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
  • 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
  • B65D75/52—Details
  • B65D75/58—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture
  • B65D75/5827—Tear-lines provided in a wall portion
  • B65D75/585—Tear-lines provided in a wall portion the tear-lines being broken by deformation or bending
• • 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
  • B65D75/52—Details
  • B65D75/58—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture
  • B65D75/5827—Tear-lines provided in a wall portion
• • 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
  • B65D75/52—Details
  • B65D75/58—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture

Definitions

• This invention relates to packaging and packages, especially flexible packages, which are easily openable to allow the consumption of products contained therein.
• a known type of flexible package is described in WO200058174 in the form of a stand up bag comprising two side walls joined by top and bottom walls formed with gussets so that they each fold inwards of the package when in the flattened form.
• the side walls and top and bottom walls are formed as a tube which is closed each end by transverse seals which run the full width of the side walls to form an enclosure.
• the edges of the side walls where they join the top and bottom walls along fold lines are sealed to the adjoining edges of the top and bottom walls to form upstanding peripheral walls or rims which increase rigidity of the package.
• An object of the invention is to provide an improved package incorporating an easy open feature.
• the invention comprises a package having a flexible top wall joined at its periphery to flexible side walls to form an enclosure, the top wall being formed with a line of weakness which is adapted to be torn to create an opening in the top wall, the tear being confined between the peripheral join of the top wall with the side walls.
• the invention is applied to a package of the known type described above comprising side walls with transverse seals, and top and bottom walls folded inwards as gussets.
• a line of weakness Prior to assembly of the package, that portion which forms the top wall is formed with a line of weakness which extends across the top wall and allows it to be opened by inward pressure on the top wall to create a tear along the line of weakness.
• the line of weakness extends substantially centrally along the fold line of the gusseted top wall between the two transverse seals that permanently close the package, and the package is easily gripped in both hands, one either side of the line of weakness, with a thumb on each side to press downwards and create a tear along the line of weakness.
• the upper edges of the side walls are sealed to the adjoining edges of the top wall to form a peripheral upstanding rim which, as well as adding rigidity to the package in the known manner, further facilitates gripping of the top portions of the package either side of the line of weakness.
• a package allows the two portions of the top wall either side of the tear along the line of weakness to be folded inwards and downwards against the surrounding side walls of the package so as to leave an unobstructed opening of maximum size corresponding to the outline defined by the upstanding peripheral rim, and the torn portions of the top wall serve to line and reinforce the side walls below the upstanding rim.
• the folded sealed edges which form the upstanding rim serve to hold the torn portions of the top wall against the side walls. Therefore, in its open state, the package forms a container similar to a cup with an open top to allow maximum access to its contents and which is convenient to handle while the product is consumed.
• the packaging can then be disposed of in a tidy manner without having previously generated any additional potential litter in the form of tear strips or other torn packaging created during the opening process.
• Figure 1 illustrates a package according to an embodiment of the invention
• Figure 2 shows the package of Figure 1 in a partially open state
• Figure 3 shows the package of Figure 1 in the fully open state.
• Figure 1 illustrates a stand up bag of the known type composed of flexible plastics film which is formed into a tubular shape in a continuous flow process, with gusseted side walls that fold inwards.
• a bag or package is formed by severing a length of the tubular film from a continuous length and closing the cut ends by seals extending laterally of the length of the tube.
• the seals are shown as sealed flaps 1 and 2, which are upright in the finished package.
• the gusseted side walls become the top and bottom walls of the package and are unfolded by the products deposited in the package during the packaging process before the second of the seals 1, 2 is formed to close the package.
• the gusseted side wall forming the top of the pack is shown as 3 in Figure 1.
• Another known feature of this type of stand up bag is to heat seal peripheral portions of the top and bottom walls to the adjoining portions of the upright side walls 4, 5 so as to form an upstanding wall or rim 6 which gives a better definition to the shape of the package.
• the easy open feature according to the invention consists in providing a line of weakness 7 in the top wall 3 of the package, and, as shown in Figure 1, this extends substantially along the centre fold which forms the gusset in the wall production.
• the line of weakness is preferably formed as a continuous formation in the side wall 3 and therefore extends fully between the two seals 1 and 2.
