Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
  • F25C1/00—Producing ice
  • F25C1/22—Construction of moulds; Filling devices for moulds
  • F25C1/24—Construction of moulds; Filling devices for moulds for refrigerators, e.g. freezing trays
  • F25C1/243—Moulds made of plastics e.g. silicone
• • 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
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/28—Articles or materials wholly enclosed in composite wrappers, i.e. wrappers formed by associating or interconnecting two or more sheets or blanks
  • B65D75/30—Articles or materials enclosed between two opposed sheets or blanks having their margins united, e.g. by pressure-sensitive adhesive, crimping, heat-sealing, or welding
  • B65D75/32—Articles or materials enclosed between two opposed sheets or blanks having their margins united, e.g. by pressure-sensitive adhesive, crimping, heat-sealing, or welding one or both sheets or blanks being recessed to accommodate contents
  • B65D75/325—Articles or materials enclosed between two opposed sheets or blanks having their margins united, e.g. by pressure-sensitive adhesive, crimping, heat-sealing, or welding one or both sheets or blanks being recessed to accommodate contents one sheet being recessed, and the other being a flat not- rigid sheet, e.g. puncturable or peelable foil
  • B65D75/327—Articles or materials enclosed between two opposed sheets or blanks having their margins united, e.g. by pressure-sensitive adhesive, crimping, heat-sealing, or welding one or both sheets or blanks being recessed to accommodate contents one sheet being recessed, and the other being a flat not- rigid sheet, e.g. puncturable or peelable foil and forming several compartments
• • 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
  • B65D2575/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D2575/28—Articles or materials wholly enclosed in composite wrappers, i.e. wrappers formed by association or interconnecting two or more sheets or blanks
  • B65D2575/30—Articles or materials enclosed between two opposed sheets or blanks having their margins united, e.g. by pressure-sensitive adhesive, crimping, heat-sealing, or welding
  • B65D2575/32—Articles or materials enclosed between two opposed sheets or blanks having their margins united, e.g. by pressure-sensitive adhesive, crimping, heat-sealing, or welding one or both sheets or blanks being recessed to accommodate contents
  • B65D2575/3209—Details
  • B65D2575/3218—Details with special means for gaining access to the contents
  • B65D2575/3245—Details with special means for gaining access to the contents by peeling off the non-rigid sheet

