WO2002057147A1

WO2002057147A1 - Package for cylindrical stack of round biscuits

Info

Publication number: WO2002057147A1
Application number: PCT/FR2002/000157
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Odier
Original assignee: Lu France
Priority date: 2001-01-18
Filing date: 2002-01-16
Publication date: 2002-07-25
Also published as: PT1351861E; DK1351861T3; FR2819485B1; ES2267975T3; EP1351861B1; FR2819485A1; DE60211851D1; DE60211851T2; EP1351861A1; ATE327948T1

Abstract

The invention concerns a formed package enclosing a stack of rigid products such as biscuits and associating in superimposition a paper or cardboard blank (1) and a film (2). The invention is characterised in that the blank (1) has a cut-out zone (16) defining a region for seizing the products and the film (2) has a strip (3) which is secured thereto and which covers at least partly said cut-out zone (16), the film (2) and the strip (3) forming an opening device for releasing the cut-out zone (16), the removal of successive products being operated by gravity in placing the package in an upright position.

Description

PACKAGING FOR CYLINDRICAL STACK OF ROUND COOKIES

The present invention relates to a formed packaging, combining a blank of paper or cardboard and a superimposed film, surrounding a stack of rigid products. Such packaging is commonly used in the field of agrifood techniques for packaging in particular products such as cookies.

To make an opening of such packaging, a tear strip is generally used which makes it possible to cut the film around its perimeter and to release the upper end of the packaging, thereby giving access to the products.

This type of packaging has a number of drawbacks.

First of all, and in particular in the case of a cylindrical packaging, and the fact that the blank, generally made of corrugated cardboard narrowly surrounds the products, the cookie removal is not particularly easy. In addition, such packaging is not compatible with effective resealing, which means that the contents of the package once opened must be quickly consumed. The present invention relates to a packaging device having a good level of tightness and allowing easy access to the products, and possibly easy reclosing.

For this purpose, the invention relates to a packaging formed which surrounds a stack of rigid products, and associating a blank of paper or cardboard and a superimposed film characterized in that the blank has a cutting zone defining a region for gripping the products. and in that the film has a strip which is integral with it and which covers at least partially said cutting zone, the film and the band forming an opening device making it possible to clear the cutting zone, the taking of successive products being able to s '' by gravity by placing the packaging upright.

The presence of the cutting zone provided in the blank makes it possible to use any opening device, advantageously reclosable, capable of clearing the cutting zone and allowing access to the products. Indeed, the paper or cardboard blank allows to ensure sufficient rigidity of the packaging in the standing position and to form a kind of self-supporting dispenser, even taking into account the localized weakening provided by the cutting area.

The strip secured to the film may have an adhesive layer joining the strip and the blank outside the cutting zone. This allows in particular to reclose the packaging.

According to one embodiment also allowing the packaging to be closed, the blank has a portion of sticky strip covered with a protective strip, which is arranged for example in the vicinity of an edge of the cutout or of an edge of the blank. The strip may extend from a first edge to an opposite second edge of the film.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the outline of the blank fits into the outline of the film, and the blank and the film are superimposed so as to leave, at least at one end, a margin allowing the film to form by folding at least a package background. The blank and the film can be superimposed so as to present a common edge.

It is advantageous for said strip to extend beyond at least one side of the blank.

The film may have an extra thickness strip which runs along said strip integral with the film, so as to limit the tearing of the film, in the direction of one end of the film, in particular one end which forms a bottom of the package.

According to a preferred embodiment, the device is characterized in that the film has a cut tab coming substantially in correspondence with the cutting zone and in that the strip secured to the film is constituted by a label which adheres to the film on a surface protruding from the cut tab of the film so as to form an opening - reclosing device.

The packaging can be cylindrical or parallelepipedic, and at least one bottom of the packaging can be at least partly constituted by a folding of the film along an edge of said blank.

