ES2241900T3 - A PACKING UNIT. - Google Patents

Abstract

A combination of two or more containers (12, 14) juxtaposed to form a unit (10), in which said unit (10) is shrink wrapped in two or more films (16, 18) on opposite sides of the films of said unit, in which at least one of said films (16) is transparent, characterized in that at least one of said films (18) is opaque.

Description

A packaging unit

In the present business environment, there is a relentless pressure to reduce costs and conserve resources in the product development The amount of resources is not insubstantial dedicated to the packaging and transport of products such as boxes of detergents Often these products will be transported in transport receptacles made of corrugated hard cardboard.

Brown et al., In US Pat. nº 5,992,630 describe a packaged product that includes a plurality of boards, a corrugated cardboard wall board arranged at along a part of the periphery and a shrink wrap. Shrink wrap film has bleed holes which are specifically sized and separated to the extent necessary to provide an adequate purge of one or more of the volatile components of the multipack with wrap by contraction. Although the invention of Brown et al. does not require a Full transport receptacle, still use hard cardboard or corrugated cardboard as the carrier wall for the multiple container.

Oberle, in US Pat. No. 5,002,782, describes heat shrinkable thermoplastic bags perforated in which the slits cut with a knife blade reduce the subdivision when a product such as a meat product is cooked inside the bag. Perforations allow moisture to escape and prevent the formation of blisters and the accumulation of moisture that I could leave a non-uniform cooked. The cuts are made preferably by means of a v-shaped knife blade. The bag is preferably formed from a stretched tube of thermoplastic material

Limousin, in US Pat. No. 4,586,312, describes a heat shrinkable container with an access panel frangible defined by perforations. A cylinder of drilling.

Truchiya et al., In US Pat. nº 5,067,612, describe a shrink film container having a perforated folded strip. A drill wheel can be used. A tear notch can be used.

Harris, in US Pat. No. 4,815,603, is directs to a shrink wrap container that has openings evacuation to allow free air flow through the container and allow the escape of gas. The plastic cover of shrink wrap is applied as shrink wrap to a container by means of a hot air gun.

Doyle, in US Pat. No. 5,171,593, describes a method to wrap a product tray or others items that require ventilation. The method includes the use of a sheet of a flexible plastic film that has a part perforated Micro-perforations are arranged in rows and columns. The previous approach of randomly placing needles from drilling around a cylinder press and apply the cylinder to the film is said to have resulted in perforations generally rough that will cause the film to tear when stretched on the tray.

Britt et al., In U.S. publication Defensive Pbln T900,020 describes a shrink wrap container in which parts of the seam adjacent to the ends of the article they form tearing fins.

Heider, in US Pat. No. 4,333,570, describes an opaque shrink wrap container that has finger grooves that end in semicircular cuts.

Kirby, in US Pat. No. 3,442,436 describes easy opening means for a package comprising a pair of curved seams in a film type member in which the free ends of the fin means are pulled in relation to the container, and the means of fins cause the type member film tear along the trajectories.

Cutrara, in US Pat. No. 4,289,237 describes a wood container that has a film of material plastic secured around a bagging surface, generally curved, in which the plastic material is perforated to allow air to circulate in and through the bagging The figure shows that the parts of the Illustrated perforations are in two parallel arcs.

Becker, in US Pat. No. 3,403,779 describes an opening device for a container in which the device is used to accommodate an elongated strip of material.

Fales, in US Pat. No. 4,306,653, describes a container container for article protection fragile during transport and storage, which includes a outer box and a plurality of packaging support panels internal attached to the article contained through a movie heat shrinkable. The illustrated film seems to have perforations

George, in US Pat. No. 5,201,403 describes a packaging system that uses a wrapping material by weakening contraction.

Harris, in US Pat. No. 4,941,572 describes a container for transporting and storing items, as dispositions of cut flowers. A wrap is arranged emptied of plastic film around the flowers and connected to a container in a shrink wrap ratio. He container includes a U-shaped insert. A plurality of openings 60 of a size and in a number that allow air flow through the envelope in a state contracted

Anderson, in US Pat. No. 3,804,235, describes a package comprising an article that has a material Heat shrinkable that wraps around it. The sheet of Heat shrinkable material has at least one opening. A Thickening flange defines a reinforcement that prevents tearing. A plurality of articles can be arranged in position juxtaposed in the container. The openings can be, for example, for the placement of a vitola on cigarettes or to carry the container as in Fig. 10.

