JP3425793B2 - Method of packaging product with sheet material and wrapper, and packaging device therefor - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for wrapping a product in a sheet material / wrapper and a wrapping apparatus for the same, and more particularly to wrapping products such as food products, especially confectionery.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the field of this application, products such as spherical pralines and hollow or filled chocolate eggs are often packaged in metal sheets such as aluminum.

For example, EP 0,082,952 shows a method in which a substantially spherical praline can be covered with an aluminum sheet. There, the product or praline is placed on an aluminum sheet and passed through a support having a plurality of elastic blades. The sheet wraps around the praline in a generally cup shape and then occludes at the back of the praline, forming tufts or tails when the praline emerges from the elastic structure.
Thereafter, the tufts or tails thus formed are set up in a praline and the praline is completely covered with a sheet.

An example of finally achieving a similar effect by a slightly different method is German Patent Application No. 3,243,
It is shown in the 500 specification.

The methods presented in the above two specifications give excellent results, especially with respect to the appearance of the finished product. Usually the finished product is placed in a paper cup with pleated walls. At this time, the portion of the wrapper that is swept up with respect to the product faces the lower side and is located at the bottom of the cup. Therefore, the top of the product is protected by the sheet that tightly surrounds it.

The above-mentioned prior art seems to have room for improvement, particularly with respect to shutting off from the outside air.

From this point of view, for example, as shown in German Utility Model Registration No. 1784647U, foods containing sugar as a main component and foodstuffs such as chocolate made of a sheet material such as aluminum can be used. It is generally known to cover closely with two wrappers. These aluminum pieces are each shaped to have a shape similar to each half of the product to be coated. The two pieces of aluminum thus produced as wrapper sheets are connected to each other along the equator of the product. This connection can be achieved, for example, by heat sealing using a hot melt material applied to the surfaces that contact each other,
Remove the remaining part of the aluminum sheet that protrudes from the seal.

However, this method is
It is especially unsuitable for use when the packaged product is to be placed in a paper cup. Actually, the seal part along the equator line is visible, and the overall appearance of the product is
It will give the impression that it is an industrial product that is automatically packaged. Particularly in the field of confectionery, it is desirable that even industrial products have the characteristic of being handmade or semi-handmade, and it is better to avoid the appearance of the seal line that exposes the intervention of the machine at the visible position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a packaging method which combines the advantages of the prior art and eliminates its disadvantages.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above object, the present invention provides a packaging method having the following constitution. That is,
The method comprises the steps of a) supplying first and second sheets as packaging material, and b) shaping the first sheet so that it covers a relatively large portion of the product once shaped. Forming into a shape substantially corresponding to, c).
Inserting the product into the shaped first sheet,
d) coating the second sheet with a portion of the product not covered with the first sheet so as to have a shape corresponding to the portion of the product facing the second sheet, and e) the first and second steps.
Joining the sheets together to form a substantially closed wrapper around the product; and f) the second sheet is first.
Further shaping the first sheet around the product so that it is substantially hidden from the outside by the sheet.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a packaging device used directly for carrying out the packaging method. That is, the apparatus substantially comprises shaping means for shaping the first sheet into a shape that substantially corresponds to the shape of the product such that it covers a relatively large portion of the product once shaped. Joining means for joining a second sheet covering a portion of the product not covered by the first sheet to form a closed wrapper around the product, and the second sheet substantially from the outside by the first sheet. Second shaping means for further shaping the first sheet around the product so as to be hidden.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings will be described in detail below.

In the illustrated embodiment, the product to be packaged is
It is composed of an approximately spherical praline P. For example,
This praline P is a spherical wafer shell having paste-like or cream-like contents, coated with a cholate such as hazelnut chocolate or the like from the outside, and in some cases, sprinkled with crushed coconut or roughly crushed hazelnut. It can be formed by finishing its outer surface substantially uneven.

However, the invention can also be applied to products of different types and completely different shapes. For example,
Also in the field of confectionery, hollow or solid chocolate eggs, various chocolates, almost spherical pralines with a flat bottom and small meringues are mentioned.

In the present invention, two small sheets 1 and 2 of aluminum or other flaky material are used to form a hermetic wrapper that tightly surrounds the praline P.

