GB2304098A

GB2304098A - Package of wet tissue paper

Info

Publication number: GB2304098A
Application number: GB9625015A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chiyoe Yamada
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-04-07
Filing date: 1996-03-19
Publication date: 1997-03-12
Also published as: GB9625015D0; CA2191468A1; AU4956696A; NO965135D0; EP0760343A1; LU88847A1; WO1996031411A1; KR970703269A; NO965135L; ZA962664B

Description

r PATE[,&'-f OFFICE- DEFINITRE COPY 1 PACKAGING FOR WET TISSUES The

present invention relates to a package for wet tissues which includes a paper container for containing wet tissues, and particularly to a package for wet tissues which is of an disposable type being simple in disposal of a spent container.

Recently, wet tissues have come to be extensively used in the office and at home, with use increasing year after year. Wet tissues, each of which is composed of a fibrous sheet such as a non-woven fabric impregnated with an impregnant such as a chemical cleanser or disinfectant, or cosmetic or toiletry preparations, are used during the changing of a baby's nappy, or for removal of stains from hands, for disinfection, or the like.

Packages for wet tissues are classified into two types: one having a generally rigid container for containing wet tissues; and the other having a bag for containing wet tissues. A container type package is so constructed that the container, which is formed of a moulded product of hard or semi-hard plastics, contains folded wet tissues or a roll. The package of this type is further classified into two types: one being of a disposable type in which the container is discarded after the wet tissues are consumed; and the other being of a refill type in which the container itself is usable again and again by replacement of an inner bag inserted in the container. Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 6-263174 discloses a container type package for wet tissues.

The container type package is complicated in structure of the container because the container is formed of a moulded product of hard or semi-hard plastic. In general, a cylindrical or substantially cylindrical container is used for containing a roll of wet tissue; while a rectangular parallelopiped container is used for containing a stacked body of folded wet tissues. Such a container, which is composed of a container portion and a lid portion, has a barrier effect to prevent evaporation of any impregnant impregnated in the wet tissues by closing the lid portion.

2 In general, the cylindrical container is so designed that the lid portion is fixed on the container portion by screw fixing, while the rectangular parallelopiped container is so designed that the lid portion is locked onto the container portion by snap action. The screw fixing structure makes the manufacture of the container cumbersome because screw threads must be formed in the container portion and the lid portion. On the other hand, the locking structure using snap action complicates the structure of the container because a locking projection and a locking recess are provided for example on the container portion and in the lid portion, respectively.

A pick-up part for picking up wet tissues is provided in the lid portion of such a container, and a lid for opening/closing the pick-up port is mounted on the lid portion, to thus constitute a so-called double lid structure.

The container type package is disadvantageous in that it increases the manufacturing cost of the container because both the cylindrical container and the rectangular parallelopiped container are complicated in structure and cumbersome to manufacture as described above.

Another disadvantage of the container type package is that a spent container cannot be bent or crushed upon disposal, making it difficult to reduce the volume of the container to be discarded. In addition, the container cannot be burned upon disposal, causing a difficult problem in terms of waste disposal.

The bag type package for wet tissues is so constructed that a bag formed of an air-tight film contains folded wet tissues. This type of package, which is intended to be disposable, is portable. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-30948 discloses a bag type package for wet tissues. The bag type package is more simple in structure and lower in manufacturing cost than the above-described container type package; however, it has the same problem as that of the container type package, that is, it cannot be burned upon disposal.

The bag type package in which an adhesive is applied on the lid for opening and closing the wet tissue pick-up port whereby the lid is fixed on the bag by an adhesive force of the adhesive to cover the pick-up 3 -7, port, has another disadvantage that the strength of the adhesive is gradually lowered by repeated use of the lid, thereby gradually degrading the barrier performance. The reduced barrier performance allows any impregnant applied to the wet tissues contained in the bag to be gradually evaporated and lost. This makes it difficult to maintain the wet tissues moist.

A further disadvantage of the bag type package is that since the bag is made of a soft material, wrinkles are generated around the pick-up port upon closing the lid, and thereby the lid is closed in a state that the wrinkles remain. This also lowers the barrier performance of the bag.

An object of the present invention is to provide a package for wet tissues which can be simply discarded by burning like general burnable refuse.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a package for wet tissues which is simple in structure, easy in manufacture, and low in manufacturing cost.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a package for wet tissues which is excellent in barrier performance and can maintain its excellent barrier performance over a long period even with repeated opening and closing of a lid.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package for wet tissues having a container main body made of a paper material, wherein the container main body has a barrier performance, that is, an air-tightness for preventing evaporation of an impregnant impregnated in wet tissues. The container main body may be formed of a laminated sheet composed of a paper material laminated with an air-tight film for ensuring air-tightness.

