EP1651423A1

EP1651423A1 - Process for protecting vessels in general and in particular metallic cans containing foodstuff

Info

Publication number: EP1651423A1
Application number: EP04770769A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giuliano Bisagni; Ottorino Ori
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-08-08
Filing date: 2004-08-04
Publication date: 2006-05-03
Also published as: WO2005014264A1; ITPR20030070A1

Abstract

The invention deals with a process for packaging foodstuff and in particular deals with a process for protecting vessels such as bottles, cans for beverage or boxed containing cooked and stored foods. The process provides for the complete wrapping of the whole vessel (1) with an heat shrinking film (4) in order to create a total cover that, when heating, will completely adhere to the whole external surface of the vessel itself.

Description

Title: PROCESS FOR PROTECTING VESSELS IN GENERAL AND IN PARTICULAR METALLIC CANS CONTAINING FOODSTUFF D E S C R I P T I O N Object of the present invention is a process for protecting vessels in general and in particular plastic bottles and metallic cans containing foodstuff. As known, metallic cans or boxes contai-ning foodstuff have a severe problem of a hygienic nature, that has been attempted to be solved without however providing absolute guarantees. The problem is more strongly felt for aluminum cans for beverages that can be used both by pouring their contents in a glass, or worse by directly drinking from the can. In both cases, either liquid, in the first case, or the person's mouth, comes in contact with the surface of the can cover that can be polluted by dust or bacterial charges. There have been several attempts to solve this problem, among which it has been attempted to apply on every can a small cover of rigid plastic material that wraps the whole surface of the cover and its crimping edge; this small cover is snappingly inserted but it can be extremely easily removed so that it cannot give an absolute hygienic guarantee of the vessel. US-A-4658568 shows a process for partially covering cylindrical objects, such as cans, with a film that is not heat sh-m-king. With the process disclosed in the above-mentioned patent, the protection does not provide any hygienic guarantee since dust can pass between film and can and fouls the cover: therefore, it is not a hermetic seal. US-A-5001887 shows a method for applying a heat shrinking seal to the closure of a vessel of the bottle type, but it cannot be applied to metallic boxes and cans and for the below-listed objects. International Application Publication WO 01/23267 refers to a protection for cans that provides for the use of a sheet of tinfoil that is applied by adherence on the can cover. The main object of the present invention is providing an absolute guarantee on the vessel hygiene and being a warranty seal that makes the customer at ease. A further object of the present invention is applying a completely hermetic protection to the can or box. A further object is avoiding the traditional labelling of the vessel since the process of protecting can advantageously comprise the simultaneous labelling. These and other objects are reached by the process for protecting metallic cans containing foodstuff, subject of the present invention, that is characterised by what is provided in the below-listed claims and particularly in that it provides for the complete wrapping of the whole external surface of the can with a film of heat shrinking plastic material that perfectly adheres to the can itself. These and other characteristics will be better pointed out by the following description of a preferred sequence of the process, shown, merely as a no-limiting example, in the enclosed table of drawing in which: - figure 1 shows in a perspective view a can for beverages before the process; - figure 2 shows a can completely wrapped by the heat shrinking before its heat shrinkage; - figure 3 shows a can completely wrapped by the film after the film heat shrinkage; - figure 4 shows, in a perspective view, a metallic box, typically for stored fishes, completely wrapped according to the process object of the present invention.

With reference to the figures, 1 designates an aluminium can containing a beverage. The can of the traditional type provides for a tearable tongue 2 placed on the cover 3 of the can itself. According to the present invention, the can is completely wrapped, on its whole external surface, by a film 4 of heat shr-mking plastic material, such as for example polyethylene, in such a way as to create a total cover that, in a following heating step, will perfectly adhere to such external can surface. Before applying the heat shrinking film, the vessel can advantageously be subjected to an external sterilisation or sanification treatment, for example by passing in a steam chamber (autoclave) or by washing with adequate liquids.

Another treatment to which the can can be advantageously subjected before being wrapped is the drying treatment, for example through hot air, in order to remove every residual of humidity that can be created during the bottling process.

The chance of embedding, between film and can, the bacterial charges acquired when fil-ling-in the cans themselves or during the transport to the final packaging lines, will thereby be excluded.

According to a possible variation, the sterilisation treatment can be performed with the can already wrapped by the heat shrinking film, for example with ultraviolet rays or in autoclave.

According to a possible variation to the process, the heat shrmking film protection can be applied to the can in a vacuum environment in order to avoid the presence of polluted air that could remain captured between film and can and to thereby guarantee the perfect film adherence. For some products, in order to lower the product packaging costs, the heat shri-nking film could be stamped on one face in order to form the can label. The thereby-applied protection is a warranty seal for the user that finds a product in which there is no chance of hygienic tampering unless completely or partially removing the protection. Even if the description specifically refers to cans for beverages, it is evident that the process can be applied also to metallic boxes for containing other foodstuff products, such as stored meat and fish (see figure 4), vegetable products cooked and stored in driving liquids such as beans, peas, etc. These metallic boxes, that are opened with tearing systems or with suitable can-openers, in fact have the same hygienic problems of the cans for beverages. Even if the above mentioned description specifically refers to the protection of metallic cans or boxes, nothing forbids to apply the process also to bottles made of glass or PET or plastic in general, thereby avoiding complex sealing processes, such as for example the one disclosed in US-A-50001887. The vessel protection realised with the above-described process also provides the advantage of being used for inserting promotional material or for providing the chance of realising prize competitions with points, etc. A further advantage is that the process can be applied to any vessel shape, such as for example small beverage recharging tanks, such as the metallic tanks for beer or rigid plastic containers for water.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Process for protecting vessels in general and in particular metallic cans containing foodstuff, characterised in that it provides for the complete wrapping of the external surface of the vessel with a film made of heat shrinking plastic material and afterwards for performing the heat shrinkage of the film by heating. 2. Process according to claim 1 , characterised in that before the step of wrapping the vessel with the film, a step of sterilising or sanifying the external vessel surface is performed. 3. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that before wrapping the vessel with a film, a step of drying the external surface of the can or box is performed. 4. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that the film heat shrinking occurs in a vacuum environment. 5. Process according to claim 1, characterised in that after the step of heat shrinking the ilm, a step of sterilising is performed through ultraviolet rays or treatments in autoclave. 6. Process according to claim 1 , characterised in that, in order to wrap the vessel, a film is used with a stamped face in order to constitute the vessel label.