GB2577284A

GB2577284A - A receptacle

Info

Publication number: GB2577284A
Application number: GB1815288.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lunn Adam
Original assignee: Coveris Flexibles UK Ltd
Current assignee: Coveris Flexibles UK Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-19
Filing date: 2018-09-19
Publication date: 2020-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-19
Also published as: GB2577284B; GB201815288D0

Abstract

A cup-type receptacle 75 for holding liquid, chilled, frozen and fresh food items, the receptacle comprising: a base (70, figure 6) having base wall and downwardly extending perimeter flange (71, figure 6A); and a side wall 50 extending around the base. At least the side wall is formed from a laminate of an opaque printable substrate, preferably at least 275 gsm paperboard, and a plastics film 22 is bonded over its entire surface, preferably bonded using a UV cure adhesive. The substrate has an aperture 52, that is preferably elliptical, and the plastics film extends over the aperture to form a window. The upper side wall edge (54, figure 4A) may comprise a rolled top 76. There may be indicia printed on both faces of the substrate. The receptacle may have a lid formed from flaps (251, figure 8) hingedly mounted to the upper edge of the side wall, which may have fold lines (280, figure 8). A blank for the side wall (figure 2) is claimed and a method for manufacturing the blank is also claimed.

Description

A Receptacle

FIELD

The present teachings relate to a receptacle. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present teachings relate to a receptacle of the cup-type as well as a blank for forming such a receptacle, a method of forming the blank and a method of forming a receptacle.

BACKGROUND

Conventional single use paper cups are typically formed from a paperboard material that is co-extruded with a plastics barrier layer e.g. a layer of polyethylene (PE). Such cups are typically used for the consumption of hot beverages such as tea and coffee, but a similar manufacturing process is also utilised for receptacles that are used to hold frozen products such as ice cream and sorbet, snack food items such as sweets, chocolates or cakes and fast food items such as takeaway noodles, rice, curries etc. A problem associated with such cups is that the co-extrusion process makes it difficult to separate the paperboard fibres from the plastics for recycling. The limited capacity of existing recycling facilities that are able to handle this type of product means that the vast majority thereof is not recycled.

A further disadvantage of such cups is that it is not possible to manufacture in a cost effective way such a receptacle that has a window aperture in a side wall thereof that is covered by a see-through barrier material to permit a prospective purchaser of the product to effectively view the contents of the receptacle as an aid to their buying decision.

A still further disadvantage is that it is not possible to print on the inner face of the board (the face with the co-extruded coating as the coating prevents this).

The present teachings seek to overcome or at least mitigate these and other problems associated with the prior art.

SUMMARY

Accordingly a first aspect provides a cup-type receptacle for holding liquid, chilled, frozen and fresh food items, the receptacle comprising: a base portion having base wall and downwardly extending perimeter flange; and a side wall portion extending around the base portion and bonded to the perimeter flange and to itself as to form a closed tube, having a lower end and an upper opening, wherein at least the sidewall portion is formed from a laminate of an opaque printable substrate and a plastics film bonded to the substrate over substantially its entire surface, and wherein the substrate has an aperture therein and the plastics film extends over the aperture.

This arrangement permits the contents of the receptacle, when filled, to be viewed through the aperture, without the receptacle being opened. This enables prospective purchaser of the contents to better judge whether they wish to make the purchase.

Further, the lamination process permits the interior of the receptacle to also be printed with indicia that may further enhance the attractiveness or utility of the receptacle. For example an image of the product or fill level/volume markings may be printed on the interior of the receptacle. The plastics film acts as a barrier to prevent migration of the inks used to print the indicia into the foodstuff, as well as liquids and fats from the foodstuff migrating into the substrate to weaken and discolour it.

This arrangement may further enhance the recyclability of the receptacle The side wall portion may define an upper lip and the upper lip is rolled outwardly and downwardly.

Such a rolled upper lip allows a lidding film to be bonded to the lip to enhance the sealing of the receptacle. In may also strengthen the receptacle and make it more user friendly to drink from.

The aperture may have rounded corners.

It has been found that this strengthens the side walls in the vertical direction. This may assist e.g. in providing sufficient strength to the side walls to allow a rolled lip to be formed in the receptacle, or multiple receptacles to be stacked on each other for storage and transit.

The aperture may be elliptical.

This shape may further enhance the strength of the side walls.

The wall portion may be folded so as to overlie both faces of the perimeter flange.

This may further improve the sealing of the receptacle, e.g. if it is to be used to hold liquids.

The substrate of the side wall portion may be printed with indicia on both faces thereof.

This enables indicia to be viewed on an interior face of the side wall.

