SE543045C2

SE543045C2 - Tear membrane with pull-tab and a packaging container comprising the tear membrane

Info

Publication number: SE543045C2
Application number: SE1850342A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Simon Holka
Original assignee: A & R Carton Lund Ab
Priority date: 2018-03-27
Filing date: 2018-03-27
Publication date: 2020-09-29
Also published as: EP3546387B1; PL3546387T3; EP3546387A1; SE1850342A1; CN110304346A; ES2945479T3

Abstract

The present disclosure pertains to a laminate tear membrane 1 for sealing an inner compartment in a packaging container, the laminate tear membrane 1 comprising a top member 2 and a bottom member 3, the top and bottom members 2,3 being laminated sheet materials, the top member 2 having a top member peripheral edge portion 4 and a top member second surface 2b facing the bottom member 3 and the bottom member 3 having a bottom member peripheral edge portion 5 and a bottom member first surface 3a facing the top member first surface 2a. The laminate tear membrane 1 further comprising a tear-away area 6 being delimited by a contour line 7 arranged in the top member 2 and a tear strip 8 being arranged in the top laminate tear membrane 2 and being part of the tear-away area 6. The tear-strip 8 comprising a pull-tab 9 arranged at a grip end of the tear strip 8, the pull-tab 9 facing a pull-tab facing region 10 arranged in the bottom member 3, the top member 2 and the bottom member 3 being interconnected along the top member peripheral edge portion 4 and the top member peripheral edge portion 5. One or more discrete distance elements 11 are arranged i) in the pull-tab facing region 10 of the bottom member 3 or ii) in the pull-tab 9, the one or more distance elements 11 having a height H of 0.1 mm or more, as measured from the bottom member first surface 3a or from the surface of the top member second surface 2b respectively. The present disclosure also pertains to a packaging container 100 comprising the tear membrane 1.

Description

Consumer goods, in particular bulk solids, are often packaged in relatively rigidpaperboard packaging containers which protect the bulk solids during transport andstorage at the manufacturer and retailer end and during storage and dispensing at theconsumer end. One of the important factors in the area of bulk packaging containers is toascertain that the quality of the packaged goods remains at a high level from the initialopening of the container until the packaged product has been completely consumed. Thecontainers are usually provided with an openable and closable lid, and are additionallyprovided with an inner transport seal which keeps the contents fresh and protectedagainst contamination up until a first opening of the packaging container by a consumer.One type of transport seal is a tear membrane comprising a top member and a bottommember. The top member is provided with cuts, forming a tear strip and a tear-away areawhich includes the tear strip. By pulling at the tear-strip formed in the top member, theconnection or connections between the top member and the bottom member within thearea constituted by the tear strip will cause the bottom member to break along the cuts inthe top member. Thereby, both the top member and the bottom member within thetearable area can be removed from the container to make the contents in the container available for use.

These types of tear membranes are highly effective for providing protection for the bulksolids during transport and storage, and may easily be manufactured from fewcomponents and using well known production technology. The top and bottom members are generally made of flexible material layers and it has been found that due to the seal 2 between the layers of the top member and the bottom member and the flexibility of thelayers the layers tend to cling to each other also within non-attached areas, such as withinthe area of the pull-tab. Thereby the user may experience difficulties in identifying and in grasping the pull-tab.

Accordingly, there remains a need for a further improved opening arrangement for a tear membrane for packaging containers as disc|osed herein.

An object of the present disc|osure is to provide a tear membrane having a more reliableopening arrangement, as Well as a packaging container being provided with an improved tear membrane.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One or more of the above objects may be achieved with a tear membrane for a packagingcontainer for bulk solids in accordance with claim 1 or a packaging container for bulksolids in accordance with claim 13. Further embodiments are set out in the dependent claims, in the following description and in the drawings.

