JP2001122299A - Inner seal material for container with pour port and sealing method of pour port using inner seal material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inner seal material for heat-sealing the pour port of a container filled with content sterilized by boiling or sterilized under heating and pressure to hermetically closed the pour port stably at a high speed and a sealing method using the same. SOLUTION: An inner seal material is thermally bonded to the opening part of the pour port of a container after the container is filled with content to hermetically seal the pour port. This inner seal material has a top surface part for covering the opening part of the pour port and a skirt part for covering a part of the side wall forming the opening part and the angle formed by the top surface part and the line connecting the upper and lower ends of the skirt part is 95-120 deg. and the height of the skirt part is 2-10 mm. After the container with the pour port is filled with content, the inner seal material is supplied to cover the opening part of the pour port and a part of the side wall forming the opening part and thermally bonded to the opening part of the pour port to hermetically seal the pour port.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inner seal material capable of sealing a spout opening by thermally bonding the spout opening after filling the contents with the spout container, and a spout using the inner seal material. It relates to a sealing method.

[0002] In general, pouched foods subjected to pressurized heat sterilization called boil sterilization or retort sterilization are sold. Recently, a spout is attached to the pouch, and the spout is spouted to make it easier to drink, and by attaching a reclosing cap, it is possible to reseal without having to drink at once. Containers are now available for sale. And, as the contents to be filled into this container with a spout,
Juices, soups, jelly-like foods, liquid foods, seasonings and the like can be mentioned. When filling the contents into such a container with a spout, the filling is usually performed by a dedicated filling and packaging machine. A filling nozzle is inserted from the spout to fill the predetermined contents, and after filling, FIG. As shown in FIG. 5) and FIG. 5 (b), the inner seal material taken out from the winding of the inner seal material is punched and, at the same time, a heat seal H is formed on the top of the spout.
S, seal, and attach a reclosing cap. At this time, the inner seal material is punched out slightly larger than the diameter of the spout, and at the same time, it is temporarily sealed at the edge of the opening, and in the next step, the mouth is sealed by cooling and pressurizing after heat sealing. Had been taken.

[0003]

However, the supply of the inner sealing material and the sealing method described above,
In the method of performing primary sealing simultaneously with punching of a sealing material, it is difficult to finely adjust the contact per surface because of a structure in which a sealing board is sealed through a punching die, and it is difficult to secure stable sealing strength. In the conventional method, in the sealing step of the inner sealing material, since the sheet is punched into the shape of the opening of the spout and sealed in a single-wafer state (that is, without applying tension), the opening of the spout is unexpectedly formed. In some cases, the seal material may be wrinkled, and the wrinkled portion may leak. Also, the primary seal was incomplete, and the contents sometimes adhered to the unsealed portion while moving to the position of the secondary seal. As described above, there are many restrictions on the heat sealing conditions and the sealing process for complete hermetic sealing.
In addition, since heat sealing is performed at the same time as punching, the packaging speed is limited, which has been a bottleneck for speeding up. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed inner seal material that is heat-sealed to a spout of a container with a spout for filling and packaging contents to be subjected to boil sterilization or pressurized heat sterilization, and a shape that enables stable sealing. An object of the present invention is to provide a shape of an inner seal material and a method for sealing a spout using the inner seal material.

[0004]

The present invention relates to an inner seal material for sealing a spout opening by thermally bonding the spout opening after filling the contents into a spout container. A top surface portion covering the portion, and a skirt portion covering a part of the side wall forming the opening, and an angle formed by the top surface portion and a line connecting upper and lower ends of the skirt portion is 95 to
120 °, and an inner seal material for a container with a spout, characterized in that the height of the skirt portion is formed to 2 to 10 mm, wherein the inner seal material has at least aluminum foil and easy peelability. It is preferably a laminate containing a resin. Further, the present invention provides a state in which after filling the contents of the container with a spout, an inner seal material is supplied to the spout opening to partially cover the opening of the spout and the side wall forming the opening. A sealing method for a spout using an inner sealing material, wherein the sealing method is performed by sealing with heat sealing.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an inner seal material of a container with a spout according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a spout, an inner seal material and a cap, and FIG.
Perspective view showing a state in which an inner seal material is attached to a spout, (c) a perspective view showing an example of the inner seal material,
(D) cross-sectional view of the X ₁ -X _1, a perspective view, cross-sectional view of (f) X ₂ -X ₂ showing another embodiment of a (e) inner seal member. FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating materials of an inner seal material and a container body (pouch) according to the present invention. FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views illustrating materials forming an inner seal.
(C) And (d) is sectional drawing of the laminated body which comprises a pouch. FIGS. 3A and 3B are views showing an embodiment in which the container body of the container with a spout is a gusset pouch. FIG. 3A is a perspective view in which respective members are separated, and FIG. ,
It is a perspective view as a package which filled the contents made into the container with a spout. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the supply and sealing method of the inner sealing material.