Aluminum is preferably selected as the material of the sheet. This is because an aluminum sheet can be easily coated around the praline P.
This is because the surface of the praline P becomes uneven. In particular, it is preferable to apply a lacquer or layer made of a hot-melt material to each inner surface of the two sheets 1 and 2 facing the praline P. The reason will be clear from the following description.

The two packaging sheets 1 and 2 do not have substantially the same size. In fact, the first sheet 1
Usually, it has a size considerably larger than the shape in which the half body of the praline P on the opposite side is developed in a plane.
Incidentally, this half body has a hemispherical cup shape in this embodiment. As a rule of thumb, the sheet 1, which is usually square or rectangular, has a size sufficient to almost completely cover the praline P, and the uncovered portion is, at best, a pole portion on the opposite side of the sheet 1 itself. Considered to be
On the other hand, the seat 2 can be selected to have a size that is substantially the same as or slightly smaller than the shape in which the half body of the praline P on the opposite side is developed in a plane. In the embodiment shown, this half also has a hemispherical cup shape.

The above two halves can be separated by the theoretical equatorial plane Pe which maximizes the cross-section of the praline P. This is true whether the product is a spherical praline P as in the illustrated embodiment, or an oval or a small model of a human face, which has a different shape. Whatever the shape of the product, it is usually possible to identify its equatorial plane that defines the largest cross-section. Further to this point, confectionery products
Regardless of their type, they are often formed by joining two corresponding hollow or solid sections along the equatorial plane.

The first step in packaging the pralines P is to shape the sheet 1 into a substantially dish or cup-like shape, optionally by stretching. This step is usually performed by an instrument having a die 3. The die 3 has a cavity 3a formed therein, into which the punch 4 can be inserted. Regarding the general criteria for manufacturing such a shaping tool, reference can be made to the above-mentioned German Patent Application No. 3,243,500. The cavity 3a and the working part of the punch 4 have corresponding surfaces for gripping and shaping the sheet 1 between them. In particular, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower portion of the cavity 3a of the die 3 has a shape that exactly matches the half of the praline P to be covered by the sheet 1.

However, the depth of the cavity 3a and the cooperating stretching tool or punch 4 is such that it is purely required to exactly match the shape of the sheet 1 to the half-body shape of the praline P facing it. Is substantially exceeded. FIG. 2 shows the position of the virtual equatorial plane Pe of the praline P with respect to the cavity 3a. As can be seen, the equatorial plane Pe does not exactly coincide with the plane of the mouth of the cavity 3a and is separated in the die 3 by a distance d (FIG. 2).

As a guide, the distance d is, for example, about 25 to
In the case of a spherical praline P with a diameter of 30 mm,
It can be about 8-10 mm.

Due to the shape used for the cavity 3a and the punch 4, the sheet 1 made of aluminum has a substantially pot shape, that is, a substantially cup shape so as to accommodate the praline P as shown in FIG. In this state, the praline P is introduced into the drawing die 3 while the cup-shaped sheet 1 is kept in the drawing die 3. Of course, this method is not absolute and the sheet 1 is cupped and then removed from the die 3 and transferred to another die or another cavity structure to support the sheet 1 during insertion of the praline P. You can also

Whatever method is used, once the praline P is placed in the cup-shaped seat 1, it is tightly covered with the seat 1 well above the diametrical or equatorial plane Pe.

In other words, once the sheet 1 is shaped,
Not only a hemispherical base part for accommodating the lower hemispherical cup-shaped part of the praline P, but also a neck-shaped part 1a which covers the upper hemispherical cup-shaped part on the opposite side, but not closely, is formed. As a matter of course, the hemispherical cup-shaped portion is referred to here because the present embodiment also relates to the product made of the substantially spherical praline P. A similar idea applies if the cup-shaped part is not hemispherical but has an oval or elliptical half body.

To describe the positional relationship, the sheet 1 is
About 2/3 to 3/4 of the length of the praline P, that is, the vertical axis of the praline P orthogonal to the equatorial plane Pe can be covered.

In this state, that is, in the state shown in FIG. 3, the other sheet 2 is put on the praline P.

For this purpose, normally, the sheet 2 only needs to be placed from above on the portion of the praline P that slightly projects upward from the mouth portion of the cavity 3a.