The laminate tear membrane for sealing an inner compartment in a packaging containeras disc|osed herein comprises a top member and a bottom member, the top and bottommembers being sheet materials. The top member has a top member peripheral edgeportion and the bottom member has a bottom member peripheral edge portion. A topmember second surface faces the bottom member and a bottom member first surfacefaces the top member second surface. The tear membrane comprises a tear-away areabeing delimited by a contour line arranged in the top member and a tear strip beingarranged in the top member and being part of the tear-away area. The tear-stripcomprises a pull-tab arranged at a grip end of the tear strip and the pull-tab faces a pull-tab facing region arranged in the bottom member. The top member and the bottommember are interconnected along the top member peripheral edge portion and the bottommember peripheral edge portion. Furthermore, one or more discrete distance elementsare arranged in the pull-tab facing region of the bottom member or in the pull-tab, the oneor more distance elements having a height (H) of 0.1 mm or more, as measured from thesurface of the first surface of the bottom member or from the second surface of the top member, respectively. 3 The arrangement with a pull-tab integrated in the top member and being a part of the tear-away area, i.e. not being a separate part protruding outside the general circumference ofthe tear membrane, imparts advantages both in terms of appearance, manufacturing andseparate storage of the tear membrane prior to insertion into packaging containers.However, the fact that the sheet materials are relatively thin and that the pull-tab isintegrated in the top-member may cause difficulties both to visually detect the pull-tab andphysically to separate the top member from the bottom member and grasp a front edge ofthe pull-tab for tearing off the tear-away area for a partial or complete removal of the tearmembrane from a packaging container. The distance element(s) of the bottom memberbulge against the top member creating corresponding imprints in the pull-tab materialmaking it easy for the consumer to visually identify the pull-tab and also serve to free thepull-tab from the bottom member and thereby facilitate gripping of the pull tab.Alternatively, the distance element(s) of the pull-tab, constituted by the top member, bulgeagainst the bottom member creating shadows in the pull-tab, making it easy for theconsumer to identify the pull-tab and also serve to freeing the pull-tab from the bottom member and thereby facilitate gripping of the pull tab The tear membrane as disclosed herein may have any shape adapted to a correspondingcross-section of a packaging container body, including circular, oval, rectangular and modified rectangular shapes. lt may be preferred that the tear membrane as disclosed herein has a modifiedrectangular shape with four side edges joined by four curved corner portions. Modifiedrectangular shapes include modified square shapes, i.e. rectangular shapes having side edges of equal length.

The side edges of a tear membrane having rectangular or modified rectangular shapemay consist of first and second longitudinal side edges and first and second transverseside edges, the longitudinal side edges having a length greater than a length of thetransverse side edges. The side edges may be straight side edges or may have a slightcurvature, with a radius of curvature in the range of from 200-700 mm, preferably 300-600 mm, more preferably 400-500 mm. 4 The side edges are connected by curved corner portions, wherein the radius of curvatureof the corner portions may be in the range of 5-60 mm, preferably 10-40 mm, more preferably 15-30 mm. ln a tear membrane as disclosed herein, the tear strip may have a width in the range of from 10 mi||imetres to 30 mi||imetres, such as from 15 mi||imetres to 25 mi||imetres.

The width of the tear strip is the distance betvveen the outer edge of the tear strip definedbetween the contour section of a tear strip cut line, and the inner edge of the tear strip.The width of the tear strip is measured in a portion of the tear strip which is not the pull taband may be constant along the length of the tear strip or may vary along the length of thetear strip. By way of example, the pull-tab part of the tear strip may have a width which isdifferent from the width of other parts of the tear strip, such as a larger width to provide an enlarged grippable portion at the pull-tab end of the tear strip.

Bonding of the top member to the bottom member is preferably made by heat sealing,although adhesive attachments may be used as an alternative or as a complement. Thetop member and the bottom member are preferably laminates comprising a polymerprotective and/or bondable layer and a structural layer, such as a layer of aluminium foil, paper, etc.

The attachments between the top member and the bottom member are permanentattachments, implying that the material in the layers will break before an attachment is broken when pulling at the tear strip.

The border seal is preferably a continuous seal such as a continuous weld seal whichextends around the full periphery of the tear membrane. The border seal is preferablygas-tight. The width of the boarder seal may be from 1 mi||imetres to 5 mi||imetres, such as from 1.5 mi||imetres to 4 mi||imetres. ln addition to the border seal further attachments may be arranged between the topmember and the bottom member, such as a tear strip attachment area. The tear stripand/or the tear-away area may comprise one or more attachments, such welded regions. , One such example is discrete attachments in the tear-away area along the contour of the tear strip e.g. in the form of arrows which at the same time may serve as indicators of a proper tear direction.

The pull-tab/pull-tab facing region may be delimited by a base line extendingperpendicularly over a total width of the pull-tab/pull-tab facing region, the base line beingarranged to extend over the width of the pull-tab/pull-tab facing region at the point of thetear strip attachment area having the shortest distance to a front edge of the pull-tab. Thetear-strip, including the pull-tab, may be delimited by a tear-strip cut-line. The total area ofthe pull-tab/pull-tab facing region then corresponds to the region extending between thebase line and the tear-strip cut-line. The base line may be determined by an outer borderof the interconnected region in the area of the tear-strip, such as a welded regioninterconnecting the top member and the bottom member in the tear away area. Such baseline of the pull-tab/pull-tab facing region may be arranged at from 2.5 to 1 cm from the front edge of the pull-tab.

