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 1 packaging.
• the invention relates to a closure assembly for flexible packaging for containing a consumable product, the assembly comprising a base and a plug:
• the base having first and second parts, the first part of the base being adapted to be assembled with a flexible package, this first part comprising for this two tapered peripheral portions and;
• the plug being adapted to be assembled with the second portion of the base and to close an opening in said base, this opening of the base opening on a face of the base said contact face with said consumable product.
• 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 plug of the opening to make sealing the opening when the cap is assembled with 1 '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.
• assembly operations of the package with the base and the cap and the filling operation of the package 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 sealing assembly 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 sterilization techniques by ionization or chemical bath can achieve 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 facilitating the implementation of online sterilization of the assembly.
• the whole of the invention is essentially characterized in that the base comprises a female thread located inside the opening and in that the plug has a complementary male thread of said female thread thus making it possible to screw a portion of the plug into the opening of the base, the plug further comprising a closing portion such that once the plug is assembled by screwing with the base, the sealing portion is sealed with at least one region of the opening between said female thread and said contact face of the base.
• contact face with the product of the base designates a surface of the base on which opens the opening and preferably registering in a plane.
• a preferentially 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.
• the thread of the base is a female thread located in the opening avoids the presence of a thread on the outside of the base, and thus prevents the user from entering in contact with a thread during the mouthing of the base.
• the outer zone of the base can therefore be smooth and free of material retention zones (in this case a male thread formed on the base would constitute a material retention zone), which improves the hygienic quality. from the outside of the base and the comfort of the user during the mouthing of the base.
• the zone of the opening in which the seal is sealed with the closure portion of the plug is located in the opening between the contact face of the base and the female thread of the base is advantageous because: on the one hand the threads of the plug and the base are isolated from the consumable product which is on the side of the contact face of the base, this product can not therefore accumulate in the threads as the plug and the base are assembled tightly; on the other hand the threads being normally isolated from the consumable product, at least as long as the plug and the base are assembled, it is therefore not imperative to sterilize those threads that are not part of the contact surfaces with the product packaged consumable. This results in a saving of time during the sterilization operation.
• the invention it is possible to perform a line sterilization by pulsed light by simply illuminating the contact faces of the plug and the base which are preferably flat faces parallel to each other to minimize the shadows during sterilization.
• 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 contact face of the base has a roughness defect of less than 100 microns and preferably less than 10 microns. This feature improves sterilization quality.
• the contact faces of the plug and the base are spaced from each other by a distance of at least 1 millimeter and plus 15 millimeters.
• the plug has an elongated tubular shape and has at one of its ends a product-contact face, this face of the plug being adapted so that, when the plug is assembled by screwing with the base and closing the opening, the contact face of the plug is positioned closer to the female thread of the base that the contact surface with the product of one base.
• This embodiment makes it possible to have a relatively short plug with respect to the case where the plug would be flush with the contact face of the base. This embodiment therefore reduces the amount of material required for the manufacture of the plug which is economical.
• the invention therefore has the advantage of allowing a packaging manufacturer to choose these two parameters (length of cap and maximum opening area to be sterilized) depending on the type of product he wants to pack and depending on the quality. desired sterilization. Indeed, by choosing the distance between the contact face of the plug and the contact surface of the base is thus simply fixed plug and surface length parameters of the opening to come into contact with the product.
• 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 packaging includes films and that these films are assembled by welding with the first part of the base such that said tapered portions of the first part of the base go tapered to reach a plane parallel to the ropes of the package.
• 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 constituting 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 (ie low density polyethylene).
• the base prefferably has a female thread located inside the opening and for the stopper to have a male thread complementary to said female thread, thus making it possible to thread a portion of the stopper into the opening of the opening. base until the plug 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 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 beyond a sealing position.
• FIG. 1 shows a gourd of the prior art equipped with an assembled base 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 cap 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 plug disassembled
• Figure 6 shows a sectional view of the assembly of the invention with the base and the plug 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 package 7 is formed of two flexible films facing each other and generally welded 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.
• the base 1 on which the plug 4 is assembled 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 a section transverse eye-shaped whose circumference is tapered into two diametrically opposite zones. 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 emerging 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 provided to be parallel to the contact face of the base 9 when the plug 4 is assembled with the base as is the case in Figures 4 and 6. Similarly when the plug 4 is assembled with the base 1, this contact face of the plug, as well as the closing portion of the plug 10, are then placed inside the opening between the female thread 13 and the contact face 9 of the plug. the base and at a distance from these.
• This distance from the closure portion 10 of the plug relative to the female thread 13 and to the contact face of the base 9 makes it possible to separate the sealing functions (located at the level of the closing portion 10), screwing the plug and the base (located on a portion 8 of the non-communicating base with the packaged product) and the sanitized area (located at the contact faces of the plug 12 and the base 9).
• each film is positioned vis-à-vis a face of the first portion 6 of the base so that the tapered portions l ⁇ a and 16b of the first part of the base go by tilting until it reaches a parallel plane (parallel and adjacent) to the 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 plug 4 is a first one-piece piece of plastic and the base 1 forms a second piece monobloc also plastic, these plastics being of different natures 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 makes it possible to reduce the quantity of injected material to be cooled, thus reducing the capping release time and its cost of production.
• 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 closure portion 10 of the plug is formed at the end of the cylindrical tubular portion of the plug which carries the contact face 12.
• This sealing portion is ultimately an annular surface having the longitudinal axis of the main axis of symmetry. 17.
• the zone of the opening 2 of the base 1 with which the closing portion 10 of the cap is sealed is constituted by a narrowing of the opening, this narrowing being preferably carried out near the female thread.
• 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 10 is then clamped only at its end, in the zone of the opening. opening 2 to allow sealing exclusively localized at the periphery of the closing portion 10.
• the sealing zone (that is to say the contact zone between the sealing portion 10 and the opening 2) is of reduced surface, which facilitates the screw unscrewing efforts which must not exceed 10 N. * m- 1.
• An annular thread 14 is formed on the periphery of the tubular portion of the plug so as to screw the plug 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 in the opening 2 until there is a seal and that the closing portion is pressed tightly in the opening.
• the fitting is intended to create an aseptic barrier inside the opening.
• the threads make it possible to screw or unscrew the plug of the base between H and 5 turns to the maximum, for that it can be provided that the threads comprise several spirals.
• the cap has - an outer gripping portion 18 for handling .Notamment 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 clip 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 After (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (10)

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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