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
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/52—Details
  • B65D75/58—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture
  • B65D75/5861—Spouts
  • B65D75/5872—Non-integral spouts
  • B65D75/5883—Non-integral spouts connected to the package at the sealed junction of two package walls
• • 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
  • B65D39/00—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers
  • B65D39/08—Threaded or like closure members secured by rotation; Bushes therefor
• • 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
  • B65D2401/00—Tamper-indicating means
  • B65D2401/15—Tearable part of the closure
  • B65D2401/25—Non-metallic tear-off strips
• • 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
  • B65D2575/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D2575/52—Details
  • B65D2575/58—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture
  • B65D2575/583—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture the non-integral spout having an elongate cross-sectional shape, e.g. canoe or boat shaped

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to the field of packaging for consumables whose conservation requires a certain level of asepsis of the packaging.
• the invention relates to a closure assembly for a package for containing a consumable product comprising a base having a first portion adapted to be assembled with the package and a cap adapted to be assembled with a second portion of the base and to close an opening made in this base, this opening of the base opening on a contact face with the product of the base, this contact face of the base being substantially flat and intended to be placed in line with the inside the packaging.
• a base comprises an opening through the base to make a passage between the inside and outside of the package and thus allow the distribution of the product contained in the package.
• the base is adapted to receive a closure cap of the opening to seal the opening when the cap is assembled with one base.
• the cap and the base are manufactured and sanitized and inserted into a sealed overpack to be stored and transported to the product packaging site.
• the assembly operations of the package with the base and the cap and the filling operation of the packaging are performed in a sanitized environment for example under a stream of air purified laminar.
• a closure assembly for a package of the type previously defined is for example presented in the patent document WO03 / 06461.
• This assembly of the prior art which is shown in Figure 2 comprises a base 1 whose opening 2 extends from the base of the base to form an elongate tubular portion 3 for pouring the product.
• the plug 4 has an internal flange of complementary shape of the upper internal flange 5 of the opening 2 thus allowing a tight connection between the plug and the base at the end of the elongated tubular portion 3.
• Such a closure assembly is difficult to sterilize online because it has many folds, hollow areas may contain impurities. Only ionization or bath sterilization techniques chemical allow to obtain an acceptable sterilization but these techniques have drawbacks and may leave traces on the cap and the base (traces of radioactivity or chemical traces).
• the present invention aims to provide a closure assembly for a package and a method of sealing a package facilitating the implementation of online sterilization of the assembly.
• the assembly of the invention is essentially characterized in that the plug comprises a shutter portion of shape complementary to the opening of the base such that once the cap is assembled with the base, the closing portion is sealed with at least one area of the opening located at or in the immediate vicinity of said contact face of the base, the closure portion of the plug further comprising a substantially contact-like end surface of the product, such as once the plug. assembled with the base, said respective contact faces, the plug and the base are substantially coplanar.
• contact face with the product of the base designates a surface of the base s' registering substantially in a plane and on which opens the opening.
• a flat surface of the base may be for example a flat ring 9 in the center of which opens the opening, as is the case, for example, in FIG. 2.
• the surface of the assembly of the invention to be brought into contact with the product is substantially flat and is formed by a contact surface belonging to the plug and a contact surface belonging to the base. Thanks to this coplanar arrangement of the respective contact faces of the base and the plug, the surface to be sterilized has virtually no areas of shadows, or recesses, or folds, thus facilitating sterilization.
• the invention it is possible to perform a line sterilization by pulsed light by simply illuminating the flat surface formed by the contact faces of the plug and the base.
• the whole of the invention is therefore advantageous from a hygienic point of view and also economical because the sterilization operation can be accelerated without affecting the quality of the sterilization.
• the invention also relates to a method for sealing a package, characterized in that: a package adapted to contain a consumable product or constituent elements of said package is provided, a base having a substantially flat face of contact with the product, the base having an opening opening on the contact face of the base and a suitable cap to be assembled with the base and to close the opening, this plug having a contact surface with the product; the plug is assembled with the base in such a way that a closing portion of the plug is sealed with at least one zone of the opening located at or in the immediate vicinity of said contact face of the base and such that said respective contact faces, the plug and the base are substantially coplanar with each other; said coplanar contact faces are sanitized; the packaging or the constituent elements of the packaging are assembled with a first part of the base in such a way that the sanitized contact faces of the base and the plug are in facing relation with the inside. of the packaging.