Since the portion of the praline P projecting from the mouth portion of the cavity 3a is small and its height in the vertical direction is limited, the sheet 2 is accurately shaped according to the projecting portion. It can be held in a desired position, at least substantially, without any prior shaping to match.

Therefore, the forming of the sheet 2 is carried out in the next step, that is, by forming the sheet 1 and the sheet 2 into the cavity 3
It is limited to the steps of snugly overlapping one another along the contour of the mouth of a, joined by the device 6, and possibly also trimming.

In this respect, although only a single instrument 6 is shown in FIG. 4, the above two steps of joining and trimming can be achieved in two successive steps using two types of instruments. You can also

When the two sheets 1 and 2 are joined together, the wrapper sheet formed around the praline P is reliably sealed from the outside. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the praline P from coming into contact with air and possibly deteriorating its quality. The joining of the sheets 1 and 2 can use purely mechanical connections such as local folding, gluing with a coating material, or even heat sealing as a very preferred means. This heat sealing is preferably carried out by a method in which the hot melt coating layer applied to the inner surfaces of the sheets 1 and 2 is directly heated or melted using ultrasonic vibration.

It is currently used, for example, to attach an aluminum sheet coated with a hot melt material to the mouth of a cup-shaped container containing a liquid or a pasty product of yogurt or the like. This can be done with a type of heat sealing device or the like.

The edges joined together can be trimmed using a hollow punch 6. The cutting edge 6a (FIG. 4) of this punch follows a line that surrounds the outside of the mouth edge of the cavity 3a. It should be noted that this line has a circular shape in this embodiment in which the product to be packaged is a spherical praline P.

This punch or earcutting tool 6 can be conveniently formed, for example, as a horn or sonotrode that emits ultrasonic waves, for simultaneous joining with the edgecutting. In addition, joining at the same time as ear cutting,
This can also be achieved by heating the edge cutting tool 6 and locally melting the hot melt material applied to the aluminum sheet.

In any case, the upper sheet 2 is connected to the praline P by means of an instrument, usually a welding tool, which first acts on the edges of the sheets 1, 2 which are connected to each other.
At the same time, the work of shaping around the cup-shaped part projecting from the cavity 3a above the above is achieved. Thus, a substantially closed and tightly wrapped wrapper is formed around the pralines P in a single, reliable shaping operation (only the sheet 1 is shaped in the step shown in FIG. 2). However, the sheet 2 is not subjected to a specific shaping operation, and the sheet 2 is shaped by simply joining the sheet 2 to the sheet 1. Therefore, in the method according to the present invention, it is possible to omit a part of the partial modeling work of the wrapper, which is performed in the conventional method.

Further, regarding the case where the praline P is packed with the first sheet 1, the sheet 1 is placed on the equator plane P.
Since it is formed deeper than e, the size of the second sheet 2 is considerably reduced, and the packaging material can be saved as a whole.

Regarding the need to prevent a non-negligible space from being formed between the outer wall of the praline P and the inner wall of the sealing wrapper formed as a result of joining the sheets 1 and 2 around it. It can be said that the method according to the present invention is excellent. With such a space, the quality of the praline P deteriorates to some extent, and in some cases,
The final manufactured package will also swell.

Upon completion of joining and trimming the sheets 1, 2 (FIG. 4), the praline P covered by the sheets 1, 2 connected to each other along each peripheral edge is shown in EP 0,082,952. Place in a device 10 approximately equivalent to that described. To this end, Praline P
The sheets 1 and 2 are taken out of the cavity that was held when they were joined, and are inserted into the upper opening 11 of the device 10 with the sheet 1 facing downward. It should be noted that this cavity is the same as the cavity 3a used at the time of the first shaping of the sheet 1 in this embodiment, but it is obvious that this is not absolute.

As further described in EP 0,082,952, the device 10 consists essentially of a support structure having an opening 11. In the illustrated embodiment, the opening 11 is circular with respect to the vertical axis. A plurality of elastic tongues 12 made of, for example, metal extend downward from the opening 11. These tongues 12 are elastically biased so that when there is no external force, they approach each other substantially toward the vertical axis of the opening 11 in a manner similar to how the leaves of the thistle grow. ing.

