GB2563586A

GB2563586A - Package and packaging method such as for use with biscuits

Info

Publication number: GB2563586A
Application number: GB1709633.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Garside John
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-06-16
Filing date: 2017-06-16
Publication date: 2018-12-26
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-16
Also published as: GB201709633D0; GB2563586B

Abstract

A package comprises a tubular form 1 with closed ends 5 constructed from thin sheet material 2, and includes an opening aid 7 so as to separate the package in to a shorter section 9 and a longer section 10. A region of increased stiffness 8 of the shorter section 9 is provided such that its open end retains an open form. Thus, after removal of some of the contents 3 from the package, the shorter section 9 with closed end 5 can be slid over the open end of the longer section 10 so as to act as a re-closable lid to keep the remaining contents fresh. Additional opening aids may also be provided to allow separation of further sections of the longer tubular section so as to reduce the amount of packaging material that needs to be enclosed within the lid section as the contents are removed. A method to produce said package by locally stiffening the thin sheet material is also claimed.

Description

Package and Packaging Method Such As For Use With Biscuits

This invention relates to a package and a method for packaging objects such as but not limited to biscuits such that the package can be repeatedly re-closed and re-opened after some of - the contents are removed.

Taking the example of a biscuit package, during storage, the contents are sealed in a package. A conventional biscuit package, sometimes known as a biscuit wrapper, typically consists of thin sheet material, often known as film or foil, wrapped around the contents and sealed along a longitudinal seam and at the ends. In order to access the contents of the package, the package must be opened. It i is common for only a proportion of the contents to be consumed immediately upon opening of the package and there is therefore typically an ongoing need to store the contents. A conventional package for biscuits or similar comestible items does not provide a means for re-closure of the package after opening.

More elaborate forms of package exist such as rigid cardboard tubes, often lined with a vapour - barrier, with one end permanently closed and one end with a removable lid and often a separate seal below or initially connecting the removable lid such as GB1285636, GB920354, EP1203721, however these consume considerably more materials compared with wrapped thin sheet packaging and therefore have potentially negative environmental and cost impact.

It has also been proposed in the art, such as GB2432142, GB 2373491, that a separate rigid lid or i cover can be added to a conventional thin sheet material package, such that the separate lid can be removed prior to opening of the package, the package can then be opened in the normal way and the separate lid can then be re-applied to close the open end. The disadvantages of this method of closure are that the separate lid consumes additional materials with negative environmental impact, that the application of the lid is not readily integrated with existing packaging methods and that - when the packages are bulk packed into larger shipping containers, they do not readily stack due to the differing external dimensions of the lid and the opposing end of the package.

There therefore remains a need for an improved method of re-closing thin sheet material based packages.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided package for surrounding substantially rigid contents, the package consisting predominantly of a thin flexible material formed and closed around the contents to be packaged, so as to create a substantially tubular form, opposing ends of the substantially tubular form are closed so as to protect the contents, an opening aid provides access to the contents of the package by separating the flexible material so as to produce a shorter substantially tubular section with a closed end and a longer substantially tubular section with a closed end and at least a region of increased stiffness of at least some of the perimeter of the shorter separated substantially tubular section in at least a region close to the proximity of the open end when separated, so as to allow the shorter separated substantially tubular section once emptied of content to be used as a lid and slid over the open end of the longer substantially tubular section thus allowing the remaining content to be enclosed. Whilst a more robust stiffening means can be applied within the scope of the present invention, the overall stiffness does not need to be substantial as its primary purpose is to keep the mouth of the shorter section of the separated package open allowing it to be used as a lid, it is thus possible to achieve this without significant dimensional changes to the overall package.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for formation of a re-closable package around a or a plurality of a stack of objects consisting of the addition of a means to insert, adjoin or affix a stiffening material or plurality thereof to the thin sheet material of a conventional packaging method via addition of the stiffening means to the thin sheet material prior to, during or after the wrapping of the thin sheet material around the objects. In addition to the attachment of an additional stiffening material, there is provided a method to increase stiffness by folding and optionally bonding the thin sheet of material in an overlapping manner so as to locally increase stiffness, with the folding and optional bonding being done prior to or during the forming of the thin sheet of material around the contents.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows typical shapes for a substantially tubular package and a typical stacking of objects enclosed in such a package,