Optionally, the pull-tab facing region may have a greater surface area than acorresponding area of the pull-tab overlying the pull-tab facing region. The pull-tab mayhowever have a smaller surface area than the pull-tab facing region. The front edge of thepull-tab facing region may be provided at a lateral distance from a front edge of the pull-tab. The tear-strip cut line may thus include an outer pull-tab facing region cut-line and aninner pull-tab cutline with a front part of the pull-tab facing region being visible also whenthe pull-tab is in a flat non-raised position. The pull-tab facing region cut-line and the pull-tab cut line may coincide or may be provided with a distance from each other. This may also facilitate visual identification and grasping of the pull-tab.

Optionally, the one or more distance elements have a surface coverage ranging fromabout 25 to 75 % of the total area of the pull-tab. The fact that the one or more distanceelements have a surface coverage ranging from about 25 to about 75% has been seen toprovide a significant bulging of the pull-tab/pull-tab facing region and thus a facilitated grasping of the pull-tab.

Optionally, the one or more distance elements have a surface coverage up to 100 % ofthe total area of the pull-tab. The fact that the one or more distance elements have a surface coverage ranging from about 25 to about 75% has been seen to provide a 6 significant bulging of the pull-tab/pull-tab facing region and thus a facilitated grasping of the pull-tab.

Optionally, the one or more distance elements each have a height of 0.3 mm or more,such as in the range of from 0.3 mm to 1.3 mm, as measured from the surface of the firstsurface of the bottom member or from the surface of the second surface of the pull-tab.The height of the distance elements influences the bulging of the pull-tab/pull-tab facingregion and the extent to which the pull-tab is raised up from the bottom member. lt hasbeen found by the present inventors that a height of 0.3 mm or more makes the pull-tab torise slightly from the tear membrane such that the user more easily may grasp the pull-tab. However, it has also been found that when the height of the distance elements is toohigh, this may cause issues at manufacturing and for the stackability of the tearmembranes prior to insertion into packaging containers. lf the pull-tab, such as the frontedge of the pull-tab, protrudes too much from the othenNise even surface of the tearmembrane it may get caught during manufacturing causing unwanted stops, it may also cause instability and difficulties in stacking of tear membranes.

Furthermore, it has also been found that when the tear membranes as described hereinare arranged in a stack an embossed pattern of distance elements in the pull-tab facingregion of the bottom member has been found to impact the material in the pull-tab causingthe pull-tab material to deform in conformance with the distance elements in the bottomlayer. Thereby, an impression of the distance element is formed in the pull-tab, which impression is visible when the tear membrane is applied in a container.

Optionally, four or more discrete distance elements and/or one or more elongated discreteelongated distance element are/is arranged in the pull-tab facing region of the bottom member or in the pull-tab.

Optionally, a plurality of discrete distance elements are arranged in the pull-tab facingregion of the bottom member, or in the pull-tab, and wherein the discrete distanceelements have a distance to adjacent distance elements in the range of from 1 mm to 8mm, such as from 2 mm to 6 mm, such as from 3 mm to 5 mm, as measured betweeneach of the distance elements. By spreading the plurality of discrete distance elements,such that the distance elements have a distance to adjacent distance elements in therange of from 1 mm to 8 mm, the pull-tab facing region becomes upwardly concave over a greater area with an improved lifting of the free pull-tab, such as the front edge of the pull- 7 tab, into position for grasping. Alternatively and in a corresponding manner, when theplurality of discrete distance elements are provided in the top member, and on a secondsurface of the part forming the pull-tab, and the distance elements have a distance toadjacent distance elements in the range of from 1 mm to 8 mm, the pull-tab becomesdownwardly concave, against the first surface of the bottom member, over a greater areawith an improved lifting of the free pull-tab, such as the front edge of the pull-tab, into position for grasping Correspondingly, it has been found that it may be sufficient if the one or more discrete distance elements have a total surface area of 5 mm2 or more, such as 8 mm2 or more.

The one or more distance elements as disclosed herein may comprise or consist of one or more embossed elements, such as embossed dots, in the bottom member.

The fully or partly removable tear membrane may be a tearable inner sealing member andthe structural layer of the top laminate member sheet material may be a metallic foil or a paper layer and a thermoplastic welding layer.

The bottom member may comprise a laminate sheet material comprising a metallic foil ora paper layer and a thermoplastic welding layer, the bottom laminate sheet material being joined to the top member by welding in one or more discrete welding areas.

