SE545159C2 - Liquid food packaging, a method for disinfecting a package, a method for filling a package and a method for making the inner bag for the package - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARYPackaging for liquid foodstuffs, where the packaging has an outer casing (2) of cardboard, an inner bag (8) of plastic film consisting of e.g. fully recyclable bio-polyethylene plastic, where the inner bag is arranged inside the outer casing (2) and completely fills this when the inner bag is filled with the food, and an emptying and filling device arranged on a plastic tray (14), where the emptying device includes an emptying channel (13 ) and a cork (19) and where the filling direction includes a filling channel (25) and a filling plug (26), whereby the emptying channel (13) is connected to a hole (11) in the inner bag (8) while the filling channel (25) ) opens into the emptying channel (13). The invention also includes a method for filling the package and a method for producing the inner bag (8).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a package intended for light-flowing as well as thick-flowing foods. Furthermore, the invention includes a method for disinfecting the package, a method for filling liquid to the package and a method for producing an inner bag which is arranged in the package to receive the liquid that is filled to the package.

STATE OF THE ART id="p-2" id="p-2" id="p-2" id="p-2" id="p-2"

[0002] The packaging that is used today for containing liquid foodstuffs cannot be materially recycled to a sufficiently high degree. For that reason, a lot of recycled material from this type of food packaging goes to energy recovery instead of being reused. One reason why existing packaging on the market cannot currently be recycled satisfactorily is that the cardboard used in the packaging is coated with some form of plastic film. id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3"

[0003] Packaging that is common on the market today can be represented by, for example, the one described in the document US 6560950 (B1). Some shortcomings regarding the known packaging are that they are relatively difficult to open for people who have weakened muscles in the fingers and hands. A Cap which must be unscrewed to open a package of a known type is separated from the package after opening and may disappear or fall away. After resealing, air has been released into the packaging, which affects the shelf life of the food content. Even in unopened packaging, air is present to an unsatisfactory degree. Up to 7% of the contents of a closed package can consist of air that oxidizes the contents. It is also unsatisfactory that it is difficult to completely empty the package of its contents as the package cannot be flattened well enough.[0004] Packaging which according to known technology is created from cardboard which is coated with a plastic film is a technology which is not desirable from an industrial point of view. Paper mills prefer to process raw board stock because laminates can create processing problems. id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5"

[0005] As other examples of known technology, the patents US 3112047, US 4362255, US 5156295, DE 202014002754, US20190367219, EP 0007685, EP 0807581 and WO DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6"

[0006] The device according to one aspect of the invention consists of a package which is primarily intended for containing easy-flowing as well as slow-flowing foods such as milk, yogurt, juices and the like. The packaging is also suitable for efficient transport. The invention also includes a method for disinfecting the package, filling contents to the package and a method for producing an inner bag which is arranged in the package. id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7"

[0007] The packaging consists of three parts, an outer casing made of cardboard, an inner bag made of a plastic foil, and a multifunctional opening module. id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8"

[0008] The outer cover is made, as mentioned, in cardboard which is 100% recyclable. 100% recyclability means that the approx. 90% paper fiber that makes up the supporting material in the carton can be completely recycled. The remaining 10% of cardboard consists of moisture and fillers as well as adhesive residues that are not interesting from a recycling point of view. The cardboard material is preferably made from recycled paper fibres. The outside of the cardboard in the package is preferably made white or off-white to provide the best substrate for clear printing on the outside of a package. The inside of the cardboard in the package is colored to provide the best possible UV barrier against UV radiation from the package's surroundings. The inside is naturally slightly brown as unbleached and/or recycled fibers are used. This provides a certain extended barrier effect against UV radiation from the package's surroundings. id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9"

