JP2003502224A - Stackable packaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A stackable packaging system for packaging delicate articles is disclosed. The packaging system includes a deformable and resealable pouch (1) that houses a storage case (3) containing an article. The pouch is contoured to the storage case or can be folded around the storage case to provide a stackable structure for protecting delicate items. The storage case has a removable case portion that is accessible when the pouch is opened, and the removable case portion allows access to the items in the storage case when it is removed. Methods of making such a packaging system are also described.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

【Technical field】

The present invention relates to a stackable packaging system suitable for holding delicate (vulnerable to damage and deformation) articles, especially three-dimensional tea bags.

[0002]

[Background technology]

Infusion packages such as tea bags and coffee bags are well known in the art. The infusion package is typically made by joining corresponding perforated materials together and joining them at their perimeters, but is generally rectangular in shape and is substantially two dimensional. This structure facilitates mass production of the product and facilitates tidy and efficient assembly in a secondary package such as a cardboard carton.

Bags are often stacked and wrapped in cardboard cartons. These cartons are neatly stacked and sold on supermarket shelves.

Since the tea does not like to be exposed to moisture, the bag is sealed inside the foil,
Alternatively, the carton itself is sealed within the plastic film.

Foil wrapping requires equipment that is tailored to the specific purpose that will cost the manufacturer and ultimately the consumer. Sealing the carton within the plastic film also requires special equipment and materials.
In either case, the moisture barrier cannot be resealed and the tea will gradually lose its freshness.

[0006] Some consumers transfer a new bag to a preferably airtight container and discard the carton that contained the bag. However, such practices are becoming less common. This is because many consumers prefer the convenience of using the carton to store the bag in the carton until the bag is used. Some tea companies wrap teas or tea bags in resealable bags, but these bags cannot be stacked. Some companies put reusable packages in cardboard cartons for stacking and storage, but this double packaging adds cost.

A partial solution to the problem of stacking tea bag packages is doipak (do
ypack) or a standing pouch. It is an essentially flat, square packet of foil and plastic laminate. The foil acts as a moisture barrier on the inside of the packet. The plastic provides a durable outer surface on which the branding and instructions for use can be easily drawn. The bottom edge of the packet widens to provide a bottom for the packet to stand vertically for display purposes. However, doipacks can only be stacked in one dimension, i.e. they are lined up in supermarket shelves but not stacked on top of each other. Lines quickly become unsightly and confusing as shoppers try to pick up fresher products in the rear. Placing doipacks on plastic trays alleviates this problem, but cannot overcome it. Supplying these trays adds cost and is generally inconvenient for retailers.
Doipacks currently in commercial use are also not resealable.

Soft packaging, such as doypacks, presents special problems for containing delicate articles such as three-dimensional tea bags. The soft walls of the doipack will deform or crush the bag during handling and loading. If the bag has laces or tags, the laces tend to be entangled and therefore the user needs to unravel the laces before using the bag.

Partial solutions to some of these problems include cardboard cartons sealed in foil-lined plastic bags. Plastic bags are wrapped around cartons and therefore can be stacked in a very large area. The carton has a lid that can be lifted by clasping a person's finger into the opening of the bag and prying the lid from below. This action often tears the lid, which makes it difficult to close it again. The lid opening contains a sticker that can be used to reseal the bag, but the user must first refold and flatten the bag, and its adhesion will fail after a few reseals. .

Applicants have found that a packaging system for delicate items (such as three-dimensional teabags) is convenient for stacking on supermarket shelves and when the consumer consumes the item. Faced with the problem of devising a packaging system that is also convenient to put it in, and folding a resealable pouch around a storage case with a removable case part, or to fit the contours of the storage case. Invented a packaging system that can be provided.

[0011]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In a broad sense, the present invention is a stackable packaging system for delicate articles, including a deformable, resealable pouch that houses a storage case containing the article. The pouch is foldable around the storage case or conformable to the contours of the storage case to provide a stackable structure for protecting delicate articles, the storage case being provided when the pouch is opened. The present packaging system is characterized by having a detachable case part that can be accessed to, and that when removed, allows access to the articles contained in the storage case.

[0012] Preferably, the storage case has four side surfaces. It is particularly preferred that the stackable structure is a rectangular parallelepiped.

The present invention also relates to a method of making a stackable packaging system for a delicate article, the method inserting a storage case containing the delicate article into a deformable and resealable pouch, Fold the pouch around a storage case to provide a structure that protects and stacks delicate items, or
A step of closing the pouch according to the shape of the storage case, wherein the storage case is a removable case portion that can be accessed when the pouch is opened, and is enclosed in the storage case when removed. It has a case part that allows access to the article.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a packaging system for packaging delicate articles such as, but not limited to, three-dimensional tea bags. A packaging system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This description is given for the purpose of explaining the invention.

