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
  • B65D75/5827—Tear-lines provided in a wall portion
  • B65D75/5833—Tear-lines provided in a wall portion for tearing out a portion of the wall
  • B65D75/5838—Tear-lines provided in a wall portion for tearing out a portion of the wall combined with separate fixed tearing means, e.g. tabs
• • 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
  • B65D31/00—Bags or like containers made of paper and having structural provision for thickness of contents
  • B65D31/10—Bags or like containers made of paper and having structural provision for thickness of contents with gusseted sides
• • 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
  • B65D33/00—Details of, or accessories for, sacks or bags
  • B65D33/16—End- or aperture-closing arrangements or devices
  • B65D33/1691—End- or aperture-closing arrangements or devices using adhesive applied to attached closure elements
• • 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
  • B65D33/00—Details of, or accessories for, sacks or bags
  • B65D33/16—End- or aperture-closing arrangements or devices
  • B65D33/34—End- or aperture-closing arrangements or devices with special means for indicating unauthorised opening
• • 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
  • B65D2575/586—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture with means for reclosing

Definitions

• the present invention relates, in general, to flexible packaging of food articles or the like and, in particular, to a flexible package having reclosable opening(s) for accessing and / or pouring contents of the package.
• the present invention describes a flexible package having reclosable openings for accessing and / or pouring contents from the package.
• the flexible package includes a pair of opposite panels.
• the flexible package further includes at least one pair of side gussets configured to attach the pair of panels to form a receptacle having at least three closed sides.
• the flexible package also includes a first and a second reclosable opening configured to provide access to contents of the flexible package, wherein the first reclosable opening is smaller than the second reclosable opening.
• a flexible package includes a pair of opposite panels, and at least one pair of side gussets configured to attach the two panels to form a receptacle having at least three closed sides.
• the flexible package further includes a reclosable opening provided on an edge of the flexible package. The reclosable opening configured to provide access to the contents of the flexible package.
• a flexible package in yet another embodiment, includes a pair of opposite panels and at least one pair of side gussets configured to attach the pair of panels to form a receptacle having at least three closed sides.
• the flexible package further includes a first reclosable opening provided on an edge and a second reclosable opening provided on at least one of the panels, the openings configured to provide access to contents of the flexible package, wherein the first reclosable opening is smaller than the second reclosable opening.
• the flexible package includes a pair of opposite panels and at least one pair of side gussets configured to attach the two panels to form a receptacle having at least three closed sides.
• the flexible package further includes a reclosable opening provided on at least one of the panels of the flexible package and configured to provide access to contents of the flexible package, and a rigid lockable closure configured to cover the reclosable opening.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a flexible package having multiple reclosable openings, according to an embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 2 illustrates a flexible package having a reclosable opening on an edge of the package, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 3 illustrates a flexible package having multiple reclosable openings, according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention.
• FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a flexible package having a reclosable opening with a rigid lockable closure, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary flexible package (100), hereinafter referred to as the package (100) for packaging food articles and the like.
• the articles which may be stored within the package (100) may include cereals, pet food, grains, fertilizers, chemicals etc.
• the package (100) may be made by using various kind of films, laminate structures, single layer substrate, including but not limited to, multi-layer paper - polymer laminate, paper - Aluminum laminate, polymeric laminate, single or multilayer polymeric films, fibrous substrate, woven polymeric fabric and its laminates, metal foils, etc.
• fibrous substrate may include a natural fibre substrate like paper (coated or uncoated), paperboard, non-woven, woven substrate of synthetic fibres and polymeric tapes.
• examples of single or multilayer polymeric films may include one of or combination of Polyethylene (PE), Biaxially-Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) film, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) film, Poly Carbonate (PC), Cast Polyproylene (CPP) film, Polytetrafluoroethylene, Biaxially- Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate (BoPET), Polyamide (PA), Acrylic (Polymethyl methacrylate) (PMMA), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) or any other polymer.
• PE Polyethylene
• BOPP Biaxially-Oriented Polypropylene
• PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
• PC Poly Carbonate
• CPP Cast Polyproylene
• Polytetrafluoroethylene Biaxially- Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate
• BoPET Polyamide
• PA Acrylic (Polymethyl methacrylate)
• ABS Acrylonitrile Butadiene St
• metal foil may include metalized layer of Aluminium, Aluminium Oxide, zinc sulphide, Silicon Oxide, Silver, Gold, Copper, Chrome, silicon monoxide, silicon dioxide, magnesium fluoride, titanium dioxide, tin tungsten oxide and indium tin oxide or any other suitable metal.