[0009] On the upper side of the package, according to a preferred embodiment, the outer cover has 4 flaps that fold in towards each other when closing the outer cover so that preferably a completely flat upper part of the outer cover can be created when these flaps are folded in towards each other. This is described in more detail below. The lower plane that forms the bottom of the outer casing is made with bottom flaps that are foldable so that the bottom flaps in the bottom of the outer casing can be folded in from the bottom upwards towards the inside of the outer casing and thereby allow the outer casing to be folded completely flat. The outer casing is here made in the form of an elongated parallelepiped figure, where the surfaces that delimit the parallelepiped longitudinally are named with the designations upper plane and bottom with reference to the position that the packaging and the outer casing below it take when storing and transporting a contained liquid in the trade . The longitudinal surfaces are referred to here as side surfaces, which according to a preferred aspect of the invention are rectangular. id="p-10" id="p-10" id="p-10" id="p-10" id="p-10"

[0010] The inner bag is made of a plastic film which can be made of completely recyclable bio-polyethylene plastic (bio-PE). This inner bag is designed to completely fill the outer casing when the inner bag is filled with a liquid to thereby prevent unnecessary empty spaces from appearing between the outer casing and inner bag. id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11"

[0011] The multifunctional opening module, also called the MF module, consists of completely recyclable plastic, preferably the same material as in the inner bag. The MF module consists of a plastic tray with an emptying device and a filling device integrated with each other and with the plastic tray on one side, here called the upper side, of the plastic tray. The plastic tray has a flat underside and is welded to the outside of the inner bag at an upper part of the inner bag. A slot runs along the edge of the plastic tray, around it, in which the tabs of the outer cover engage when the inner bag is installed inside the outer cover. The emptying device and the filling device are made in one and the same common channel through the plastic tray. id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12"

[0012] The filling device is used when filling a liquid to the package and is completely closed after filling. The emptying device is used when emptying liquid from the packaging. id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13"

[0013] The emptying device has an emptying channel in the form of a tube-lined sleeve which is attached to an opening in the plastic tray and extends upwards from the upper side of the plastic tray. The opening extends through the plastic tray from its upper side to its underside. The underside of the plastic tray is connected by welding to the inner bag, said opening being centered over a hole arranged in the inner bag, which is described below. id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14"

[0014] The emptying device further comprises a cork which in this case is designed with an internal thread in a tube-shaped lower part of the cork. The cork in turn has a cap at the top, where the cap has a larger area than the cross-sectional area of the tube-lined lower part of the cork and forms a sealing roof over the tube-lined part of the cork. The internal thread of the cork is intended to connect to and cooperate with an external corresponding thread of the pipe-lined sleeve of the discharge channel, whereby the cork can close the opening when it is closed screwed to the discharge channel. Between the cork and the emptying channel there is a break contact made of, for example, plastic in a known manner, whereby these components are connected to each other when the cork is not opened until the break contact is torn apart when the cork is turned up the first time, whereby a break function is formed in the cork. External or internal threading can of course be done in reverse order for drain channel and cork. id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15"

[0015] Of course, a bayonet closure can be used in the emptying channel instead, where also in this embodiment a locking tab can be used to lock the cap to the emptying channel when the package is unopened. The emptying channel can be fitted with a non-return valve to prevent air from entering when the package is partially emptied. Such a non-return valve can be advantageously used for thin-flowing contents. The cap has a cap whose cross-section can be square with four rounded corners or have another polygon-like shape so that it is easy for a user to get hold of the cap when opening it. id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16"

[0016] In an earlier, at the time of filing the present patent application, an invention similar to the present invention has been described in an as yet unpublished patent application. In the mentioned earlier application, emptying device with emptying channel and filling device with filling channel are arranged next to each other, whereby two openings for the inner bag are required. Furthermore, in this earlier application, a sealing flap is arranged at the filling channel in order to seal against the hole of the filling channel in the plastic tray on the underside of the MF module after filling a content into the inner bag. It is a very preferred embodiment according to the present invention to avoid the need for two channels, a channel for filling and a channel for emptying contents to and from the inner bag.[0017] The inner bag is made of two plastic foils that are welded together around the entire edge of each plastic foil so that a soft container is formed. The welding is carried out when an upper plastic foil is laid over a lower plastic foil, on which the welding is carried out. Before the welding is carried out and before the two plastic foils are placed on top of each other, a hole is punched out in the upper plastic foil in the area that will take place as the upper layer of the inner bag, where by upper layer is meant the plastic foil that is placed over the lower layer of plastic foil in connection with the welding of the two plastic foils. Later, when welding the MF module to the upper plastic foil, this hole is coordinated to the position of the discharge channel of the MF module. In an alternative embodiment, the upper plastic foil is made up of one half of a plastic sheet, while the lower plastic foil is made up of the other half of the plastic sheet. id="p-18" id="p-18" id="p-18" id="p-18" id="p-18"