The substrate may be paperboard.

Paperboard is a strong and cost-effective substrate that can readily be printed and processed.

The paperboard may have a specific weight of at least 275gsm, optionally at least 300gsm.

Such a weight has been found to impart sufficient strength to the receptacle to enable it to be manufactured and used reliably.

The paperboard may be arranged with the fibres extending generally vertically with respect to the side wall portion when the receptacle is upright.

Arranging the fibres in this way further enhances the strength of the paperboard in the direction where it is most required.

The plastics film may be bonded to the substrate by adhesive, optionally a UV cure adhesive.

Use of adhesive may further enhance the recyclability of the receptacle after use.

The receptacle may further comprise a lid of peelable film releasably bonded to cover an upper opening thereof.

Such a lid may be useful to extend the shelf life of the product held therein by reducing the gas exchange with its surroundings.

An upper lip of the side wall portion may bonded together to form a seam.

This arrangement may also extend the shelf life of products by enhancing the sealing of the receptacle.

The receptacle may further comprise a flap hingedly mounted to an upper edge of the side wall portion.

A closure comprising one or more flaps may be useful in takeaway/food-to-go applications where ease of access to the receptacle for filling and consumption is desirable.

Score or fold lines may be provided in the side wall portion.

These may be used to provide further functionality to the receptacle.

A second aspect of the teachings provides a blank for forming a side wall portion of a receptacle of the first aspect of the teachings.

Such a blank allows many of the benefits of the receptacle, as described above, to be realised.

A third aspect of the teachings provides a method of manufacturing a blank of the second aspect, the method comprising the steps of: a) continuously feeding a web of printable substrate along a press; press; b) cutting an aperture in the substrate at a die cutting station of the and c) cutting an outline of the blank at a die cutting station of the press; d) laminating a plastics film to the side wall portion such that the plastics film extends over the aperture in the finished blank wherein step d) occurs prior to step b) and step c), intermediate step b) and step c) or after step c).

Such a method allows many of the benefits of the receptacle, as described above to be realised.

The method may further comprise a step e) of printing indicia on a first side of the substrate and a step f) of printing indicia on a second side of the substrate wherein steps e) and f) occur prior to step d).

This enables indicia to be viewed on an interior face of the side wall of the receptacle formed from the blank.

The method may further comprise a step g) after step e) of applying a varnish to the first side.

In step g) no varnish may be applied to an area of the blank intended for a seam of the receptacle.

This ensure that the bond at the seam is enhanced.

A fourth aspect of the teachings provides a method of forming a receptacle comprising the steps of: a) providing a base portion having a downwardly extending perimeter flange b) bonding a blank as defined in the second aspect to the perimeter flange of the base portion and to itself so as to form a tube.

The method may further comprise a step c) of pressing at least one mandrel against an upper lip of the side wall portion such that a rolled top is formed on the lip.

The method may further comprise a step d) of pressing at least one mandrel against a lower edge of the side wall portion such that it is caused to sandwich the perimeter flange there between.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a press apparatus for manufacturing blanks of the present teachings; Figure 2 is a plan view of a blank formed on the press of Figure 1; Figure 3 is another blank for forming a receptacle of the present teachings; Figure 4 is a side view of a receptacle formed from the blanks of Figures 2 and 3; Figure 4A is a cross-section on the line 4-4 of Figure 4; Figure 5 is a plan view of the receptacle of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a perspective underside view of the receptacle of Figure 4; Figure 6A is a cross-section on the line 6-6 of Figure 6; Figure 7 is a side view of another receptacle of the present teachings; and Figure 8 is a still further receptacle of the present teachings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S)

With reference to Figure 1 a flexographic (flexo) press apparatus indicated generally at 10 is depicted in a simplified form and is configured for manufacturing blanks according to the present teachings. A suitable process is a Gallus EM 510 press manufactured by Gallus Ferdinand Ruesch AG of St Gallen Switzerland.

The press apparatus 10 comprises an unwind roll 12 of a substrate that is printable. In this embodiment, the substrate is a paperboard having a specific weight of around 300gsm and a nominal thickness of 365 pm. The paperboard is a solid bleached sulphate board (SBS). In particular paperboard sold under the trade name EnsocoatsTM manufactured by Storaenso of Helsinki, Finland has been found to give good results.

The paperboard 13 is continuously fed through the press at a suitable tension and is initially fed through four print stations 14a to 14d where various colours are printed on an upper surface of the paperboard to provide product information and marketing information (which will ultimately be the outer surface of the finished receptacle).

