Technical Field
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The disclosed technology generally relates to the field of food packing technology. More particularly, it is related to a package comprising an electronics arrangement configured to determine remaining shelf life, a blank arranged to be formed into the package, a method for producing the blank, and a label comprising the electronics arrangement.
Background Art
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During the last couple of years, different smart packaging applications have been presented within the field of food packaging. One such example is to provide an oxygen sensor integrated into the packaging material such that an amount of oxygen inside a package can be measured, and in case an oxygen level is above a threshold level, a notification can be made that the package is not adequately sealed. By using this approach, it is made possible to provide an indication to a consumer whether or not a food product held inside the package is safe to consume or not.
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In addition to using oxygen sensors for package performance purposes, it has been suggested to use conductive ink, i.e. using printed electronics, to detect tampering or unauthorized use of the package. By using this approach, consumer confidence in the integrity of the packages can be enhanced.
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Printed electronics have also been used in the field of packaging in that near-field communication (NFC) tags can be printed on the package. By doing so it is made possible for a consumer or operator to identify the package and also easily retrieve information associated with the package. For instance, the consumer may read a package identification held in the NFC tag by using his or her NFC-enabled smart phone, and via this package identification it is made possible to retrieve recipes linked to the food product held in the package, but also when and where the food product was produced.
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Even though printed electronics have been used within the field of food packaging, there is room for improvement. A drawback with many of the existing solutions is namely cost efficiency. In order to be able to deploy smart packaging applications broadly, cost efficiency is relevant.
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Another drawback with many of the existing technologies is reliability. While reliability may be of minor importance in some fields, it is relevant in the field of food packaging. An effect of providing non-reliable information on packages may namely result in food safety issues. The reliability is closely related to a speed with which the packages are produced. By way of example, roll-fed packaging machines are known to produce more than 30 000 packages per hour. Due to the vast amount of packages being produced, only a minor percentage of non-working smart packaging applications may have severe consequences.
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Based on the above, there is a need from the market for a cost-efficient and reliable printed electronics arrangement that can be used for providing information about the food product held in the package.
Summary
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It is an object of the invention to at least partly overcome one or more of the above-identified limitations of the prior art. In particular, it is an object to provide a package provided with a printed electronics arrangement that can be used for determining a remaining shelf life in a cost efficient and reliable manner.
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Generally, it has been found that the remaining shelf life for many food products correlates with a thermal history, that is, temperatures the food products have been exposed to. By making use of that a resistance of a resistor is affected by temperature such that the resistance is lowered when the temperature is increased, it is made possible to form a timing circuit that will generate clock signals, also referred to as timing pulses, with a high frequency during high temperatures and a low frequency during low temperatures. By using a counter arranged to hold a counter number, the clock signals generated by the timing circuit can be used to update this counter number and in this way a total thermal exposure of the package and the food product, that is, the thermal history, can be tracked over time. This total thermal exposure can be translated into the remaining shelf life of the food product. This is advantageous in that, instead of having a fixed best before date as is common practice today, it is made possible to provide a dynamic best before date that reflects the different temperatures the package has been exposed to. Put differently, by using the dynamic best before date, a more correct best before date, that is, a best before date taking into account what the package has been exposed to, can be provided. As an effect of being able to communicate more correct best before dates, it is likely that food waste can be reduced.
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According to a first aspect it is provided a package comprising a main body for holding a food product, and an electronics arrangement configured to determine remaining shelf life of the food product based on thermal history. The electronics arrangement may comprise a power source arranged to power the arrangement, a timing circuit arranged to provide clock signals, and a counter arranged to hold a counter number correlating to the remaining shelf life. The counter number may be changed over time based on the clock signals provided by the timing circuit. The timing circuit may be arranged such that a frequency with which the clock signals are provided depends on temperature.