[0018] The MF module is welded to the upper plastic foil which will later form one half of the inner bag. The welding joint is designed so that no product from the inner bag when it is filled can leak out from the sides of the MF module. The manufacture of the inner bag and welded MF module takes place under conditions approved for food packaging. After joining, the inside of the inner bag and the MF module are sterilized by means of gamma radiation. Irradiation with gamma radiation can be carried out for each inner bag, for a container with inner bags or when a pallet is completely full of inner bags. It must be clarified that said container consisting of the lower plastic foil and the upper plastic foil with the welded accessories is the inner bag that is attributed to here in the text. The welding of the upper plastic film and the lower plastic film is performed after the MF module is joined to the upper plastic film. The inner bag is completely airless (with the exception of a small amount of air in the emptying channel) and after the welding of the MF module is hermetically sealed. id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19"

[0019] The device has characteristics according to the features specified in patent claim 1. Characteristics of a method for filling the package are specified in an independent method claim. A method for producing the inner bag of a package is specified in an independent method claim. Further embodiments of the invention are presented in the dependent patent claims.

FIGURE DESCRIPTION Figure 1 Schematically shows a plan view of a piece of cardboard that forms the basis for development into an outer casing for the packaging.

Figure 2 illustrates the outer casing in a perspective view when this is developed and formed from the cardboard piece as shown in Figure 3 shows the upper side of the outer casing where the top flaps of the outer casing are folded in and formed a flat surface and showing the open part of the outer casing which is to be covered by a multifunctional module.

Figures 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d show the Multifunctional module (MF module) with its details. Figure 4a shows the MF module seen in a side view. Figure 4b shows the plastic tray with its details of the MF module in a top view. Figure 4c shows the plastic tray of the MF module seen from the underside. Figure 4d shows the filling plug in a side view.

Figure 5 shows the upper plastic foil with punched hole for MF module.

Figure 6 shows the upper plastic foil with the MF module welded on. A section shows the location of welding strings when the MF module is welded to the upper plastic foil.

Figure 7a shows the lower plastic foil which is completely without openings or associated elements. Figure 7b reproduces the position of welding strings when upper and lower plastic foil are welded together to form an inner bag.

Figure 8 indicates a form for a folded inner bag before it is brought down into the outer casing according to the sketch in the figure.

Figure 9 illustrates filled packaging with the MF module on top.

Figure 10 shows a side view of the package with a closed top and furthermore a plan view from above of the closed top, i.e. of its upper plane, Figure 11 shows a filling funnel connected to the filling channel when filling the package. Figure 12 illustrates the device when filling during disinfection.

Figure 13 reproduces the device according to Figure 12 where a filling nozzle is inserted into the filling channel.

Figure 14 shows the device according to Figure 12 after completion of filling and reclosing of the filling channel.

Figure 15 illustrates the device after the inner bag has been filled, the filling funnel has been removed and where the top flaps of the outer casing begin to be inserted towards locking in the slot of the MF module. Figure 16 shows a section of a filled package with a filled inner bag and closed emptying or filling channel.