The top member may comprise a metallic foil layer, such as aluminium foil layer, and apolymeric welding layer and/or a polymeric protective. The top member may comprise a metallic foil layer having a thickness of from 5 to 20 um.

The bottom member may comprise a metallic foil layer, such as aluminium foil layer, anda polymeric welding layer and/or a polymeric protective. The top member may comprise a metallic foil layer having a thickness of from 5 to 20 um, such as from 5 to 18 um.

Is has been shown that when a member is provided with embossed elements, the layermay have a thickness of at least 5 um for the embossing pattern to remain in the layerover time. Preferably, the member provided With the embossing comprises a metallic foiland a polymeric welding layer, optionally, and to render the embossing more distinct, the thickness of the metallic foil is preferably at least 30%, such as at least 40% of the 8 thickness of the thermoplastic welding layer, such at least 30% of the thickness of the polyethylene layer.

Disclosed herein is also a packaging container comprising the tear membrane asdisclosed herein as an inner sealing member. The packaging container comprises acontainer body comprising a container wall extending from a container bottom to acontainer opening, and a closure arrangement comprising a lid, a peripheral edge portionof the tear membrane being attached to an inner surface of the container wall, the tear membrane forming a transport seal across the container opening.

The packaging container is preferably a paperboard packaging container, as defined herein.

Optionally, the packaging container has an inner compartment and the inner compartmenthas a pressure above the ambient pressure. When the inner compartment of thepackaging container is provided with slight overpressure, the compacted air Will pressagainst the tear membrane and provide the tear membrane and the pull-tab With a bulgewhich will slightly raise the pull-tab and cooperate with the distance elements to facilitate grasping of the pull-tab.

As used herein, a paperboard packaging container is a packaging container wherein thecontainer body is formed from paperboard sheet material. The paperboard container maybe formed in any manner known in the art, e.g. by forming a container body by bending apaperboard sheet material into a tubular shape and longitudinally closing the tube byjoining overlapping or abutting side edges of the paperboard material. The join betvveenthe side edges may be covered by a sealing strip. ln the paperboard packaging containersas disclosed herein, the container bottom is formed from a separate bottom disc which isattached at the bottom end of the container body tube. The bottom disc may be attachedon the inside of the container body tube and may be inset from the container body bottomedge to accommodate a bottom reinforcing rim attached to the inner surface of the container body and/or to create a receiving space for stacking of the containers As used herein, a paperboard material is a sheet material predominantly made fromcellulose fibres or paper fibres. The sheet material may be provided in the form of a continuous web or may be provided as individual sheets of material. The paperboard 9 material may be a single ply or multi ply material and may be a laminate comprising oneor more layers of materials such as polymeric films and coatings, metal foil, etc. Thepolymeric films and coatings may include or consist of thermoplastic polymers. Thepaperboard material may be coated, printed, embossed, etc. and may comprise fillers,pigments, binders and other additives as known in the art. The paperboard materials as disclosed herein may also be referred to as cardboard or carton materials.

As used herein, the term "bulk solids" refers to a solid bulk material from which a desiredamount of the product may be poured, scooped or taken by hand out of a packagingcontainer. The bulk material may be dry or moist. The bulk solids which are suitable forpacking in the paperboard packaging containers as disclosed herein include any materialin the form of particles, granules, grinds, plant fragments, short fibres, flakes, seeds, pieces, etc.

The paperboard packaging container as disclosed herein may be a container foralimentary products such as infant formula, coffee, tea, rice, flour, sugar, cereals, souppowder, custard powder, pasta, snacks, or the like. Alternatively, the bulk solids may be non-alimentary, such as tobacco, detergent, fertilizer, chemicals or the like.

The tearable tear membrane as disclosed herein may be gastight or gas-permeable. Agastight tear membrane may comprise a structural layer such as a metallic foil layer, forexample aluminium foil layer, or a paper layer and a polymeric protective and/or bondinglayer. A gastight tear membrane is advantageous when the bulk solids stored in thepackaging container are sensitive to air and/or moisture and it is desirable to avoid contact of the packaged bulk solids with ambient air.

The barrier properties of the packaging containers disclosed herein may be designed tomeet different requirements of tightness depending on the goods which is packaged in thepackaging container. By way of example, in a packaging container for dried powder, suchas sugar or flour, a lower barrier level may be sufficient than in a packaging container for e.g. infant formula which is highly sensitive to oxygen and moisture exposure.

A gastight packaging container is particularly advantageous when the material stored inthe packaging container is sensitive to air and/or moisture. lt may also be desirable to keep fragrances and aromas in the packaging container and prevent the packaged contents from taking up scents and flavours from the ambient air. ln case the packagingcontainer has been filled in a protective gas atmosphere, the gas-tight tear membranekeeps the protective gas trapped together with the packaged contents in the sealed inner compartment.

