MXPA97002459A - Resella package - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a package having a body portion defining an article receiving cavity, the body portion being provided with a groove that follows a non-rectilinear path and having first and second ends; covers the groove and is resiliently adhered to the body portion on both sides of the groove, whereby a seal is provided, the seal member having a pair of side edges, one on either side of the groove, both of which said lateral edges generally follow the trajectory of the ranus

Description

RESELLARLE PACKAGE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a resealable package. This is particularly intended for use in the packaging of wet towels, but it should be understood that the invention is also applicable for the packaging of other articles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is well known, wet towels are articles in the form of small leaves that are impregnated with a skin cleansing liquid and that are intended to be discarded after a single use. Wet towels are sometimes packaged individually, in which case the package is discarded after it has been opened and the wet towels have been removed from it. However, it is also known to produce a package containing a plurality of wet towels. In this case, the package must be provided with a resealable opening, since the cleaning liquid of the skin with which the towels are impregnated rapidly evaporates, and therefore the towels will dry unless the package can be properly resealed each time a towel is removed. In conventional wet towel packs, the tape used to seal and reseal the opening represents a substantial portion of the cost of the product. In addition, to prevent the cost of the tape from becoming excessive, it is usual to provide only a relatively small opening in the package, in such a way that the amount of tape required is reduced, and this makes it difficult for the user to remove the wet towels from the package and may even result in its breaking during the course of the removal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a package in which the amount of material required to effect the reseal is reduced in relation to the size of the opening with which the package is provided. By virtue of this, it is feasible to increase the size of the opening, or reduce the cost of the material required to seal, or both.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a package having a body portion defining an article receiving cavity, the body portion being provided with a groove that is not rectilinear and having first and second ends; and a sealing member that covers the groove and resiliently adheres to the body portion on both sides of the groove, thereby providing a seal, the sealing member having a pair of side edges, one on either side of the slot, both of said lateral edges generally follow the direction of the slot. It should be understood that the term "groove" does not necessarily imply that the material of interest begins in the non-grooved form and then has a groove formed therein by a grooving process, although this would normally be the case. Furthermore, it should be understood that the term "slot" is intended to encompass not only openings having a very small or null width, and which would normally be described as slots, but also openings having a significant width, for example up to several millimeters, or even more, and that could be described more usually as slits.