In the container with a spout according to the present invention, the container with a spout is, for example, a container body made of a pouch as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). Both sides of the film 5 before and after are heat-sealed with the elongated side films 6 folded inward, respectively, and the lower edges of the front and rear films 5 are heat-sealed to form a bottom, and the upper edge of the front and rear films is formed. A so-called gusset-type pouch that is formed by inserting a spout and bonding the upper edges of the front and rear films integrally with the inner cylindrical portion of the spout so that the contents are filled into a box shape. Is desirable. Also, as a pouch type container body,
Not only the gusset type pouch, but also insert the bottom film folded in two on the lower side of the front and rear two films, heat seal both sides of the front and rear films as they are, insert the spout body in the center of the upper side, The inner cylindrical portion and the inner surface of the film may be joined by heat bonding, and the lower side may be a standing pouch which is heat-sealed through the bottom film.

[0008] The container body in the container with a spout of the present invention may be a plastic container integrally formed with the spout or a laminated tube in addition to the pouch. It is not limited.

The shape of the spout will be further described. As an example of a shape of a spout that is joined by heat bonding when the container body is a pouch, a pill fur proof type spout as shown in FIG. 3A will be described as an example. The spout comprises, on one side of the elongated flange, an inner cylinder attached to the inside of the pouch body, and on the other side an outer cylinder on the outside of the pouch when the pouch is attached. A flat flange portion capable of hermetically sealing the inner seal material is formed, and a screw for screwing the outlet port main body to the outlet port main body is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the outlet port cylinder. In addition, on the adhesive base,
Although the blockage prevention rib is provided, the blockage prevention rib may not be provided as shown in FIG.

In the present invention, the inner sealing material for tightly sealing the spout and sealing the container is as follows:
At the stage of supplying to the spout, it is slightly larger than the outer crease of the outer cylindrical portion of the spout, and covers the opening of the top surface of the spout, and covers part of the side wall forming the opening of the spout. It is characterized in that it is previously formed into a shape, that is, a shape comprising a top surface portion and a skirt portion bent downward from an outer edge portion of the top surface portion.

The inner sealing material for tightly sealing the opening of the spout is heat-sealed to the top surface at the periphery of the opening. Conventionally, a method has been employed in which temporary sealing is performed simultaneously with punching of the inner sealing material, and the main sealing is performed in the next step. However, in such a conventional inner seal, as described above, displacement may occur, and wrinkles may occur in the seal portion, resulting in poor sealing. The present inventors have conducted intensive studies on an inner seal that enables stable sealing, and as a result, a more stable hermetic seal was obtained by supplying and sealing a molded inner seal material in advance.

The inner seal material of the present invention is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1D and FIG. 1D, the top surface 21 having a flat surface that comes into contact with the sealing surface of the opening of the spout with respect to the shape of the spout of the container with the spout to be sealed;
And a skirt portion 22 extending downward from the skirt portion and covering a part of the side wall portion forming the spout. As shown in FIG. 1D, the angle θ formed by the top surface and the line connecting the upper and lower ends of the skirt portion 22 is 95 to 120 °, and the inner seal material 20 is formed. Height h
Is preferably formed to 2 to 10 mm. The angle θ is 95
If the angle is less than °, stability will be lacking when occupying the opening of the spout. If the angle θ exceeds 120 °, the supply of the inner seal material will not be stable. In addition, inner seal 2
If the height of the 0 skirt portion 22 is less than 2 mm, the molding effect is lost, and if it exceeds 10 mm, the capping of the spout into the opening is not stable.

The above-described molded inner seal material 20
Is obtained in a dedicated filling and packaging machine for a container with a spout, or by using another machine, by continuously punching and molding the sealing material fed from the wound sealing material, and forming the formed inner seal. The material can be put on the spout of the container with the spout filled with the contents by a shooter and sealed by heat sealing from the top. In the conventional method, since the punching step and the sealing step were simultaneous, the filling and packaging method was an intermittent operation as the present invention, but in the inner seal material of the present invention, the movement of the filling and packaging machine was Can be punched and formed at high speed regardless of directly. Accordingly, the sealing condition does not need to consider the bleeding condition in the conventional method, and the speed can be increased by using a rotary method such as capping and sealing.