The film may have a region which projects beyond the blank and which overlaps the film, with welding along the weld line. It is particularly advantageous to have a tear initiation region on the weld line. Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear better on reading the description which follows, given by way of nonlimiting example, in conjunction with the drawings in which:

- Figures 1a and 1b illustrate the first variant of the invention in which the blank is provided with a cutout, Figure 2 illustrating an embodiment in the form of a cylindrical shaped packaging, which can be opened in accordance Figures 3 and 4;

- Figures 5a and 5b illustrate the second variant of the invention, Figure 6 illustrating an embodiment in the form of a cylindrical shaped packaging, shown in the open position;

- Figures 7a and 7b illustrate another variant in which the blank is provided with a dotted or other precut;

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate an embodiment in the form of a cylindrical formed package which can be opened in accordance with FIGS. 3 and 4.

In accordance with FIGS. 1a and 1b which represent the first variant of the invention, the blank 1 of paper or cardboard, and more particularly of paper or corrugated cardboard has an opening formed by a cutout 16 of width I and length l ₀ allowing the exit of products, for example cookies. For a cylindrical bundle, the length l ₀ is at least equal to the half-perimeter of the bundle. For products taken laterally, the width I is greater than or equal to their height. The package is opened by pulling the film 2, in particular plastic, in particular polyolefin, for example a few tens of microns thick, thanks to a tear primer, for example cutouts 27, located for example at the longitudinal weld 25 of the package.

The strip 3 can only be secured to the film 2, but preferably it can also be secured to the blank 1 outside the cutout 16. In addition, the part of the strip 3 protruding longitudinally from the blank 1 au- beyond the edge 14 thereof, may also be coated with a tacky layer allowing the package to be closed after use.

In the case shown where the strip 3 is only joined to the film 1, it is advantageous to provide the blank 1, near its edge 14 (or an edge 18 of the cutout 18), with a part of adhesive tape 17 provided with appropriate protection. After the first opening of the package, we removes the protection from the piece of adhesive tape 17, so as to allow easy re-closing of the packaging.

In the embodiment shown, the strip 3 is a single-sided strip glued to the internal face of the film 2 and at the same level as the cut 16 of the blank 1. The function of the strip 3 is to allow the tearing of the film 2 by outside the perimeter of the cutout 16. In fact, the films are generally made of materials for which the direction of propagation of a tear is not exactly predictable. With strip 3, the tear deviates only slightly from the edges of strip 3, while being unable to penetrate the perimeter thereof.

The length l ₀ of the cut is greater than or equal to the half-perimeter of the cookie and its height I is greater than or equal to that of a cookie, this in the case of a cylindrical package.

To manufacture the packaging, the adhesive strip 3 is deposited directly on the film 1. The opening 16 is cut out on the blank 1 can be carried out either at the same time as the cutting of the outline of the blank 1 along its length or separately. Removal of the piece of protected adhesive tape 17 is done before or after cutting the outline of the blank 1 and / or of the opening 16. It should be noted that a thin adhesive tape 4 can be placed below the strip 3 which is used for the opening in order to control the direction and the orientation of the tear in the case of a film 2 of bioriented polymer, so as to prevent the tear from going towards the bottom of the package . The consumer grasps the film 2 and the adhesive strip 3 at the level of the cutouts 27 and tears the film perimeter so as to come out of the cutout 16 and to allow access to the products 40, for example cookies (see FIGS. 3 and 4), which makes it possible to ensure gripping and lateral removal of these as soon as the cleared length of the cutout 16 reaches the half-perimeter of the cylinder package. The gripping region 16 thus released being located in the vicinity of a bottom of the package (for example at a distance equal to the thickness of one, two, or even three products), the cookies can be removed by gravity by placing the package standing. A distance equal to the thickness of at least one product between the gripping region 16 and the bottom of the package makes it possible to ensure sufficient rigidity despite the cut 16.

In accordance with FIGS. 5a and 5b, the film 2 has a cut tab 30, for example rectangular. The tongue 30 is advantageously cut on an unclosed perimeter, for example on three cut sides 31, 32 and 33, leaving a line of articulation 36 from the tongue 30 to the film 2 between the ends 34 and 35 of the sides 31 and 33. To facilitate the passage on the machine and in particular the movement of the blank 2 during the shaping of the packaging, the cut sides 31, 32, and 33 are advantageously secured at points 37 to the blank 2. These points 37 offer negligible resistance during opening.

