EP1833736A1

EP1833736A1 - Packaging of multiple consumer articles

Info

Publication number: EP1833736A1
Application number: EP05810210A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Paul Naylor
Original assignee: Unilever PLC; Unilever NV
Current assignee: Unilever PLC; Unilever NV
Priority date: 2004-12-22
Filing date: 2005-11-22
Publication date: 2007-09-19
Also published as: ZA200704797B; BRPI0519390A2; WO2006066682A1; CN101080351A; CN101087721A; GB0428086D0

Abstract

An outer package (1) containing a plurality of consumer articles (13) arranged in an array (17), said outer package comprising a flexible sheet material wrapped and sealed around the array (17) in a configuration which is adapted to the shape of the array (17) so as to retain the arrangement of the array (17), and an easy open mechanism (7) contained within a single face of the outer package (1) comprising two lines of weakness (3, 5) separated by a gap and cojoined at one end by a further line weakness or cut to define a tear strip (21), whereby the arrangement of the array (17) is retained after opening of the package via the tear strip (21).

Description

PACKAGING OF MULTIPLE CONSUMER ARTICLES

The present invention relates to packaging of multiple consumer articles .

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved package for packaging multiple consumer articles e . g . home care and personal care products .

In one aspect the invention provides an outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array, said outer package comprising (a) flexible sheet material wrapped and sealed around the array in a configuration which is adapted to the shape of the array so as to retain the arrangement of the array, and (b) an easy open mechanism contained within a single face of the outer package comprising two lines of weakness separated by a gap and coj oined at one end by a further line weakness or cut to define a tear strip, whereby the arrangement of the array is retained after opening of the package via the tear strip .

The invention advantageously allows convenient grouping of individual articles (which may be packages ) by packaging in an outer or a ^Λ secondary' package which can by opened simply by tearing the parallel strip of film. A tear strip is advantageous in that it does not require the use of potentially dangerous sharp implements such as knives and minimises the risk of damage to the primary packaging by eliminating the use of potentially sharp or dangerous obj ects . However, even though the action of tearing is involved, which is potentially quite disruptive when used on flexible packaging, this does not destroy the array due to the location of the lines of weakness . The user is thereby allowed access to an orderly array of articles after opening and e . g . whilst stocking shelves , articles can be selected and then retrieved from an orderly array. The articles are less likely to be damaged since they remain in the orderly array even after the package is torn open . Even further the articles are more likely to remain in a orderly array even after one or more articles have been removed.

An expensive and material intensive rigid outer container is not required to retain the array in order, since this is achieved by the flexible sheet in combination with array of articles .

Due to the opening being within a single face, this means that when the pack is opened, only the material within the single face is affected.

Preferably the opening mechanism is within a single face such that it does not extend to or beyond the perimeter of the single face . Therefore the opening mechanism does not interfere with any aj oining regions (e . g . edges ) between adj acent faces of the package . This is advantageous in that all other faces are left intact after opening, which retains the integrity of the package .

There may be more than one opening mechanism, e . g . there may be an opening mechanism within two or more respective faces of the outer packaging . This gives the user the choice of which opening to select, according to the type of article . The location of the opening may differ according to whether the articles are to removed from the outer package and placed on shelves for sale (in which case the face may be an upper or top face) , or whether the outer package is to be used as a display package (in which case the face may be a side face) .

A further advantage is that, even after opening because the package retains its integrity, the user can still handle e . g. carry the package without substantial disruption of the array of articles .

Preferably the flexible sheet material is a shrink wrap film. In this way the material is effectively shrunk to adapt to the shape of the array of articles . Suitable materials for this are PE and derivatives e . g . Low density polyethylene LDPE, medium density polyethylene MDPE, and high density polyethtylene HDPE, ethylene vinyl acetate EVA, polypropylene PP, polyamide PA and ionomers thereof .

However, the material might also be folded and sealed so as to adapt to the shape of the array.

The lines of weakness may comprise a line of perforations in the form of dashes and/or dots , and/or line of reduced thickness (of the material ) .

To aid the starting of this opening process , the package may include a label at the end of the perforation . The label is preferably attached e . g . by adhesive or heat sealing, to the tear strip material . Advantageously, part of the label remains free to act as a tab to facilitate grasping of the tear strip to use the easy open feature .

The advantage of including a label is that is acts to direct the user to the beginning of the tear strip and may have visual indicia to indicate to the user how to use the opening mechanism.

Advantageously, the lines are initially relatively close together negating the need for precise registration of the label with the beginning of the tear strip . The lines may diverge from such close proximity, if a wider tear strip is required.

Preferably the seals are effected by heating the regions to be sealed.

The zone of weakness may comprise a series e . g . line of perforations . Each of the individual perforations is less than approximately 10 mm in length, preferably less than approximately 5 mm in length and may be approximately 3 mm approximately. The gap between each perforation is less than approximately 10 mm in length, preferably less than approximately 5 mm in length and may be approximately 3 mm approximately.

The perforations may be made by e . g . a blade or laser . This can be applied before the articles are wrapped in the outer package or during the application procedure . Each perforation may be a small hole or slot . Preferably the package is a non-peelable, flexible material such as polyethylene, polypropylene and may be an oriented materials , laminates , coextrusions etc .

The package may be of thickness 25-100μm.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which : -

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array according to the invention .

Referring to the drawing, one embodiment of the invention is shown, comprising an outer package 1 containing a plurality of consumer articles comprising cartons 13 of detergent powder, which are arranged in an array 17.