A pick-up port for picking up wet tissues may be directly or indirectly provided in the container main body containing wet tissues. A lid body for openinglclosing the pick-up port may be provided on the container main body by a physical action such as fitting or snap-engagement.

4 Since the container main body of the present invention is made of a paper material, a spent container can be bent or crushed into a small volume or manually cut into fine pieces upon disposal of the spent container, to thereby contribute to a reduction in the volume of refuse generated.

The container made of a paper material can be also burned, and thereby it does not cause any of the environmental pollution accompanying waste disposal.

The package for wet tissues of the present invention using a paper container, can be simplified in structure and made easy to manufacture, resulting in reduced cost.

The package for wet tissues of the present invention including a lid opening/closing structure in which the lid is fixed on the container main body by a physical action such as fitting or engagement, makes it possible to increase the barrier performance of the container, and to keep the quality of wet tissues for a long period without lowering of the barrier performance after repeated opening and closing of the lid.

According to a second aspect of the persent invention, there is provided a method of producing a package of wet tissues, comprising the steps of continuously feeding a paper sheet laminated with an air-tight film from a feeder, with the air-tight film surface uppermost, cutting the laminated sheet into a blank for the container main body, and forming a window in the blank, placing a lid unit on the blank to cover the window of the blank, heat sealing a peripheral edge portion of the window to integrally join the laminated sheet blank to the lid unit, placing a stacked and interleaved stock of folded wet tissues on the blank, to cover the lid unit, and folding and sealing the blank to form an air- tight box enclosing the stock of wet tissues.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a package for wet tissues; Figure 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view taken on line 11-11 of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view showing one example of a lid unit part; Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of an essential portion of the package of the present invention showing a lid body in an open and a closed state; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the package of the present invention showing a wet tissue being picked up; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the package of the present invention; Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view of an essential portion of the package of Figure 6 showing an open and a closed state of a lid body; Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view of an essential portion of a first joint between a container main body and a lid unit part; Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view of an essential portion of a second joint between a container main body and a lid unit part; Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view of an essential portion of a third joint between a container main body and a lid unit part; Figure 11 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the package of the present invention., Figure 12 is a vertical sectional view of an essential portion of the package of Figure 11 showing the fitting of a lid body; Figure 13 is a schematic view of a hinge of the lid body, which is different from that shown in Figure 3; Figure 14 is a schematic diagram showing a process for manufacturing the package; and Figures 15A, 15B and 15C are schematic views showing a method of sealing the end portion of the container in the process for manufacturing the package.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows one embodiment of a package for wet tissues according to the present invention. As seen in Figure 1, a container main body 1 is formed in a rectangular parallelopiped shape. A lid unit part 4 composed of a base plate 2 and a lid body 3 is mounted on the upper surface of the container main body 1.

6 Referring to Figure 2, wet tissues 5 are contained in the container main body 1, and a pick-up port 6 for picking up the wet tissues 5 is provided in the base plate 2 of the lid unit part 4. The lid body 3 is supported on the base plate 2 and is pivatable to open and close the pick-up port 6. The lid body 3 is preassembled to the base member 3, and together with the base member 2 constitutes an integral component. One preferable example of such a unitary part composed of the base member 2 and the lid body 3 is shown in Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 3, the lid unit part 4 includes the base plate 2 and the lid body 3 pivotably supported on the base plate 2 by means of a hinge 7. The base member 2 has a pick-up port 6 and also has an annular projection 8 provided at a position surrounding the pick-up port 6. The pick-up port 6 is a hole not particularly specified in size and shape, but sufficiently large to allow a wet tissue to be picked up therethrough. Narrow width passages 9 are preferably provided as shown in Figure 3. The provision of these narrow width passages 9 enables pop-up of a wet tissue upon picking-up of a wet tissue.

The pop-up of a wet tissue is such a mechanism that when one wet tissue is picked up, a second wet tissue is lifted up together with the first wet tissue, and when the first and second wet tissues are separated from each other, the upper end of the second wet tissues is positioned so as to project through the pick-up port 6. To realize such a pop-up mechanism, wet tissues are folded and overlapped with each other in such a manner that the folded end of one folded wet tissue is caught by a folded end of an adjacent wet tissue.