The paperboard 13 web is then fed through a turn bar 32 so the opposite unprinted face of the paperboard 13 is uppermost and may be printed at four further print stations 14e to 14h. This face is intended to be the interior face of the blank when erected to form the receptacle.

In other embodiments the total number of print stations and location of the turn bar may be altered. In this embodiment the final print station 14d before the turn bar 32 is used to apply a varnish to the outer face of the paperboard 13 in a predetermined pattern as described in more detail below.

The paperboard 13 web is then fed into a first die cut station 16 in which an aperture or window 52 (see Figure 2) is cut in the web in a location which will ultimately be substantially central in a finished blank 50 formed on the press. In this embodiment the aperture 52 is elliptical in shape, having its widest dimension extending widthwise around the blank 50. The waste material from the window is extracted from the web at this station.

The paperboard 13 web is then fed to a lamination station 18 at which it is laminated to a sheet or web of barrier material that is fed from a lamination roll 20. In this embodiment the barrier material is a plastics film 22, in this embodiment transparent cast polypropylene (CPP). The web of barrier material 22 is typically the same width as the web of paperboard 13, but in some embodiments may be slightly narrower, only covering the extent of the blank that is ultimately formed from the web. Cast PP is used due to its ability to retain its stretch properties at low temperatures and to heat seal effectively. However, depending upon application other laminate material such as oriented polypropylene (OPP), polyethylene (PE) polyethylene terephthalate (PET), cellulose or polylactic acid (PLA) may also be employed.

To achieve lamination, an adhesive is applied to the web of paperboard 13 e.g. using a suitable anilox roller arrangement to apply the right weight in an appropriate pattern and the two webs are then brought together between nip rollers such that they come into contact and are bonded together. In this embodiment, the adhesive is a low migration UV cure adhesive that is suitable for use in food packaging.

The web of laminated material then passes to a second die cut station 24 where the outline (perimeter) of the blank 50 is cut from the web.

In other embodiments e.g. to produce the receptacle 275 of figure 8, score, crease or fold lines and the like may additionally be formed in the paperboard 13 portion of the laminate but typically not into the plastics film 22. This is achieved by carefully controlling the depth of cut of the die. The score, crease or fold lines may be formed by a continuous cut through part of the depth of the paperboard 13 or intermittent cuts through the full depth of the paperboard, or a combination of the two.

At the second die cut station 24 the waste laminate material is separated from the blanks 50 by being wound onto a waste reel 28.

The remaining blanks 50 are then ejected from the second die cut station 24 and are suitably stacked an output end 30 of the press 10. In this embodiment blanks 50 are only formed one wide on the web, but depending on web and blank dimensions may alternatively be formed two, three or more wide.

As the paperboard fibres run lengthwise along the web, it is desirable that the blanks are formed wide-edge leading. This means that the axial crush strength is greater in the vertical direction of the blank when erected to form the receptacle 75 and this can be important for the erecting steps of the receptacle as described below.

At this point the blanks 50 may be collated for transportation to another location, to be loaded into a suitable cup erecting machine or potentially fed into a cup erecting machine that is arranged in line with the press.

The blanks at the end of the press 10 are as depicted in figure 2 i.e. generally having curved upper and lower edges 54 and 56 respectively and side edges 58 and 60 that are straight and mutually convergent. In other words the blank 50 is generally a truncated sector of a circle. This allows receptacles to be formed with sloping sides, so they can be nested together for storage.

In some embodiments where blanks are formed side-by-side on the web of substrate, adjacent blanks may be oriented at 180deg to each other so as to maximise the utilisation of the web area.

The majority of the blank as indicated by the hatched area 62 can be printed with inks to form indicia such as that 64 denoting the contents of the receptacle 75 as well as a layer of varnish, however an upper and lower margin area 54a and 56a are required to be free of varnish in this embodiment to facilitate subsequent processing steps and a side margin area 60a adjacent the side edge 60 is required to be free of both print and varnish.

A rounded or elliptical window 52 is formed in the blank which is covered by the plastics film 22 which extends over the entirety of the reverse face of the blank depicted in figure 2. The film is substantially transparent and therefore ads as a "pane" in the window 52 such that when the blank is erected to form the receptacle the contents thereof are visible through the window 52.

Figure 3 depicts a second base blank 70 that is to form the base portion of the receptacle 75 depicted in figures 4, 5 and 6. The blank 70 is circular and this embodiment is manufactured from a conventional paperboard co-extruded with a plastics coating of polyethylene (PE) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polypropylene (PP), for example.