Preferably, said lateral edges are substantially parallel to each other and towards the direction of the groove. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the groove is V-shaped, generally, and the sealing member is V-shaped, generally correspondingly. He The vertex angle of the "V" is preferably 40 ° and 100 °, more preferably about 50 °. However, other slot and tab shapes can be used instead. Thus, in an alternate embodiment, the slot may be curved, for example arched, and may be, for example, semicircular, and the seal member can be formed accordingly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS As will be apparent from the following description of the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the package of the present invention is more economical than conventional resealable packages, in terms of the amount of material required for the sealing member. The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a known package for wet towels, the package being in its sealed condition. Figure 2 is a similar view of a package according to the present invention; Figure 3 shows a package of Figure 2 in its open condition; and Figure 4 shows part of a strip of material to be used in the manufacture of the sealing members, showing how a plurality of members can be cut from there.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The known wet towel package shown in Figure 1 comprises a body 1 of generally paralaleptic shape formed of a plastic material, for example a polyethylene film, a polypropylene film, or a laminar unit consisting of, for example, layers of polyethylene and polypropylene, optionally with a layer of paper between them. The body is formed of a single sheet of plastic material sealed at its opposite ends by the end seams 2, and which also has a longitudinal seam on the reverse side (not visible in Figure 1), an elongated opening 3 is defined in FIG. the upper face of the body portion. The opening is generally rectangular in shape, but the ends 4 thereof are rounded to avoid the formation of pointed corners which may not be useful as regards the removal of articles from within the body. The opening 3 is covered by a sealing member 5 which is resiliently secured to the adjacent face of the body 1 by means of an adhesive, for example, an acrylic-based adhesive or a rubber-based adhesive. The seal is provided over the entire area where the seal member 5 lies on the body 1, except for a tongue 6 at one end of the sealing member 5. This provides a location where the user can grasp the sealing member. It will be seen that even in spite of a small opening 3, it is necessary to provide a comparatively large sealing member 5, because the rear part must extend beyond the front on all sides if the seal requirement is provided. The material of the sealing member 5, ie, the substrate to which the adhesive is applied, can, for example, be a polypropylene film, or a paper / polypropylene, paper / polyethylene, or polyethylene / polypropylene laminate unit. Where a two-layer laminar unit including paper is used, the adhesive is advantageously applied to the paper. Wet towels or other items are kept inside the cavity defined by the wet body. When the user wishes to remove a wet towel, he grasps the tab 6 and pulls the sealing member away from the adjacent face of the body portion 1 to expose the opening 3, and then remove a wet towel through the opening. Means (not shown) may be provided to prevent the sealing member from being completely removed from the body 1, such that it remains fixed thereto at any time at the end of the remote sealing member of the tongue 6. After the The user has removed a wet towel, then he brings back the sealing member to the position shown in Figure 1, to reseal the opening 3. One embodiment of the invention is shown in its closed position in Figure 2. As in the In the case of the known package shown in Figure 1, it comprises a body, here denoted by the reference number 11, which is sealed by the end seals 12, and a longitudinal seal (not shown). In this case, however, instead of the opening 3, there is a generally V-shaped groove 13. This has first and second ends 14, which as shown in Figure 2, are arched (for example semicircular) with the open sides of the arches facing back towards the vertex of the V. A generally V-shaped sealing member 15 covers the entire length of the slot 13 and is connectably connected by means of an adhesive to the body 11 on both sides of the slot. Thus, in the position shown in Figure 2, the groove is completely sealed by the sealing member 15. The back part is adhered to the body 11 over substantially all of its surface, except that a tongue 16 is provided in the body. vertex of the V, where the sealing member 15 is not adhered to the body. This serves the same purpose with the tongue 6 in Figure 1. The sealing member 15 has side edges 15a and 15b which at least generally follow the direction of the groove 13., and are preferably substantially parallel to each other and to the slot. When the user wishes to remove a wet towel from the package, he grasps the tab 16 and uses it to pull the sealing member 15 upwards, beginning at the apex of the V. The effect of this is that the portion of the sealing member 15 on the outside of the V, it is pulled away from that part of the body 11 to which it was previously adhered, but the portion of the sealing member inside the V remains adhered to the body. The arcuate portions 14 are provided as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of the continuous pull on the tongue beyond the step indicated in Figure 3, which will cause the body material to tear 11. In practice, however, the risk of this is slight and the arcuate portions 14 can be omitted generally. As can be seen in Figure 3, the just described opening process shows a large V-shaped opening 17 through which a wet towel can be easily removed. After this has been done, the sealing member 15 is lowered to the position shown in Figure 2 and the package is resealed. In relation to the dimension of the opening provided, the sealing member of a relatively small material can be formed. This is illustrated in Figure 4, which shows a strip 20 of the appropriate material for forming the sealing members 15. It can be used to provide a plurality of sealing members 15 by separating them along the V-shaped lines 21. This means that there is no waste of the material at all, except at the ends of the strip 20, and that the waste can be made negligible by using a strip long enough. It is not necessary to fix the sealing members 15 in any way. This contrasts with the sealing members of the type indicated by the reference number 5 in Figure 1, wherein the sealing member is long in relation to the opening available for the removal of a wet towel, and where, in addition, the form of the sealing member, is such that the waste of the sheet from which it is cut is unavoidable. Preferably, the tape is coated with adhesive before the tape is divided into individual sealing members, leaving adhesive free areas to form the tabs 16. As already mentioned, the sealing member used in the invention may have a shape different from V-shaped, and one possibility is to use a member that is arched, for example semicircular.

Claims (15)

1. CLAIMS 1. A resealable package having a body portion defining an article receiving cavity, a body portion being provided with a groove that is not rectilinear and having first and second ends; a sealing member that covers the groove and is resiliently adhered to the body portion on both sides of the groove, thereby providing a seal, the same seal having a pair of side edges, one on either side of the groove. slot, both of said lateral edges generally follow the direction of the groove.
2. 2. A reseller package according to claim 1, further characterized in that the slot is in the form of a slit having a significant width.
3. 3. - A resealable package according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the body portion is made of a flexible sheet of plastic material.
4. 4. - A resealable package according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the sealing member is made of a flexible sheet of plastic material.
5. 5. - A resealable package according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the sealing member has a first end which is provided with a tongue that is not sealed to the body portion and can be grasped by a user .
6. 6. A resealable package according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the groove is generally V-shaped.
7. 7. A resealable package according to claim 6, further characterized because the apex angle of the "V" is 40 ° to 100 °.
8. 8. A resealable package according to claim 7, further characterized in that said angle is approximately 50 °.
9. 9. A resealable package according to any of claims 1 to 5, further characterized in that the groove is curved.
10. 10. A resealable package according to claim 9, further characterized in that the groove is generally arcuate.
11. 11. A resealable package according to claim 10, further characterized in that the groove is semicircular.
12. 12. A resealable package according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that said side edges are substantially parallel to each other.
13. 13. A resealable package according to claim 12, further characterized in that said side edges are substantially parallel to the direction of the groove.
14. 14. A method for making a plurality of packages as claimed in claims 12 or 13, further characterized in that the plurality of sealing members for themselves are separated from adjacent portions of an untreated sheet material.
15. 15. A resealable package according to any of claims 1 to 13, further characterized in that the article receiving cavity contains a plurality of wet towels.