IT202000015400A1 - PACKAGING FOR FOOD AND OTHER PRODUCTS - Google Patents

Description

Title: PACKAGING FOR FOOD AND OTHER PRODUCTS

Description

The present invention relates to biocompatible packages for foods and other products, in particular packages in the form of nets.

State of art

The use of retinas, that is? bags in the form of a net, ? widely used in the packaging of foods such as fruit or vegetables. Today this type of packing nets ? manufactured in plastic. A retina used for these applications? composed of an open structure fabric, with open spaces between the yarns. Open spaces are openings that allow a clear view of the contents of the package made using the mesh. The size of the openings can? vary widely depending on the intended application. The screens used for the retail sale of fruit and vegetables have an opening between 2 and 15 mm or more. specifically between 4 and 8 mm.

Nylon and polypropylene are the most? commonly used for making 12mm thick wire material. The yarn? formed in a fabric pi? commonly circular knit or raschel.

Circular knit fabric is produced as a tube of fabric in various diameters. Is a portion of the tube sealed at one end? and the items to be packed are placed in the tube, then the other end? is sealed. The sealing can be by heat sealing or by the use of a mechanical closure device such as a metal or plastic clip or string.

Raschel knit fabric is produced using a type of warp knitting that produces flat weave. Likewise the leno fabric? produced as a flat weave. To use these fabrics for packaging, the fabric is first formed into a bag or sack by sewing two edges of a folded rectangle of fabric together. The items to be packaged are placed in the envelope and the end? opened is sealed by heat sealing or by the use of a mechanical sealing device such as a metal or plastic clip or string.

? normal practice to color the thread with which ? made the net before producing the fabric. With polypropylene and polyethylene yarns this is done during the manufacture of the yarn by adding pigments to the melt used to produce the yarn.

The synthetic material nets are resistant and have sufficient strength to support the full weight of the product, but they are not sustainable nor? biodegradable n? compostable, therefore they represent a risk of pollution if dispersed into the environment. If released into the oceans, they decompose by physical action, but the microparticles ultimately produced remain unchanged for many years and can enter the food chain.

Today there is growing concern about the accumulation of synthetic fibers and plastic micro particles in the oceans. ? It has been shown that about 80% of marine plastic pollution is attributable to particles of synthetic fibers and non-biodegradable pi? that pollutants pi? easily visible such as PET bottles, etc.

In addition to synthetic fibers ? the use of artificial cellulose fibers is also known, in particular manufactured according to the viscose, modal and lyocell process. These man-made cellulosic fibers are of particular interest in this field as they have been shown to be biodegradable in the sea and furthermore lyocell is not? toxic to aquatic organisms.

Cellulose such as wood pulp is usually used as the starting material, although other sources of cellulose such as bamboo linters are also used. and cotton. The pulp of the wood is impregnated with sodium hydroxide and then reacted with carbon disulfide to convert it into cellulose xanthate. Xanthate is dissolved in sodium hydroxide solution to produce a viscous golden colored liquid which is commonly referred to as viscose.

The modal fiber ? a high wet modulus fiber produced using a modified version of the viscose process.

The "P? recent development of the three main man-made cellulosic fibers ? the lyocell. ? produced by a solvent spinning process. The solvent? an oxide of amine, which is not ? toxic. The amine oxide solvent is recycled in a closed loop at the factory, which makes for a good life cycle assessment, but this process is not? free of chemicals and per s? contributes to water pollution.

Even these fibers therefore do not solve the problem of rapid biodegradability? and a non-toxicity? of the material, what ? instead the requirement more and more? sought after by the market.

Summary of the invention

The problem addressed by the present invention ? therefore that of making available a package for food or other products which is biodegradable in a relatively short time, which is compostable, resistant and non-toxic.

Such a problem ? solved by a package for foods or other products as outlined in the annexed claims, the definitions of which form an integral part of the present description.

In particular, the object of the invention? a package for food or other products, in the form of a net composed of a linen-based yarn.

Another object of the invention? a process for obtaining the package according to the invention.

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the description of some embodiments, given hereinafter for indicative and non-limiting purposes.

Brief description of the figures

Figure 1 represents a plan view of the package according to the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

A first object of the present invention relates to a package for food or other products, in the form of a net composed of a linen-based yarn. This packaging is biodegradable in a time not exceeding three months, compostable, non-toxic and resistant.

Foods which can typically be introduced into the package of the invention are fruit and vegetables. Other articles such as for example toys or small components can be packaged in the nets according to the invention.

The package of the invention comprises a bag, indicated in figure 1 as a whole with the number 1, constituted by a net 2 composed of linen yarn 3 coated with starch from biological sources.

The starch from biological sources? for example corn starch or potato starch.

Bag 1? formed by a substantially rectangular flat net, folded in half? and closed by stitching on the first and second sides 4, 4? opposite, such that a third side 5 ? closed and a fourth side 6 ? open for the introduction of the food or other article.

In exemplary embodiments, the net 2 has a weft with rectangular meshes having dimensions of 4-5 mm X 6-7 mm, but it must be understood that meshes of different dimensions can also be provided.

The linen yarn 3 has a count between 11 and 15 Nm, preferably about 13 Nm, where Nm ? the Metric Number, that is? the number of skeins 1000 meters long needed to obtain one kg of yarn. The yarn 3 therefore has, in its preferred embodiment, a linear mass of 76.92 mg/m, and has a diameter of between 245 and 270 µm, 258 µm in its preferred embodiment.