In other embodiments the base blank 70 may be formed from a lined board using a similar process to that for the blank 50 described above and lined with a suitable one of the materials described in respect of the blank 50. If this is the case this would permit indicia to be printed on both faces of the blank 70, rather than just the one that is possible using the conventional co-extrusion process and/or the provision of a window in this blank also.

The blanks 50 and 70 are erected to form the receptacle 75 as shown in figures 4, 5 and 6 in a process as follows: In a known cup erecting machine (not shown), the base blank 70 depicted in Figure 3 is formed into a disc defining a smaller circular base wall portion having a perimeter skirt or flange 71 extending downwardly therefrom (see Figure 6A). I.e.

the perimeter margin is folded downwardly through substantially 90deg.

This base wall portion 70 is then loaded into a station of the erecting machine (not shown) and the sidewall portion blank 50 is then brought into contact with the base wall portion 70 such that the lower edge margin 56a of the blank 50 is brought into contact with and bonded to the flange 71 around the entire perimeter of the flange.

In addition, the side edge 58 is wrapped around so as to overlie the side edge margin 60a and be bonded thereto.

The bonding of the lower edge margin 56a to the flange may be achieved by heat sealing of the two overlying faces together, e.g. using an open flame, or by ultrasonic welding, hot air, impulse and constant heat sealing options. Since the faces coming into contact are the plastics film 22 of the blank 50 and the plastics coating of the blank 70 such a heat seal bonding may be readily achieved. Similarly, the vertical seam where the side edge 58 overlies the side margin 60a such that the plastics film 22 contacts the outer face of the margin 60a and this may be heat sealed to the paperboard 13 effectively by virtue of the lack of print and varnish on this margin area.

In subsequent stations on the cup erecting machine, a series of end mandrels are used to progressively form the rolled top 76, as best seen in Figures 4 and 4A. The mandrels cause the upper edge 54 of the blank 50 to be turned outwardly downwardly and then inwardly and upwardly so the upper edge is brought into contact with the outer face of the sidewall and the upper most portion of the side wall is now defined by the plastics film 22.

The rolled top 76 has a number of functions: it imparts additional rigidity to the top of the receptacle, for applications where food is consumed directly from the receptacle it is a more user friendly surface for contact with a consumer's mouth, and finally the presence of the plastics film 22 on the upper most edge enables a plastics lidding film (not shown) to be adhered or bonded to the opening defined by the upper edge. Such a lidding film may extend the shelf life of the contents of the receptacle by enhancing the sealing thereof.

In addition a further series of mandrels folds the lowermost edge 56 of the blank 50 inwardly and upwardly such that the perimeter 71 of the base portion is sandwiched between the lower margin 56a of the sidewall portion. With particular reference to figure 6A, it can be seen that at the location of the vertical seam the flange of the base portion is in fact sandwiched between two layers of the lower margin 56a of the sidewall 50 on each face.

The operation to form the roll top 76 and inwardly folded base requires an axial load to be exerted on the receptacle in order to progressively deform the sidewall material. The present applicant has determined that the provision of an aperture 52 with rounded corners ensures that the sidewall of the receptacle is not caused to fail by crumpling or crushing which propagates from where the aperture is provided. In particular the elliptical aperture depicted in figures 4, 5 and 6 or a circular aperture has been found to have particular strength and therefore be suitable for this operation by contrast with an aperture that has sharp e.g. right angle corners.

Once the receptacle is formed as depicted in figures 4, 5 and 6 it may then be filled with a suitable foodstuff. This may comprise for example dry foodstuffs such as crisps, chocolate, cakes or other snack foods, chilled snack foods such as cocktail sausages or sausage rolls, frozen foodstuffs such as ice cream or sorbet, or hot beverages such as tea, coffee or soups. In each case the aperture 52 allows the prospective purchaser of the food stuff to view the contents of the receptacle without opening it.

Depending upon the particular contents, a snap on or friction fit lid (not shown) may be provided over the top of the receptacle either alone or in combination with a heat sealed film lid to be removed to access the content of the receptacle 75.

Referring now to figure 7 a variant receptacle indicating generally at 175 is depicted in this embodiment and like parts are illustrated by like numerals but with the prefix "1". In this embodiment the major difference is that instead of the circular upper opening with the roll top the upper margin area 54 is brought together to form a linear seam which is heat sealed to bond together the opposing faces after the contents are placed within the receptacle 175. In this embodiment a square aperture 152 may be achievable since there is no requirement to axially load the receptacle actually to form the rolled top.