DESCRIPTION OF EXERCISES id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20"

[0020] In the following, a number of embodiments of the invention are described with the support of the attached drawings. The drawings only schematically show the principle of the device and do not claim to show to scale any proportions between different elements thereof. As mentioned, the invention is a package, since in Figure 1 a prospective outer casing of this is shown from an exit door in the form of a piece of cardboard 1 folded and glued along one long side to develop further into an outer casing 2 according to Figure 2, since the outer casing 2 in this figure is prepared for receiving a content after folding the carton at folding instruction 3 according to figure 1. Folded in the cardboard piece 1 is also shown a number of bottom flaps 4 which, when the cardboard piece 1 is unfolded, form the bottom of the outer cover 2. These bottom flaps 4 can, when the outer cover 2 is empty, is folded inside the cardboard piece 1 so that the outer casing 2 can regain its flat shape after it is simultaneously flattened by folding guide 3. This possibility of being able to achieve a flat shape of the outer casing 2 when emptying the contents from this year is of great importance for it to be possible to completely empty the packaging of its contents of a liquid food. When the cardboard piece 1 is developed, a square cross-section is formed in the outer casing 2. This is a preferred embodiment. Of course, rectangular cross-section is also a variant. id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21"

[0021] In the upper part of the side surfaces 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, top flaps 6 are formed with a top flap 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d in contact with each of the side surfaces, as the top flaps extend upwards from the respective side surface. The top flaps 6a and 6d constitute the attachment for the so-called MF module which is assigned to the top flaps, as described below. id="p-22" id="p-22" id="p-22" id="p-22" id="p-22"

[0022] The inner bag 8 years made of two plastic foils that are welded together around the entire edge of each plastic foil so that a soft container is formed. The welding is carried out when an upper plastic foil 9 is placed over a lower plastic foil 10 (see figure 5, 6, 7) whereupon the welding is carried out. Before the welding is performed and before the two plastic foils 9, 10 are laid on top of each other, a hole 11 is punched in the upper plastic foil 9 in the area that is to take place as the upper part of the inner bag 8. This hole 11 years later when welding the MF module 12 to the upper plastic foil 9 coordinated to the lid for the emptying channel 13 of this. Upper plastic foil 9 and lower plastic foil 10 are punched or cut during production from unrolled plastic foil. id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23"

[0023] Figures 4 a-d show the structure of the MF module 12. To the left in figure 4b, a plan view from above of the MF module is shown, while figure 4a shows a side view of the MF module 12 with its elements. The MF module is built on a plastic tray 14. The plastic tray 14 consists of an upper 15 and a lower layer 16. The lower layer 16 has a smaller area than the upper layer 15. Between the upper and the lower layer a slot 17 is rotted in. The dashed area in the plastic tray 14 according to figure 4c indicates the inner depth of a slot 17 running around the side edges of the plastic tray 14, which is shown by means of a plan view of the MF module 12 seen from its underside. The top flaps 6a and 6d connect to this slot 17, i.e. front and rear top flaps, of the outer cover 2 when the MF module 12 is connected to these top flaps after filling the inner bag 8 and closing the outer cover around the MF module. The slot 17 has a slightly diminishing extension in height as seen from an outer edge of the plastic tray towards the center of this to provide a locking force against the top flaps 6a and 6d of the outer casing. The MF module 12 also has in the plastic tray 14 an opening 18 in which the emptying channel 13 is fixedly rotted in by the sleeve that forms the emptying channel 13 being concentrically and fixedly connected to the opening 18 in the plastic tray. id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24"