1 (e) and FIG.
As shown in (f), the ceiling recess 23 may be formed. The top recess 23 has the same effect as the rib of the molded product, and the shape of the inner seal material is stabilized. Further, in the quality inspection, when the contents of the container with the spout are sealed and packed in Terumo (promoting decay test), when the contents are spoiled, the ceiling recess 23 expands, so that a visual inspection becomes possible. There is also an effect.

It is desirable to attach a cap to the spout of the container with the spout for heat sealing the inner seal material of the present invention. The cap is attached for the purpose of protecting the inner seal sealed in the opening to prevent the contents from leaking, or enabling the purchaser to close the contents when taking out the contents several times. The cap is
Threaded cabbing of a screw (not shown) may be used to provide a male screw 15 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the spout cylinder and an inner surface of the side wall of the cap main portion, or a connection between the side wall of the spout and the inner wall of the cap. It may be a capping type. In the description of the present invention, the spout and the cap are illustrated as a combination of a mischief prevention type, a so-called pill fur proof type, hereinafter in FIG. 1 (a).

As the material of the inner seal which is thermally bonded to the spout of the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG.
It consists of a surface layer, aluminum and an easy-peeling resin layer. As the surface layer, heat resistance, moldability,
It can be formed by a method such as coating, drying and baking with a good coating agent such as abrasion resistance. Examples of the coating agent include solutions and dispersions of acrylic resins, epoxy resins, polyester resins, melamine resins, unsaturated carboxylic acid-grafted polyolefin resins, and the like. As shown in FIG. 2 (d), a film 41 'may be laminated on the surface of aluminum as a surface layer. As a film having good heat resistance, moldability, abrasion resistance and the like, polyester, nylon, etc. Can be used. The thickness of aluminum is 10
The range is preferably from 200 to 200 µm, and more preferably from 20 to 100 µm. If the thickness of the aluminum is less than 10 μm, the formed portion of the inner seal is weak, and may be deformed in the movement from the supply portion to the seal portion, and the process may not be stable. Also, even if the thickness of aluminum exceeds 200 μm,
This does not improve the performance of the inner seal material, and increases the cost. Further, as the easy-peeling resin layer as the innermost layer, a multi-layer PP, a modified PP, an EVA type or the like is suitably used.

The inner seal of the container with a spout according to the present invention may be formed by using a separate molding machine from the filling and packaging machine. It is preferred to supply to the part. The inner seal material 20 of the present invention is aligned after molding, is supplied obliquely to the upper part of the spout to be crowned by the supply guide, and as shown in FIG. It is hooked to the edge of the opening 12 and is crowned. Thereafter, by heating and pressurizing, the top portion of the spout opening 12 is heat-sealed HS and sealed as a container. At this time, it is not necessary that the intermittent moving speed of the container in the filling and packaging machine coincides with the forming speed of the inner seal.
What is necessary is just to put a molding inner seal on the spout flowing into the filling and packaging machine.

The container with a spout of the present invention can be sterilized under pressure and heat. Because pressurized heat sterilization is possible,
Even if the contents are easily sealed with contents that are easily deteriorated or perishable by bacteria, the product can be distributed for a long period of time without deterioration or decay caused by bacteria. The material of the main plate of the container body, the spout, the inner seal, and the cap, if necessary, may be made to withstand the heat and pressure sterilization.

The material is such that the spout, the inner seal material and the container body are all melted by the DSC method.
What is necessary is just to comprise with resin which is 110 degreeC or more.

The shape of the pouch that can use the spout of the present invention is a three-sided seal, a four-sided seal, a self-standing bag (standing pouch), a gusset pouch, and the like. Any pouch having a margin that can be used can be equipped with the spout of the present invention.

Next, the material of the pouch used in the present invention will be described. The material used for the pouch is adapted to the type of contents to be filled and the adhesion to the spout body.
When filling the retort food, a material that can withstand pressure and heat sterilization and a laminate material obtained by a lamination method can be used. In the present invention, as long as the material can be adhered to the adhesive portion of the spout, the material of the laminated material called ordinary retort pouch can be used with almost no problem.