When opening a packaging container which is sealed by a tear membrane as disclosedherein, the tear-away area of the tear membrane is removed by pulling at the grip-end ofthe tear-strip and tearing along the contour cut-line delimiting the tear-away area. Thetear-away area defines the size of the access opening created in the packaging containerwhen removing the tear-away area. The tear-away area may be arranged in the tearmembrane such that all or only part of the tear membrane inside of the sealing border is removed when creating the access opening in the packaging container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be further explained hereinafter by means of non-limiting examples and with reference to the appended drawings wherein: Fig. 1a shows an exploded view of a tear membrane according to the presentdisclosure; Fig. 1b shows a perspective view of the tear membrane in Fig. 1a; Fig. 2 shows the tear membrane according to Figs. 1a -1b with the pull-tab in araised position; Fig. 3 shows a tear membrane according to the present disclosure; Fig. 4 shows the tear membrane in Fig. 3 with the pull-tab in an opened position;and Fig. 5 shows a packaging container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION lt is to be understood that the drawings are schematic and that individual components arenot necessarily drawn to scale. The packaging container and the tear membrane shown inthe figures are provided as examples only and should not be considered limiting to theinvention as disclosed herein. ln particular, it should be understood that the tear membrane as disclosed herein may be applied to any packaging container where a 11 breakable transport seal is desired in addition to the provision of a reclosable lid.Furthermore, the size and shape of the packaging container and a corresponding tearmembrane may be different from what is shown in the figures. The tear-strip may have a different size and shape, and may have a differently shaped pull-tab portion.

With reference to Figs. 1a and 1b there is shown a tear membrane 1. The tear membrane1 has a top member 2 and a bottom member 3. The top member 2 has a top memberperiphera| edge portion 4 and a top member periphera| edge 4a. The bottom member 3has a bottom member periphera| edge portion 5 and a bottom member periphera| edge5a. The top and bottom members 2,3 are each |aminated sheet materials, with a topmember first surface 2a and a top member second surface 2b, and a bottom member firstsurface 3a and a bottom member second surface 3b, with the top member second surface 2b being |aminated facing the bottom member first surface 3a. ln Figs. 1a and 1b, the top member 2 is shown to be larger than the bottom member 3with the top member periphera| edge 4a arranged laterally outboard of the bottommember periphera| edge 5a. Alternatively, the top member 2 and the bottom member 3may have the same size and shape, or the bottom member 3 as shown may be largerthan the top member 3 with the bottom member periphera| edge 5a arranged laterallyoutboard of the top member periphera| edge 4a. The edge portion of the top member 2which extends outward of the periphera| edge 5 of the bottom member 3 provides the tearmembrane 1 with a thinner more flexible sealing border 13 for sealing the tear membrane 1 to a container wall.

As illustrated in Figs. 1a and 1b, the tear membrane 1 further comprises discreteattachments between the top member 2 and the bottom member 3 arranged in the area ofthe tear strip 8 and along the tear strip 8, here in the form of welded and embossed arrows which at the same time may serve as indicators of a proper tear direction.

As illustrated in Fig. 1b by a dashed area, the top member 2 is joined to the bottommember 3 in a border seal 14 arranged along the periphera| edge portions 4, 5 of the topand bottom members 2, 3. ln Fig. 1a the interconnected area in the form of the borderseal 14 is not illustrated. The border seal 14 is preferably a continuous seal such as acontinuous weld seal which extends around the full periphery of the tear membrane 1.

The thinner sealing border 13 constituted by only the top member 2 forms a periphera| 12 portion of the tear membrane 1 which is arranged outward of the border seal 14 and the peripheral edge 5a of the bottom member 3 and which surrounds the border seal 14.

The tear membrane 1 comprises a tear-away area 6 which is delimited by a contour line 7arranged in the top member 2. A tear strip 8 is arranged in the top member 2 and formspart of the tear-away area 6. The tear-strip 8 comprises a pull-tab 9 which is arranged at agrip end of the tear strip 8. The pull-tab 9 has no attachments to the bottom member 3and is separable from the bottom member 2 of the tear membrane 1. A pull-tab facingregion 10 is arranged in the bottom member 3 in the area facing the pull-tab 9 provided inthe top member 2. The sheet material constituting the bottom member 3 has beenembossed in the pull-tab facing regions 10 to form a plurality of discrete distanceelements 11. The distance elements 11 have a height (H) of 0.1 mm or more, asmeasured from the first surface 3a of the bottom member 3. The distance elements 11bulge against the top member 2 thereby creating imprints in the pull-tab 9 making the pull-tab 9 easier to visualize. The distance elements 11 also provide a distance between thetop member 2 and the bottom member 3 which facilitates grasping of the pull-tab 9. Oneor more distance element 11 may also be formed in the pull-tab 9 such that bulges fromthe second surface 2b of the top member 2, the one or more distance element 11 mayhave a height (H) of 0.1 mm or more, as measured from the second surface 3a of the top member 2.

