NL1026382C2 - Method, box, blank and sealing device for the realization of a package. - Google Patents

Description

Title: Method, box, blank and sealing device for the realization of! a wrapping.

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The invention relates to a method for realizing a package, more in particular a package for frozen or moist products, such as meat, fish, vegetables or the like.

Such products are usually packaged in a cardboard box, which is coated with a moisture-resistant foil prior to filling, which can then be wrapped around the products. The box is closed with a cardboard lid. This method of packaging offers the advantage that the cardboard boxes can be printed and contribute to a high-quality appearance of the product packaged therein. The disadvantage, however, is that the packaging method consumes relatively much material and is labor-intensive and difficult to automate, in particular the application of the film.

Furthermore, a method of packaging is known, in particular used for packaging fish, in which bags are formed from foil webs, which after sealing are sealed and placed in a plastic crate, after which the contents can optionally be frozen. The advantage of this method of packaging is that the process can be automated well and that relatively little packaging material is used, since the crates are reusable. However, a disadvantage is that bags generally have a somewhat cheap appearance, which can have an effect on the products packaged in these bags. Moreover, the bags are difficult to open and can easily be damaged during transport, as a result of which products are lost and the environment can become polluted. Furthermore, the crates must be cleaned for reuse, which is labor-intensive and environmentally harmful.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method of the type described above, wherein the drawbacks of the known packaging methods are at least partially avoided while maintaining the advantages thereof. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a less labor-intensive packaging method, which can be easily automated and wherein relatively little packaging material is used. To that end, a method according to the invention is characterized by the features of claim 1.

By providing a cardboard blank with a suitable coating, a moisture-repellent box can be obtained without the time-consuming and difficult-to-automate operations of coating, tightening and pressing a film in the set-up box. Such a coating can be applied to the blank easily, with relatively few complex machines, before or after it has been punched out. Moreover, the coating layer can be applied in such a way that it can be easily separated from the blank after use, for separate waste processing.

By closing the box with a foil layer instead of a lid, packaging material can be saved. This is beneficial for the environment (less waste material) and also saves on packaging weight, volume and associated costs. The sealing foil can moreover be made transparent, whereby the content remains visible for inspection, without the package having to be opened for this purpose. Alternatively, of course, just like the cardboard, the film can be printed at least partially. Moreover, a good seal can be achieved with the foil. To that end, the foil can be secured against a coated part of the box, by heat or ultrasonic welding, wherein the foil fuses locally with the coating. Thus, with a few point welding that is easy to automate, it can be prevented that the film can come off unintentionally or can be opened unnoticed. In order to open the package at a place of destination, the foil can simply be pulled off, for example on a pull tab provided for this purpose.

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Alternatively, the film can for instance be cut open or torn open along lines of weakening provided for this purpose.

In an advantageous embodiment, a method according to the invention is characterized by the features of claim 2.

By mounting the box from a contiguous blank, i.e. without incisions or notches between adjacent bottom and / or wall-forming parts, a box-shaped box can be obtained without cracks or crevices. By additionally providing this continuous blank with a moisture-repellent coating, at least on a side facing inwards in an erected position, a leak-proof box can be obtained, suitable for receiving 'moist' products, such as frozen or still to be frozen goods, in in particular meat, fish or vegetables.

This leak-proof box can then be advantageously closed by sealing the sealing foil onto the box, with a continuous, substantially moisture-tight, self-sealed sealing seam, according to the measures according to claim 3. Thus, it is possible to automate with minimal and moreover simple packaging operations, and a minimum of packaging material, a substantially moisture-tight package is obtained, which is suitable for transport and storage of the above-mentioned goods, and which is easy to open after use.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, a method according to the invention is characterized by the features of claim 4.

By making use of a flexible heating element, which can follow irregularities in the substrate and / or foil to be sealed and can therefore lie close to said foil material, a high-quality, i.e. substantially moisture-tight seal seam can be achieved without that high pressure forces are required for this. As a result, this sealing method is not limited to application on flat, very sturdy sealing surfaces, such as an anvil that is usually used for this purpose, but the sealing method can advantageously be applied to a much less solid and less flat surface, such as a wall of the box itself, without this wall needing special reinforcement or external support. A very great freedom is hereby obtained with regard to the placement of the seal seams.

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In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the foil is sealed in such a way that the edges thereof do not protrude with respect to the contour of the box, as stretched by its ribs. With known sealing techniques, such protruding foil edges inevitably arise because the seal seams are created outside the box contour, on an anvil, and can cause a great deal of nuisance, because these edges can become trapped between stacked boxes during transport and storage. With a method according to the invention, these problems can be effectively avoided by sealing the film tightly against the box walls, for example against the outside of the upright walls or on inwardly folded upper edges. Of course, the blank parts corresponding to these sealing locations can be provided with a suitable thermoplastic coating prior to setting up.

