodstuffs, arranged inside the first tub and having a thickness of some tenths of a millimeter. On the upper outer surface of the ice cream, a protective sheet made of shiny paper is also arranged.
Known packs have the disadvantage, however, that after a determinate period of time, varying from about 30 to about 60 minutes according to the temperature outside the insulating tub, they can no longer maintain inside the suitable conditions of temperature for a correct preservation of the ice cream, thus encouraging it to melt.
Moreover, the insulating tub and the containing tub are rigid and have to have corresponding shape and size, thus entailing an increase both in the production costs and also in the bulk of the tubs when they are stored during the wholesale distribution steps.
Another disadvantage is that known tubs are specific for containing and preserving ice cream, and are normally of the throw-away type. This disadvantage makes it impossible for the final user to re-use the tubs effectively, for example to contain other foodstuffs or products, even other than food.
One purpose of the present invention is to achieve an isothermal pack for cold food products which will allow to maintain the latter at a substantially constant temperature for a period of time longer than that allowed by known packs.
Another purpose of the present invention is to achieve an isothermal pack which is simple and economical to make, and which requires limited space for storage at least during the steps of wholesale distribution.
Another purpose of the present invention is to achieve an isothermal pack which can be re-used effectively to contain other foodstuffs or, more generally, other goods, not necessarily foodstuffs.
Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the present invention or variants to the main inventive idea.
In accordance with the above purpose, an isothermal pack according to the present invention is able to contain and preserve, at a suitable temperature and for a determinate period of time, a quantity of a cold food product.
The pack according to the invention comprises a first container having insulating properties, and a second container able to be arranged inside the first insulating container, and to contain the cold food product.
According to a characteristic feature of the present invention, the first container is made of paper material, such as for example cardboard, pasteboard or suchlike, and is shaped so as to define a box-like structure. The second container comprises a containing shell made of plastic material for foodstuffs defining inside a containing compartment for the cold food product.
In a preferential form of embodiment, the box-like structure is formed by a shaped sheet having a unitary thickness in the order of millimeters, folded over itself, while the containing shell comprises a first lower half-shell and a second upper half-shell having a thickness in the order of tenths of a millimeter, and able to be selectively coupled with each other.
The shaped sheet that makes up the box-like structure is advantageously made of corrugated or honey-combed cardboard which, having good isothermal characteristics, allows to maintain, inside the box-like structure which it forms, the temperature necessary for the correct preservation of the food product contained in the pack.
Moreover, the conformation of the shaped sheet allows, in its folded condition, to have at least one wall of the box-like structure with a double thickness with respect to the unitary value of the thickness of the original shaped sheet, so as to further increase the thermal seal of the box-like structure. Advantageously, the shaped sheet is made and folded so that all the walls of the box-like structure have a double thickness with respect to the thickness of unitary value.
In this way, an isothermal pack is achieved to contain and preserve a cold food product in a simple manner and using low-cost materials that can easily be found, in any case ensuring an optimum cold seal and hence a good preservation of the cold product contained therein.
This feature is even more surprising if we compare the pack according to the present invention with known packs made with sophisticated materials, costly and difficult to find, shaped by means of expensive and technologically advanced production processes.
Applicant has found that, given the same external temperature, and with the same quantity of cold food product contained, for example of ice cream, in a time varying from about 30 minutes to about 60 minutes, which is the time used on average by the user to transport the ice cream, the cold seal of the packs according to the present invention, during the 60 minutes, is substantially comparable with that of known packs, and even considerably more if only the first 30 minutes are considered. More specifically, Applicant has found that the isothermal pack according to the present invention, starting from an inner temperature of -15°C and with an external temperature of 38°C, loses less than 1°C in the first half hour, while known packs can lose, in some cases, even about 2°C.
In another preferential form of embodiment, the containing shell comprises a transverse perimeter zone of a size corresponding with the inner transverse size of the box-like structure, in order to prevent the second container from moving transversely inside the first container when the isothermal pack is transported.
In this way, a surface of minimum contact between the two containers is created, thus reducing to a minimum the heat exchange between them, and hence the possible dissipation of the internal temperature.
According to a variant, the bottom wall of the containing shell is shaped so as to contact the inner lower surface of the box-like structure with a minimum surface, for example by means of a supporting frame, a plurality of feet or other, so as to further reduce the possibility of dissipating the internal temperature.
Moreover, the box-like structure, being formed by a shaped sheet folded over itself, not only has limited production costs but also considerably reduced bulk upon storage, since it can be transported and distributed wholesale in its flat condition, and folded only a few moments before accommodating the containing shell inside it.
A further advantage of the present invention is that, since it can be selectively closed and removed from the box-like structure, the containing shell can be re-used effectively to contain other cold food products, or other foodstuffs or, more generally, other goods, not necessarily food.
The fact that the containing shell can be removed also allows to replace it individually inside a refrigerator, or another refrigeration apparatus, if the cold food product is particularly melted, for example due to the pack accidentally remaining in the rays of the sun for a period much longer than 60 minutes.
In this way, the food product contained is cooled and frozen instantaneously, since the containing shell has low isothermal properties, whereas in known packs the cold food product, which remains inside the insulating tub, has a substantial thermal hysteresis before cooling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

fig. 1 is a perspective and exploded view of an isothermal pack according to the present invention;
fig. 2 is a transverse section of the isothermal pack in fig. 1;
fig. 3 shows a detail of the isothermal pack of fig. 1 in a flat condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF EMBODIMENT