• the package (100) includes a pair of opposite panels, such as a first panel (102) and a second panel (103) attached with a first side gusset (104) and a second gusset (106).
• the first panel (102), the second panel (103) and the two side gussets (104, 106) are configured to define a receptacle (108) having at least one open side.
• the package (100) may further include a bottom gusset (110) or a non- gusseted pinch sealed bottom side. It may be contemplated that any type of flexible package, such as packages having three side gussets, four side gussets, Pinch bottom, non gusseted and top sealed packages, etc., may be considered within the scope of the present invention.
• the package (100) is formed of a single web.
• a continuous length tube is formed of the web by overlapping and subsequently sealing the two longitudinal side edges of the web. Further, longitudinal gussets are formed at each longitudinal edges of the continuous length tube. The continuous length tube is further separated to get predetermined package length tubes. Furthermore, one of the ends of the package length tube is sealed to obtain the package (100).
• the package (100) may be formed from four webs, out of which two webs form the first and the second panels (102, 103) and the remaining two form the side gussets (104, 106).
• the side gussets (104, 106) are used to join the first panel (102) and the second panel (103) to form the package (100) having at least one open side.
• the package (100) may be formed by using a single web which may be folded to form the first panel (102) and the second panel (103), and the two side gussets (104, 106) may be separately sealed to the web to form the receptacle (108) having at least one open side.
• the first panel (102), the second panel (103), and the side gussets (104, 106) may be sealed by way of heat sealing, adhesive sealing, ultrasonic sealing, laser sealing etc., or a combination thereof.
• the size of the gussets (104, 106) may vary, based on the size of the package (100) and the quantity of content to be stored within the package (100). It may be contemplated that other methods of making various types of packages (100) may be considered within the scope of present invention.
• the package (100) includes one or more tamper evident reclosable openings provided on any one or more of the side gussets (104, 106).
• Perforations are provided along a definite perforation path on the package ( 00), in the shape and size of the openings desired.
• the package (100) includes a first closure patch (112) and a second closure patch ( 14) configured to cover a first tamper evident reclosable opening (1 16) and a second tamper evident reclosable opening (118) respectively.
• closure patch refers to a separate piece of substrate attached or partially attached to a package that can be pulled holding the pull tab to expose or create an opening in the package (100).
• the closure patches (112, 114) include a pressure sensitive adhesive applied on an inner surface (not shown) of the closure patches (1 12, 1 14).
• the pressure sensitive adhesive binds the closure patches (1 12, 114) with the outer surface of the package (100). Therefore, when the closure patches (112, 114) are peeled, the pressure sensitive adhesive removes the area of the package (100) inside the reclosable openings and creates an opening in the package (100).
• the first opening (1 16) being smaller may be used to pour the contents of the package (100), by tilting the package (100).
• the second opening (1 18), being larger may be used to take out the contents of the package (100) using a scoop or a hand etc.
• the "tamper evident reclosable opening” as used herein refers to an opening in the package (100) which is created or exposed by pulling of the closure patch (112, 114).
• the reclosable openings (116, 118) are perforated tearable / openable areas (124, 126), such that when the respective closure patches (112, 114) are pulled, the perforations tear along with the closure patches (112, 114) to create the openings (116, 18).
• the reclosable openings (1 16, 118) may include any type of line of weakness such as perforations, laser scoring, other series of cuts, thinning or breakage or separation of substrate, or a strip of a different kind of substrate bridging between adjacent portion of substrate of the package (100), that is more easily torn or broken than the adjacent portions, and which allows the user or manufacturer to separate the adjacent portions along the line of weakness.
• closure patches (112, 114) are positioned over and operate in conjunction with the respective reclosable openings (116, 118) provided on the package (100).
• the closure patches (112, 114) can optionally function as a label and contain instructions and / or information, such as for opening the package (100), hologram or similar security means or the brand name, etc. associated with the package (100).
• the closure patches (1 12, 114) are contiguous with respective pull tabs, such as a first pull-tab (120) and a second pull-tab (122).