[0024] Figure 4a shows above the emptying channel 13 a cork 19 which abuts against the opening of the emptying channel 13 when the cork is connected to it. The cork 19 is equipped with the elements previously described, such as a breaking function against the emptying channel 13 by means of a string 21 of, for example, plastic connected to the MF module 12 before the cork is separated from the emptying channel. Since the cork 19 is detached from the emptying channel 13 via a connection with a break function, a consumer can be made aware if the package has been opened before. The cork 19 has in its upper part a hat 22 which faces the upper plane of the cork against the surroundings. Furthermore, the inner part of the cork is provided with an inner passage (not shown) which cooperates with an outer passage 23 around the sleeve which forms the emptying channel 13 when closing the emptying channel 13 by means of the cork 19. The cork 19 is connected to the plastic tray 14 by means of a wire loop 24 through which the cork 19 comes with the MF module for waste management according to the EU's SUP directive.[0025] A filling channel 25 is arranged in the cap 22. This filling channel is intended to be used when filling the inner bag 8 with a liquid. The filling channel 25 extends through the cap 22 of the cork 19 and thus opens into the emptying channel. This is a considerable advantage of the invention in that filling and emptying of the packaging takes place via a channel common to both activities. The filling channel 25 is sealed by means of a plug 26 which is shown in a side view in figure 4d. At the bottom of the plug 26, this is provided with a locking tab 27. Before the inner bag 8 has been filled, the plug 26 is arranged in a light lock inside the filling channel 25 so that the plug can be brought up and open the filling channel during filling. After complete filling of the inner bag, the plug 26 is pushed down so that the locking tab 27 engages the lower edge of the cap 22 and thus creates a completely tight cork 19, where the filling channel can no longer be opened. id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26"

[0026] The plastic tray 14, the emptying channel 13 and the cork 19 with the filling channel 25 together constitute a fully integrated and individual unit. The MF module 12 is made of a fully recyclable plastic, preferably of the same plastic material as the inner bag 8, whereby the entire package together with the MF module can be recycled as a co-sorted material. id="p-27" id="p-27" id="p-27" id="p-27" id="p-27"

[0027] The upper plastic foil 9 is shown in Figure 5, where it appears that a hole 11 has been set up in the upper part of the plastic foil, i.e. the part of the plastic film that will be at the top of the package's outer casing. The hole 11 is punched, for example, in the plastic film, but this can be done in another way. Figure 6 shows how the MF module 12 is welded to the upper plastic foil 9, which will then form one half of the inner bag 8. The filling channel 25 in the MF module's cap 19 is arranged centered over the hole 11 in the upper plastic foil 9. In the right part of figure 6 illustrates the plastic tray 14 in the MF module 12 seen in plan view from the underside. Here are indicated the continuous welds 28 that are made between the underside of the plastic tray 14 of the MF module 12 and the outside of the inner bag 8. The welds 28 are made around the opening 18 of the plastic tray 14 and are indicated with a roughly dashed curve around the opening id="p-28" id="p-28" id="p-28" id="p-28" id="p-28"

[0028] The MF module 12 is designed so that no product from the inner bag 8, when it is filled, can leak out from the edges of the MF module. The manufacture of inner bag 8 and welded MF module 12 takes place under conditions approved for food packaging. The inner bag interior and the MF module are sterilized after joining by means of gamma radiation. It should be clarified that said container consisting of the lower plastic foil 9 and the upper plastic foil 10 with the welded accessories is the inner bag 8 referred to here in the text. The welding of the upper plastic film 9 and the lower plastic film l0 shown in Figure 7a is performed after the MF module l2 is joined to the upper plastic film 9. Formed inner bag 8 formed by the welding is shown in Figure 7b, where the dashed line shows the position of the welding joint 8a between the two plastic foils 9, l0. After welding, the inner bag 8 is completely empty of air (with the exception of a small amount of air in the emptying channel) and hermetically sealed. It can be mentioned here that the inner bag 8 can alternatively be manufactured from hose, whereby the longitudinal edges of the inner bag do not need to be welded. Furthermore, figures 4a and 4c show a number of spikes 29 on the underside of the plastic tray 14 arranged under the upper layer 15 in an alternative design of the invention. These spikes 29 are then intended to engage in corresponding holes in the upper parts of the top flaps 6a and 6d where these are pushed into the slot l7 in the MF module l2 to further secure the connection between the MF module and the outer casing id="p-29 " id="p-29" id="p-29" id="p-29" id="p-29"