Usually, a laminated film is used as the material of the pouch, and the structure is such that the surface layer / sealant layer or the surface layer / intermediate layer / sealant layer is laminated in order from the outer surface. In this configuration, the surface layer and the intermediate layer may each be a single film layer,
It may be composed of more than two layers. In addition, an adhesive layer can be provided between the above layers as needed. For example, five layers including an adhesive layer such as a surface layer / adhesive layer / intermediate layer / adhesive layer sealant layer as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2D, the intermediate layer is composed of two layers,
There can be seven layers including an adhesive layer such as an adhesive layer / intermediate layer / adhesive layer / intermediate layer / adhesive layer / sealant layer.

The surface layer 51 is excellent in printability and lamination suitability, has overall mechanical strength required in ordinary applications such as tensile strength, impact strength, and scratch resistance, and has solvent resistance, chemical resistance, and the like. In addition to heat resistance, heat resistance to heating during heat sealing is required. Examples of the film satisfying such performance and conditions include a biaxially stretched polyester film, a biaxially stretched nylon film, a biaxially stretched polypropylene film, and the like, and polyvinylidene for imparting moisture proof property and gas barrier property thereto. A film coated with chloride (PVDC) or the like, or a film on which a metal or an inorganic oxide such as silica is deposited can be used. The thickness of the film used as the surface layer is appropriately in the range of 9 to 50 μm. If the thickness of the surface layer is less than 9 μm, the strength is insufficient, and the suitability for printing and laminating is reduced, which is not preferable. In the case of the present invention, the surface layer having a thickness exceeding 50 μm is not preferable because the packaging bag itself is small and has sufficient strength.

The intermediate layer 52 is provided for improving the mechanical strength of the laminated film or for improving the water vapor and various gas barrier properties. For example, nylon, polyvinyl alcohol or ethylene-vinyl acetate may be used depending on the purpose. For heat sterilization with little pinholes obtained by improving the spreadability by mixing other metals such as iron with aluminum as a film such as saponified polymer (EVOH), polyvinylidene chloride, or aluminum foil or alloy foil. A suitable metal foil may be used, or a film thickness of aluminum, silicon oxide, alumina, etc. (thickness of 400 to
600) is coated on the surface by vacuum evaporation or the like. The thickness of the intermediate layer is usually 7μm ~ 50μ
About m is appropriate.

If the thickness of the intermediate layer 52 is less than 7 μm, required performances such as strength and various barrier properties cannot be obtained, and the suitability for processing such as lamination is undesirably reduced. Also,
If the thickness is up to 50 μm, the above-mentioned improvement in strength, lamination performance such as barrier properties are sufficiently satisfied, so that 50 μm
If the thickness exceeds the above range, it is not necessary, and the material cost is undesirably high.

The method of laminating the intermediate layer 52 on the surface layer 51 can be performed by a known dry lamination method when the intermediate layer 52 is prepared in a film form in advance.

Next, the sealant layer 53 is provided on the innermost layer of the laminated film. When the laminated film is formed into a bag, the sealant layer 53 is heat-bonded with sufficient strength by the heat and pressure of the sealer. It is necessary to have heat-fusibility with the material of the inner cylindrical portion 11 of the outlet. Further, as the sealant layer 53, a multilayer film formed by a coextrusion method or the like can be used.

In the sealant layer 53, medium-density polyethylene, which is the same as the resin used for molding the spout, is used.
Polyolefins such as α-olefin copolymers polymerized using linear low-density polyethylene, polypropylene or single-site catalysts. The thickness of the sealant layer of the pouch to which the spout of the present invention is attached is suitably about 50 μm to 200 μm. As for the material used as the sealant layer, as a result of various studies, the polyolefin resin as described above, in order to withstand high-temperature conditions such as pressure and heat sterilization as sterilization of the contents, the melting temperature of the resin. Select one with a temperature of 110 ° C or higher. In the case of a sealant layer made of a resin having a melting temperature of less than 110 ° C., the contents are filled and, in the step of pressurizing and heat sterilizing, the heat seal portion of the pouch or the bonding with the bonding portion of the spout body portion. In some cases, a peeling phenomenon occurs during the sterilization, and the product cannot be commercialized. In addition, the pressure heat sterilization is a component of the contents,
The sealant layer 53 of the pouch is selected and designed to withstand the heating conditions at the time of the sterilization, since it is set in consideration of the packaging unit, the set distribution conditions, and the like.