The strip secured to the film 2 is constituted by a label 50 having a sticky internal face superimposed on the cut tongue 30 as shown in FIG. 5b. The label 50 has two edges 51 and 52 which are spaced from the edges 31 and 33 of the tongue 30, outside the perimeter of the latter. Similarly, a gripping region 53, advantageously non-sticky on its internal face, is spaced from the edge 32 of the tongue 30, outside the perimeter of the latter.

Advantageously, the tongue 53 is bordered at least in part by lines of weakness 55 (for example dotted lines or lines of weak resistance) which serve in particular as a witness to the inviolability of the packaging. Advantageously, weakening lines, for example precuts 57, border a line 54 of articulation of the label 50 located at the base of the line 36 or slightly beyond the latter outside the perimeter of the tongue. 30.

To open the packaging, the user grasps the edge 53 of the label 50 and deploys the latter as shown in FIG. 6 by driving the tongue 30, the external face of which is secured by gluing the internal face of the label 50, which releases the blank 16 from the blank 1 and allows access to the products.

The variant illustrated in FIGS. 7a and 7b uses a sticky strip 3 to combine two materials, namely a blank 1 made of paper or cardboard, and more particularly of paper or corrugated cardboard and a film 2, in particular of plastic, in particular of polyolefin, the thickness of which is generally a few tens of microns. The blank 1 and the film 2 are joined at the level of a precut 15 produced on the blank 1. A tear primer produced in particular at the level of the longitudinal weld of the formed packet, allows, by pulling the film to cut it ci while tearing the precut 15 of the blank 1. The movement takes place over all or part of the length l ₂ of the blank 1 so as to allow access to the products, for example cookies. The reclosing can be carried out by applying the adhesive strip 3 projecting from the blank 1 against the film 2 on which it is folded, for example at the level of the longitudinal weld 25 of the packet formed.

The adhesive strip 3 has a width less than or equal to the distance between the precuts 15 on the blank 1 and can be: a transfer tape (protection / glue / protection) or else a layer of glue deposited between the blank 1 and the film 2 , a double-sided tape (protection / glue-support- glue / protection), one sticky face being in contact with the film 2 and the other face being in contact with the blank 1, a single-sided tape with a welding support adhesive-weldable support), the sticky face being in contact with the blank 1 and the non-sticky but weldable face being welded to the film 2, the adhesion between the support and the film being by welding, thermal or not, on part or all of the adhesive tape.

The precut 15 ′ of width I (for example two dotted precut lines 15 or two thickness reduction lines) is carried out over part or over the entire length l ₂ of the blank of the packet, and in any case over a sufficient length to collect products. The width I is also dimensioned according to the products. For laterally picked cookies, it is greater than or equal to the height of the cookies.

In the case of a transfer tape or a double-sided tape, the adhesive tape can be removed first on one of the two materials with removal of the protection before contacting with the other material. In the case of a single-sided strip with a weldable support, the adhesive tape is laid first on the blank 1. • In the case of a transfer tape or a double-sided tape, the length of the adhesive tape 3 deposited is less than or equal to the length L ₂ of the film 2 used for packaging.

In the case of a single-sided strip with welding support, the length of the adhesive strip deposited 3 is less than or equal to the length l ₂ of the blank 1.

In the embodiment of Figures 7a and 7b, the blank 1 has a width ^ and a length l ₂ and the pre-cut 15 'of width I extends from one end edge 11 to the other end edge 14, parallel to the longitudinal sides 12 and 13, remaining spaced a distance m from the edge 13. The assembly of the blank 1 and of the film 2 is carried out by making the edges 11 and 21 of the blank 1 and of the film 2 coincide respectively. while leaving lower and upper margins M ₁ and M ₂ allowing the film 2 to be folded back to at least partially form a pack bottom at each end. The film 2 has a width L and a length L ₂ , this length L ₂ preferably being greater than the length l ₂ of the blank 1 so that the adhesive strip 3 and the film can overlap to allow the film to stick to it. even, the length l ₂ of the blank 1 corresponding substantially to the perimeter of the package formed around the products. In FIG. 1b, it can also be seen that the strip 3 is arranged so as to partially or completely cover the precut region 15 of the blank 1.