[0029] The filling procedure is described below. The inner bag 8 has been folded into a format according to the left part of figure 8, where the inner bag can in a preferred way fill the entire space inside the outer casing 2 when supplying liquid to the inner bag 8. The figure shows how the folded inner bag 8 is brought down into the outer casing 2 Alternatively, the inner bag can be placed inside the outer casing already before the filling process. The MF module 12 attached to the inner bag 8 is held in a fixed position by a mechanical holder, i.e. an external tool. After filling the inner bag, the outer casing 2 is brought up against the MF module. Synchronous with this process, the top flaps 6a - 6d are folded inwards towards each other and meet the underside of the upper layer l5 of the plastic tray l4 whereby the front top flaps 6a and the rear top flap 6d are forced into the slot l7 of the MF module l2. In this case, it is arranged so that the top flaps 6b and 6c on the sides are folded in first, then the rear top flap 6d is folded down over them. The front top flap 6a which is slightly higher than the rear top flap 6d is provided with a fixing strip which is pasted over the edge of the rear top flap 6d which will be covered by the front top flap 6a. This can be clearly read from figure 3. This process takes place at the same time as the top flaps are brought together and into the slot l7. The front top flap 6a can be attached with its outermost edge with a pair of glue dots to the upper part of the rear top flap 6d to increase the stability of the outer casing et2. Alternatively, an adhesive strip can be placed over the joint between front top flap 6a and rear top flap 6d. This adhesive strip can then be provided with text, such as best before date. id="p-30" id="p-30" id="p-30" id="p-30" id="p-30"

[0030] In a preferred process for filling the inner bag, a filling funnel 30 is brought with its spout to the cap 22 of the cork according to Figure 11. The filling funnel 30 then has a tight connection to the top of the cap 22 around and outside the plug 26 with the help of a in the spout transverse ring-shaped packing 31 which with its underside is pressed against the cap with high pressure. In this first step, the plug 26 is locked in its initial position. The purpose of the filling funnel 30 is to protect the cardboard material in the outer casing 2 against hot water vapor when disinfecting the elements that have contact with liquid that is filled into the inner bag. id="p-31" id="p-31" id="p-31" id="p-31" id="p-31"

[0031] A step 2 during filling is shown in figure 12, where the plug 26 is detached from the cap 22 and is kept fixed in a lateral position in the filling funnel 30. Here it is also shown how the MF module 12 is kept fixed a few centimeters above the folded up and slightly folded top flaps 6a of the outer casing and 6d. The inner bag 8 is not filled in this step. The filling channel 25 is disinfected with hot steam or hydrogen peroxide spray. At the same time, the filling funnel and filling channel are illuminated with UV light. Disinfection begins before the filling plug 26 is lifted out of the cork 19 and then continues throughout the filling process until the filling plug 26 is resealed after the filling is completed. id="p-32" id="p-32" id="p-32" id="p-32" id="p-32"

[0032] Figure 13 shows step 3 in the filling where a filling nozzle 32 is lowered into the filling channel 25. The filling nozzle 32 seals completely against the inside of the filling channel 25. Filling can now take place with high pressure because the inner bag 8 is empty of air and thus no air needs to be forced out during the filling process. After the filling of the inner bag 8 is completed, the filling channel 25 is closed by means of the filling plug 26 which has been brought into the locked position. This is shown in figure 14 where the filling funnel 30 is ready to be lifted away. id="p-33" id="p-33" id="p-33" id="p-33" id="p-33"

[0033] Figure 15 shows that the filling funnel is lifted away and that the outer cover 2 is moved upwards towards the MF module 12 so that the top flaps 6a and 6d meet the underside of the upper layer 15 of the plastic tray 14 and are thereby forced inward into the slot 17 and become firmly fixed in the MF -module by means of the slit. When the outer cover 2 is brought up completely towards the MF module 12, which is shown in figure 16, the top flaps 6a - 6d show a flat upper side of the package where the inner bag 8 is now completely filled. The locked closed filling channel is shown with the plug 26 fully down in the cap 22 of the cork 19. As mentioned earlier, the top flaps in an alternative embodiment can be fixed to spikes in the slot 17 which engage small heels in the top flaps in positions corresponding to the positions of spikes in MF module 12 slot id="p-34" id="p-34" id="p-34" id="p-34" id="p-34"