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As described above, by making use of that the in most cases unwanted effect that the resistance of resistors is temperature dependent or other similar temperature effects arising in electronic circuits, it is made possible to make a low-complexity electronics arrangement that can be provided onto the package at a low cost. Since the temperature dependency often follow a well-defined pattern, this approach does not only provide a cost efficient solution, but also a reliable solution.
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At least the timing circuit and the counter may be printed electronic circuits.
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An advantage of having the timing circuit and the counter provided as printed electronic circuits is that this can be made at a low cost and also with a high degree of flexibility compared to other technologies for providing electronics arrangements. In this context, printed electronic circuits may be understood as circuits printed directly onto the packaging material of the package.
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The timing circuit may comprise a number of printed capacitors configured to be charged and discharged according to a set scheme such that the clock signals are generated, and the timing circuit may comprise one or several temperature-dependent resistors such that a flow of electrons in the timing circuit depends on the temperature, thereby providing for that the frequency with which the clock signals are provided depends on the temperature.
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Most often it is an unwanted effect that the resistance provided by the resistor is temperature dependent, but for the purpose of registering the thermal history over time, this is advantageous.
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The counter may be provided with a start counter number and the timing circuit can be arranged such that the frequency with which the clock signals are provided increases with temperature.
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The start counter number may be set to reflect product properties of the food product and/or packaging material properties of the package.
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Since different food products may be affected in different ways by temperatures and also different packaging material may be able to protect food products to various degree, the start counter number may be set based on the food product provided in the package, or to be provided into the package, and/or the packaging material used for the package. For instance, a packaging material comprising a high number of barrier layers may result in a higher start counter number while another packaging material comprising a low number of barrier layers may result in a lower start counter number.
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The electronics arrangement may further comprise an activation circuit arranged to trigger activation of the timing circuit.
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For aseptic packages, it is today often the case that the shelf life is six months or more as long as the package remains closed, i.e. the package is not opened. However, once the package is opened, the shelf life may only be a couple of weeks. It may also be required that the package is kept chilled after the first time opening, while it can be kept in room temperatures until the first time opening. To be able to detect the first time opening, the electronics arrangement may comprise the activation circuit such that the first time opening can be detected. Once the first time opening is detected by the activation circuit, this may trigger that the counter number is changed as a function of the temperature.
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An advantage with this is that it is made possible to determine a dynamic best before date triggered by the first time opening.
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The activation circuit may however not necessarily be associated with the first time opening of package. For instance, the activation circuit may be linked to a tamper band, such that a removal of the tamper band triggers the activation of the timing circuit.
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The package may further comprise an opening arrangement, wherein the activation circuit at least in part extends over the opening arrangement such that a state is changed as the opening arrangement is opened such that the activation of the timing circuit is triggered.
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The package may be made from a laminate comprising a cellulose-based layer, an inner protection layer and an outer protection layer, wherein the opening arrangement may comprise a closure, such as a spout and cap combination, and a closure section of the laminate, wherein the closure section may comprise a section of the package void of the cellulose-based layer, wherein the closure is applied onto the closure section and is arranged to penetrate the closure section during opening of the package, wherein the activation circuit at least in part may extend over the closure section.
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This comes with the benefit that the activation circuit is protected by the closure during transportation and until the first time opening when part of or the whole closure is detached but also offers an additional benefit of acting as a deterrent against tampering when the product is on the shelf.
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The electronics arrangement may further comprise a display arranged to provide visual information via multiple display elements, wherein the display is a printed electronic circuit, wherein the visual information is associated to the counter number held in the counter.
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The multiple display elements may be configured such that an electric impulse is needed for having one of these switched from one state to another, and that the different display elements remain in their respective state until new electric impulses are received. The multiple display elements may be based on e.g. organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology.
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An advantage of having the display printed on the package is that the dynamic best before date can be displayed directly on the package. Another advantage is cost efficiency. Still an advantage is that by using printed displays it is made possible to recycle the packaging material as carton even though there is a display provided on the package.
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The electronics arrangement may provided on a label attached to the package.