Yarn 3 has a mechanical resistance to breakage (tenacity) equal to 29.5 cN/tex which corresponds to an elastic energy of 295 J/g which ? accumulated in the tissue during traction and is released at the moment of its rupture. There? corresponds to the breaking load of about 22.7 N for one meter of wire.

The bag 1, when made up of about 140 threads about 0.5 m long on the long side, has a breaking strength by traction (carried out by tensioning it evenly between the two short sides) between 900 and 1200 N, for example about 1000 No.

Bag 1 of the invention can? be accomplished through a process that includes the following steps:

a) making available a linen yarn 3 having a count Nm of between 11 and 15, preferably about 13;

b) optionally, coloring said yarn 3 with a dye which is preferably biodegradable? and compostability? with a fixed residue of less than 1% according to the UNI EN 13432 standard;

c) treating said linen yarn 3 with starch from biological sources, preferably corn starch or potato starch;

d) weaving with said yarn 3 treated according to step c) a flat net 2 on a flat leno loom, preferably with a comb and weft with 26 and 21 beats respectively;

e) immersing said flat mesh 2, preferably rolled up, in a bath of biological starch, preferably corn starch or potato starch, followed by removal of the excess starch by mechanical vibration;

f) treatment of the mesh 2 treated according to step e) in an oven at a temperature of 160-180?C until dry;

g) cutting and sewing the net 2 obtained from step f) to form a bag 1.

The linen yarn from step a) ? as defined previously.

Step c) is performed in order to provide the yarn with the necessary stiffness for the subsequent weaving step. The starch layer comes for? partly lost due to mechanical action during the weaving on the loom.

Step f) is preferably carried out on the flat network, ie? turning from the roll. The speed? passing through the oven? preferably of 60-70 m/min, so that the residence time of the mesh in the oven is between 20 and 30 seconds.

The steps f) and e) are conducted in order to confer plasticity? to the network.

The packaging of the invention, once the bag 1 has been filled with the food product or other article, can be closed with biodegradable tape or by stitching.

The packages obtained with the bags 1 according to the invention are biodegradable in less than 3 months, are compostable and have sufficient mechanical resistance to loads to be able to support, when composed of a bag 1 comprising about 140 threads of approximately 0.5 m on the long side, a weight of up to approx. 100 kg.

AND? It is evident that only some particular embodiments of the present invention have been described, to which the expert in the art will be capable of making all those modifications necessary for its adaptation to particular applications, without however departing from the scope of protection defined by the claims of the present invention.

L. Package for food or other items comprising a bag (1) made up of a net (2) made up of a linen yarn (3) coated with starch from biological sources.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein the starch from a biological source is corn starch or potato starch.

3. A package according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bag (1) is formed by a substantially rectangular flat net (2), folded in half? and closed by stitching on opposite first and second sides (4, 4?), so that a third side (5) ? closed and a fourth side (6) ? open.

4. A making-up according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the linen yarn (3) has a count of between 11 and 15 Nm, or about 13 Nm, where Nm ? the Metric Number and has a diameter between 245 and 270 ?m, or about 258 ?m.

5. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the yarn (3) has a tensile strength of about 22.7 N per meter of yarn.

6. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the bag (1),

Claims (10)

1. Package for food or other items comprising a bag (1) made up of a net (2) composed of a linen yarn (3) coated with starch from biological sources. 2. A package according to claim 1, wherein the starch from a biological source is corn starch or potato starch. 3. A package according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bag (1) is formed by a substantially rectangular flat net (2), folded in half? and closed by stitching on opposite first and second sides (4, 4?), so that a third side (5) ? closed and a fourth side (6) ? open. 4. A making-up according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the linen yarn (3) has a count of between 11 and 15 Nm, or about 13 Nm, where Nm ? the Metric Number and has a diameter between 245 and 270 ?m, or about 258 ?m. 5. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the yarn (3) has a tensile strength of about 22.7 N per meter of yarn. 6. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the bag (1), when composed of about 140 threads about 0.5 m long on the long side, has a resistance to breaking by traction (carried out by tensioning it so homogeneous between the two short sides) between 900 and 1200 N, or about 1000 N. 7. Process for making the package according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising the following steps: a) making available a linen yarn (3) having a count Nm between 11 and 15, preferably about 13; b) optionally, coloring said yarn (3) with a dye preferably having biodegradability? and compostability? with a fixed residue of less than 1% according to the UNI EN 13432 standard; c) treating said flax yarn (3) with starch from biological sources; d) weaving with said yarn (3) treated according to step c) a flat net (2) on a flat leno loom; e) immersing said flat net (2), preferably rolled up, in a bath of biological starch, followed by a removal by mechanical vibration of the excess starch; f) treatment of the mesh (2) treated according to step e) in an oven at a temperature of 160-180?C until dry; g) cutting and sewing the net (2) obtained from step f) to form a bag (1). 8. A process according to claim 7, wherein the starch from a biological source in steps c) and e) is? corn starch or potato starch. 9. Process according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the weaving of step d) is performed with reed and weft at 26 and 21 beats respectively. 10. Process according to any one of claims from 7 to 9, wherein in step f) the speed? of transit in the oven? of 60-70 m/min, so that the residence time of the net (2) in the oven is between 20 and 30 seconds.