Moreover, for the pop-up mechanism to operate, the narrow width passages 9 are required to impart a suitable resistance to the passage of the tissues. This ensures that the tissues separate, allowing a tissue to be withdrawn and the next tissue to be held in a position of readiness, partially protruding from the passages 9.

The lid body 3 is provided with an annular projection 10 cooperable with the annular projection 8 formed on the base plate 2. When the lid body 3 is closed, the annular projection 10 is fitted with the annular projection 8, as a result of which the lid body 3 is fixed to the 7 base member 2, to thereby seal the inside of the container main body 1. The shape of each of the projections 8 and 10 is not limited to a curved ring-shape, but may be a square or polygonal shape.

The container main body 1 is formed from a paper material. Specific examples of suitable paper materials include paper board, converted paper, Japanese paper and recycled paper.

The container main body 1 is required to have a barrier performance, that is, an air-tightness for preventing evaporation of an impregnant such as disinfectant alcohol impregnated in wet tissues. For this purpose, a paper material constituting the container main body 1 is laminated with an air-tight film. Specific examples of suitable air-tight films include plastics films made of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, cellophane or polyacetate; laminated films composed of two or more kinds of the plastic films; and laminated films comprising a plastics film laminated with an aluminium foil.

Such an air-tight film may be laminated on one surface or both surfaces of a paper material. Figure 4 shows a container main body 1 in which an air-tight film 12 is laminated on one surface of a paper material 11. In this case, the air-tight film 12 is generally provided on the inner surface of the container main body 1.

The air-tight film 12 is preferably laminated on the paper material 11 in such a manner as to be easily separated from the paper material 11. For example, the air-tight film 12 may be laminated to the paper material 11 in such a manner as to be joined therewith over only a part of the contacting surface area, and preferably, to be point-bonded therewith.

Such lamination allows the air-tight film 12 to be separated from the paper material 11 when a spent container is discarded, as a result of which the container can be burned as a pure paper material uncontaminated by any plastics material.

The lid unit part 4 is formed of a hard or semi-hard plastics material, typically by injection moulding. When the lid unit part 4 is formed by injection moulding, the base plate 2 can be integrated with the 8 17-1 lid body 3. Specific examples of suitable plastics materials for forming the lid unit part 4 by injection moulding include polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.

A window portion 13 is formed in the container main body 1, and the lid unit part 4 is mounted in the window portion 13. The lid unit part 4 is generally fixed on the container main body 1 by heat sealing; however, it can be fixed on the container main body 1 by high frequency seal or ultrasonic welding. In the container shown in Figure 4, since the airtight film 12 is provided on the inner surface side of the container main body 1, the lid unit part 4 is fixed on the inner surface side of the container main body 1 by heat sealing.

Figure 5 shows a wet tissue 5 being picked up after opening of the lid body 3. The package for wet tissues according to the present invention allows the wet tissue 5 to be simply picked up by a single operation, as shown in Figure 5.

According to the present invention, each of the base plate and the lid body of the lid unit part can be formed from a plastics sheet, moulded by thermal moulding techniques such as vacuum moulding or pressure moulding. Specific examples of the plastics materials used for sheet moulding include polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.

Figure 6 shows another embodiment of the package for wet tissues using a lid unit part 16 composed of a base plate 14 and a lid body 15, wherein both the base plate 14 and the lid body 15 are formed by sheet moulding. One end of the lid body 15 is joined to the base plate 14 by heat sealing or by bonding using an adhesive. The joined end portion of the lid body 15 functions as a hinge 32 (see Figure 7).

A recessed portion 17 is formed in the base plate 14, and a raised portion 18 cooperable with the recessed portion 17 is formed on the back surface of the lid body 15. Reference numeral 19 indicates a grip to be lifted by a finger for opening the lid body 15. As shown in Figure 7, when the lid body 15 is closed, the raised portion 18 of the lid body 15 is fitted in the recessed portion 17 of the base plate 14, as a result of which the lid body 14 is fixed on the base member 14, to thereby hermetically seal the inside of the container main body 1.

9 The lid unit part can be also formed of a paper material, like the container main body. In the case where the lid unit part is formed of a paper material, each of the base plate and the lid body is formed by sheet moulding of a laminated film composed of the paper material and an air-tight film. The same paper material as is used for the container main body 1 can be used for the lid unit part. Similarly, the air-tight film laminated on the paper material used for the container main body 1 can be used for the lid unit part.

