Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B25/00—Packaging other articles presenting special problems
  • B65B25/02—Packaging agricultural or horticultural products
  • B65B25/04—Packaging fruit or vegetables
  • B65B25/046—Packaging fruit or vegetables in crates or boxes
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B61/00—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages
  • B65B61/24—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for shaping or reshaping completed packages
• • 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
  • B65D77/00—Packages formed by enclosing articles or materials in preformed containers, e.g. boxes, cartons, sacks or bags
  • B65D77/003—Articles enclosed in rigid or semi-rigid containers, the whole being wrapped
• • 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
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/18—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient
  • B65D81/20—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas
  • B65D81/2069—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents providing specific environment for contents, e.g. temperature above or below ambient under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure, or in a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas in a special atmosphere
• • 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
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/30—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for articles particularly sensitive to damage by shock or pressure
  • B65D85/34—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for articles particularly sensitive to damage by shock or pressure for fruit, e.g. apples, oranges or tomatoes
• • 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
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/50—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for living organisms, articles or materials sensitive to changes of environment or atmospheric conditions, e.g. land animals, birds, fish, water plants, non-aquatic plants, flower bulbs, cut flowers or foliage
  • B65D85/505—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for living organisms, articles or materials sensitive to changes of environment or atmospheric conditions, e.g. land animals, birds, fish, water plants, non-aquatic plants, flower bulbs, cut flowers or foliage for cut flowers