Figure 8 illustrates a still further embodiment of the receptacle indicated generally at 275 in which like parts are labelled by like numerals but with the prefix "2". This embodiment differs from that of figures 4-6 in that four flaps 251a, 251b, 251c and 251d are formed integrally with the side wall blank 250 and may be folded inwardly to close off the upper opening of the receptacle 275. The flaps may be provided with suitable tabs 253 and corresponding apertures 255 in order to releasably hold the flaps in a closed position. Such arrangement may be particularly applicable for takeaway food items such as noodles, curries, rice based dishes and the like. It can be seen in figure 8 that fold lines 280 are formed in the receptacle 275 to delineate the separation of the flaps 251a-d from the sidewall portion 250 and to promote the transition of the sidewall portion from being substantially cylindrical at the base to being four-sided at the upper edge adjacent the flaps. Such fold lines may be formed on the press at the second die cut station 24 in some embodiments or at the first die cut station 16 in other embodiments.

It will be appreciated that numerous changes may be made within the scope of the present teachings, For example a single die station may be used downstream of the laminating station to cut out the window and cut the outline of the blank from the web. In some embodiments a die station may be used to cut through the barrier material, from the reverse side e.g. to provide a concora-type cut to enable access to the receptacle via a tear strip. The size and proportions of the receptacle may be altered as required. The base may be oval or elliptical rather than circular and may be manufactured from plastics material only rather than board with a plastics laminate or co-extrusion.

Claims

13 Claims 1. A cup-type receptacle for holding liquid, chilled, frozen and fresh food items, the receptacle comprising: a base portion having base wall and downwardly extending perimeter flange; and a side wall portion extending around the base portion and bonded to the perimeter flange and to itself as to form a closed tube, having a lower end and an upper opening, wherein at least the sidewall portion is formed from a laminate of an opaque printable substrate and a plastics film bonded to the substrate over substantially its entire surface, and wherein the substrate has an aperture therein and the plastics film extends over the aperture.

2. A receptacle according to Claim 1 wherein the side wall portion defines an upper lip and the upper lip is rolled outwardly and downwardly.

3. A receptacle according to Claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the aperture has rounded corners.

4. A receptacle according to any preceding claim wherein the aperture is elliptical.

5. A receptacle according to any preceding claim wherein the wall portion is folded so as to overlie both faces of the perimeter flange.

6. A receptacle according to any preceding claim wherein the substrate of the side wall portion is printed with indicia on both faces thereof.

7. A receptacle according to any preceding claim wherein the substrate is paperboard.

8. A receptacle according to claim 7 wherein the paperboard has a specific weight of at least 275gsm, optionally at least 300gsm.

9. A receptacle according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the paperboard is arranged with the fibres extending generally vertically with respect to the side wall portion when the receptacle is upright.

10. A receptacle according to any preceding claim wherein the plastics film is bonded to the substrate by adhesive, optionally a UV cure adhesive.

11. A receptacle according to any preceding claim wherein the receptacle further comprises a lid of peelable film releasably bonded to cover an upper opening thereof.

12. A receptacle according to any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein an upper lip of the side wall portion is bonded together to form a seam.

13. A receptacle according to any one of the claims 1 to 10 wherein the receptacle further comprises a flap hingedly mounted to an upper edge of the side wall portion.

14. A receptacle according to any preceding claim wherein score or fold lines are provided in the side wall portion.

15. A blank for forming a side wall portion of a receptacle according to any preceding claim.

16. A method of manufacturing a blank of claim 15, the method comprising the steps of: a) continuously feeding a web of printable substrate along a press; b) cutting an aperture in the substrate at a die cutting station of the press; c) cutting an outline of the blank at a die cutting station of the press; and d) laminating a plastics film to the side wall portion such that the plastics film extends over the aperture in the finished blank wherein step d) occurs prior to step b) and step c), intermediate step b) and step c) or after step c).

17. A method according to claim 16 further comprising a step e) of printing indicia on a first side of the substrate and a step f) of printing indicia on a second side of the substrate wherein steps e) and f) occur prior to step d).

18. A method according to claim 16 or claim 17 further comprising a step g) after step e) of applying a varnish to the first side.

19. A method according to claim 18 wherein in step g) no varnish is applied to an area of the cup intended for a seam.

20. A method of forming a receptacle comprising the steps of: a) providing a base portion having a downwardly extending perimeter flange b) bonding a blank as defined in claim 15 to the perimeter flange of the base portion and to itself so as to form a tube.

21. A method according to claim 20 further comprising a step c) of pressing at least one mandrel against an upper lip of the side wall portion such that a rolled top is formed on the lip.

22. A method according to claim 20 or claim 21 further comprising a step d) of pressing at least one mandrel against a lower edge of the side wall portion such that it is caused to sandwich the perimeter flange there between.