The air-tight film may be laminated on one surface or both surfaces of the paper material used for the lid unit part, as is the case with the container main body. Figure 8 shows a lid unit part in which an air-tight film is laminated on one surface of a paper material. The base plate 14 shown in Figure 8 is formed of a laminated sheet composed of a paper material 20 and an air-tight film 21, and the air-tight film 21 is positioned on the upper (as seen in the Figure) surface of the paper material 20. Accordingly, when the lid unit part 16 is mounted in a window portion 13 of the container main body 1, the air-tight film 21 is brought in contact with the surface of an air-tight film 12 of a laminated sheet of the container main body 1, which enables heat seal therebetween.

Figure 9 shows the container main body 1 formed of a laminated sheet composed of the paper material 11 on both surfaces of which air-tight films 12, 12 are laminated. In this case, the base plate 14 of the lid unit part can be heat-sealed on the film 12 positioned on the upper (as seen in the Figure) surface side of the laminated sheet. This allows the lid unit part to be mounted over the window portion 13, on the outside surface of the container main body.

A paper material can be positioned on the exterior surface of each of the laminated sheets forming the container main body and the lid unit part, to give the impression of a package made entirely from paper. Referring to Figure 10, paper materials 11, 20 and 22 are positioned on the front (or upper as seen in the Figure) surfaces of the laminated sheets forming the container main body 1, the base plate 14 and the lid body 15 of the lid unit part, respectively. In Figure 10, reference numeral 23 indicates an air-tight film of the laminated sheet of the lid body 15.

When the lid unit part 16 is mounted in the window portion 13 of the container main body 1 in such a state, the film surface 12 of the container main body 1 is brought in contact with the film surface 21 of the base plate 14 by cutting back the paper material 20 of the base plate 14 in order that the film surface 21 of the base plate extends beyond the paper material 20. This permits the film surface 12 of the container main body 1 and the film surface 21 of the base plate 14 to be heat sealed to each other.

It is advantageous that the container main body 1, and the base plate 14 and the lid body 15 of the lid unit part, each of which is formed of laminated sheet, are assembled in such a manner that the paper materials of the laminated sheets are all positioned on the front or exterior surface sides. Namely, the package for wet tissues thus assembled gives a visual and tactile impression that all components are made of paper. This allows a consumer to instantly understand that the package for wet tissues that a spent container can be discarded as burnable refuse matter, and to have a favourable impression for the package.

The design of the lid body 15 formed by sheet moulding may be changed by replacement of the raised portion 18 shown in Figure 6 with a projecting portion 25 internally having a recessed portion 24 as shown in Figure 11. With this configuration, when the lid body 15 is closed, a space 26 is defined between the base plate 14 and the lid body 15, as shown in Figure 12. When the upper end portion of the second wet tissue protrudes through the pick-up port 6, the protruding portion can be thus accommodated in the space 26.

The means for fixing the lid body formed by sheet moulding to the base plate when the lid body is closed is not limited to those described above, but may be variously changed. For example, another projecting portion may be provided at the raised portion 18 or the projecting portion 25 of the lid body, or in the neighbourhood thereof, and a recessed portion corresponding thereto may be provided in the base plate, whereby the lid body is fixed on the base plate by engagement of the projecting portion with the recessed portion.

11 In the case of forming a hinge by joining the end portion of the lid body to the base plate, as shown in Figure 13, an end portion 15a of the lid body 15 may be joined to the base plate 14 in such a manner as to be folded when the lid body 15 is closed. In this case, since the lid body is closed in a state that the end portion 15a of the lid body is elastically deformed, a restoring force is usually exerted on the hinge 27. As a result, the lid body is naturally opened by the restoring force exerted. on the hinge 27 at the time of releasing the fitting between the raised portion 18 or the projecting portion 25 of the lid body and the recessed portion 17 of the base plate.

Moreover, when the lid body is opened, it is kept opened. This prevents the lid body from being undesirably brought in contact with the hand when picking up a wet tissue.

Although the pick-up port is provided indirectly in the container main body by mounting the base plate having the pick-up port on the container main body in the above-described embodiment, it may be provided directly in the container main body as another embodiment of the present invention. The pick-up port can be directly provided in the container main body by a method wherein when a recess cooperable with a lid body is formed in a raw sheet by thermal pressing in the process of manufacturing a container, the pick-up port is provided by punching the raw sheet. This allows the base plate 14 to be integrated into the container body 1, saving manufacturing cost and reducing the number of components required.