[0034] Equipment for disinfection by means of hydrogen peroxide or hot water vapor/warm air, which is marked in the figures with H, and equipment for disinfection with U. Because disinfection can take place on a small scale, there is an extensive saving of hydrogen peroxide compared to disinfection of the entire inside of the packaging with hydrogen peroxide as occurs in today's technology, for example when filling packages without an inner bag id="p-35" id="p-35" id="p-35" id="p-35" id="p-35"

[0035] Since the inner bag 8 is empty of air during filling, only a very small volume of air remains in the actual emptying channel 13 in the MF module 12 after filling. This prevents unwanted oxidation of the contents of the inner bag, i.e. of the liquid that makes up a food and thus significantly extends the shelf life of the contents in comparison to liquid foods filled in conventional packaging. The air content of a 1 liter package prepared and filled according to the inventive aspect is less than 0.3% percent of the package volume. In packaging for liquid foodstuffs according to known technology, the content of air can be up to 7% of the corresponding volume. This property is of significant importance in food technology, as the durability during transport and storage of liquid foods can be significantly extended compared to what is possible when using today's corresponding packaging. id="p-36" id="p-36" id="p-36" id="p-36" id="p-36"

[0036] Air between the inner bag 8 and the outer casing 2 flows out during filling partly via the top and partly via the bottom of the outer casing 2, which also has openings in the foldable bottom construction between some of the bottom flaps formed when folded around the folding instructions 4. After filling the inner bag 8, the top flaps of the outer casing 2 are inserted into the slot 17 of the MF module by lifting the outer casing 2 upwards and forcing the top flaps into the slot. 1 [0037] The folding construction with the bottom flaps 4 at the bottom of the outer casing 2 gives a consumer the opportunity to easily push out slow-flowing foods (such as yogurt, crème fraiche, etc.). The outer casing's 2 lower parts of the side surfaces can be pressed together in order to apply pressure against the inner bag 8 and contribute to emptying the package. Once the inner bag has been removed from the packaging, the outer casing can be easily flattened by the user pushing the bottom flaps into the outer casing and at the same time pressing on the sides of the outer casing. In this way, the outer cover 2 is easily returned to a flat piece of cardboard 1 similar to the original state according to figure 1, after which this is sorted as cardboard material. id="p-38" id="p-38" id="p-38" id="p-38" id="p-38"

[0038] The outer casing 2 is easily opened on the upper side by opening the two tongues of the front top flap 6a which extend towards the rear top flap 6b on either side of the MF module. In this way, the consumer can take out the inner bag 8 and possibly empty it further if desired by squeezing out, folding or rolling the inner bag. [003 9] If an additional barrier effect against the influence of oxygen and/or other gases and UV light on the food content is desired, the inner bag 8 can be manufactured from a plastic material other than PE plastic and/or from laminate. By laminate is meant here that the material can consist of several layers of plastic, e.g. 3 foils of plastic and/or aluminum and other coatings. The weight of a 1-liter package according to the invention is equivalent to the corresponding packages for liquids currently on the market (approx. 30 grams per piece). The height of a l-liter package is approx. 10% (approx. 2 cm) lower compared to a TetraRex® type package, which gives the opportunity to increase the number of packages that can be loaded onto a flatbed or a container.

Claims (13)