• the contact faces of the plug and the base are at most distant from each other. a distance of 1 mm and preferably of 0.5 mm, preferably less than 0.1 mm.
• This embodiment specifies that the contact faces of the plug and the base are considered substantially coplanar and substantially flat if they are distant from each other by at most 1 millimeter.
• the contact face of the plug and the contact face of the base form a surface whose roughness defect is less than 100 microns and preferably less than 10. .mu.m.
• the roughness of the surface formed by the contact faces is as low as possible.
• the assembly comprises a flexible packaging in the form of a pocket and that the base is assembled with this packaging to allow sealing.
• the cap and the base are in different materials from one another.
• the difference in material between the base and the plug is advantageous because it is thus possible to confer certain properties to the plug and some other properties to the base.
• the material constituting the plug has a hardness greater than the hardness of the material constituting the base (thus preventing the plug from deteriorating by crushing against the base) and / or that the constituent material the base has a melting temperature lower than the melting temperature of the material constituent of the cap (thus avoiding a risk of welding the base with the cap especially during assembly of the package on the base).
• the material constituting the plug is HDPE (that is to say high density polyethylene) or PP (that is to say polypropylene) and that the constituent material the base is HDPE or LDPE (that is to say low density polyethylene).
• the base prefferably has a female thread located inside the opening and for the cap to have a male thread complementary to said female thread, thus making it possible to thread a portion of the plug into the opening of the opening. base until the cap and the base are assembled with said respective contact faces, the cap and the substantially coplanar base.
• the outer zone of the base can be thread-free and can be smooth which facilitates access during cleaning and improves the ergonomics of the base in the case where the base is intended to be put in the mouth (for example when the base is mounted on a gourd).
• the plug and the base have axial abutment areas to limit the depression of the plug in the opening of the base when the contact faces of the plug and the base are coplanar.
• FIG. 1 shows a gourd of the prior art having a base assembled on a flexible bag-shaped package and a plug assembled on the base;
• Figure 2 shows a set of the prior art as presented in WO 03/066461;
• Figure 3 shows a set of the prior art consisting of a base and a plug adapted to be assembled on this base;
• Figure 4 shows a perspective bottom view of the assembly of the invention before being assembled with the package;
• Figure 5 shows a sectional view of the assembly of the invention with the base and the disassembled cap /
• Figure 6 shows a sectional view of the assembly of the invention with the base and the cap assembled.
• the invention relates to the field of assemblies for the closure of packaging and for the packaging of consumable product.
• FIG. 1 represents a known packaging, for example for the packaging of liquid or pasty food products such as compote or mayonnaise.
• This type of packaging is formed of two flexible films placed opposite each other and welded generally by thermo welding or ultrasonic welding or bonding at their respective peripheries.
• the product to be preserved is introduced into the hollow zone thus defined between the films thanks to the peripheral welds 15.
• I / base 1 on which is assembled the plug 4 is positioned in a passage reserved for the periphery of the films.
• Each of the films is welded with a first part of the base, at the place of the reserved passage, allowing on the one hand to bind the base to the package and on the other hand to define a rigid zone for opening and closing the package and for dispensing product or filling the package.
• the first part 6 of the base 1 which is adapted to be assembled with the films 7 has an eye-shaped cross-section whose The rim is tapered into two diametrically opposite areas. These tapered zones allow a progressive separation of the films at the location of the first part 6 of the base 1 which avoids the folds of the films facilitating all the welding of the films with the base 1.
• Figure 4 is a sectional view of the assembly of the invention with a partial view of the package 7 before its assembly with the first part 6 of the base 1.
• the base 1 has a food contact face 9 intended to be put face to face with the inside of the package 7.