Ganz, in US Pat. No. 3,756,397 describes the use of a single wrap of a single sheet of a continuous, collapsible and foldable plastic material to constitute virtually the complete package for a set of containers varied type as containers for drinks. Are provided finger openings such as 25-26, on the plastic sheet on the upper side of the container.

Woeley, in US Pat. No. 4,971,197 describes a shrink wrap container with a strip of tearing

Other patents that include a container of shrink wrap or other forms of packaging include Coons, U.S. Patent No. 3,416,288, Begnaud, U.S. Pat. nº 3,589,510, Oglesbee, U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,788, Becker et al., U.S. Patent No. 3,338,404, Whittington et al., patent of USA No. 3,764,351, Yamashita et al., U.S. Pat. nº 5,240,111, Forman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,780, Heier, patent of USA No. 4,254,869, Rumsey, U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,656 and Brown, U.S. Patent RE 27212.

Roth, in US Pat. No. 4,119,202, describes a shrink wrap container selectively breakable

The document US-A-4,586-312 describes a combination as specified in the preamble of the claim 1.

Before the discovery of this invention, the present inventors exposed a container of shrink wrap of five boxes of detergent tablets such as those sold in Europe, in which the boxes of shrink wrap were prepared by wrap by shrinkage of a single transparent film about five boxes and thermally sealing the film closed in the part Bottom of the boxes. Openings were present, which were the result of the procedure by which the shrink wrap, at each end of the combined wrap of boxes / contraction. The boxes were made of cardboard.

The brochure on EDL canisters, received by one of the present applicants on November 27, 2,000, describes a "perforated tear strip option, easy opening ". The perforations of the films for packaging of Easy opening are mentioned as an option. The containers can be without trays and can be oval.

The invention is directed to the discovery of a new form of transport boxes and other containers in order to minimize the cost and resources used. In one embodiment, the invention comprises the use of two or more shrinkable films that They wrap containers that are juxtaposed to form a unit. In this aspect of the invention, at least one of the films is opaque and at least one of the films is transparent. The movie opaque is sufficiently resistant to light transmission from form the UPC barcodes present in the packaging Individuals cannot be read through the movie by bar code reading machines. As the unit that comprises Combined packages will normally have their own barcode (for example, a separate external label), the use of the film opaque prevents the barcode reader from reading without want one of the barcodes of the individual packages and make the manufacturer falsely believe that sending only one individual packaging instead of the multi-pack unit. Normally, the two or more films will be sealed thermally each other.

Shrink wrap in place around the unit may include one or more openings of fixation. These openings can form naturally during the shrinkage of the films or can be formed by cutting openings in the film. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fixing openings are formed at ends opposites of the unit, and the unit is transported with the film opaque on top (for example, inverted boxes). As the opaque film is likely to be the one that is not perforated of the two films, this will minimize the deterioration of the integrity of the film when the unit is elevated during transport.

At least one of the films includes a single line of zipper perforations that extend along one of the sides of the film and fixing openings in at least one side of the film on opposite sides of the perforations. By "side of the movie" means one of the sides of the unit from which a wrapping film is arranged by contraction and side of the unit that is completely covered by said film, except for perforations or other openings in that movie. This arrangement allows the unit of Shrink wrap easily clings and opens easily along the zipper perforations. For perforations in zipper means that the perforations are arranged linearly close enough to each other and sufficiently separated from each other laterally to allow that the shrink wrap film is opened along the perforations, creating tears between the perforations after the application of a reasonable manual force. The kind of perforations is such that the perforations open like a zipper along the planned perforation line.