The box is preferably free of sharp edges or abrupt transitions, at least at the place where the foil is sealed, according to the measures according to claim 8. The quality of the sealing seams applied thereto can hereby be even better in terms of sealing capacity and moisture density ..

The invention further relates to a box, according to the measures according to claim 10 and a blank according to claim 17, for use in a method according to the invention. By mounting the box from a continuous cardboard blank, which is free of incisions and is provided with a plastic, at least water-repellent, coating at desired locations, a leak-proof box can be obtained in a very simple manner, suitable for packaging moist products. , such as frozen goods, which moreover can easily be closed with a piece of 1026382 δ plastic foil that can be sealed to the box. The plastic coating on the inside of the box can, for example, be formed by a layer of Γ 111 non-corona treated polyethylene. Usually such a coating, material supplied with a Corona treatment, in order to make the coating printable. However, thanks to a non-Corona embodiment according to the invention, products frozen in the box are advantageously prevented from freezing to the coating material.

The invention furthermore relates to a device according to the measures according to claim 18, for sealing film onto a relatively soft, not entirely flat sealing base, such as the cardboard wall of a box. Because the heating element is flexible, it can closely follow height differences in the sealing substrate and / or foil and therefore always lie well against the foil to be sealed, without the need for large pressing forces, whereby a good sealing seal seam can be achieved.

Further advantageous embodiments of a method, box, blank and device according to the invention are described in the further subclaims.

To clarify the invention, exemplary embodiments of a blank, box and packaging method will be further elucidated with reference to the drawing. Therein: figure 1 shows a package according to the invention, composed of a box-shaped box and a sheet of foil material that can be secured over the open side of the box for closing; Figure 2 shows a first embodiment of a possible blank underlying the box of figure 1; figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of a blank underlying the box of figure 1; and figure 4 shows schematically a sealing device according to the invention, for sealing the foil material on the box.

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Figure 1 shows in perspective view a package 1 according to the invention, comprising a box-shaped box 2 and a foil 3, which can be secured against the box 2 for closing.

The box-shaped box 2 comprises a substantially rectangular bottom 10, bounded by four upright walls 11-14, which are mutually connected by glue flaps 15, 115 and together border an open filling side 7. In an advantageous embodiment, the edges 16 of the upright walls 11-14 remote from the bottom 10 can be folded inwards by about 90 °, so that they extend approximately parallel to the bottom 10, as shown in Fig. 1 on the right-hand side. Here, the edges 16 can partially overlap at the corner points or be shortened or cut into miter, so that they lie substantially flat against each other. Furthermore, it is possible to provide only two opposite walls with such an edge 16. These edges 15 can be glued, for example with glue flaps provided on either side, against an inner or outer side of the adjacent, 'borderless', side walls.

The shape and dimensions of the foil 3 can substantially correspond to those of the bottom 10, as shown in figure 1 on the right-hand side. The foil 20 can in that case be sealed in a manner to be described in more detail on the inwardly folded upper edges 16 of the box 2, which edges 16 can be provided for this purpose with a thermoplastic coating 8, with shading indicated in figure 1. Alternatively, the foil 3 is provided with edges 6, as shown in figure 1 on the left-hand side. The foil 3 can hereby be sealed against the upright side walls 11-14, on a coating layer 8 specially provided for this purpose, indicated as hatched. The film 3 can of course have other shapes and dimensions.

Figures 2 and 3 show two blanks 5,105, respectively, from which a box 2 according to figure 1 can be set up, wherein on the left-hand side 30 a blank half is always shown for a box 2 without upper edges 16 1026382 7 (corresponding to the left box half in figure 1) and on the right side a blank half for a box 2 with upper edges 16. Both blanks 5,105 are made of cardboard, for example solid cardboard or corrugated cardboard, wherein at least the bottom 10, the side walls 11-14 and the glue flaps 15,115 at an erected position inwards reverse side are provided with a moisture-resistant plastic coating 8. A very suitable plastic, for price-performance reasons, is, for example, polyethylene (PE). Other suitable coating materials are, for example, polypropylene (PP), aluminum (which can be glued as foil to the cardboard blank), wax or two-component coatings.

Furthermore, at least a part of the side of the blank 5,105 facing outwards in the set-up position is coated with a thermoplastic for the purpose of sealing the film 3 thereon. Suitable thermoplastic plastics are for instance Polyethylene (PE), again because of the favorable price-performance ratio, Polypropylene (PP) or SIRUN coatings. Naturally, the 5.105 blanks can also be completely coated on both sides. The coating 8 can, for example, be applied to the cardboard as a preformed film, or be sprayed in molten form or powder form, or be switched on the cardboard. Moreover, this can be done before or after the blank 5,105 is punched out.