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Instead of having the electronics arrangement printed onto the package, the electronics arrangement can be provided on the label, and that this label is attached to the package. Another option is to have part of the electronics arrangement printed and another part of the electronics arrangement provided on the label.
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The main body is made of a laminate comprising one or several cellulose-based layers and/or one or several plastic layers and is void of Aluminium foil.
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An advantage of not having the Aluminium foil included is that an environmental impact of the package can be improved. However, removing the aluminium foil may reduce the package's ability to shield the food product form external factors such as sunlight, potentially shortening the shelf life. This effect is particularly significant for certain types of products, such as fruit juice. To compensate for this and consider such variations in product stability, the integration of a dynamic tracking and adjustment system for the best before date becomes even more crucial. Additionally, the influence of temperature on the product's quality might be more pronounced without the aluminium foil, further underscoring the need for dynamic tracking and adjustment to cope with these effects.
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According to a second aspect it is provided a blank made of packaging material and arranged to be folded, filled with food product and sealed such that a package according to the first aspect is formed.
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According to a third aspect it is provided a method for producing a blank according to the second aspect. The method may comprise producing a web of packaging material, wherein the web comprises multiple blanks placed after one another, and providing the electronics arrangement onto the web of packaging material.
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The step of providing the electronics arrangement may comprise printing the electronics arrangement onto the web.
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According to a fourth aspect it is provided a label comprising an electronics arrangement configured to determine remaining shelf life of a food product based on thermal history. The electronics arrangement may comprise a power source arranged to power the arrangement, a timing circuit arranged to provide clock signals, a counter arranged to hold a counter number correlating to the remaining shelf life, wherein the counter number may be changed over time based on the clock signals provided by the timing circuit, wherein the timing circuit may be arranged such that a frequency with which the clock signals are provided depends on temperature, wherein the label may be arranged to be attached to a main body arranged to hold the food product such that a package according to the first aspect is formed.
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The same features and advantages as presented with respect to the first aspect also apply to this aspect.
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Still other objectives, features, aspects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description as well as from the drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings
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Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which
- Fig. 1A illustrates a package with a label comprising an electronics arrangement.
- Fig. 1B illustrates a package with the electronics arrangement printed onto the package.
- Fig. 2 illustrates a blank arranged to be formed into a package.
- Fig. 4A to 4D illustrate four different examples of the electronics arrangement.
- Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the counter number as a function of time by way of example.
- Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for producing the blank.
Detailed Description
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With reference to fig. 1A, a package 100 is illustrated by way example. More particularly, it is illustrated a partly folded brick-shaped package. For instance, this state of the package 100 may be provided, in a roll-fed packaging machine, downstream a transversal sealing station and upstream a final folder, that is, a piece of equipment arranged for folding an upper part and a lower part of the package such that a top and a bottom, respectively, are formed. Generally, the package 100 comprises a main body 102 arranged to hold a food product FP. As illustrated, the main body 102 may have a rectangular cross-sectional area, but in case the package is provided in the form of a PET bottle, the main body may be shaped with a circular cross-section. As illustrated, the package 100 may be provided with a label 104 comprising an electronics arrangement 106 configured to determine a remaining shelf of the food product as will be further described below.
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Fig. 1B illustrates the package 100 in a folded state, that is, downstream the final folder. Unlike the example illustrated in fig. 1A, the package illustrated in fig. 1B is not provided with the label 104 provided with the electronics arrangement 106, but instead the electronics arrangement 106 is provided directly onto the package 100, for instance, by way of printing the electronics arrangement 106.