At least one of the movies can include Zipper perforations in the film on an intermediate side of the sides of the film and parallel to a longitudinal axis of the unity. Preferably, the single line of perforations in zipper on each side of the unit extends from an opening fixing at one end of the unit perpendicular to the plane of one from the sides of the film, through each side of the seal thermally formed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the unit and then perpendicular again to the plane on the side of the film until it reaches a second opening at the other end of the movie. Through this arrangement, it is possible to open easily by tearing the unit wrapped by contraction by means of the Application of reasonable manual force. The sides of seals thermally formed are the sides on which the two films They are together thermally sealed.

At least one of the films may include a tear strip defined in the film by perforations in zipper separated along two parallel lines in at least one of the sides of the film parallel to the longitudinal axis of the unity. Preferably, the tear strip extends from a fixing opening at one end of the unit perpendicular to the plane of one of the sides of the film, across the side of the film parallel to the longitudinal axis of the unit and then perpendicular again in the plane of the side of the film until it reaches a second opening at the other end of the unit. By By means of this arrangement, it is possible to open easily by tearing the unit with shrink wrap by Application of reasonable manual force.

For a more complete understanding of what above and other features and advantages of the invention, it is You should refer to the following description of some embodiments of the invention, which are described only by way of example.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a juxtaposed packaging unit that has a film placed for a shrink wrap over one side of the film of the unit and a film placed for a wrap by shrinkage below another side of the unit film.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a packaging unit juxtaposed after wrapping by shrinkage according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a juxtaposed packaging unit that has an envelope for contraction according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a juxtaposed box unit that has a shrink wrap according to a further aspect of the invention.

In Fig. 1, the unit 10 in which the boxes 12 and 14 are juxtaposed side by side has placed above the same a transparent shrink wrap film 16 placed below its opaque wrap film 18 by contraction. Films 16 and 18 are made of polyethylene of Low density or a mixture of LDPE / HDPE and are heat shrinkable. The thickness of the sheet 16 is preferably from 0.0025 cm to 0.0127 cm, especially from 0.00508 cm to 0.01016 cm. Sheet thickness 18 is preferably from 0.0025 cm to 0.0127 cm, especially of 0.00508 cm to 0.00762 cm, most preferably 0.00762 cm for each a. Preferably, the film 18 is made opaque by adding titanium dioxide (TiO2) dye to the resin.

The film 16 is applied as a wrapper by contraction from one side of the unit 10, the upper side in the Fig. 1. Unit 18 is applied as a shrink wrap from an opposite side, from the bottom in Fig. 1. How to see in Fig. 2, the shrink wrap of the films gives rise to one side of film for the unit on each side of which The film completely covers the side of the unit. In the case of movie 16, side 30 of the movie is created, as you can see in Fig. 2. In the case of film 18, side 32 of the movie is created at the bottom of the unit, as indicated also in Fig. 2.

The thermal sealing of the two films from opposite directions results in the creation at each of the opposite ends of the unit of an "oval window" that can be used as fixing openings 34 and 36. The films 16 and 18 are thermally sealed along the periphery of the unit 10, excluding the oval window, along the perimeter of the thermally formed seal 40. Extending from the fixing opening 34 to the fixing opening 36, first perpendicular to the film 30 and then parallel to a longitudinal axis of the unit 10 and then again perpendicular to the side 30 of the film to the oval window 36, are the zipper perforations 34 (Fig. 2). Zippered perforations are designed so that a reasonable manual force applied to the shrink wrap will break the shrink wrap along the perforations as a result of the tears that extend from one hole to the next and so on. On the sides of the zipper perforations 44 are the fixing openings 50 and 52.
tion.

Normally, film 18 from the bottom It will not be provided with perforations.

In operation, preferably, unit 10 is transported with opaque film 18 (side 32 of the film opaque) as the upper end. Thus, when the unit is fixed on oval windows 34 and 36 and the force extends inherently up, there are no holes that open prematurely shrink wrap. Instead, of according to one aspect of the invention, the unit is transported with the 32 side of the opaque film as the upper end, which does not It has perforations, and the container is inverted when it's time of opening the wrap by contraction. Next, the wrap by contraction it is easily opened by applying a manual force up in the oval window 34, 36 and / or in the fixing openings 50 and 52.