• a cylindrical opening 2 is formed through the base 1 and extends along an axis of longitudinal opening 17. This opening 2 is arranged so that the longitudinal axis 17 is substantially perpendicular to the food contact face 9 and the opening 2 has one end opening on the face 9 and another open end opposite the face 9 on the other side of the base.
• the plug 4 which extends through the opening 2 has a food contact face 12 formed at one end and arranged to face the inside of the package and with the packaged product.
• This contact face 12 of the plug is intended to be coplanar with the contact face of the base 9 when the plug is assembled with the base as is the case in Figures 4 and 6.
• the surface formed by the face 9 and the face 12 is flat and without shadow area. It is therefore easy to sanitize the portions 9, 12 of the base 1 and the cap 4 which will be brought into contact with the product by illuminating them, in line, using a simple pulsed light source.
• each film is positioned vis-à-vis a face of the first portion 6 of the base so that the tapered portions 16a and 16b of the first part of the base go tilting to a coplanar plan for packaging films 7.
• films 7, which are also sanitized, are welded or glued along their peripheries.
• Figure 5 shows the plug 4 of the invention before being assembled with the base 1 of the invention.
• the bo-uchon 4 is a first one-piece plastic part and the base 1 forms a second piece monobloc also plastic, these plastics being of different nature to avoid the risk of welding / bonding between the base and the plug.
• the cap has a hollow cylindrical tubular portion over a major portion of its length which reduces the amount of injected material to be cooled, thereby reducing the release time of the plug and its production cost. This cylindrical tubular portion of the plug is completely closed at one of its ends by the food contact face 12 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 17 of the plug.
• the region of the opening 2 of the base 1 with which the sealing portion 10 of the cap is sealingly mounted is constituted by a narrowing of the end of the opening which is adjacent to the contact face of the base .
• This area of the narrowed opening is formed by a cylindrical bore of smaller diameter than the remainder of the opening.
• the closing portion 10 of the plug has a complementary shape of the opening area such that when the plug is assembled with the base, the closing portion is then clamped only at its end, in the zone of the opening. 2 to allow sealing exclusively localized at the periphery of the sealing portion 10.
• the annular closure portion 10 is smooth and adjacent to the contact face 12, thereby minimizing the hollow areas between the contact faces 9, 12 and the sealing area.
• the sealing zone is of reduced surface which facilitates the unscrewing efforts of the plug which must not exceed 10 N * m-1.
• An annular thread 14 is formed on the periphery of the tubular portion of the stopper. to be threaded with a complementary thread 13 disposed inside the opening 2 of the base 1. These threads 13, 14 make it possible to force the plug into the opening 2 until there is a seal and until the faces 9 and 12 are coplanar.
• the threads make it possible to screw or unscrew the plug of the base between H and 5 turns to the maximum, for this reason it is possible for the threads to comprise several spirals.
• the cap has an outer gripping portion 18 allowing its handling especially when the user wishes to remove the cap to pour the product contained in the package.
• a tamperproof ring 19 is integrated in the plug 4 to snap into a complementary external groove 20 formed on the base 1.
• This ring is connected to the cap by pins of low mechanical strength and has pins 21 which once engaged in the groove 20 prevent axial displacements of the ring 19 along the axis 17.
• This system makes it possible to indicate to the user that the package has already been opened.
• the invention makes it possible to improve the storage conditions of the consumable product by ensuring better asepsis of the base and the plug.
• the invention can be used for the packaging of dough or a liquid food or cosmetic or pharmaceutical / medical.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)
• Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)
• Closing Of Containers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=36608737

Family Applications (2)

Family Applications Before (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (8)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 2005
  • 2005-10-17 FR FR0510569A patent/FR2892096B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2006
  • 2006-10-13 EP EP06820210A patent/EP1940700B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2006-10-13 DE DE602006020753T patent/DE602006020753D1/de active Active
  • 2006-10-13 WO PCT/FR2006/002310 patent/WO2007045747A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2006-10-13 EP EP06820209A patent/EP1940699B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2006-10-13 AT AT06820210T patent/ATE516229T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2006-10-13 WO PCT/FR2006/002311 patent/WO2007045748A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2006-10-13 AT AT06820209T patent/ATE501953T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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