With reference to the attached figures, an isothermal pack 10 according to the present invention is able to contain a cold food product, in this case ice cream, and to preserve it at a determinate temperature, for example less than 0°C, advantageously from -15°C to -9°C, when it is transported without specific refrigeration members.
The isothermal pack 10 according to the invention comprises a first container 11 and a second container 12, the latter able to contain the ice cream and able to be selectively positioned inside the first container 11.
The first container 11 in this case comprises a shaped sheet 13 made of corrugated or honey-combed cardboard (fig. 3) folded over itself (figs. 1 and 2) and constrained by means of substantially known constraint systems in a determinate configuration, so as to define a box-like structure 15 shaped substantially like a parallelepiped.
To be more exact, the shaped sheet 13 has a unitary thickness varying from about 1 to about 3 millimeters, advantageously about 1.20 millimeters, and comprises an impermeable and glossy outer layer 13a, an inner layer 13b made of simple paper, and an intermediate layer 13c consisting of an undulating sheet able to separate the outer layer 13a and the inner layer 13b, and to define a plurality of air spaces which increase the isothermal capacities of the first container 11.
Advantageously, the outer layer 13a can have its outer surface printed with high quality print, to carry a plurality of graphical and alphanumerical symbols that identify the product contained and/or other decorative patterns.
The shaped sheet 13 (fig. 3) comprises four central walls 24 connected together and able to be folded by 90° one with respect to the other so as to form a quadrangular structure, four thickening fins 14 able to be folded by 180° in order to double the thickness of the relative central walls 24, and four closing fins 18 able to be folded by 90° two by two one on the other, in order to define two lateral closing walls of the box-like structure 15, both having a double thickness.
The box-like structure 15 is closed by means of a tongue 22 made in a piece on one of the central walls 24 of the shaped sheet 13, and inserted in a corresponding through slit 23 made on one of the closing fins 18. This closure allows to prevent any accidental opening of the first container 11, and prevents the leakage of air from inside to outside the box-like structure 15.
The second container 12 is substantially diamond-shaped and comprises, in this case, a lower half-shell 16 and a covering upper half-shell 17, able to be selectively coupled together in order to define a containing compartment 19 for the ice cream. Both the lower half-shell 16 and the upper half-shell 17 have a very limited thickness, for example varying from about 0.5 to about 0.9 millimeters according to the quantity of ice cream contained, and are made of plastic material for foodstuffs, such as for example PS (polystyrene), PP (polypropylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or others. The two half- shells 16 and 17 are able to be coupled reciprocally in fitted manner by means of coupling systems of a substantially known type, suitable to guarantee the solid closure thereof until a desired manual intervention.
To be more exact, the lower half-shell 16 acts as a tub for the ice cream and has a bottom wall 16a provided below with a supporting frame 20 (fig. 2), by means of which it contacts the inner lower surface of the box-like structure 15.
The upper half-shell 17 contacts the inner lateral surfaces of the box-like structure 15 with an upper edge 21, so as to prevent the second container 12 from moving laterally inside the first container 11 when the isothermal pack 10 is transported.
The supporting frame 20 and the upper edge 21 are the only parts of the second container 12 that contact the first container 11.
In this way, the possibilities of dissipating the temperature due to contact between the two containers 11 and 12 are reduced to a minimum. Moreover, by keeping minimum surfaces of contact with the first container 11, the substantially diamond shape of the second container 12 allows to contain the greatest possible quantity of ice cream, thus optimizing functionality.
It is clear, however, that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the isothermal pack 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
For example, it comes within the field of the invention to provide that on the bottom wall 16a of the lower half-shell 16, instead of the supporting frame 20, there are a plurality of feet.
According to another variant, the lower half-shell 16 rests with all its bottom wall 16a on the inner lower surface of the box-like structure 15.
It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of isothermal pack for cold food products, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

Isothermal pack to contain and preserve a cold food product, comprising a first container (11) having heat insulation properties, and a second container (12) able to be arranged inside said first container (11) and to contain said cold food product, characterized in that said first container (11) is made of paper material and is shaped so as to define a box-like structure (15), and in that said second container (12) comprises a containing shell (16, 17) made of plastic material for foodstuffs and shaped so as to define inside a containing compartment (19) for said cold food product.
Pack as in claim 1, characterized in that said box-like structure (15) substantially consists of a shaped sheet (13) made of cardboard or pasteboard, folded over itself.
Pack as in claim 2, characterized in that said shaped sheet (13) is made of corrugated cardboard.
Pack as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said containing shell (16, 17) comprises a transverse perimeter zone of a size corresponding to the inner transverse size of said box-like structure (15).
Pack as in claim 4, characterized in that said containing shell comprises a first lower half-shell (16) and a second upper half-shell (17), able to be selectively coupled together.
Pack as in claim 5, characterized in that said first half-shell (16) and said second half-shell (17) both have a thickness of between about 0.5 and 0.9 millimeters.
Pack as in claim 2, characterized in that said shaped sheet (13) comprises a plurality of closing fins (18), able to be folded one over the other, in order to define relative lateral closing walls of said box-like structure (15).
Pack as in claim 7, characterized in that said box-like structure (15) comprises closing means (22, 23) made in a piece on one wall (24) of said shaped sheet (13), and on at least one of said closing fins (18).
Pack as in claim 7 or 8, wherein said shaped sheet (13) has a thickness of a unitary value, characterized in that said shaped sheet (13) is folded in such a manner that said box-like structure (15) has at least one wall of a double thickness with respect to said thickness of a unitary value.
Pack as in claim 9, characterized in that said shaped sheet (13) is folded in such a manner that said box-like structure (15) has all the walls of a double thickness with respect to said thickness of a unitary value.
Pack as in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said unitary value of said thickness is between about 1 and about 3 millimeters.
Pack as in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that said first half-shell (16) comprises a bottom wall (16a) provided below with a supporting surface (20) of limited size, by means of which it contacts an inner lower surface of said box-like structure (15).