The praline P covered with the sheets 1 and 2 is vertically passed through the opening 11 from the upper side to the lower side by the thrust means 13 with the sheet 1 facing downward. When the praline P passes, the elastic tongue 12 spreads outward and closes again after passing. As a result, the seat 1 tightly covers the half body that was originally on the opposite side, which is located on the upper side in FIG.
Thus, when the praline emerges from the instrument 10, the sheet 1 surrounds the sheet 2 inside it, as shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 5, with a kind of tail or tuft formed at the rear of the praline P. There is.

In particular, the tongue piece 12 elastically closes after the praline P descends, whereby the sheet 1 and the sheet 2 inside thereof are closed at the rear part of the praline P, and a lump of sheet material is formed. This mass can be upset to tightly cover the praline P as shown in FIG. Incidentally, for details of the method and standard for elastically closing the tongue piece 12 as described above, the above-mentioned European Patent No. 0,
Reference can be made to 082,952. Part of the seat 2 is the seat 2 that covers the praline P closely.
This mass of sheet material, which consists of the folded sheet 1 with respect to it, can be upset by an upsetting 15 as follows. That is, this upsetting 15 is attached to the periphery of the thrust means 13 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and the lower end thereof has a cup-shaped cavity 15a that exactly matches the upper shape of the praline P. ing. Regarding the standard for adjusting the movement of the thrust means 13 and the upsetting 15, reference can be made to the above-mentioned EP 0,082,952.

When the upsetting of the wrapper sheet is completed,
The praline P can be placed in a paper cup 16 with pleated walls as shown in FIG. In this position, only sheet 1 is visible from the outside of cup 16. The seat 1 covers not only half of the praline P, but almost all of it, and the seat 2 is enclosed therein. Therefore, the seat 2 is not visible from the outside, and the upset portion 14 contacting the bottom wall of the cup 16 is also not visible from the outside.

Further, the seal line joining the sheets 1 and 2 cannot be seen from the outside.

Therefore, the praline P finally has a desirable appearance in which the seal line is not visible from the outside while being covered with the wrapper that blocks the invasion of the outside air.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 shows a first step of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 shows a second step following the first step in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a third step following the second step in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth step following the third step in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a fifth step following the fourth step in FIG.

6 shows a sixth step following the fifth step in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows the final result of the packaging operation consisting of the steps shown in FIGS.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 Sheet 1a Neck 3 Die 3a, 15a Cavity 4 Punch 6 Joining / Ear cutting tool 6a Cutting edge 10 Instrument for coating sheet 1 on sheet 2 11 Opening 12 Tongue 13 Thrust means 14 Upsetting part 15 Upsetting Tool 16 Cup P Praline Pe Equatorial plane d Seat 1's protrusion distance from Praline's equatorial plane

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP 58-160217 (JP, A) JP 54-27892 (JP, A) JP 60-110612 (JP, A) JP 61- 21303 (JP, A) International publication 93/1093 (WO, A1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65B 11/00-11/58 B65B 49/00-49/16

Claims (28)

