WO2003082708A1

WO2003082708A1 - Metal foil package

Info

Publication number: WO2003082708A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/000573
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chang-Seok Choi
Original assignee: Alfo21 Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2002-04-02
Filing date: 2003-03-24
Publication date: 2003-10-09
Also published as: AU2003210063A1; KR200278788Y1

Abstract

Usage of metal foil is enhanced by a metal foil package including a case comprising first and second side walls being opposite to each other and a plurality of metal foil sheets planarly contained in the case, wherein an outlet opening region is provided in the case such that the outlet opening region extends from the first side wall to the second side wall.

Description

METAL FOIL PACKAGE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a metal foil package such as a metal

foil container and/or a metal foil product including the container and metal foil

stored therein.

(b) Description of the Related Art

As is well known in the art, metal foil is widely used in everyday life. A typical example of such metal foil is cooking foil (also called aluminum foil or

tin foil), which is commonly used in the kitchen.

Such metal foil, e.g., cooking foil is sold in the market and used by a customer, being contained in a container. FIG. 1 shows a typical exemplary

package of such a cooking foil product. As shown in FIG. 1 , a metal foil

product usually has a case 1 1 containing a roll of cooking foil 1 .

According to the prior art, as shown in FIG. 1 , the case 1 1 has a box- shaped overall appearance with its upper side being opened. A serrated

blade 13 is provided at a side of the case such that a customer can cut the

metal foil extracted from the roll contained in the case 1 1 .

A great deal of investment has been undertaken regarding the typical

scheme of metal foil package, an example of which is U.S. patent

US5, 732,868 (assignee: Reynolds Metals Company).

Conventional cooking foil products (or in general, metal foil products) are accompanied by an inconvenience that a user must cut the cooking foil.

In addition, a wound such as a flesh cut may be caused by the serrated

blade used to cut the foil. Furthermore, the foil easily gets crumpled while

being extracted or cut.

In addition, according to conventional cooking foil products, in order

to keep the roll of metal foil inside of the case, the case should be provided

with a stem that holds the roll, and the strength of the case should be

sufficiently high.

The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section

is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention

and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person

skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the motivation for the present invention is to provide non-

limiting advantages of easiness of extracting metal foil, reduced crumpling of foil while extracting it, more safety, and more efficient use of a metal foil

package.

An exemplary metal foil package useful with the present invention

includes a case having first and second side walls being opposite to each

other and a plurality of metal foil sheets planarly contained therein, wherein

an outlet opening region is provided in the case such that the outlet opening

region extends from the first side wall to the second side wall. In a further embodiment, the case further includes at least one side

connecting the first and second side walls, and the outlet opening region is

formed at about the central portion of the one side.

In another further embodiment, the case further includes at least one

edge connecting the first and second side walls, and the outlet opening region is formed at said one edge.

It is preferable that at least one perforated line for forming said outlet

opening region is formed on the case, where the perforated line extends from the first side wall to the second side wall.

It is further preferable that a folding line is formed on the first side

wall or the second side wall.

It is yet further preferable that the folding line is formed at about the center of the first side wall or the second side wall.

It is preferable that the width of the outlet opening region on said one

side increases in the vicinity of the first and second side walls.

The case is preferably of a hexahedral shape having the first and second side walls.

The metal foil is preferably cooking foil.

It is preferable that each sheet of the plurality of metal foil sheets is folded at about its center, and overlaps halfway with adjacent sheets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and

constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of

the invention:

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional cooking foil package;

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view in perspective of a metal foil

package according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a top plan view of a metal foil package seen in the

direction A of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment of the present

invention;

FIG. 3B is a side view of a metal foil package seen in the direction B of FIG. 3A according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3C is a side view of a metal foil package seen in the direction C of FIG. 3A according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates how a plurality of metal foil sheets are planarly contained in a case of a metal foil package according to a preferred

embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a metal foil package with its outlet opening region open according to a preferred embodiment of the present

invention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an exterior shape of a metal foil package according

to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be

described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view in perspective of a metal foil

package 200 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a top plan view of the metal foil package 200 seen in the direction

A of FIG. 2. FIGS. 3B and 3C are respectively side views of the metal foil

package 200 seen in the directions B and C of FIG. 3A. FIG. 5 is a

perspective view of the metal foil package 200 with its outlet opening region open.