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In case the package 100 is a carton-based package, this may be formed from a blank 200, illustrated by way of example in fig. 2. The packaging machine arranged to produce the package 100 may be a so-called blanks-fed machine in which pre-cut and sometimes sleeve-shaped blanks 200 are fed into the machine, but it may also be a roll-fed packaging machine in which the blanks 200 are provided in the form of webs into the machine, wherein the webs comprise blanks 200 placed after one another. The blank 200 being illustrated is an unfolded blank not yet formed into a sleeve, that is, no longitudinal sealing is yet made. Examples of the blanks-fed packaging machine are Tetra Pak® R1 and Tetra Pak® R2 marketed by Tetra Pak® and producing Tetra Recart® packages. Examples of the roll-fed packaging machine are Tetra Pak® A3 Speed and Tetra Pak® E3/Hyper Speed producing Tetra Brik® packages, also marketed by Tetra Pak®.
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As illustrated, the blank 200 may be provided with an opening arrangement 202. To be able to detect that the package 100 is opened, once the blank 200 has been filled, sealed and folded, an activation circuit 204 of the electronics arrangement 106 can be arranged such that this at least partly extend into the opening arrangement 202. By having the activation circuit 204 arranged in this way, it is made possible to detect a first time opening of the opening arrangement. This, in turn, provides for that the remaining shelf life can be calculated based on this first time opening. In case the package is an aseptic package, that is, a package made to keep the food product protected in room temperatures, a time point of the first time opening is relevant since the package's capability of protecting the food product is not the same after this point of time.
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Further, as illustrated, the package may also be provided with a printed code 206. In case the printed code 206 is package-specific, this may be used for identification purposes. An effect of being able to identify the package is that information about the food product held in the package and also information about the package can be retrieved, by using a smart phone or the like, from a remote server. By having information about the package as well as the food product, a counter number generated from the electronics arrangement, as will be further described below, can be translated into the remaining shelf life. In other words, different food products are deteriorating at different speeds and are also to different degrees dependent on temperature. In a similar manner, different packaging materials protect in different degrees. By having this information, output from the electronics arrangement can be placed in the correct context. As an alternative, the electronics arrangement can be made with this in mind already from the start, thereby making it possible to leave out the printed code 206 and the need for the smart phone or the like.
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As illustrated in fig. 3, the opening arrangement 202 may comprise a closure 300, herein comprising a spout 310, a cap 312 and a cutting member 314, as well as a closure section 302 of the package. The packaging material may comprise, as illustrated, an outer protective layer 304 for protecting a décor, a cellulose-based layer 306 for providing robustness and an inner protective layer 308 for shielding off the cellulose-based layer from the food product FP. Even though not illustrated, additional protective layers may be added and it is also possible to have additional cellulose-based layers added. The closure section 302 may differentiate from other sections of the package in that the cellulose-based layer 306 is removed. The reason behind having this layer removed is that this provides for that the cutting member 314 of the closure 300 may be arranged to penetrate down through the outer and inner protective layers 304, 306 as the cap 312 is unscrewed, that is opened. This opening arrangement principle is known from e.g. DreamCap™ 26 marketed by Tetra Pak®.
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As illustrated, by having the activation circuit 204 extending into the closure section 302, it is made possible to detect by the electronics arrangement 106 that the package is opened for the first time. As discussed above, since this point of time is relevant for determining the remaining shelf life, this provides relevant input to the electronics arrangement. The activation circuit can be arranged in various ways. By way of example, the activation circuit 204 may be arranged such that this is closed until the first time opening, that is, providing a possibility for electrons to pass through the circuit, but opened after the first time opening, that is, not providing the possibility for the electrons to flow through the circuit. The electronics arrangement 106 may be printed onto the package. As illustrated, the electronics arrangement 106 may be printed onto the outer protective layer 304. This may be advantageous if the electronics arrangement comprises a display arranged for communicating information to an operator or consumer. Another option, even though not illustrated, is to have the electronics arrangement 106 printed, or provided in other ways, between the cellulose-based layer 306 and the outer protective layer 304. By having the electronics arrangement 106 provided in this way, it is protected by the outer protective layer 304. Other options are to have the electronics arrangement 106 provided between the cellulose-based layer 306 and the inner protective layer 308, or onto the inner protective layer 308.