The array 17 comprises a single row of cartons 13, each carton having identical dimensions and arranged to rest on its base .

The outer package 1 consists of a flexible sheet material 19 comprising shrink film which is tightly wrapped and sealed by shrink wrapping around the array 17 in a configuration which is adapted to the rectangular shape of the array so as to retain the arrangement of the array 17. Although the shrink wrapping process can leave gaps 15, these are within the boundaries of each end face 23 of the array , and are small enough not to comprise the array 17.

An easy open mechanism 7 is contained within a single upper face 19 of the outer package such that it does not extend to or beyond the perimeter of the single face . "Upper" means with the cartons orientated with bases downwardly directed and upper faces , (which contain spouts , lids etc not shown) upwardly directed. The opening mechanism comprises two mutually parallel lines of weakness 3 , 5 each parallel line consists of a row of perforations (in the form of dashes ) , coj oined at one end by a further row of perforations to define a tear strip 21. Each of the perforations is 3 mm in length. The gap between each perforation 3 mm in length . Shrink wrap film is of thickness 60 μm.

The arrangement of the array 17 is retained after opening of the package 1 via the tear strip 21. Once the tear strip 21 has been torn away an aperture 11 is left, through which the cartons may be selected and retrieved.

The outer or ^ secondary' package 1 is used to transport the array 17 to the retail establishment (e . g . supermarket) and can also be used to transport the array within the retail establishment . Indeed, a further advantage of the invention is that, even after opening, because the package retains its integrity, the user can still carry the package without substantial disruption of the array of articles . For example, the package may opened on the shop floor of a supermarket and one or more cartons can be selected from array in the the opened package and placed directly on one shelf and the undisrupted array conveniently carried by the merchandiser to another part of the supermarket for stacking shelves there . Thus, even though the package comprises a flexible material which is very easily and expeditious ripped open, it still acts as an effective transport device for ordered arrays of articles after opening of the package . Indeed expeditious opening of secondary and tertiary packaging is highly desirable as this is a key factor in the speed of shelf stacking^' within supermarkets .

The unopened array may be sold as a consumer unit, so that the individual cartons are selected for use as and when necessary by the consumer .

The packaging arrangement advantageously allows convenient grouping of the individual cartons within a ^Λsecondary' package which can by opened simply and, very importantly, expeditiously by simply tearing the strip of film but without the use of potentially dangerous sharp implements such as knives thus minimising the risk of damage to the primary packaging (the cartons ) by eliminating the use of such obj ects . Even though the action of tearing is involved, which is potentially quite disruptive when used on flexible packaging, this does not destroy the array due to the precise location of the perforations . The user is thereby allowed access to an orderly array of cartons after opening and e . g . whilst stocking shelves , cartons can be selected and then retrieved from an orderly array. The cartons can be made from thinner, cheaper (and therefore more vunerable) materials as these less likely to be damaged since they remain in the orderly array 17 even after the package 1 is torn open. Even further the cartons 13 are more likely to remain in the orderly array 17 even after one or more have been removed.

Due to the tear strip 21 and consequent opening 11 being within a single face 19, when the pack 1 is opened, only the material within the single face 19 is affected and it does not interfere with any aj oining regions (e . g . edges ) between adj acent faces of the package . This is advantageous in that all other faces are left intact after opening, which retains the integrity of the package .

The shrink wrap film comprises low density polyethylene LDPE Shrink wrapping allows the the material to be effectively shrunk to adapt to the shape of the array of articles .

To aid the starting of this opening process, the tear strip 21 includes a ^Λpull tab' (with visual indicia to indicate to the user to being tearing by pulling the pull tab) 9 attached at the end of the perforations 3, 5. Part of the pull tab is attached by adhesive to the end of the tear strip 21 material leaving the end free to facilitate grasping of the tab 9.

The perforations may be made by any suitable technique e . g . laser or circular cutter . In this embodiment, they are made prior to the application process by a laser .

Any suitable shrink wrapping process can be used and in this embodiment . The material is loosely wrapped around the articles and may be sealed e . g . heat sealed in this loosely wrapped configuration . The wrapped articles are then briefly (e . g. a few seconds) heated e . g. within an oven to shrink the material around the array. The time, temperature of the oven are selected so that the material forms tightly around the array.

Claims

1. An outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array, said outer package comprising (a) flexible sheet material wrapped and sealed around the array in a configuration which is adapted to the shape of the array so as to retain the arrangement of the array, and (b) an easy open mechanism contained within a single face of the outer package comprising two lines of weakness separated by a gap and coj oined at one end by a further line weakness or cut to define a tear strip, whereby the arrangement of the array is retained after opening of the package via the tear strip .

2. The outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the lines of weakness comprise a series of perforations .

3. The outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array according to any preceding claim wherein the easy open mechanism is contained within a single face such that it does not extend to or beyond the perimeter of the single face .

4. The outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array according to any preceding claim, wherein after opening, the the lines of weakness define an aperture which is contained within the single face .

5. The outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array according to claim 4 , wherein the aperture is contained within a single face such that it does not extend to or beyond the perimeter of the single face .

6. The outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array according to any preceding claim which includes a label or tab at one end to initiate tearing .

7. A method of opening an outer package containing a plurality of consumer articles arranged in an array according to any of the preceding claims , wherein the method comprises the step of tearing the tear strip from a single upper face of the package to provide an aperture within said single upper face whereby the arrangement of the array is retained after opening of the package .