Figure 2 shows a preferred embodiment of a substantially tubular package constructed from thin sheet material with an opening aid and a region of increased stiffness,

Figure 3 shows the steps of opening and reclosing a package with an opening aid and a region of increased stiffness,

Figure 4 shows an alternative package with an opening aid and a region of increased stiffness,

Figure 5 shows an alternative means of increasing the stiffness of at least a region close to the opening of a package,

Figure 6 shows a further alternative means of increasing the stiffness of at least a region close to the opening of a package,

Figure 7 shows a package with additional opening aids to allow removal of additional sections of material as the contents are removed.

Figure 8 shows a method of addition of material to the packaging material in order to increase stiffness.

Figure 9 shows a method of folding and optionally bonding the packaging material in order to increase stiffness.

In figure 1, examples are shown of typical forms of substantially tubular form 1 of a package formed from a thin sheet of material 2 surrounding a stack of content such as biscuits. An example of a stack of content 3 is also shown. In the examples, alternative cylindrical and rectangular forms are shown. It will be appreciated that this invention is equally applicable to other substantially tubular forms such as but not limited to triangular, oval and square. The thin sheet of material 2 is optionally a or a plurality ot a polymer, cellulose derivative, toil, paper, laminate or any other suitable material or combination thereof. The thin sheet material may optionally include a or a plurality of a layer allowing thermal or ultrasonic bonding.

In figure 2 a preferred embodiment of a package is shown. A substantially tubular form 1 around a stack of contents is shown, consisting of a thin sheet of material 2, a substantially longitudinal seam 4 which is bonded by thermal welding, acoustic welding, adhesive or other suitable means. The ends 5 have the thin sheet of material folded and bonded such as to close the ends over the content.

An opening aid is included to allow separation of the flexible material along a defined circumference preferably consisting of a string or strip of material bonded to the flexible packaging material so as to strengthen a narrow region and concentrate stress when pulled thus forming a pull strip 7 with an end of the pull strip 7 present in the tab 6. The flexible packaging material may optionally be weakened alongside the pull strip 7 so as to further assist in the propagation of the material failure on pulling the tab 6. An at least partially stiffened region 8 is positioned to the shorter end of the package close to or adjoining the tear strip 7. Whilst the stiffened region 8 is shown as not overlapping the longitudinal seam 4 it will be understood that the stiffened region may be formed so as to overlap or be integral in the longitudinal seam 4. It will also be understood that the stiffened region 8 may take a plethora of alternative forms and that the illustrated form is by way of example only.

In figure 3 the typical stages of opening, removing content, closing and after closing the package are shown for a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Starting from the top, the tear tab 6 is pulled so as to initiate a tear along the tear strip 7, thus separating a shorter section 9 of the package adjoining a closed end 5 away from the longer section of the package 10 and allowing contents to be removed from the open end of the stack of contents 3. The at least partially stiffened region 8 of the shorter removed substantially tubular region 9 largely prevents the collapse of the open mouth of the removed short section of the package, thus forming a lid with an open mouth and a closed end 5. After removal of some contents, the open end of the longer section of the package 10 can be folded, scrunched or otherwise arranged 11. Due to the flexibility of the thin sheet of material at the non-stiffened regions, optionally combining with a slight natural skewing or the stack of content to reduce overall circumference, the at least partially stiffened short section of the package 9 can be slid over the open end of the longer section of the package 10, thus re-closing the package.

