Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D3/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers having bodies or peripheral walls of curved or partially-curved cross-section made by winding or bending paper without folding along defined lines
  • B65D3/26—Opening arrangements or devices incorporated in, or attached to, containers
  • B65D3/261—Opening arrangements or devices incorporated in, or attached to, containers the opening arrangement being located in the container side wall
  • B65D3/262—Opening arrangements or devices incorporated in, or attached to, containers the opening arrangement being located in the container side wall forming a circumferential line of weakness

Definitions

• the invention relates to a tubular pouch having a tubular pouch body and a lid piece and optionally having a base, especially a stand-up or standing base.
• Tubular pouches of the kind under consideration herein are generally known and are used for holding, storing and transporting liquid, paste-form, powdered, pourable and solid contents. They are distinguished by being of very low weight and being easily shapeable and printable. Furthermore, if a suitable material is chosen, they can be disposed of in a simple and environmentally friendly way. More especially, once empty they can be folded down to a minimum volume and disposed of by the appropriate route.
• a general problem is the opening behaviour of such tubular pouches or tubular pouch packagings.
• Such packagings are usually opened by tearing open the packaging, it being usual to provide a gripping point on a sealing seam for that purpose so that the latter can be pulled apart for the purpose of opening, the seal being intended to break open.
• a disadvantage of that solution is that the packaging is opened in a relatively undirected and uncontrolled way, so that the contents of the packaging are spilled, which, particularly in the case of liquid or pourable contents, frequently results in loss of the packaged goods.
• the interior of the tubular pouch is generally only very poorly accessible, because torn or residual portions of the packaging cause an obstruction and make it difficult to gain access to the interior of the tubular pouch, for example with a spoon. Even when the contents of the packaging are poured out, residual portions of the packaging are very troublesome and, furthermore, result in contamination by the environment, which is often undesirable.
• a further variant of opening comprises the use of a pair of scissors by means of which an upper portion of the closed tubular pouch is cut off and removed, so that the contents of the tubular pouch are accessible.
• that variant enables a tubular pouch portion that closes the tubular pouch to be cleanly separated, it creates the problem that it is necessary always to have a pair of scissors to hand.
• the scissors used are not clean, the cut edges of the tubular pouch and possibly also the contents of the tubular pouch will be contaminated and potentially become unusable as a result.
• the problem underlying the present invention is to provide a tubular pouch of the kind mentioned at the beginning which can be opened hygienically, simply and without aids, so that the interior of the tubular pouch is accessible without problems.
• the opening should be distinguished by a defined opening edge that is free of irregularly protruding portions of the packaging.
• the construction according to the invention should provide an opening which is as large as possible and which allows troublefree access to the interior of the pouch with a spoon or the like.
• a key aspect of the present invention is therefore that the tubular pouch body, which is usually of cylindrical construction, is formed by means of a fin-seal, with at least one weakness of material extending, starting from the free longitudinal edge of the fin-seal, around the circumference of the tubular pouch body so that, as required, the tubular pouch can be opened along that weakness of material, especially over the entire cross-section of the tubular pouch body or tubular pouch. It is thus possible in a simple way to produce a maximum opening of the tubular pouch for the purpose of emptying same.
• the tubular pouch is therefore opened not by removing the lid piece and/or the base but by dividing the tubular pouch body.
• the weakness of material is located close to the lid piece of the tubular pouch, so that after the tubular pouch has been opened its contents remain reliably and readily accessible in the portion of the tubular pouch body that includes the base.
• Opening the tubular pouch is effected by gripping and pulling on the fin-seal in the region of the weakness of material, so that the weakness of material is broken open either only over a circumferential portion or, preferably, around the entire circumference of the tubular pouch body.
• the weakness of material is preferably a stamped line that extends continuously or is of non-continuous configuration like a perforation. Ready-made lines of material weakness can be formed without problems, especially by stamping, in the materials customarily used today, especially the laminates preferably used herein. In respect of the materials preferably used herein, reference is made to claim 8 .