• the pull-tabs (120, 122) may be in the form of a notch having any suitable size that provides sufficient room for a person to be able to grip, hook a hand, finger or fingers, spoon, cane, prosthetic hook, pen or any other object through in order to assist in opening the package (100). It may be contemplated, that the pull-tabs (120, 122) may be of any other shape so as to facilitate a user to hold and pull the closure patches (112, 1 14) to open the package (100). In an exemplary embodiment, the closure patches (112, 1 14) have an adhesive deadener provided in the area of the pull-tabs (120, 122) to prevent the pull-tabs (120, 122) from attaching to the outer surface of the package (100) in that location.
• the pull-tabs (120, 122) may be completely adhesive free to prevent them from attaching to the outer surface of the package (100) in that location. In this way, the pull-tabs (120, 122) may be easily grasped by the user to open the package (100).
• the peel strength of the closure patches (112, 114) in areas (124, 126) proximate to the reclosable openings (1 16, 118) i.e., within the perforations is greater than the peel strength in second areas (128, 130) proximate to the surface of the package (100) outside the perforations.
• the substrate of the package (100) in the openings (116, 118) i.e., within the areas (124, 126) is pulled along with the closure patches (112, 114) thereby creating the openings / perforations which are tamper evident, as once the closure patches (112, 1 14) pulled, the perforations created along the areas (124, 126) are permanent and cannot be undone. Further, the substrate of the package (100) outside the perforations (128, 130) is not pulled along with the closure patches (112, 114) due to the low peel strength therein.
• the adhesive in the areas (124, 126) within the perforations is a high peel strength adhesive, and may be different and of high peel strength than the adhesive, i.e. a low peel strength adhesive, in the second areas (128, 130) outside the perforations.
• the low peel strength adhesive in the areas (128, 130) outside the perforations may be reusable to facilitate multiple reclosing of the openings (116, 118).
• the thickness of the high peel strength adhesive in the areas (124, 126) within the perforations may be greater than the thickness of the low peel strength adhesive in the second areas (128, 130) outside the perforations to provide the different peel strengths.
• the high peel strength adhesive in the areas (124, 126) within the perforations may be a permanent adhesive, whereas the low peel strength adhesive in the second areas (128, 130) outside the perforations may be reusable adhesive to achieve similar results.
• the substrates of the package (100) and the closure patches (1 12, 114) in the areas (124, 126) within the perforations may be sealed using suitable sealing methods such as ultrasonic sealing, laser sealing, heat sealing, high frequency sealing etc. whereas the low peel strength adhesive in the second areas (128, 130) outside the perforations may be reusable adhesive to achieve similar results.
• the user may open the first reclosable opening (116) for pouring small amount of content by tilting the package (100). Further, the user may open the larger reclosable opening, i.e., the second reclosable opening (118), if there is scoop that needs to be entered into the package (100) to take out larger amount of content stored in the package (100) without lifting and / or tilting the package (100). This provides an ease in taking out the contents of the package (100) as per the user's convenience.
• the package (200) includes a first panel (206) and a second panel (207).
• the package (200) further includes a single closure patch (202) with a tamper evident reclosable opening (204) provided on an edge (208) joining the first panel (206) and a first side gusset (210) of the package (200).
• closure patch (202) and the reclosable opening (204) is shown to be on the edge (208) joining the first panel (206) and the first side gusset (210), it may be contemplated that any edge of the package (200) joining any panel and side gusset, for example, the second panel (207) and the first side gusset (210), or gusset- to-gusset joining edge, may be considered well within the scope of the present invention.
• the closure patch (202) and the reclosable opening (204) work in conjunction with each other in a similar manner as described with reference to FIG. 1 of the present invention.
• the reclosable opening (204) includes a perforated openable area (214).
• the reclosable opening (204) is a rectangular opening cut out in any one of the edge of the package (200).
• the reclosable opening (204) is an inverted V-shaped opening.
• the longitudinal sealing on the edge (208) is left unsealed in certain defined length to act as opening (204).
• the reclosable opening (204) is covered by the closure patch (202) which may be peeled in a similar manner as described for FIG. 1 , considering the high peel strength adhesive is provided along the openable area (214), and the low peel strength adhesive is provided along the second area (216).
• the closure patch (202) further includes a pull-tab (212) configured to facilitate pulling off and/or peeling the closure patch (202) in a similar manner as described with reference to FIG. 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the reclosable opening (204) and the closure patch (202) may cover a portion of the adjacent first panel (206) and the first side gusset (210).
• the reclosable opening (204) when opened by pulling off the closure patch (202) acts as a pouring spout for dispensing the content stored within the package (200).
• the weight of the content while pouring out from the package (200) bends the open able area (214) to act as a pouring spout.