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a packaging for one or more predefined measures of liquid such as water, juices, syrups or the like, intended for freezing thereof or for forming icecubes.
• a typical example consists of the ice trays which are generally made of substantially rigid plastic material and are provided with a series of transverse walls defining a plurality of spaces able to each receive a predetermined quantity of water.
• transverse dividing walls referred to are formed as one piece with the tray, while in a second version these dividing walls consist of a part which is separate from the tray and applied to it when it must be filled with water.
• Packaging of this kind has in particular the considerable drawback that it is exposed to the open air so that it does not satisfy that important and essential requirement of ensuring hygiene during handling for removal of the ice-cubes therefrom once the water has been frozen.
• Another major drawback of this packaging lies in the fact that, in particular when used in public premises or the like, the abovementioned disadvantages are accentuated greatly both because it is obvious that the packaging is inevitably handled by different people and because the number of cubes which are required in each case is not known in advance.
• Another known type of packaging is that consisting of a hollow substantially strip-shaped element which is designed to be filled internally with water and then introduced into a refrigerator for freezing.
• Packaging of this type has undoubted drawbacks owing to the fact that uniform freezing of the water is not obtained and the cubes are difficult to separate from each other.
• the films forming said water containing strip are generally very thin so that they tear easily also during extraction of the abovementioned strip from the refrigerator.
• a packaging for one or more predefined measures of water which is able to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above has now been devised and forms the subject of the present invention.
• One of the main objects of the present invention is that of providing a packaging such as that indicated above which is suitable for safeguarding and fully maintaining the hygienic conditions referred to.
• Another object of the invention is that of providing a packaging for forming ice-cubes which is convenient to handle and easy to use.
• an object of the invention is to provide a packaging of the type indicated above by means of which it is possible to obtain, rapidly and without manual contact, an ice-cube to be introduced into a container for a drink to be served.
• the present invention therefore relates to a sealed packaging for one or more predefined measures of water, intended for freezing thereof, which is characterized in that it essentially consists of a sheet having one or more portions which are recessed with respect to one side thereof and each of which defines a cavity or seat containing a measure of water, said sheet having applied to it, on the side opposite to the aforementioned side, a protective sealing film which closes each cavity containing a measure of water and is removable from the said sheet.
• Figure 1 shows a plan view of the packaging according to the invention in a first embodiment
• Figure 2 shows the packaging according to Figure 1, partially sectioned and viewed in the direction of the arrow ⁇ of the said figure;
• Figure 3 shows a plan view of one of the possible variations of embodiment of the packaging according to the invention.
• the enclosed illustration of the packaging according to the invention has been deliberately shown in partial form since it is obvious that this packaging, in addition to the obvious example of the version containing a single measure, may also be provided in the version containing several measures, the number of which may be chosen as required.
• this shows a packaging as mentioned above which is indicated in its entirety by 10 and which essentially consists of a sheet 12 which is preferably, although not necessarily, made of plastic material, and which has, on one of its sides, a series of hollow recessed portions 12a which can be seen more clearly from Figure 2 and each of which defines a cavity or seat containing a measure of water, the level of which, inside the hollow portion 12a, is shown schematically as a broken line in Figure 2 and indicated by 12b.
• a packaging as mentioned above which is indicated in its entirety by 10 and which essentially consists of a sheet 12 which is preferably, although not necessarily, made of plastic material, and which has, on one of its sides, a series of hollow recessed portions 12a which can be seen more clearly from Figure 2 and each of which defines a cavity or seat containing a measure of water, the level of which, inside the hollow portion 12a, is shown schematically as a broken line in Figure 2 and indicated by 12b.
• the volume of water contained inside the hollow portion 12a is slightly less than that of the overall volume of the hollow recessed portion 12a, so as to allow expansion of the water during freezing, without causing premature and undesirable breakage of the packaging.
• the side of the sheet 12 opposite to the aforementioned side has, applied to it, a protective sealing film 14 which, in addition to completely lining the sheet 12, is applied with a sufficient fixing force to ensure sealing of the water inside the recessed hollow portions 12a.
• the abovementioned fixing and securing force will obviously be determined so as to allow, when required and necessary, removal of the film 14 from the sheet 12 for extraction of the ice-cubes obtained.
• the film 14 may also be made of a plastic material of the type considered suitable for this particular use.
• the said film has, in the region of, but externally with respect to one of the corners of each recessed portion 12a, a tongue indicated by 16 which in a known manner is not fixed to the sheet 12, therefore forming a tab for gripping the film 14 and separating it from the sheet 12.
• FIG. 3 shows a possible variation of embodiment of the invention where, for the same elements, the same reference numbers have been used and therefore a description thereof is omitted here.
• the said packaging has, between a hollow recessed portion 12a and the adjacent portions, a weakening line which is indicated by 18 and shown schematically as a broken line and is suitable for allowing separation of each frozen measure of water, i.e. ice-cube, from the others.
• the weakening line 18 may be formed both discontinuously and continuously, since in both cases it is designed to perform the function required of it.
• the protective sealing film 14 by way of an alternative it may be made of material having, with respect to the material of the sheet 12, a tear strength which is considerably smaller.
• the present invention provides a transportable and easy-to-handle packaging filled in conditions of maximum hygiene with water which is also extremely pure and hygienically controlled.
• each ice-cube understood as release from the mould and transfer into the container or glass to be used, is also performed with an equal degree of hygiene.
• the packaging may in fact be transported at room temperature with the water in the liquid state and the user need merely place it in the freezer prior to use, for a period of time necessary to obtain the formation of the desired ice (about one hour in normal domestic freezers).
• each packaging may be frozen several times, without any drawback, provided obviously that the packaging has not been opened and therefore the measures of water remain sealed inside the respective cavities.
• each cavity 12a has been indicated and shown as having a shape substantially in the form of a parallelepiped, preferably provided with a slight tapering towards the bottom so as to favour the extraction of the ice-cube.
• cavities may have any desired or conceivable geometrical shape (cylindrical, conical, frustoconical, etc.), the sole condition being that there is the possibility of extraction from the side covered by the protective sealing film.
• the volume of these cavities is preferably less than 20 cm 3 .
• each cavity consists of an independent container intended to be closed at its inlet by a heat-sealable protective sealing film.
• the liquid contained in the packaging need not be only water or may be different therefrom: in fact it is possible to imagine using the packaging for water incorporating sweeteners or salts, or for other alimentary liquids such as beverages in general, for example wine, beer, soft drinks, juices and syrups. In this latter case, in fact, it is possible to envisage dissolving an ice-cube of syrup in a glass of water at room temperature so as to obtain rapidly a cold drink to be served in public premises or for consumption at home.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Composite Materials (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Packging For Living Organisms, Food Or Medicinal Products That Are Sensitive To Environmental Conditiond (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11420399

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (5)

Citations (3)

• 1998
  • 1998-12-10 IT IT1998TV000050 patent/IT245543Y1/it active
• 1999
  • 1999-12-06 WO PCT/EP1999/009568 patent/WO2000034720A1/en active Application Filing
  • 1999-12-06 AU AU15075/00A patent/AU1507500A/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (3)

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