The thickness of the coating 8 is preferably as thin as possible. This is favorable for the cost price and for recycling, at least for two-way coated blanks. These are ground in a pulverizer. In addition, a thin coating layer will be destroyed more quickly, as a result of which paper fiber released can dissolve in water. Unilaterally coated blanks are reprocessed differently.

A slightly thicker coating layer can in that case be advantageous because it is easier to separate. The minimum possible coating thickness depends, among other things, on the coating material used, the applied method of application and the surface roughness of the substrate (the cardboard or possibly a paper intermediate layer). When this roughness is high, and the cardboard or paper fibers therefore project far, a sufficiently closed layer cannot be obtained. When applying a j; reasonable paper quality can be the thickness of a polyethylene coating; for example around 15 μηι.

The two blanks 5,105 mainly differ in terms of glue flaps 15,115, with which the box walls 11-14 are mutually connected in the erected position. In the first embodiment, blank 5 (Fig. 2), these glue flaps 15 are pivotally connected to one adjacent side wall 12,14, via a first folding line 18 and separated from the other adjacent side wall 11,13, via an incision 17. At the In the second embodiment, blank 105 (Fig. 3), the glue flaps 115 are connected to both adjacent side walls, via respective first and second fold lines 18, 19. The glue flaps 115 further comprise a third folding line 20, which extends from a corner point adjacent to the bottom 10 to a diagonal opposite corner of the glue flap 115. In the set-up position, the glue flap 115 is folded double around this diagonal folding line, with the outside against each other, whereby a triangular glue flap 115 is obtained, which is glued to an inside of one of the adjacent box walls 11-14. The advantage of this second embodiment is that the box 2 set up therefrom is free from cracks, slits or the like openings and thus, in combination with the coating 8, yields a leak-proof box 2, suitable for transporting moist or frozen products, such as meat , fish, vegetables.

After the products have been provided in the box 2, it can be sealed with the aforementioned foil 3. This foil 3 can for instance be sealed against the inside of the box walls 11-14 with the aid of known sealing devices, wherein the outer sides of these walls are temporarily should be supported to cope with the large forces exerted during sealing. However, the foil 3 can also be sealed against an outside of the box 2 without additional supporting means, for example on the edges 16, as shown in figure 4, with the aid of a special sealing device 25 according to the invention.

1 '; Figure 4 schematically shows a possible embodiment of such a sealing device 25, comprising an elongated, flexible heating element 26, for example an electrical wire or heat-conducting strip, which is flexibly suspended, so that deflection or deformation of the element 26 in the direction of the sealing substrate (box edge 16) is possible, but lateral displacement (substantially parallel to box edge 16) is not. In the example shown this is realized by suspending the heating element 26 between two foil layers 27, 28. Of course, other embodiments are possible.

The device 25 furthermore comprises pressing means 30 for pressing the heating element 26 against the sealing substrate. These pressure means 30 are also designed to be flexible, such that they can follow any irregularities in the sealing base and deformations of the heating element 26 resulting therefrom. To this end, the pressure means 30 can for instance be manufactured from rubber, with a relatively low Shore hardness or be formed from a flexible tube filled with a pressure medium, for example air or liquid.

The film layers 27, 28 are preferably provided on their side remote from the heating element 26 with an anti-sticking layer, for example of teflon, so that in use they do not stick to the film 3 or the pressure means 30 to be sealed. heating element 26, in the absence of the foil layers 27, 28, 25 themselves are coated with such an anti-stick layer. The material and the thickness of the foil layer 27 facing the sealing substrate is preferably chosen such that it disrupts the heat transfer of the heating element 26 as little as possible, while the material and the thickness of the other film layer 28 is chosen such that heat transfer 1026382 to the pressing means 30 is kept to a minimum.

With the above-described sealing device 25, relatively good sealing seams can be achieved, that is to say with a high sealing capacity, on relatively unstable, irregular sealing surfaces, such as a box wall. This can be seen as follows. Thanks to the flexibility of the heating element 26, this element can, without the need for large forces, bear well against the sealing substrate and any irregularities therein. Thanks to the flexible pressure means 30, a uniformly distributed pressure force can moreover be exerted on this heating element 26, which pressure force need not be high and is free from pressure peaks which occur with conventional sealing devices at the location of irregularities in the sealing substrate.

Due to the good abutment of the heating element 26, heat released by the element 26 will be spread evenly over the underlying foil 3 and coating 8, so that these layers, partly under the influence of the pressing force, fuse together to form a regular sealing seam.

Tests by applicant have shown that seal seams can be realized in the above manner on a box wall as shown, with pressing forces between approximately 0.02 and 0.5 N / mm 2, the applied pressing force being dependent inter alia on the thickness and material type of the foil layers to be sealed on top of each other. The seal seams thus realized have a good quality, with a high degree of moisture density, at least a high moisture barrier. It generally holds here that the quality, in particular the sealing effect of the seal seam, will be better the less irregularities the seal substrate on which these seal seams are made on.