An example of a method of manufacturing a package for wet tissues according to the present invention will now be described with reference to Figure 14.

A laminated sheet 28 composed of a paper sheet laminated with an airtight film is continuously fed from a feeder with the air-tight film surface uppermost. The laminated sheet 28 is punched by a punching machine 29, to form a window portion 13, and then it is cut into a blank for forming the container main body 1, having a specified size. A lid unit part 4 is fed from top to bottom and is placed over the window portion 13 of the laminated sheet 28. A heating plate of a heat sealing apparatus 30 positioned under the laminated sheet 28 is pressed on a 12 I:- peripheral edge portion of the window portion 13 to integrally join the laminated sheet 28 with the lid unit part 4 by heat sealing. A stacked and interleaved body 31 of folded wet tissues is fed from top to bottom and is placed on the lid unit part 4.

The blank cut from the laminated sheet 28 is then folded to form a box, enclosing the stacked body 31 of wet tissues. After assembly of the laminated sheet 28 into a box, necessary portions such as end portions are joined to each other by heat seal, to complete a container enclosing the stacked body 31 of wet tissues.

A method of sealing both end portions of the container will be described below with reference to Figures 15A, 15B and 15C.

First, both side panels la, 1b positioned at the one end portion of the container are folded along the dashed lines shown in Figure 15A. Subsequently, an upper surface panel lc and a lower surface panel 1d positioned at the one end portion of the container are also folded as shown in Figures 15B and 15C. The end surface of the container is pressed and heat-sealed in such a state, to form a sealed container.

13

Claims

1. A package for wet tissues comprising a container main body for containing a stock of wet tissues, the container main body having a pickup port for picking up wet tissues and a lid body moveable between open and closed positions for opening and closing the pick-up port; and wherein the container main body is made of a paper material and is air- tight so as to prevent evaporation of an impregnant impregnated in the wet tissues.

2. A package for wet tissues according to claim 1, wherein the container main body is formed of a laminated sheet composed of a paper material laminated with an air-tight film.

3. A package for wet tissues according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the container main body is formed with an opening over which is attached a lid unit part including a base plate formed with a pick-up port and a lid body mounted on the base plate.

4. A package for wet tissues according to claim 3, wherein the lid unit part is formed of an injection moulded product of a plastics material, and the base plate is integrated with the lid body.

5. A package for wet tissues according to claim 3, wherein the lid unit part is composed of an assembly of the base plate and the lid body, each of the base plate and the lid body being formed of a plastics moulded sheet.

6. A package for wet tissues according to claim 3, wherein the lid unit part is composed of an assembly of the base plate and the lid body, each of the base plate and the lid body being formed of a moulded product of a laminated sheet composed of a paper material laminated with an air-tight film.

7. A package for wet tissues according to claim 3, wherein the pick- up port provided in the base plate has a narrow width passage imparting a suitable resistance against a force applied to the narrow width passage upon picking-up of the wet tissue.

8. A package for wet tissues according to claim 3, wherein the lid unit part is mounted on the container main body by heat seal.

14

9. A package for wet tissues comprising a container main body and a lid unit part including a lid body and a base plate, wherein each of the container main body and the lid unit part is formed of a laminated sheet composed of a paper material laminated with an air-tight film; one end of the lid body is joined to the base plate, to form a hinge; the lid unit part is mounted in a window portion opened in the container main body; and a stacked body of wet tissues is contained in the container main body.

10. A package for wet tissues according to claim 10, wherein the lid unit part is mounted in the window portion of the container main body by heat seal.

11. A package for wet tissues substantially as herein described, with reference to Figures 1 to 5, Figures 6 and 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10 or Figures 11 to 13 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A method of producing a package of wet tissues, comprising the steps of: continuously feeding a paper sheet laminated with an air-tight film from a feeder, with the air-fight film surface uppermost; cutting the laminated sheet into a blank for the container main body, and forming a window in the blank; placing a lid unit on the blank to cover the window of the blank; heat sealing a peripheral edge portion of the window to integrally join the laminated sheet blank to the lid unit; placing a stacked and interleaved stock of folded wet tissues on the blank, to cover the lid unit, and folding and sealing the biank to form an air- tight box enclosing the stock of wet tissues.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the lid unit comprises a base plate having a pick-up port formed therein and a lid hingedly attached to the base plate.

14. A method of producing a package of wet tissues substantially as herein described, with reference to Figure 14 of the accompanying drawings.