• the shape of the reclosable opening (204) is merely exemplary and may be varied to achieve similar results such as easy pouring.
• the flexible package (200) may include a second reclosable opening (not shown) different from the reclosable opening (204) provided on at least one of the panels (206, 207), or the gussets (210).
• the package (300) includes a pair of side gussets (313) configured to join the first panel (312) and the second panel (311) to form the package (300) having at least one open side.
• the package (300) further includes two closure patches (302, 304) and two corresponding tamper evident reclosable openings (306, 308) working in conjunction with each other in a similar manner as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2.
• one closure patch (302) is provided on a side edge (310), similar to that of FIG. 2, and the second closure patch (304) is provided on a first panel (312) of the package (300).
• both the closure patches (302, 304) include a pull-tab (314, 316) respectively.
• the pull-tabs (314, 316) facilitate the user to pull off and/or peel the closure patches (302, 304) in order to expose and / or create the reclosable openings (306, 308) respectively.
• the user in order to dispense small amount of article from the package (300), the user can open the reclosable opening (306) which acts as a pouring spout to facilitate easy pouring of the content.
• the reclosable opening (308) on the first panel (312) may be opened by the user. Therefore, the user, as per his convenience, can dispense the content stored in the package (300).
• FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary flexible package (400) having a reclosable opening (402) with a rigid lockable closure (404), according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
• the flexible package (400) includes a first panel (405) and a second panel (406), and at least one pair of side gussets (407, 409) configured to attach the two panels (405, 406) to form a receptacle (not shown) having at least three closed side.
• the reclosable opening (402) is provided on the first panel (405).
• the reclosable opening (402) may be provided anywhere on an outer surface of the package (400), such as on any of the panels, gussets and/or edges of the package (400).
• the package includes a first panel (405) and a second panel (406), and at least one pair of side gussets (407, 409) configured to attach the two panels (405, 406) to form a receptacle (not shown) having at least three closed side.
• the rigid lockable closure (404) which is configured to reclose and lock the reclosable opening (402) of the package (400).
• the rigid lockable closure (404) is made up of plastic material such as Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE) etc., wooden or metallic.
• PP Polypropylene
• PE Polyethylene
• the material of the rigid lockable closure (404) is merely exemplary and may be varied to achieve similar results.
• the rigid lockable closure (404) includes a base frame (408), a lockable cover (410) and a lockable portion (412).
• the base frame (408) is attached to the outer surface of the package (400) and in proximity to the reclosable opening (402), such that the base frame (408) defines an outline of the reclosable opening (402).
• the lockable cover (410) is configured with the lockable portion (412).
• the base frame (408) is hinged with the lockable cover (410).
• the lockable portion (412) snap locks within the base frame (408).
• other locking mechanism known in the art may also be used to have rigid lockable closure (404).
• the base frame (408), the lockable cover (410) and the lockable portion (412) are shown to be square in shape. However, it may be contemplated that the shape of the base frame (408), the lockable cover (410) and the lockable portion (412) are merely exemplary and may be varied to achieve similar functions and results.
• the lockable cover (410) may be further attached to a closure patch (414) configured to facilitate a user to pull open the rigid lockable closure (404) to access the contents of the package (400).
• the closure patch (414) and the lockable cover (410) are attached to each other by using an adhesive, such as a high peel strength adhesive, or a permanent adhesive, or the like or sealed using suitable methods.
• the closure patch (414) further includes a pull tab (416) for pulling the closure patch (414).
• the closure patch (414) and the pull tab (416) work in conjunction with the rigid lockable closure (404) in a similar manner as disclosed for perforated openings disclosed in FIGS. 1 to 3.
• the area of the substrate surface of the package (400) inside the base frame (408) may be perforated or laser scored or weakened by any other suitable means near the inside periphery of the base frame (408) which may be torn by the user to access the contents of the package (400).
• An additional film / paper or metal foil or laminate of any combination may be placed under the base frame (408) to act as tearable seal to access the content.
• the closure patches provided according to the present invention are adhesive tapes, the sealing of the package is very effective, thereby minimizing any leakage of air into the package. Further, the closure patches are reusable and reclosable, thereby enabling the user to store the contents within the package for longer duration.

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• 2015
  • 2015-11-02 EP EP15823395.7A patent/EP3212536A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2015-11-02 US US15/521,533 patent/US20170305628A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2015-11-02 WO PCT/IN2015/000405 patent/WO2016067307A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (2)

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