1. Packaging for liquid foodstuffs, where the packaging is characterized in that it comprises: an outer casing (2) of cardboard, an inner bag (8) of plastic foil which is made of fully recyclable bio-polyethylene plastic, where the inner bag is arranged inside the outer casing (2) and completely fills this when the inner bag is filled with said liquid food, an opening module, here called MF module (12), which contains an emptying device and a filling device set up on a plastic tray (14), where the emptying device comprises an emptying channel (13) and a cork (19) and where the filling device comprises a filling channel (25) and a plug (26), whereby the filling channel (25) is arranged in the cork (19) of the emptying channel (13), furthermore the MF module (12) is connected to the inner bag (8) ) in that the underside of the plastic tray (14) is welded to the outside of the inner bag in such a way that the emptying channel (13) is connected to a hole (11) in the inner bag (8), and the MF module (12) is connected to the outer casing (2 ) in that the top flaps (6a and 6d) of the outer casing (2) are fixed in a circumferential slot (17) along the edges in the MF module's plastic tray (14). 2. Packaging according to patent claim 1, where the outer casing (2) consists of recyclable cardboard with a content of approximately 90% paper fibers. 3. . Packaging according to patent claim 2, where the inner bag (8) is made of an upper (9) and a lower (10) plastic foil placed against each other and welded together along the edges of the plastic foils (9,10) by means of a welding joint (8a). 4. Packaging according to patent claim 3, where the outer casing (2) has an elongated parallelepiped body, where one of the surfaces delimiting the elongated body forms the bottom of the outer casing (2), while the other delimiting surface of the elongated body forms an upper plane of outer cover et. 5. . Packaging according to patent claim 4, where the top of the outer casing (2) consists of top flaps (6a - 6d) which are all folded against the side edges of the plastic tray (14) in the MF module (12), so that the top of the outer casing is flat. 6. . Packaging according to patent claim 5, where the MF module (12) has the cap (19) attachable to the discharge channel (13) by means of a thread or a bayonet socket, where the discharge channel is arranged in communication with an opening (18) through the plastic tray (14) which presents the gap (17) between an upper layer (15) and a lower layer (16) of the plastic tray (14) in the outer edges thereof. 7. . Packaging according to patent claim 6, where the cork (19) in the emptying device has a cap (22) through which the filling channel (25) extends down towards the emptying channel (13) and where the filling channel is sealed with the plug (26) which is locked with a bottom of the plug ( 26) enter the locking tab (27) when the package is filled by the locking tab (27) engaging the lower edge of the cap (22). 8. . Method for disinfecting the packaging according to patent claim 1, where the method includes the steps: the filling channel (25) is disinfected with, for example, hot water vapor or hydrogen peroxide spray (H), and the filling channel (25) and a filling funnel (30) are illuminated with UV light (U), and disinfection and illumination are initiated before the filling plug (26) is lifted away and continue until the filling plug (26) is resealed against the filling channel (25). 9. . Method for filling the package according to patent claim 1, further comprising the steps: a filling funnel (30) is brought with its spout against a cap (22) on the cork (19), the plug (22) is detached from the filling channel (25) and kept separated from this inside the filling funnel (30), a filling nozzle (32) is introduced into the filling channel (25) of the MF module (12), liquid food is introduced into the inner bag (8) under pressure until the inner bag fills the entire space in the outer casing (2 ), after complete filling of the inner bag (8), the filling channel (25) is closed by means of the plug (26), and the plug (26) is locked sealingly against the inside of the filling channel 25 by means of a locking tab (27) on the plug (26). 10. Method according to patent claim 9, further comprising the steps: during the filling process, the MF module (12) is held fixed by a tool, after filling the inner bag (8) with liquid, the outer casing (2) is moved up against the MF module (12), whereby the top flaps (6a and 6d) of the outer cover (2) meet the underside of an upper layer (15) of the plastic tray (14) and are forced inwards into the slot (17) and thereby become firmly fixed in the MF module (12) so that the outer cover e (2) and MF module (12) form the final package. 11. Method according to patent claim 9, including the step: the liquid foodstuff is filled in the inner bag (8) until less than about 0.3% of the volume of the package consists of air, 12. Method for producing an inner bag for the package according to patent claim 3, characterized in that it includes the steps: an upper plastic foil (9) and a lower plastic foil (10) are punched or cut out of a plastic film, a hole (11) is punched or cut out in the upper plastic foil (9), the MF module (12) with the emptying channel (13) is welded against the upper plastic foil (9), whereby the emptying channel is arranged against the hole (11), and the upper plastic foil (9) is welded together with the lower plastic foil (10) along the edges of these two foils by means of a welding joint (8a). 13. Method according to patent claim 12, comprising the step: the inside of the inner bag (8) and the MF module (12) are sterilized by means of gamma radiation.