Finally, at one end of the strip projecting from the blank 1, a tear initiation is provided, for example cutouts 27. In the example shown, these cutouts 27 start from the edge 24 of the film 2. FIG. 8 illustrates the case of a cylindrical packaging, in particular for round cookies in the case where the length of the adhesive strip 3 is equal to the length of the film 2. The cutouts 27, which here adjoin the edge 24 of the film 2, are provided at the longitudinal weld 25 of the package, the bottoms of which are produced by folding the ends of the film 2 which protrude from the edges 12 and 13 of the blank 2.

The consumer grasps the film 2 and the adhesive strip 3 at the level of the cutouts 27 and tears the film and the precuts 15 in a perimeter manner so as to release the products 40, for example cookies (see FIGS. 3 and 4), which allows a gripping and a lateral removal of these as soon as the torn pre-cut length reaches the half-perimeter of the cylindrical package. The gripping region 15 ' thus released being located near a bottom of the package, the cookies can be removed by gravity by placing the package upright.

FIG. 9 illustrates the case where the length of the adhesive strip 3 is equal to the length l ₂ of the blank 1. In this case, the precuts 27 can still be made at the level of the longitudinal weld 25 but the beginning of the opening by pulling on the film 2 alone until the tear reaches the edge 14 of the blank 1 to then tear the whole of the film 2 and of the precut 15 ′ to release the products 40 as in the case of the figure 2. It will be understood that, in the case of a cylindrical package, the length of the precut can be greater than or equal to the half-perimeter of the package, while in a package of square or rectangular shape, the length of the pre-cut can be greater than or equal to the length of one side of the packaging in order to ensure the removal of the products.

Claims

1. A packaging formed surrounding a stack of rigid products, such as cookies, and combining a paper or cardboard blank and a superimposed film, characterized in that the blank (1) has a cutting zone (16) defining a region for gripping the products which is arranged in the vicinity of a bottom of the packaging, and in that the film (2) has a strip (3, 50) which is integral with it and which at least partially covers said zone (16) cutting, the film (2) and the strip (3) forming an opening device for clearing the cutting area (16), the successive products can be removed by gravity by placing the packaging upright.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the strip (3) integral with the film (2) has an adhesive layer securing the strip (3) and the blank (1) outside the cutting area (16).

3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the blank (1) has a portion of sticky strip (17) covered with a protective strip, which is arranged in the vicinity of an edge (18) of the cutout ( 16).

4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the strip (3) extends from a first edge (21) to a second opposite edge (24) of the film (2).

5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outline of the blank (1) is inscribed in the outline of the film (2), and in that the blank (1) and the film (2) are superimposed so as to leave, at least at one end, a margin (M- ,, M ₂ ) allowing the film (2) to form by folding at least a bottom of the package.

6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the blank (1) and the film (2) are superimposed so as to have a common edge (11, 21).

7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said strip (3) projects from at least one side (14) of the blank (1).

8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the film (2) has a strip (4) in excess thickness which runs along said strip (3) integral with the film, so as to limit the tearing of the film (2) in the direction of one end (23) of the film (2). 5

9. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the film has a cut tab (30) coming substantially in correspondence with the cutting zone (16) and in that the strip secured to the film (2) consists of a label (50) which adheres to the film (2) on an overhanging surface of the cut tab (30) of the film (2) so as to form an opening - reclosing device.

10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the label (50) has a gripping region (53) devoid of adhesive.

11. Device according to claim 10, characterized in that the gripping region (53) is bordered at least in part by at least one weakening line (55) forming a tamper-evident indicator.

12. Device according to one of claims 9 or 11, characterized in that said cut tongue (30) extends over an unclosed perimeter so as to leave a line of articulation (36) of the tongue (30) to the film (2).

13. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the label (50) has weakening zones (57) bordering a line of articulation of the label (50) when it is opened.

14. Device according to one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that the cut tongue (30) has on its perimeter localized connection points (37) capable of allowing the film (2) to unwind during passage through the machine to form the package.