The invention is by no means limited to the exemplary embodiments shown in the description and the drawing. Combinations of (parts of) exemplary embodiments shown are also considered to fall under the inventive concept. Moreover, many variations are possible within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

The box-shaped box can for instance have a triangular, square, or polygonal bottom surface surrounded by a corresponding number of upright walls. Furthermore, the box can be divided into several compartments by means of horizontal or vertical partitions. Parts of the box can be made transparent if desired, so that the content is visible. To this end, for example, the blank can be provided with openings covered with transparent foil. Furthermore, the boxes can be designed as ready-to-use boxes, which are glued together in a factory and then brought in a flat condition to a location of use, where they can be set up without further gluing operations. For this purpose, in the case of the box shown, only the two opposite side walls against which the glue flaps 15, 115 are glued need each be provided with two additional folding lines which extend diagonally upwards from the bottom corner points to the upper edge, at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. The glue flaps 15, 115 should in that case be glued poorly against the triangular corner parts of the side wall on either side of the additional fold lines.

The blank can be coated with two different types of plastic, where one coating can have good moisture-repellent properties and the other coating can have good sealing properties.

These and many variations are understood to fall within the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

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Claims (18)

A method for realizing a package (1), comprising the steps of: manufacturing a cardboard blank (5,105), which is at least partially provided with a plastic coating (8); 5. mounting the blank (5,105) into a substantially box-shaped box (2); filling the box (2) with products to be packaged; sealing the box (2) with a plastic film (3) and sealing this film (3) against a coated part of the box (2). Method as claimed in claim 1 for packaging moist or frozen products, such as meat, fish, vegetables or the like, wherein the box-shaped box (2), at least one bottom (10) and upright walls (11-14) thereof, are set up from a contiguous blank, free from incisions or indentations, and the coating (8) is arranged such that, in the erected position, it covers at least the inside of the box-shaped box (2) such that a substantially leak-tight box (2) is obtained. 3. Method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the foil (3) is fixed on the box (2) with a continuous, substantially moisture-tight, sealing seam closed in itself. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the foil (3) is fixed by heat sealing, wherein a flexible heating element (26) with flexible pressure means (30) is pressed against the foil (3), so that the heating adjusting element (26) almost its full length is close-fitting against the film (3) and fuses the film under the influence of heat and the applied pressing force with the underlying coating (8). 1026382 Method according to claim 4, wherein the pressing forces exerted during sealing are lower than 0.5 N / mm 2, in particular 1 l; lower than 0.1 N / mm 2 and preferably around 0.02 to 0.05 N / mm 2. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the film (3) in the sealed state is located inside or substantially coincides with an outer contour tensioned by the ribs of the box-shaped box (2). 7. Method as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the foil (3) is sealed against the outside of the box (2). A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the blank (5,105) and the box (2) erected therefrom are designed such that adjacent walls (11-14) or wall parts connect substantially seamlessly to each other, at least at the location where the foil (3) is sealed. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the edges (16) of the box walls (11-14) extending around an open filling side (7) of the box (2) are folded inwards, and the foil (3) sealing is carried out on these edges (16). A box (2) for use in a method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a bottom (10) and upright walls (11-14) surrounding this bottom (10) with inwards facing away from the bottom (10) folded edges (16) which surround an open filling side (7) and extend substantially parallel to the bottom (10), the box (2) being set up from a cardboard blank (5,105) provided with a plastic coating (8) ), which covers at least the bottom (10) and the upright walls (11-14), on a side facing inwards in the erected position. 11. Box (2) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the bottom (10) and the upright walls (11-14) are set up from one connected blank part, free from incisions or other openings, forming a crack-free, substantially leak-proof container . 1026382 A box (2) according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the blank is provided with a polyethylene non-corona coating on a side that faces inwards when set up. A box (2) according to any of claims 10-12, wherein the blank is made from a cardboard thickness between approximately 750 and 1000 gr / m2. A box (2) according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the inwardly folded edges (16) have a width of around 40 mm. A box (2) according to any of claims 10-14, wherein the box has a length of 590 mm, a width of 390 mm and a height of 115 mm. Box (2) according to one of claims 10-15, wherein the box (2) is sealed with a thermoplastic foil (3), which is sealed on a coated part of the box (2), preferably on the edges (16) surrounding the filling side (7). A blank (5,105), comprising the features of a blank for use in a method according to any of claims 1-9, for setting up a box (2) therefrom according to any of claims 10-16. 18. Device (25) for sealing film (3) on a relatively soft seal base, such as a cardboard box wall, comprising a flexible heating element (26) and flexible pressing means (30), adapted to be able to follow closely differences in height in a seal base . 25