In figure 4 an alternative embodiment of the present invention optionally based on a type of packaging process commonly known as flow packaging is shown. The longitudinal seam is internal face to internal face rather than internal face to external face, thus creating a seam which protrudes on the package. The seam may be further bonded predominantly flush on the surface of the package and in order to facilitate improved bonding and opening, the edge of the material that will be on the outside of the package may be extended beyond the edge of the material that will be hidden by the flush bonded seam, so as to allow the flush bonding to be at least partially external face to internal face. The closed ends 5 may be bonded internal face to internal face as shown or may alternatively be folded and bonded in any other configuration, by example such as that shown in figure 2. In the upper drawing in the figure 4, an opening aid is provided by inclusion of a localised weakening 12 of the package via scoring, thinning, partial depth perforation, embossing or other weakening of the thin sheet of material. The localised weakening 12 extends around the perimeter of the package and on to the longitudinal seam. The means of stiffening 8 optionally assists in the opening method, which can be by applying localised pressure to the weakening 12 or by twisting of the stiffened region 8 relative to the longer section of the package 10. In the lower drawing in figure 4, an alternative opening aid is provided based on a tear strip 7 and a tab 6 formed by weakening or incisions of the protruding edge of the material. Where the seam is further bonded predominantly flush with the package, it is preferred that the edge of the material that will be on the outside protrudes beyond the edge that is hidden by the seam and that the incisions or other weakening do not extend in to the hidden edge, thus promoting a peeling effect on the internal face to internal face longitudinal bond when the tab is pulled. The further bonding predominantly flush may optionally have a region where the bonding is weakened or not bonded corresponding to the location of the tab 6 to further facilitate opening. The method of reclosing of the package is substantially the same as the embodiment shown in figure 3.

In figure 5 an alternative means of at least partially stiffening a region 8 of the substantially tubular form lof the package is shown. A or a plurality of a material is applied, affixed, attached or otherwise located to the inside or outside face of the thin sheet material 2, thus forming at least a partial ring of at least partially stiffened material. Whilst in the example a relatively narrow strip of stiffening material is shown, a wider or narrower strip or other shapes can be used. The stiffening material may optionally overlap the longitudinal seam 4.

In figure 6 a further means of increasing the stiffness of a region 8 of the substantially tubular form 1 of the package is shown. A strip of flexible material 13 is arranged so as to form a tubular form inside the package. The strip 13 is optionally retained by friction once the package is formed. The strip 13 is optionally bonded 14 to the inside of the thin packaging material 2. The optional bond is a thermal or ultrasonic weld, an adhesive or any other suitable bond. Whilst in the figure the optional bond is illustrated as a single localised bond, it will be appreciated that other forms, shapes or locations of bond or a plurality thereof are included within the present invention.

Figure 7 shows an embodiment of the present invention where in addition to the features and functions described elsewhere in this invention, a multiple of an opening aid is included, thus allowing additional sections of the package to be separated and disposed of as the contents are removed. Whilst these have been illustrated as tear tabs 6 and strips 7, it will be appreciated that any alternative method of separation is equally applicable within the present invention. Equally, whilst the illustration shows three regions of separation, any number of regions of separation can be included.

In further embodiments of the present invention, the means of at least partially increasing stiffness consists of a full or a partial ring of material applied to the outside of the package.

In still further embodiments of the present invention, a combined means of locally increasing stiffness and an opening aid is included. This consists of a strip or a ring of material firmly bonded to the thin packaging material around or inside the circumference of the material substantially perpendicular to the axis of the tubular form and where the strip or ring is partially or entirely divided to form a region which acts as a stiffener providing form to the open end of the lid section when separated and a region which acts as a pull strip to assist in separation by stress concentration in the attached material. This is optionally in combination with local weakening and optional incisions of the thin packaging material so as to form a tab.

In a still further embodiment of the present invention, the means of increasing stiffness of at least a localised region 8 is by folding the thin sheet of packaging material to form layers with those layers optionally bonded to form a structure.

In an enhancement of embodiments of the present invention, the means of increasing stiffness of at least a localised region 8 is by deformation of the thin sheet of packaging material so as to create a localised geometry with increased stiffness, such as by formation of small ridges in the surface. Said geometrical stiffening may be used alone or in conjunction with other stiffening means, for example, the geometry and an additional stiffening material may be applied in one process step by use of heated rollers or platens with the necessary geometry.

Whilst the choice of potential stiffening materials and application methods is wide within the present invention, a preferred option is to use the same material as the thin sheet of packaging material, potentially with increased thickness or in multiple layers, thus improving recyclability.

It will be appreciated by those familiar in the art that any suitable opening aid can be applied to the present invention along with any arrangement of seams and bonding and that the predominant key inventive step is the addition of the region of increased stiffness 8 to allow the removed end to be used as a lid.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for the formation of the package described herein.