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Further, in addition to the opening arrangement 202 illustrated in fig. 3, the opening arrangement may also be by way of example a pull-tab opening arrangement and a straw opening arrangement, i.e. a pre-punched straw hole.
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As described above, the electronics arrangement 106 may be a printed electronics arrangement, that is, inductive ink circuits can be used for forming different components together forming the electronics arrangement 106. In fig. 4A to 4D, four different examples of the electronics arrangement 106 are provided. As illustrated in fig. 4A, the electronics arrangement 106 may comprise the display 400, a counter 402 arranged to hold a counter number correlating to the remaining shelf life, a display driver 404 arranged to serve as an interface to the display 404, the display 404, the activation circuit 204 arranged to trigger the activation of a timing circuit 408, the timing circuit 408 arranged to provide clock signals, also referred to as timing pulses, and a power source 410. By having the counter number changing over time based on the clock signals provided by the timing circuit 408, and having the timing circuit arranged such that a frequency with which the clock signals are provided depends on temperature, it is possible to get an indication of the remaining shelf life of the food product based on the counter number.
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As illustrated in fig. 4A, the display 400 and the power source 410 may be non-printed items, while the remaining components, the counter 402, the display driver 404, the activation circuit and the timing circuit 408, may be printed. Fig. 4B illustrates another example. In this example, the display 400, the counter 402, the display driver 404, the activation circuit 204 and the timing circuit 408 are printed, while the power source is non-printed. Fig. 4C illustrates another example. In this example, all components but the display 400 is printed. In fig 4D, still an example is illustrated. In this example, all components are printed.
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As described above, the activation circuit 204 can be a closed circuit until the opening arrangement 204 is opened for the first time. This circuit may be provided by using conductive ink. The timing circuit 408 may comprise a number of printed capacitors configured to be charged and discharged according to a set scheme such that the clock signals are generated. The timing circuit may further comprise one or several temperature-dependent resistors, also printed, such that a flow of electrons in the timing circuit depends on the temperature. As an effect of this, the frequency with which the clock signals are provided depends on the temperature. Thus, instead of trying to avoid that the resistance depends on the temperature, this is used for making it possible to register the thermal history of the package. Put differently, in case the package, and also the food product FP held in the package, is exposed to high temperatures, the clock signals will be generated with a high frequency resulting in that the counter number is changed rapidly, in turn that the remaining shelf life indicated is reduced rapidly. On the other hand, in case the package is exposed to low temperatures, the clock signals are generated at low frequency, and as an effect the remaining shelf life is reduced at a low pace.
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Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating by way of example how the counter number may develop over time. As illustrated, in this example, the counter number is starting at a start counter number and is successively decreased. In this way, the remaining shelf life is reflected in the counter number currently held in the counter. The counter number may be decreased by the clock signals being generated. Since the timing circuit generating the clock signals is arranged such that the frequency with which the clock signals are generated is temperature dependent, the counter number will be decreased at a higher pace at high temperatures and at a lower pace at low temperatures.
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Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method 600 for producing the blank 200 described above. The method may comprise producing 602 the web of packaging material, wherein the web comprises multiple blanks 200 placed after one another, and providing 604 the electronics arrangement 106 onto the web of packaging material. Even though not illustrated, in case the blanks are to be fed into the blanks-fed packaging machine, the web may after the electronics arrangement 106 has been provided onto the packaging material be cut into separate blanks. Optionally, in addition to this, longitudinal sealings may be provided such that sleeve-shaped blanks are provided.
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The step of producing the web 602 and the step of providing the electronics arrangement 604 may both be performed in a so-called converting factory, that is, before the web is shipped to a site where the packaging machine is placed. Another option is to have the web produced in the converting factory, but the electronics arrangement provided on the same site as the package machine is placed. It is also an option to have the electronics arrangement provided onto the web or separate blanks inside the packaging machine.
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From the description above follows that, although various embodiments of the invention have been described and shown, the invention is not restricted thereto, but may also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the subject-matter defined in the following claims.