The pull-tab facing region 10 may have a greater area than a corresponding area of thepull-tab 9 overlying the pull-tab facing region 10. A front edge 9a of the pull-tab 9 may beprovided at a lateral distance from a front edge 10a (shown in Fig. 1a and 1b) of the pull-tab facing region 10. This may also facilitate visual identification and grasping of the pull-tab. ln addition to the border seal 14, the top member 2 and the bottom member 3 of the tearmembrane 1 are furtherjoined to each other in an interconnected region in a tear stripattachment area 15 arranged at an inner portion of the pull-tab 9, the tear strip attachmentarea 15 is illustrated as a dashed area. The additional tear strip attachment area 15 isshown as a broadened portion of the border seal 14 and may aid in initiating propertearing of the bottom member 3 along the cuts in the top member 2 when pulling away thetear-away area 10. The additional tear strip attachment area 15 is an optional feature of the tear membrane 1 as disclosed herein and may be omitted. Furthermore, the tear strip 13 attachment area 15 may have any useful size or shape. By way of example only, the tearstrip attachment area may extend across a larger portion of the width of the tear strip such as over the full width of the tear strip and/or may extend further along the tear strip, etc.

Fig. 2 illustrates the tear membrane 1 with the pull-tab 9 in a raised position. The pull-tab9 has been separated from the surrounding top member 2, thereby exposing theunderlying pull-tab facing region 10. The pull-tab facing region 10 is delimited by a baseline 12 extending perpendicularly over a total width (w) of the pull-tab 9, the base line 12being arranged to extend over the width (w) of the pull-tab 9 at a point (P) of aninterconnection between the top and the bottom member 2,3 in the tear away area 6having the shortest distance to the front edge 9a of the pull-tab 9 and wherein the area Apof the pull-tab facing region 10 is the area facing the pull-tab 9 and is delimited at an innerend by the base line 12. The base line is determined by the outer border of theinterconnecting, welded, region in the tear strip attachment area 15. The tear strip 8 isfurther delimited by a tear strip cut-line 16 provided in the top member 2 and a total areaAp of the pull-tab facing region 10 is defined between the base line 12 and the tear strip cut-line 16.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a tear membrane 1 according to the present disclosure, the tearmembrane 1 having a top member2 and a bottom member 3. The top member 2 has atop member peripheral edge portion 4 and a top member peripheral edge 4a. The bottommember 3 has a bottom member peripheral edge portion 5 and a bottom memberperipheral edge 5a. The top and bottom members 2,3 are laminated sheet materials, with a bottom member first surface 3a facing the top member 2.

The tear membrane 1 comprises a tear-away area 6 which is delimited by a contour line 7arranged in the top member 2. A tear strip 8 is arranged in the top member 2 and formspart of the tear-away area 6. The tear-strip 8 comprises a pull-tab 9 which is arranged at agrip end of the tear strip 8. The tear strip is delimited by a tear-strip cut-line 16. The pull-tab 9 is separable from the bottom member 2 of the tear membrane 1. A pull-tab facingregion 10 is arranged in the bottom member 3 in the area facing the pull-tab provided inthe top member 2. The sheet material constituting the bottom member 3 has beenembossed in the pull-tab facing regions 10 to form an arc-shaped distance element 11extending along a front edge 10a of the pull-tab facing region 10. The distance element 11 has a height (H) of 0.1 mm or more, as measured from the first surface 3a of the bottom 14 member 3. The distance elements 11 bulges against the top member 2 thereby creating ashadow which makes the pull-tab 9 easier to detect. The distance element 11 alsoprovides a distance bet\Neen the top member 2 and the bottom member 3 which facilitates grasping of the pull-tab 9.