• the weakness of material preferably adjoins a cut formed at the free edge of the fin-seal. That cut can be in the form of a V-notch.
• the lid piece and/or the base is/are sealed or adhesively bonded to the tubular pouch body in a conventional way.
• the tubular pouch body is produced from a laminate, especially aluminium laminate, having at least one sealing layer and optionally at least one barrier layer.
• the barrier layer preferably consists of SiO 2 , AlO x , ethyl vinyl alcohol or a metal foil.
• the sturdiness and stability of the tubular pouch for the lid piece and/or the base in each case can be of relatively rigid construction, preferably in the form of a deep-drawn dish having sealable or adhesively bondable rims.
• the base can also be produced from a laminate and constructed with a V-fold or W-fold, so that the required dimensional stability and sturdiness are likewise obtained.
• lid piece and/or the base are produced from substantially the same materials as the tubular pouch body.
• the lid piece and/or the base are in the form of a shallow dish it can also be advantageous to provide the surface of the lid piece or base with beads, especially intersecting beads, in order to increase their dimensional stability.
• the lid piece and/or the base can also be provided in the form of an injection-moulded part. Ultimately it depends upon the required stability, the size of the packaging and the contents of the packaging.
• the lid piece, the base and the tubular pouch body consist of a material that is sterilisable.
• the tubular pouch is constructed like a cylindrical can and has been given reference numeral 10 in the accompanying drawing. It comprises a cylindrical tubular pouch body 11 and a lid piece 12.
• a base is not shown in the accompanying drawing.
• the base can, however, preferably be constructed in the same way as the lid piece 12, that is to say in the shape of a shallow dish having a circumferential rim 13 which is sealable to the tubular pouch body 11 at the end thereof.
• the sealing is effected between the inner edge of the end of tubular pouch body 11 and the outer surface of the circumferential rim 13 of the lid piece 12 or a base of the same construction.
• the tubular pouch body 11 is produced from a rectangular laminate, the free longitudinal edges being joined together, that is say sealed, to form a so-called fin-seal 14. Starting from the free longitudinal edge 15 of the fin-seal 14 there are formed, spaced apart from one another axially, two weaknesses of material in the form of stamped lines 16, 17 which extend around the circumference of the tubular pouch body 11 so that, as required, the tubular pouch 10 can be opened along those stamped lines 16, 17.
• the stamped lines 16, 17 define between them a tear-open strip 18 extending around the circumference of the tubular pouch body 11.
• the cross-section of the tubular pouch body 11 can be circular as in the embodiment shown. It is also possible, however, to provide a triangular, polygonal or oval cross-section or the like. In that case, of course, the lid piece and/or the base also need(s) to be adapted accordingly.
• the tubular pouch body preferably consists of a laminate.
• the lid piece and base can be produced from the same material.
• the tubular pouch body By using a laminate with unidirectionally stretched foil it is possible for the tubular pouch body to be torn open along the stamped lines 16, 17 in a particularly controlled way.
• a unidirectionally stretched foil the chains of molecules forming the foil are aligned and arranged substantially parallel in the direction of stretching.
• the stretched material is able to split preferentially parallel to the direction of stretching in comparison with a direction at an angle thereto, so that oblique tearing through the aligned chains of molecules is rendered significantly more difficult or impossible.
• none of the chains of molecules is severed.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Bag Frames (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=36975549

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (3)

Families Citing this family (4)

Citations (9)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2005
  • 2005-08-23 DE DE102005039852A patent/DE102005039852A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2006
  • 2006-06-28 MX MX2008002525A patent/MX2008002525A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2006-06-28 EP EP06762250A patent/EP1922255A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-06-28 JP JP2008527324A patent/JP2009505911A/ja active Pending
  • 2006-06-28 WO PCT/EP2006/006275 patent/WO2007022826A1/de active Application Filing
  • 2006-06-28 US US12/064,021 patent/US20090052814A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2006-06-28 BR BRPI0617144-3A patent/BRPI0617144A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (9)

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