As shown in FIG. 2, the metal foil package 200 includes a case 205

having first and second side walls 210 and 220 being opposite to each other,

and metal foil (in more detail, cooking foil) 260 contained in the case 205.

An outlet opening region 250 is provided in the case 205 such that the outlet opening region 250 extends from the first side wall 210 to the

second side wall 220.

As shown in FIG. 2, the case 205 of the metal foil package 200 is

realized as a hexahedral shape according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. That is, the case 205 further includes, in addition to the

first and second side walls 210 and 220, four sides that connect them. The

four sides are an upper side 230, a bottom side 235, a front side 240, and a

rear side 245. It is notable that the exterior shape of the case of the metal foil

package of the present invention should not be understood as being limited

to the shape shown in FIG. 2.

As can be seen in the FIG. 2, the case 205 has at least one side (i.e.,

the upper side 230) connecting the first and second side walls 210 and 220, and the outlet opening region 250 is formed at about the central portion of

the upper side 230.

Perforated lines 280 and 290 extending from the first side wall 210 to

the second side wall 220 are formed on the case 205 in order to form the

outlet opening region 250. The perforated lines 280 and 290 are connected

to each other by another perforated line 270 formed on the first side wall 210.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3C, perforated lines 372 and 373 and a

folding line 371 are further formed on the second side wall 220. Accordingly,

the outlet opening region 250 is fully defined by the perforated lines 270, 280, 290, 372, and 373 and the folding line 371 . It is obvious that the folding line

371 may be formed on the first side wall 210 instead of the second side wall 220.

The folding line 371 enables an opening piece 510 (see FIG. 5) of the case 250 to remain attached to the case, such that it may cover the outlet

opening region 250 again when needed. It is also obvious that the current

embodiment may be altered so that the folding line 371 is replaced with a new perforated line such that the outlet opening region 250 can be fully

opened by detaching the opening piece 510 of the case 205.

The folding line 371 is preferably positioned at about the center of the

second side wall 220 such that the opening piece 510 of the case 205 may

be easily bent and laid under the case 205. That is, as shown in FIG. 3C, the

depth D of the folding line 371 in the second side wall 220 is approximately

half of the height of the second side wall 220. In more detail, the perforated lines 280 and 290 are shaped such that

the width W of the outlet opening region 250 increases in the vicinity of the

first and second side walls 210 and 220.

To that purpose, the perforated line 280 includes a central portion

281 formed perpendicular to the first and second side walls 210 and 220, a

first slant portion 283 formed in the vicinity of the first side wall 210 and

connected to the central portion 281 , and a second slant portion 282 formed

in the vicinity of the second side wall 220 and connected to the central

portion 281 . In the same way, the perforated line 290 includes a central

portion 291 formed perpendicular to the first and second side walls 210 and

220, a first slant portion 293 formed in the vicinity of the first side wall 210

and connected to the central portion 291 , and a second slant portion 293 formed in the vicinity of the second side wall 220 and connected to the

central portion 291 The first slant portions 283 and 293 and the second slant portions

282 and 292 of the perforated lines 280 and 290 are formed to the distance

H respectively from the first and second side walls 210 and 220.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,

interference of edges of the cooking foil 260 with the case 205 is prevented

when the foil is extracted therefrom, because the opening region 250

extends to the side walls 210 and 220 and the side walls 210 and 220 are

also partially open.

Furthermore, such interference between foil edges and the case 205 is further reduced by the shape of the opening region 250 on the upper side

230 because the width W of the outlet opening region 250 increases in the

vicinity of the first and second side walls 210 and 220.

FIG. 4 illustrates how metal foil 260 is contained in the case 205 of

the metal foil package 200 according to a preferred embodiment of the

present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the metal foil 260 contained in the

case 205 includes a plurality of foil sheets 410. Each foil sheet 410 is folded

at about its center and overlaps halfway with adjacent foil sheets.