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method of packaging re ⁇ spiring produce, such as fresh agricultural produce, such as vegetables, mushroom, fruits, herbs, and/or flowers, in par ⁇ ticular whole-sale batches of such produce.
• re ⁇ spiring produce such as fresh agricultural produce, such as vegetables, mushroom, fruits, herbs, and/or flowers
• Packaging films used with MAP packaging include micro-perforated transparent films. Such films may have a limited transmission rate for water vapor. Films with a high vapor transmission rate have been developed enabling to control the humidity level as well as the gas composition in the sealed package. Such films are particularly useful for the prolonged storage of respiring produce are sensitive to moisture. These films are commonly referred to as modified atmosphere/modified humidity packaging (MA/MH) films . A bio-degradable example of such a film is disclosed in WO 2016/071922.
• MAP films and MA/MH films are typically used for packing retail volumes.
• Wholesale batches comprising a plurality of retail volumes, are typically packed in stackable and pallet- izable containers, rather than film bags.
• MAP or MA/MH films are used as liners within such wholesale packaging boxes.
• the liners are bags put in the boxes before filling the boxes with the produce. The liners are then folded to close them. The boxes are stacked on pallets or similar carriers for transport. The liners are put in the boxes by hand which is labor-intensive. Another drawback is that customs officials may need to remove all the liners in case of a pest control treatment .
• the object of the invention is achieved with a method for packing produce, comprising the following consecutive steps:
• the container is wrapped in a vapor permeable film
• the film is closed, in particular closed to prevent gas exchange bypassing the film.
• Such a method can efficiently be carried out, e.g., using conventional flow wrapping machines. Since air is removed from the package, no air is trapped between the film and the con ⁇ tainers causing possible air bubbles that might hinder a dense stacking .
• the wrapped containers can then be palletized on a car ⁇ rier, e.g., a pallet for long-distance transport, e.g., to a retailer.
• long-distance transport is
• a transport container suitable for transport by a motorized vehicle in particular a ship, truck or airplane, e.g., a container with a conditioned atmosphere, e.g., a reefer container.
• the consignment is, e.g., assembled in accordance with specifications provided by an order from a buyer.
• the retailer will typically unpack wrapped the whole-sale consignment and re-pack it in smaller retail portions.
• a whole-sale container is a container with sufficient vol ⁇ ume to contain a plurality of regular consumer portions, for instance a container with sufficient volume to contain more than 1 kilo of the produce or a container with a volume V > 1,5 liter.
• the containers can be bags, crates, boxes, bottles or any other suitable types of palletizable containers. Par ⁇ ticularly useful are rectangular stackable boxes without protruding parts, such as cardboard boxes.
• WVTR water vapor transmission rate
• RH relative humidity
• the WVTR is mainly determined by the type of film material used. Good results are for example obtained with films com- prising biodegradable polymers, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) , polyhydroxyvalerate (PHV) , poly- hydroxyhexanoate (PHH) , cellulose acetate, nitrocellulose, polylactic acid, polybutylene succinate (PBS), polycaprolac- tone (PCL) , polyanhydrides etc.
• the film may for example comprise a partly or fully laminated structures, or a single layer substrate, for instance multi-layer paper laminate, pol ⁇ ymeric laminate, single layer polymeric films etc. A layer of metallization may also be provided.
• the film can for example be made by extrusion processes such as blowing, casting or calendaring processes. Examples of particularly suitable films are disclosed in WO 2016/071922.
• the film may for example have an oxygen transmission rate (OTR) between 1000 - 4000 CC/24hr/m 2 at 23° C, measured in ac ⁇ cordance with ASTM standard F2622.
• OTR oxygen transmission rate
• the film's transmission rate for oxygen and carbon dioxide is mainly determined by the presence of microperforations in the film.
• microperforations serve to control the oxygen concentration in the package atmosphere and facilitate ex ⁇ change of gases through the packaging material, but hinder contamination of the packed material from outside sources.
• the oxygen concentration should be low enough to slow down aging processes, but at the same time high enough to prevent anaero ⁇ bic processes such as bacterial growth.
• the microperforations in the film may provide a total open area configured to estab ⁇ lish the desired oxygen and/or carbon dioxide transmission rate. Openings allow for increasing the transmission rate of a poorly transmitting material, wherein the total open area may be determined by the number and sizes of the microperfora ⁇ tions.
• the film may have a first transmission rate for the first substance and a second transmission rate for the second substance, the open area for the first or second transmission rate should be determined with the first or second transmis- sion rate, respectively, taken into account.
• microperforations may for example have an open area of below 1 mm 2 , e.g., below 0.5 mm 2 , e.g. about 0.25 mm 2 .
• the microperfo- rations may for example have a diameter of 200 ⁇ or less.
• Laser perforation is an effective manner to provide such microperforations fast, reliable and in desired locations.
• a suitable laser perforation apparatus is for example disclosed in WO 2006/063609.
• the containers can be wrapped manually, this step can also be automated, e.g., using suitably sized flow packing or flow wrapping machines.
• Flow pack machines configured for use with film widths of at least 1000 mm, e.g., at least 1200 mm, e.g., at least 1300 mm can be used, particularly for wrap ⁇ ping whole-sale containers.
• the film can be supplied as a continuous roll or as pre-sized separate sheets. Pre-perfo- rated films can be used, or the film can be perforated with the perforations of the desired size and number. In case of continuous films the film is cut into sheets of a desired length.
• Containers filled with the respiring produce are sup ⁇ plied by a conveyer and pass a folding station where a sheet is folded over the container.
• During packing air can be removed for example by suction or by applying a pressure to the folded film by means of a pressure tool, e.g., a cushion, a sponge or a bristle or the like.
• a suction e.g., applying a subnormal pres ⁇ sure below ambient pressure
• air is removed from the film packaging before it is sealed, e.g., by means of a heat seal to such extent that the film can be pressed against the outer walls of the container without formation of air bubbles.
• the head space in the container remains filled with air.
• the seal is air tight, so the only gas exchange between the two oppo ⁇ site sides of the package film is via the microperforations .
• the packed contain- ers can be piled on a pallet or a similar carrier.
• containers are typically rectangular boxes, e.g., cardboard boxes, having straight walls without projecting edges or other protruding parts.
• a more stable stack is obtained if the containers are stacked in a staggered manner, e.g., with containers of a layer overlapping at least two containers of a next layer, like brickwork.
• the containers on the pallet can be of the same size and shape, or containers of different size and/or shape can be used. Since whole-sale containers for fresh produce typically contain typically have a volume of at least 3 liter.
• the containers will typically be cardboard boxes or con ⁇ tainers of wood or plastic.
• the containers can have side wall provided with one or more openings at head space level to allow suffi- cient gas exchange via the packaging film after the containers are stacked on top of one another.
• the head space is the space in the container between the packed product and the top edges of the container.
• Figure 1 shows a whole-sale box
• Figure 2 shows a pallet with whole-sale boxes.
• Figure 1 shows a whole-sale container 1 containing fresh produce 2, such as fresh fruit products or vegetables.
• the wholesale container 1 is a stackable rectangular cardboard box with sidewalls having openings 3 above the level of the head space 4 in the box 1.
• the head space 4 is the empty space within the whole-sale box 1 above the packed produce 2.
• the box 1 is wrapped with a vapour permable film 5 having a water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of more than 5 gms/ 24hr/m 2 at 38° C and 90% relative humidity (RH) , such as the FlexFreshTM film, available from Perfo Tec, the Netherlands.
• WVTR water vapor transmission rate
• RH relative humidity
• the film 5 is microperforated, e.g., with perforations having a diameter below 200 ⁇ in order to provide an oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of at least 1000 CC/24hr/m 2 at 23° C.
• OTR oxygen transmission rate
• the film 5 is wrapped using a flow wrapping or flow packing machine folding the film over all sides of the whole-sale box 1.
• the edges of the film 5 are sealed, e.g., by hot sealing.
• the seal 6 is gastight so essentially all gas transmission and vapour transmission takes place via the film 5.
• the seal 6 extends centrally over the full width of the top surface of the box 1.
• Figure 2 shows a pallet 7 carrying a pile or stack 8 of whole-sale boxes 1.
• Each box 1 is individually wrapped with a film 5 as explained above with reference to Figure 1.
• Boxes 1A of a layer overlap two boxes IB of a next layer and form a brickwork pattern, stabilizing the stack 8. All boxes 1 are accessible from the outside. With a few cuts a customs officer will be able to cut open all films of the stack 7, for in ⁇ stance in case of a pest control treatment.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Agronomy & Crop Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Packging For Living Organisms, Food Or Medicinal Products That Are Sensitive To Environmental Conditiond (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=57208336

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2016
  • 2016-06-23 NL NL2017035A patent/NL2017035B1/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2017
  • 2017-06-23 EP EP17733804.3A patent/EP3475187A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2017-06-23 WO PCT/EP2017/065590 patent/WO2017220801A1/en unknown

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