Fig. 5 illustrates a packaging container 100 which is a packaging container for pourable orscoopable bulk solids as defined herein and comprises a container body 102 comprising acontainer wall 103 including a front wall portion 103a, a rear wall portion 103b and twoside wall portions 103c, 103d. The container wall 103 extends from a container bottom104 to a container opening 105. The container wall 103 has an inner surface 107 facingtowards an inner compartment in the packaging container 100 and an outer surface 108facing away from the inner compartment and being exposed to the exterior of thepackaging container 100. A bottom disc is positioned at the bottom 104 of the containerbody 102. The container body 102 is made from paperboard material as defined herein.The container body 102 may be formed by bringing together the side edges of a web ofpaperboard causing the material to assume a tubular shape, where after the side edgesare sealed together. Sealing of the side edges may be made by any suitable method asknown in the art, such as by welding or gluing, with welding being preferred. Sealing ofthe side edges of the container body web may involve using a sealing strip, as known inthe art. The bottom disc may be made from paperboard, metal, plastic, or from anysuitable combination of such materials as known in the art. The body may be formed intoany desired tubular shape including circular, oval, rectangular and modified rectangularshapes, such as the modified rectangular shape with rounded corners which is shown inFig. 4.

The container bottom 104 may alternatively be formed without a bottom disc by folding of the container wall material, as known in the art.

The paperboard packaging container 100 is provided with a closure arrangementcomprising a lid 112 and a reinforcing rim 115 extending along the upper edge of the container wall 103.

The reinforcing rim 115 may be a plastic rim, such as a thermoplastic rim. The reinforcingrim 115 is attached to the inner surface 107 of the container wall 103 at the container opening 105, preferably by welding.

A weld seal is formed by supplying energy to heat and locally soften or melt one or morethermoplastic components in a thermoplastic rim 115 and/or in a coating or film on theinner surface 107 of the container wall 103 and by pressing the reinforcing rim 115 and the container wall 103 together in a direction perpendicular to the container wall 103.

The |id 112 has an inner |id surface which faces towards the bottom disc when the |id 112 is closed on the container opening 105.

The |id 112 is connected by a hinge 113 to a frame structure 130, the |id 112 and theframe structure 130 together forming a |id component. The hinge 113 may be a live hinge,formed as a flexible connection between the |id 112 and the frame structure 130. Thei||ustrated hinge 113 is only intended as a non-limiting example and it should beunderstood that any other type of functional hinge may be used for the connectionbetween the frame structure 130 and the |id 112. Moreover, the |id may be of theremovable kind, without any permanent connection to a frame structure, a reinforcing rimor to the container body. lt is further to be understood that the closure arrangement asshown in Fig. 5 is non-limiting to the claimed invention and that the tear membrane asdisclosed herein may be used as a transport seal in packaging containers having othertypes of closure arrangements such as closure arrangements wherein a |id cooperateswith a single rim or with an upper edge of the container body to close and open the packaging container. ln the packaging container 100 shown in Fig. 5, the frame structure 130 is mechanically attached to the reinforcing rim 115 by a snap-on connection.

The interior compartment is sealed with a tear membrane 1 as disclosed herein, e.g. atear membrane 1 as shown in Fig. 1. The tear membrane 1 forms a transport seal overpackaged goods which are contained in the interior compartment. A sealing border 117 ofthe tear membrane 1 is attached to the container wall 103, e.g. by welding. The sealbetween the sealing border 117 and the container wall 103 is preferably a gas-tight sealor at least a sift-proof seal. The tear membrane 1 may be attached to the container walleither from the top end of the container body 102 or from the bottom end of the containerbody 102, in which case it is attached before attaching the bottom disc. ln the example shown in Fig. 5, the tear membrane 1 has been applied from the top end of the container 16 body 102, With the edge portion 117 of the tear membrane 1 which is attached to thecontainer wall 103 being upwardly directed. The edge portion 117 preferably comprisesonly the top member of the tear membrane 1 but may comprise also the bottom member of the tear membrane 1 or only the bottom member of the tear membrane 1. ln order to gain a first access to the packaged goods, a user needs to open the |id 112and then expose the packaged goods by gripping the pull-tab 9, tearing open the tearmembrane 1 along the tear-strip 8 and finally completely removing the tear-away area 6 of the tear membrane 1.

After the tear-away area 6 of the tear membrane 1 has been removed, a narrow edge partof the tear membrane 1 may be left at the inner surface 107 of the container wall 103. Anysuch remaining part of the tear membrane 1 is preferably as small as possible, in ordernot to encroach on the opening area. lt may be preferred that a remaining tear membraneedge part has a width of at most 7 millimetres such as from 1-6 millimetres, from 2-5millimetres or from 3-4 millimetres. lt may be preferred that the inward extension of a remaining tear membrane part is 4 millimetres or less.

Once the tear membrane 1 has been removed, it is sufficient to open the |id 112 in orderto gain access to the packaged goods in the interior compartment through the container opening 105.