A way of using the metal foil package 200 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is hereinafter described in detail with

reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates the metal foil package 200 with its outlet opening region 250 open after having the perforated lines 270, 280, and 290 broken.

FIG. 5 also shows the metal foil package 200 after an uppermost foil sheet in the case 205 has been partially extracted from the case 205.

The opening piece 510 of the case 205 remains attached to the case

205 because of the folding line 371 , rather than being fully detached from the

case 205.

Therefore, the opening piece 510 of the case 205 may again cover

the opening region 250 such that metal foil inside the case 205 can be

protected and secured from dirt or dust entering into the case 205.

Once the uppermost foil sheet has been completely extracted from

the case 205, the package 200 will again be in a state as shown in FIG. 5, because the uppermost foil sheet draws the next one up to a partially

extracted position.

The preferred embodiment described above has the opening region

250 formed on a side (i.e., the upper side 230) connecting the first and

second side walls 210 and 220.

It is notable that such an opening region may be formed in another

fashion providing that the opening region fully extends between the first and

second side walls 210 and 220. For example, the opening region may be

formed at an edge connecting the first and second side walls 210 and 220. Such a second embodiment of the present invention is hereinafter described

in detail with reference to FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, a case 605 of a metal foil package 600 according

to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention includes at least one edge connecting the first and second side walls 610 and 620, and an

outlet opening region 650 is formed at the edge.

The outlet opening region 650 is formed by perforated lines 670, 680, and 690 and a folding line (not shown) on the second side wall 620, where

the folding line is formed on the second side wall 620 at a position

corresponding to the perforated line 670.

According to the second preferred embodiment of the present

invention, metal foil is contained in the case 605 in the same way as shown

in FIG. 4.

It is obvious that interference between the metal foil and the case may be minimized according to the second preferred embodiment of the

present invention.

As described above, according to a preferred embodiment of the

present invention, metal foil is easily extracted from the case in the form of

foil sheets, and therefore inconvenience of cutting the metal foil is obviated.

In addition, the danger of hurting one's hand by an element such as a

serrated blade for cutting the metal foil is eliminated because such a serrated

blade is eliminated.

Furthermore, an accessory such as a cylinder-shaped stem for forming a roll of metal foil is not necessary, which reduces mass and

increases efficiency of a metal foil package.

In addition, crumpling of foil sheet is reduced when extracting them

from the case because interference between the metal foil and the case is reduced.

While this invention has been described in connection with what is

presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is

to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications

and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the

appended claims.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless

explicitly described to the contrary, the word "comprise" or variations such as

"comprises" or "comprising" will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A metal foil package comprising: a case comprising first and second side walls being opposite to each other; a plurality of metal foil sheets planarly contained in the case, wherein an outlet opening region is provided in the case such that the outlet opening region extends from the first side wall to the second side wall.

2. The metal foil package of claim 1 , wherein the case is of hexahedral shape comprising the first and second side walls.

3. The metal foil package of claim 1 , wherein the case further comprises at least one side connecting the first and second side walls, and the outlet opening region is formed at about the central portion of said one side.

4. The metal foil package of claim 1 , wherein the case further comprises at least one edge connecting the first and second side walls, and the outlet opening region is formed at said one edge.

5. The metal foil package of claim 3, wherein at least one perforated line for forming said outlet opening region is formed on the case, said perforated line extending from the first side wall to the second side wall.

6. The metal foil package of claim 5, wherein a folding line is formed on the first side wall or the second side wall.

7. The metal foil package of claim 6, wherein the folding line is formed at about the center of the first side wall or the second side wall.

8. The metal foil package of claim 5, wherein the width of the outlet opening region on said one side increases in the vicinity of the first and second side walls.

9. The metal foil package of claim 1 wherein the metal foil is cooking foil.

10. The metal foil package of claim 1 , wherein each sheet of metal foil is folded at about its center and overlaps halfway with adjacent metal foil sheets.