In a second embodiment, illustrated in Fig. 3, the zipper perforations 60 and 62 extend to each side of the unit between oval windows 34 and 36. The perforations in Zipper preferably extend in the first oval window and along each side of the thermally formed seal and then to the second end of the oval window. Again, it is advantageous for the unit 10 to be transported with the side 32 of the thermally formed opaque seal as the part top of the unit and invert the container and apply a force reasonable manual, for example, in the oval window, to open the Zipper perforations when it's time to show or use the boxes.

The embodiment of Fig. 4 is analogous to previous embodiments except because the perforations are present in the form of a tear strip 70 defined by two parallel lines of perforations that extend from the fixing opening 34 through the transparent side 30 of thermally formed seal to fixing opening 36. In this embodiment, as in the others, the unit 10 is transported preferably with the opaque film 18, the side 32 of the seal thermally opaque formed as the top of the unit for minimize the chances of perforations opening prematurely by tearing when the unit is lifted during transportation When you want to open the unit, the unit is inverted and a reasonable manual force is applied to the openings 34 and 36 fixing, to tear open the container in the tear strip.

A particular advantage of one aspect of the The present invention results from the use of the opaque film as the half of the bottom of the wrap by shrinkage. The opaque film obscures the barcode reader the barcodes that may be present in the parts Bottom or bottom sides of the containers. It is desirable that barcode readers read barcodes for the complete unit, for example, on the outer side of the envelope by contraction instead of individual packages. If a reader barcode detects an unintentional barcode for a individual packaging, the manufacturer may not receive news of having supplied the complete unit of multiple containers. The use of a opaque film at the bottom serves to minimize the possibility of erroneous reading of code readers bars.

Preferably, the opaque side does not include perforations since it preferably serves as the upper side of unit. If perforations were present on the opaque side, then the upward force experienced by the opaque side during transport, when the fixing openings of the Oval window are secured, could lead to an opening premature shrink wrap.

Preferably, the unit containers are boxes and, more preferably, the boxes are corrugated as in 82 of the box 80 of Fig. 2. This improves the compressive strength of the shrink wrap unit, regardless of the absence of a transport packaging or a covering with cardboard material or corrugated in the wrap by contraction.

There may be difficulties in applying more of a perforation line by the film manufacturer. When this is the case, a second line of perforations, for example, at the manufacturer's premises final product, with a crashed wheel or similar. When they are present fixing openings on the side of the transparent seal thermally formed, on opposite sides of the perforations, It may be desirable to include J-shaped cuts to ensure that, in the event that a small tear occurs, no Spread to the other parts of the wrap by shrinkage.

When boxes are used as a container, they can be made of cardboard or, more preferably, as indicated previously, of corrugated fiber boards. The films of the shrink wrapping can be applied by means conventional as a thermally formed edge seal conductor (in the transverse direction), tightening the cartons against the sealed edge with the upper and lower films, and then sealing the trailing edge (CD) and finally by passing the bagging through a tunnel installation of heat to form a sealed hermetic bagging thermally

It should be understood, of course, that the forms specific aspects of the invention illustrated and described herein Descriptive report are intended to be only representative, and that certain changes can be made to them without departing from the invention, the scope of which is determined by the claims.

Claims (26)