When the thickness of the sealant layer is less than 50 μm, it is not preferable because sufficient heat sealing strength cannot be obtained. Further, when the thickness exceeds 200 μm, the heat sealing strength is not particularly increased, but the time required for the heat sealing is lengthened, and the material cost is increased, which is not preferable. The lamination of the sealant layer 53 is performed by applying the above-described resin to the surface layer 51 or the surface layer 51 and the intermediate layer 52.
In addition to extruding the resin on the inner surface side of the laminated film and laminating the film, the resin may be formed into a film in advance and the film may be laminated by a dry lamination method or the like. At the time of laminating the surface layer 51 and the intermediate layer 52 or laminating the sealant layer, the surface layer 51,
Intermediate layer 52 or sealant layer 53 previously formed into a film
Can be subjected to a corona discharge treatment or a known anchor coat such as an organic titanium-based, urethane-based, imine-based, or rubber-based adhesive.

The package equipped with the spout 10 using the inner seal of the present invention described above is filled with contents,
Depending on the contents, they are sold in the market after sterilizing in boil or retort. The contents are usually filled into the package by inserting a filling nozzle from the spout 10, but in the case of a three-sided seal bag, a four-sided seal bag, or a gusset bag, at least one side of the pouch is used. May be left unsealed and hermetically sealed after filling the contents from the unsealed portion. In the case of such a standing pouch in filling from the unsealed portion, since the bottom portion is characterized in that the bottom portion is previously sealed, the unsealed portion is left in the top sealing portion, and the contents are removed from the unsealed portion. After filling, the unsealed portion is preferably packaged by a method of resealing.

[0031]

The inner seal of the present invention is supplied to the spout in a cap-type beforehand and heat-sealed to the spout top flange. Since no wrinkles are generated, a stable seal can be obtained. Also, since the inner seal can be punched and formed regardless of the filling and sealing speeds, the production speed of the packaging machine is no longer restricted by the supply and sealing of the inner seal material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an inner seal material of a container with a spout according to the present invention, (a) a perspective view showing a spout, an inner seal material and a cap, and (b) an inner seal material attached to the spout. perspective view showing a state, (c) a perspective view showing an embodiment of an inner seal member, (d) cross-sectional view of the X ₁ -X _1, perspective view of another embodiment of (e) inner seal member, ( f) it is a sectional view of the X ₂ -X _2.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating materials of an inner seal material and a container body (pouch) according to the present invention, wherein FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views illustrating materials forming an inner seal; FIGS.
(C) And (d) is sectional drawing of the laminated body which comprises a pouch.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an embodiment in which the container main body of the container with a spout is a gusset pouch, (a) is a perspective view showing each of the members separated, and (b) is a perspective view. It is a perspective view as a package which filled the contents made into the container with a spout.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the supply of an inner seal and a sealing method.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a conventional inner seal and its supply and sealing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P Container main body 10 Spout 11 Inner tube part 12 Opening 13 Flange 1 Outer tube part 2 Screw 3 Stop part 17 First locking part 18 Second locking part 20 Inner seal material 21 Top part 22 Skirt part 23 Top recess 24 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 Cap 31 Cap main part 32 Ring 33 Thin part 34 Ring ratchet 40 Inner seal laminated body 41 Surface layer 42 Intermediate layer 43 Innermost layer 44 Adhesive layer 50 Container body (pouch) laminated body 51 Surface layer 52 Intermediate layer 53 Sealant layer 54 Adhesive layer

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Shinichi Mikami 1-1-1, Ichigaya-Kaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tatsuhiko Iwase 1-1-1-1, Ichigaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. F term in Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (reference) 3E084 AA12 AB10 BA03 BA06 BA08 BA09 CA01 DA01 DB01 DB12 DB14 DC02 DC03 DC08 FA09 FB01 FD13 GA01 GB01 GB08 GB13 HA03 HB01 HC08 HD01 HD03 KA14 KA15 LA01 LA07

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An inner seal material for sealing a spout opening by heat bonding after filling the contents into a spout container, wherein the inner seal material covers the spout opening beforehand. An upper surface and a skirt portion covering a part of a side wall forming an opening, an angle formed by the top surface and a line connecting upper and lower ends of the skirt portion is 95 to 120 °,
An inner seal material for a container with a spout, characterized in that the height of the skirt is 2 to 10 mm. 2. The inner seal material for a container with a spout according to claim 1, wherein the inner seal material is a laminate containing at least an aluminum foil and an easy-peelable resin. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the contents are filled in a container with an outlet.
The inner seal material described above is supplied, and the inner seal material is sealed so as to cover the opening of the spout and a part of the side wall forming the opening, and heat-sealing and sealing. Outlet sealing method.