Figure 8 shows a preferred embodiment of a means of the addition of a stiffening material to the packaging material 2. A Sheet of thin packaging material 2 is fed from a roll 15. A material that will contribute to the stiffened region 8 is fed from a roll 16 and along with a tear strip (not shown) is applied to the packaging material 2 and both are fed through a means of applying pressure and optionally heat or ultrasonic energy to assist with bonding 18 the materials. The packaging material with the stiffening material is fed in the direction of flow 17 and wrapped around the content and the longitudinal and end seams are closed and bonded. Additional geometrical stiffening may optionally be applied at the same time as bonding the two materials by use of patterned rollers or plattens.

Figure 9 shows an alternative embodiment of a process to create the stiffened region. According to an alternative embodiment of a method for addition of a stiffening means, the thin sheet packaging material 2 is fed from a roll to the packaging region of the packaging machine. As the material passes from the roll to the packaging region, the material is passed through a fold forming mechanism so as to create a Z shape fold 19 which is passed through means to press flat 20, thus forming at least a triple layer of the material in a defined region to form the region of increased stiffness 8. The layers are preferably bonded together by application of pressure and either heat or ultrasonic energy or alternatively by application of adhesive or adhesive tape. Additional geometrical stiffening may optionally be applied at the same time as bonding the layers. Where the packaging method is an adaptation of roll wrapping, the folding process is preferably a continuous process with the stiffened region being a continuous stripe of overlapping material in the direction of packaging material feed 17. Whilst being more complicated, means can alternatively be provided to form the folds in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of feed 17.

According to an alternative embodiment of the method for addition of a stiffening means, with particular applicability to flow packaging, a means is provided for application of strips of stiffening material at an angle substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of the main packaging material, such that the strips of stiffening material are suitably aligned with and spaced on the packaging once the roll of material is sealed and cut with the contents inside. Said means consisting of the steps of: presenting the strip of stiffening material to the feed of packaging material, aligning the strip of stiffening material to the required position on the packaging material by alignment with the print on the packaging material using optical means or by interring the correct position from the position or timing defining or measuring mechanism of another part of the packaging equipment, optionally tracking the position of the additional strip of stiffening material with the position of the target area of the packaging material during bonding, application of pressure and optionally heat or ultrasonic energy to bond the strip of stiffening material to the strip of packaging material, repeating with the next strip of stiffening material.

According to an alternative embodiment of a second aspect of the present invention, an alternative embodiment of a method is provided for the formation of the package described herein. The content is firstly packaged using any thin material packaging method. At least a stiffening material is then bonded to the outside of the package either by wrapping or coating the stiffening material around the outside of the package or alternatively by sliding the stiffening material over an end of the package and bonding in place.

It will be appreciated to those familiar in the art that the method for stiffening and optionally the opening aid will typically be additions to existing packaging methods and machinery, such as those commonly known as flow wrapping, over wrapping or roll wrapping with any combination of lap seals, fin seals, fold seals or any other sealing type and in any wrapping direction.

Whilst the examples herein have been described in the context of packaging biscuits, it will be appreciated by those familiar in the art that the invention is equally suitable for packaging of any objects which can be stacked during packaging, including but not limited to crackers, food products such as bread, crisps, chips and confectionary and non-food products. In addition, it will be appreciated by those familiar in the art that the objects could be stacked in alternative orientations.

It will also be appreciated by those familiar in the art that the invention is suitable for packaging multiple stacks of objects orientated substantially perpendicular to the main axis of the package and positioned adjacent to each other and that the invention will allow a stack to be removed and the package re-closed around the remaining stacks.

Whilst the examples herein have been described in the context ot a stack ot contents, it will be appreciated by those familiar in the art that the invention is equally applicable to a or a plurality of a bar, block or loaf of material, such as chocolate or bread, where sections can be removed from an end of the package for consumption, thus shortening the content prior to re-closing the package.

Claims

1. A package for surrounding substantially rigid contents, the package consisting predominantly of a thin flexible material formed and closed around the contents to be packaged so as to create a substantially tubular form with closed opposing ends, an opening aid allowing the package upon opening to be separated to form a shorter substantially tubular section with a closed end and a longer substantially tubular section with a closed end and at least a region of increased stiffness extending around at least some of the perimeter of the area that forms the shorter substantially tubular section when separated in at least a region close to the proximity of the open end when separated, so as to allow the open end of the shorter separated substantially tubular section once emptied of content to approximately retain an open form and be used as a lid and slid over the open end of the longer substantially tubular section, thus allowing the remaining contents to be enclosed.