1. A combination of two or more packages (12, 14) juxtaposed to form a unit (10), in which said unit (10) is shrink wrapped in two or more films (16, 18) on opposite sides of the films of said unit, in which at least one of said films (16) is transparent, characterized in that at least one of said films (18) is opaque. 2. The combination of claim 1, in the that said shrink wrap films (16, 18) include a pair of fixing openings (34, 36), wherein said openings they are arranged at opposite ends of said unit, and said ends are different from the sides (30, 32) of said films. 3. The combination of any of the previous claims, wherein said films (16, 18) are thermally sealed to each other on at least two sides (30, 32) thermally sealed opposites of said unit, wherein said thermally formed seal sides are in the middle of said at minus two sides (30, 32) of the movies. 4. The combination of any of the previous claims, further comprising a single line of perforations (60, 62) in zipper that extend into the at least one of said films (16, 18) at least along one of said sides (30, 32) of said films. 5. The combination of claim 4, which additionally comprises fixing openings (34, 36) on the sides opposite of said perforations on said side (30, 32) of the films. 6. The combination of any of the previous claims, wherein at least one of said opaque films (18) is at least 25.4 µm thicker than said at least one transparent film (16). 7. The combination according to any of the previous claims, wherein at least one (18) of said opaque films have a thickness of 25.4 µm to 127 µm and at at least one (16) of said transparent films has a thickness of 25.4 µm to 127 µm. 8. The combination of any of the preceding claims, wherein one of said films (16, 18) includes a tear strip (10) defined by separate zipper perforations in said film along at least partially two lines
parallel to a longitudinal axis of said unit. 9. The combination of any of the previous claims, wherein one of said films (16, 18) includes a tear strip 10 defined by perforations (60, 62) in separate zipper in said film which extend between said fixing openings (34, 36) along two lines which extend partially on one of the sides (30, 32) of said films parallel to a longitudinal axis of said unit. 10. The combination of any of the previous claims, comprising perforations (60, 62) in zip on said wrap by contraction on each side of the thermally formed seal extending parallel to an axis longitudinal of said unit (10). 11. The combination of any of the previous claims, further comprising perforations (60, 62) in zipper in said envelope by contraction extending from one of said openings to the other, and that extend partially through each side (30, 32) of the thermally formed seal parallel to a longitudinal axis of said unit. 12. The combination of any of the previous claims, wherein said packages (12, 14) are boxes 13. The combination of claim 12, in the that said boxes (12, 14) are comprised of corrugated boards of fiber, said ripples extending in one direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of said unit and perpendicular to a plane of one of the sides of said films. 14. The combination according to any of the previous claims, wherein said unit (10) is not contained in a transport packaging. 15. The combination according to any of the previous claims, wherein said unit (10) comprises from 2 to 4 packages (12, 14). 16. The combination according to claim 2, which additionally comprises a perforation line (10) in zipper extending from one of said openings to the another and that extend through one of the sides of said films, and additionally comprising fixings (34, 36) opposite on opposite sides of said perforation line (10) on the sides (30, 32) of said film. 17. The combination according to claim 1, in which one of said films (16, 18) that is not opaque and that includes a tear strip (10) defined by perforations (60, 62) in zipper in said film along two lines separated on at least one of said parallel sides (30, 32) of said films at a longitudinal axis of said unit, and the other of Such films is opaque. 18. The combination of claim 17, in the that said shrink wrap films include openings (34, 36) for fixing at opposite ends of said unit and said tear strip (10) extends further to the along two lines perpendicular to said longitudinal axis from said openings to the sides (30, 32) of said films. 19. The combination of any of the claims 17-18, wherein said containers they comprise boxes (12, 14) and said boxes are made of board corrugated fiber, in which said undulations extend in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of said unit and perpendicular to a plane of one of the sides (30, 32) of said films. 20. The combination of any of the claims 17-19, wherein said containers they comprise boxes (12, 14) and said boxes comprise boards corrugated fiber, in which said undulations extend in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of said unit and perpendicular to a plane of one of the sides (30, 32) of said films. 21. The combination of any of the claims 17-20, wherein said film in the that said perforations are placed (60, 62) is a film transparent, which is transparent with respect to code readers UPC bars. 22. The combination according to any of the previous claims, which has at least one line of perforations (60, 62) as an opening device. 23. The combination of any of the previous claims, wherein said strip (10) of tearing extends 90% of the length of the side of said movie. 24. A method for transporting a combination of two or more containers (12, 14) juxtaposed to form a unit (10), wherein said unit has a shrink wrap on two or more films on opposite sides of said unit, comprising the transport of said unit, in which one of said films is opaque and the other is not opaque, the unit being transported with the side of the opaque film as the upper side of the combined packages
and shrink wrap. 25. The method according to claim 24, in which the non-opaque film includes perforations (60, 62) in which zipper and opaque film lacks perforations in zipper. 26. The procedure according to any of the claims 24 or 25, wherein the side (18) of said film opaque is not perforated.