Claims

17 CLA||\/IS

1.

2. A laminate tear membrane (1)for sealing an inner compartment in a packagingcontainer, said laminate tear membrane (1) comprising a top member (2) and abottom member (3), said top and bottom members (2,3) being laminated sheetmaterials, said top member (2) having a top member peripheral edge portion (4)and a top member second surface (2b) facing said bottom member (3) and saidbottom member (3) having a bottom member peripheral edge portion (5) and abottom member first surface (3a) facing said top member second surface (2b),said laminate tear membrane (1) comprising a tear-away area (6) being delimitedby a contour line (7) arranged in said top member (2) and a tear strip (8) beingarranged in said top laminate tear membrane (2) and being part of said tear-awayarea (6), said tear-strip (8) comprising a pull-tab (9) arranged at a grip end of saidtear strip (8), said pull-tab (9) facing a pull-tab facing region (10) arranged in saidbottom member (3), said top member (2) and said bottom member (3) beinginterconnected along said top member peripheral edge portion (4) and said bottommember peripheral edge portion (5) characterized in that one or more discretedistance elements (11) are arranged i) in said pull-tab facing region (10) of saidbottom member (3) or ii) in said pull-tab (9), said one or more distance elements(11) having a height (H) of 0.1 mm or more, as measured from said bottommember first surface (3a) or from the surface of said top member second surface

3. (2b) respectively.

4. The tear membrane (1) according to claim 1, wherein said one or more distanceelements (11) each have a height (H) of 0.3 mm or more, such as in the range of

5. from 0.3 mm to 1,3 mm, as measured from said bottom member first surface (3a).

6. The tear membrane (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein four or more discretedistance elements (11) and/or one or more elongated discrete elongated distanceelement (11a) are/is arranged in said pull-tab facing region (10) of said bottom

7. member (3) or in said pull-tab (9).

8. The tear membrane (1) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein a plurality ofdiscrete distance elements (11) are arranged in said pull-tab facing region (10) ofsaid bottom member (3) or in said pull-tab (9), and wherein said discrete distance

9. elements (11) have a distance to adjacent distance elements (11) in the range of

10.

11. 18 from 1 mm to 8 mm, such as from 2 mm to 6 mm, such as from 3 mm to 5 mm, as measured between each of the distance elements (11). The tear membrane (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein saidone or more discrete distance elements (11) have a total surface area of 5 mm2 or more, such as 8 mm2 or more. The tear membrane (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein saidone or more distance elements (11) comprise or consist of one or more embossed elements, such as embossed dots, in said bottom member (4). The tear membrane (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein saidtop member (2) and said bottom member (3) are interconnected in said tear away area (6). The tear membrane (1) according to claim 7, wherein said pull-tab facing region (10)is delimited a base line (12) extending perpendicularly over a total width (W) of thepull-tab (9), said base line (12) being arranged to extend over said width (w) of saidpull-tab (9) at a point (P) of an interconnection between said top and said bottommember (2,3) in said tear away area (6) having the shortest distance to a front edge(9a) of said pull-tab (9), and where said tear strip (8) is further delimited by a tearstrip cut-line (16) and a total area (Ap) of said pull-tab facing region (10) is defined between said base line (12) and said tear strip cut-line (16). The tear membrane (1) according to claim 8, wherein said one or more distanceelements (11) have a surface coverage ranging from about 25 to 75 % of the total surface of the total area of the pull-tab (Ap). The tear membrane (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein saidtop member (2) comprises a laminate sheet material comprising a metallic foil or apaper layer and a thermoplastic welding layer, said laminate sheet material being joined to said top member (3) by welding. The tear membrane (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein saidbottom member (3) comprises a laminate sheet material comprising a metallic foil ora paper layer and a thermoplastic welding layer, said laminate sheet material being joined to said top member (3) by welding.

12.

13.

14. 19 The tear membrane (1) according to any one of the preceding c|aims, wherein saidtop member (2) and/or said bottom member (3) has a thickness from 9um to 16um, such as from 11um to 15um. A packaging container (100) comprising the tear membrane (1) according to anyone of c|aims 1-12, wherein said packaging container (100) comprises a containerbody (102) comprising a container wall (103) extending from a container bottom(104) to a container opening (105), and a closure arrangement comprising a |id(112), a peripheral edge portion (117) of said tear membrane (1) being attached toan inner surface (107) of said container wall, said tear membrane (1 ) forming a transport sea| across said container opening (105). A packaging container (100) according to c|aim 13, wherein said packagingcontainer (100) comprises an inner compartment and wherein said inner compartment has a pressure above the ambient pressure.