2. A package according to claim 1, in which the thin flexible material is a polymer, cellulose derivative, foil, paper, laminate or any other suitable material or combination thereof and where the thin sheet material optionally includes a or a plurality of a heat sealable layer.

3. A package according to claim 1 or 2 where the opening aid is a string or strip of material bonded substantially perpendicular to the axis of the tubular form of flexible packaging material so as to strengthen and concentrate stress and where an end of said string or narrow strip is accessible to be pulled and optionally where a weakening of the flexible material is made by localised cutting or weakening to each side of an end of the string or narrow strip so as to help initiate the propagation of material failure adjacent to the string or narrow strip when pulled.

4. A package according to any preceding claim wherein the opening aid is exclusively or additionally a weakening of the flexible packaging material around the perimeter of the substantially tubular form by scoring, thinning, embossing or any other means.

5. A package according to any preceding claim, in which at least a region of increased stiffness comprises at least a material applied, affixed, attached or otherwise located to the inside or outside face of the thin flexible packaging material.

6. A package according to claim 5 in which at least a region of increased stiffness comprises a full or partial ring of material applied to the outside of the packaging

7. A package according to claim 5 in which at least a region of increased stiffness comprises a coating applied to the inside or outside of the packaging material.

8. A package according to claim 5 in which the at least a region of increased stiffness comprises a strip of flexible material retained inside the packaging material by friction, bonding, welding or any other means.

9. A package according to any preceding claim in which at least a region of increased stiffness comprises overlapping layers folded in the thin flexible packaging material and optionally where at least 2 overlapping layers are bonded together so as to further increase the stiffness.

10. A package according to any preceding claim in which at least a region of increased stiffness includes deformation of the thin flexible material to form ribs , ridges, ruffles or alternative geometries, optionally by application of pressure and optionally heat.

11. A package according to claim 1 or 2 in which at least a region of increased stiffness and an opening aid are combined and comprise a narrow strip or ring of material firmly bonded substantially perpendicular to the axis of the tube of flexible packaging material and where that strip is partially divided or weakened to form a region which acts as the stiffener which provides form to the open end of the lid section and a region which acts as a pull strip to separate by stress concentration the attached material, optionally in combination with localised weakening or incisions of the flexible material to initiate the failure.

12. A package according to any preceding claim in which at least a region of increased stiffness comprises a combination of any of the mechanisms according to claims 4 to 11.

13. A package according to any preceding claim wherein additional opening aids are provided to allow separation of further sections of the longer substantially tubular section so as to reduce the amount of packaging material that needs to be folded or otherwise enclosed within the lid section as the contents are removed.

14. A package according to any preceding claim where the contents are biscuits, crackers, cookies, sweets, chocolate, confectionary or any content which can be stacked within the package or is in rigid form where pieces can be removed, such as a bar, and where the resulting cross section of the substantially tubular form is a circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle or any other shape.

15. A method for the formation of a package according to any preceding claim, comprising the stiffening material being attached to a sheet or rolled sheet of thin flexible packaging material prior to or in conjunction with forming the materials around the contents.

16. A method for the formation of a package according to claims 1 to 14, comprising the stiffening material being attached to the packaging after the thin flexible packaging material is formed around the contents, either by sliding the stiffening material over an end of the formed package and affixing it in place or by forming the stiffening material around the outside of the formed package and affixing.

17. A method for the formation of a package according to claims 1 to 14, consisting of folding the thin sheet of material prior to forming around the contents, so as to provide a region of overlapping material and optionally bonding the overlapping layers of material by application of heat and pressure, by ultrasonic welding or by application of a bonding material or plurality thereof and optionally deforming the material in the region of the overlapping material by application of pressure and shaped formers optionally as part of a bonding process.

18. A method for the formation of a package according to claim 15, 16 or 17 where the method of increasing stiffness of at least a region and optionally the formation of the opening aid are additions to any of the methods of packaging commonly known as flow wrapping, over wrapping or roll wrapping, with lap seals, fin seals, fold seals, other seals or any combination thereof.