The packaging system of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The packaging system shows a pouch 1 and a storage case 3. The packaging system is designed to hold a tetrahedral tea bag (not shown), but can also be susceptible to damage, deformation, or other delicate items.

The pouch 1 has an opening 6 that can be resealed by a zip seal mechanism 9 or other suitable reseal mechanism, such as a velcro fastener (VELCO ™ type mechanism) or an adhesive mechanism. Similar to a pocket. The pouches of the preferred embodiment consist of foils that provide a seal to protect against moisture, although of course other materials can be used to suit a particular purpose.
The material of the pouch can be formed by laminating two or more materials if necessary. In any case, the pouch material must be suitably deformable to fit or fold accordingly to the contours of the storage case to provide a stackable structure, or to be secured around the storage case. There must be.

The storage case 3 provides a “skeleton” type stackable structure that protects the delicate articles contained within the packaging system of the present invention. In the preferred embodiment, the storage case 3 has four sides, namely the bottom wall 12, the front wall 15, and the back wall 1.
It has four wall surfaces of 8 and the upper wall 21. All four of these walls are rectangular. Each dimension of the bottom wall 12 is the same as each dimension of the top wall, and each dimension of the front wall 15 is the same as each dimension of the back wall 18. Thus, when the pouch 1 is made to fit the contours of the storage case 3 or is folded or fixed around the storage case, the stackable structure that is formed has a rectangular parallelepiped shape (the opposite pair of faces are the same and 6 parallel
It is a three-dimensional shape surrounded by two parallelograms), that is, a brick shape (see FIG. 2).

The storage case 3 of the preferred embodiment is made of cardboard in order to provide sufficient strength at a favorable cost, but other materials suitable for that purpose can be selected.

The storage case 3 has a removable case portion that allows access to the articles contained therein when removed. In the preferred embodiment, the top wall 21 has its removable casing portion. The perforation separates the top wall 21 from the front wall 15 and the back wall 18 for this purpose. Finger hole 2
4 is formed on the upper surface wall 21 so that the upper surface wall 21 can be removed from the rest of the storage case 3. Once the top wall 21 is removed, the structure is partially destroyed but still protects the article in this state (see Figure 3).

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the removable case part is part of the top wall 21, so that it can be removed without disturbing the shape of the stackable structure.

The present invention also relates to a method of making a stackable packaging system for packaging delicate articles. The preferred embodiment of the method provides the preferred embodiment of the stackable packaging system described above. The preferred method is to insert a storage case 3 containing a tetrahedral tea bag into the pouch 1 and fold the pouch 1 around the storage case 3 to provide a stackable structure that protects the tea bag. Including closing the pouch 1.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1]   It is a schematic perspective view of a pouch and a storage case of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in its unused, stackable condition.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the removed storage case portion is removed and the pouch is resealed in a use state according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ , CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, K E, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW ), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, C R, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, EE, ES, FI , GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, K Z, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MA , MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, S K, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG , US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A stackable packaging system for packaging delicate articles comprising a deformable and resealable pouch containing a storage case containing a plurality of delicate articles. The pouch is provided to fit the contours of the storage case or to be folded around the storage case to provide a stackable structure that protects the storage case when the pouch is opened. A stackable packaging system having a removable case portion that is sometimes accessible to allow access to the articles contained in the storage case when removed. 2. The stackable packaging system of claim 1, wherein the storage case has four sides. 3. The stackable packaging system of claim 2, wherein the stackable structure is a rectangular parallelepiped. 4. The stackable packaging system according to claim 2, wherein the removable case portion is one of side surfaces of the storage case. 5. The stackable packaging system according to claim 1, wherein the removable case portion is formed by perforations formed in the storage case. 6. The stackable packaging system according to claim 1, wherein a finger hook hole is provided in the removable case portion to facilitate the removal of the removable case portion. . 7. A stackable structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the stackable structure is arranged to be partially broken once the removable case is removed. Packaging system. 8. The stackable packaging system according to claim 1, wherein the delicate article is a three-dimensional tea bag. 9. The stackable packaging system of claim 8, wherein the delicate article is a tetrahedral tea bag with a string and a tag. 10. A method of making a stackable packaging system for packaging a plurality of delicate items, wherein a storage case enclosing the delicate items is inserted into a deformable and resealable pouch, wherein the delicate item is included. Aligning the pouch with the contours of the storage case to provide a stackable structure for protecting various articles, or folding the pouch around the storage case and closing the pouch, the storage case comprising: A method comprising a removable case part accessible when the pouch is opened, the case part being accessible when removed to allow access to the article contained in the storage case.