(57) [Claims] 1. A) first and second sheets (1,
2) supplying b), b) the first sheet (1),
Shaping the product (P) into a shape substantially corresponding to the shape of the product (P) so as to cover a relatively large part of the product (P) once shaped; and c) shaping the product (P). And inserting the second sheet (2) into a shape corresponding to the portion of the product (P) that faces the second sheet (2). The step of covering the part of the product (P) not covered by the first sheet (1), and e) joining the first and second sheets (1, 2) to each other and substantially closing the same. Forming a wrapper around the product (P), and f) the first sheet (1) such that the second sheet (2) is substantially hidden from the outside by the first sheet (1). Further shaping around said product (P). How to packaging serial products (P) in a sheet material wrapper. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first sheet (1) has a substantially larger dimension than the second sheet (2). 3. A method for packaging a product (P) which is divided into two parts, each facing the first and second sheets (1, 2) by a theoretical equatorial plane (Pe) which each has. Then, the first sheet (1) is formed from the portion of the product (P) facing the first sheet (1) to the equatorial plane (P).
A method according to claim 1, characterized in that it is shaped so as to extend over a predetermined distance (d) beyond e). 4. The first sheet (1), once shaped, has the length of the product (P) housed in the first sheet (1), ie the equatorial plane (Pe). A method according to claim 3, characterized by covering 2/3 to 3/4 of the substantially orthogonal axes. 5. The first sheet (1) according to claim 1, wherein the first sheet (1) is shaped by being molded between a die (3) and a punch (4). The method described. 6. Method according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that the first sheet (1) is shaped by a stretching operation. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second sheet (2) is coated on the product (P) without being substantially preshaped. 8. The first and second sheets (1, 2) are joints selected from the group consisting of mechanical shaping, adhesion by applying a material from the outside, heat sealing, and ultrasonic sealing. Method according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that they are joined to one another in a sealing manner by operation. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein a layer made of a hot-melt material is applied to the surfaces of the first and second sheets (1, 2) to be joined to each other. 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step g) of removing a portion of the first and second sheets (1, 2) extending beyond the joint portion. The method described in. 11. The removing step g) comprises the steps of:
Method according to claim 10, characterized in that it is carried out simultaneously with the joining of the two sheets (1, 2). 12. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second sheets (1, 2) are made of a metallic material, preferably aluminum. 13. The step (f) comprises the product (P) covered with the first and second sheets (1,2) joined together.
Through an opening (11) formed by a radially contracting structure (12) to form a tail or tuft at the rear of the product (P). The method according to claim 1, wherein 14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising the step h) of substantially upsetting the tail or tuft with respect to the product (P). 15. The first sheet (1) is substantially shaped into the shape of the product (P) such that once formed, the first sheet (1) covers a relatively large portion of the product (P). Forming means (3, 4) for shaping the product (P) into a substantially corresponding shape, and the product (P) containing the product (P) so as to form a substantially closed wrapper around the product (P). The joining means (6) for joining the second sheet (2) covered on the portion not covered with the shaped first sheet (1),
Second shaping means (10) for further shaping the first sheet (1) around the product (P) such that the sheet (2) is substantially hidden from the outside by the first sheet (1). A packaging device having. 16. The packaging device according to claim 15, wherein the first sheet (1) has a size substantially larger than that of the second sheet (2). 17. The theoretical equatorial plane (Pe) that each has
A packaging device for packaging the product (P), which is divided into two parts that substantially face the first and second sheets (1, 2), respectively, by the modeling means (3,
4), the first sheet (1) is the product (P),
16. The structure according to claim 15, which is formed so as to extend from the portion facing the first sheet (1) by a predetermined distance (d) beyond the equatorial plane (Pe). Packaging equipment. 18. The shaping means (3, 4) comprises the first
Once the sheet (1) is shaped, of the length of the product (P) contained in the first sheet (1), ie the axis substantially orthogonal to the equatorial plane (Pe). 2/3
The packaging device according to claim 17, wherein the packaging device is formed so as to cover ~ 3/4. 19. The packaging apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the shaping means (3, 4) has a die (3) and a punch (4). 20. Packaging device according to claim 15 or 19, characterized in that the shaping means (3, 4) comprises a stretching tool. 21. The shaping means (3, 4) act only on the first sheet (1).
20. The packaging device according to any one of 20 to 20. 22. The joining means (6) is selected from the group consisting of mechanical shaping means, means for adhering by applying material from the outside, heat sealing means, and ultrasonic sealing means. The packaging device according to any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein: 23. A layer made of a hot-melt material is applied to the surfaces of the first and second sheets (1, 2) which are designed to be bonded to each other.
The packaging device according to item 22. 24. Removal means (6) for removing a portion of the first and second sheets (1, 2) extending beyond the joint portion.
25 to 23, further comprising a).
The packaging device according to any one of 1. 25. The joining means (6) comprises the first and second joining means.
25. The packaging device according to claim 24, characterized in that it is formed so as to remove the portion of the sheet (1, 2) that extends beyond the joint. 26. The packaging device according to claim 15, wherein the first and second sheets (1, 2) are made of a metal material which is preferably aluminum. 27. The second shaping means (10) has an opening (11) formed by a contracting structure (12) that contracts in the radial direction, and the first and second parts are joined to each other.
The product (P) covered with the sheets (1, 2) can pass through the opening (11), and
27. A tail-like portion, that is, a tuft-like portion is formed at the rear portion of the product (P) that has passed through 2).
The packaging device according to any one of 1. 28. The packaging device according to claim 27, further comprising upsetting means (15) for upsetting the tail or tuft with respect to the product (P).