• the opening process of the package simply involves a consumer gripping the top of the pack either side of the line of weakness 7 and either pulling either side of the top wall 3 apart to create a tear along the line of weakness 7, or pressing downwards with thumbs either side of the line of weakness 7 so as to create the tear along the line of weakness, as shown in Figure 2.
• the two portions of the top wall either side of the tear can be further pushed inwards against the adjacent upright side walls 4, 5 of the package so as to leave a completely unobstructed opening defined by the upstanding rim 6 around the top of the package, as shown in Figure 3.
• the fact that the line of weakness 7 extends across the full width of the top wall 3 ensures that the opening created by the tear also extends the full width of the top wall to allow the maximum opening.
• the upstanding rim serves to help hold the two torn portions of the top wall 3 against the adjacent upright walls 4, 5. Without the upstanding rim, the natural lack of foldability of the plastics film would cause the torn portions to return to the closed position and obstruct the torn opening.
• the plastics film that forms the package is a two layer laminate comprising inner and outer layers suited to different purposes including allowing heat sealing of the film to itself, providing a suitable contact layer and protective film for the contents of the package, and providing a suitable external layer for printing and other packaging purposes.
• the outer layer may be orientated polypropylene OPP, orientated polyester OPET or orientated polyamide OPA, and the inner layer is polyethylene PE or non-orientated polypropylene PP.
• a laminate film may be used having three or more layers.
• the line of weakness 7 in the top wall 3 may be formed by perforations in the outer layer of the laminate film, these perforations being formed before the lamination of the inner and outer layers. The perforations are therefore sealed by the inner layer until the line of weakness is torn in opening the package.
• the plastics composition of the inner layer and its thickness are selected to facilitate the tearing process, and the composition of the material of the outer layer is also selected to ensure that the applied tension during the opening process is generally withstood until the line of weakness fails.
• the inner layer may be 20-70 micron thick.
• the polyethylene film is formulated to enable the laminate to be split more readily.
• polyethylene films which are blends of different polyethylene grades containing a proportion of medium or high density polyethylene have been found to be particularly suitable for this purpose.
• the perforations in the line of weakness 7 may be formed by any suitable means including mechanical or laser means. Laser perforation means may be used to form the perforations in a laminate film after lamination. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, instead of providing perforations, a continuous slit may be provided in the outer layer.
• multiple parallel lines of weakness may be formed in the region of the centrefold of the top wall so as to allow for variation in the positioning of the centrefold of the package during the manufacturing process. That is, the multiple lines of weakness are preformed in the web that is eventually folded to form the side wall, and any lateral change in the position of the centre fold will then be accommodated by substantial alignment with at least one of the lines of weakness.
• the lines of weakness would typically be spaced lmm apart.
• a monolayer film may be used for the packaging, and the line of weakness may be formed by means which still preserves the barrier properties of the top wall, for example, by local thinning of the thickness of the film along the line of weakness, or, if suitable for the contents, the line of weakness may involve perforations which penetrate the film and break the barrier properties of the top wall.
• the line of weakness or parallel lines of weakness are offset from the centre fold of the gusset towards the junction of the top wall 3 with a side wall 4 or 5 so that a folded portion of the top wall 3 folds back against the opposite side wall 5 or 4.
• an opening may be provided in the top wall 3 by a line of weakness defining a portion of the wall which is to be displaced or removed on opening of the package.
• the line of weakness would then include portions that extend substantially laterally of the fold line of the top wall 3.
• the line of weakness may be a cut in the top wall which is covered by a pressure sensitive adhesive label, the label being removed in order to create an opening in the top wall.
• the line of weakness may be formed by a die-cutting process.
• a reclose device such as a pressure sensitive adhesive label may be provided that can be used to close the opening after it has been formed by tearing the line of weakness.
• This label may be attached to the top wall 3 to cover the line of weakness before it is torn, the label first being removed to allow the opening. Alternatively, the label may be attached to the packet elsewhere.
• the top wall may be composed of an easy tear film which tears easily in a preferred direction, which direction would be aligned to extend between the two upright seals 1 and 2 of the package in Figure 1.
• top bottom
• side side

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Bag Frames (AREA)
• Packaging Of Annular Or Rod-Shaped Articles, Wearing Apparel, Cassettes, Or The Like (AREA)
• Wrappers (AREA)
• Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)

Priority Applications (11)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=34073541

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (16)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (26)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (57)

• 2004
  • 2004-12-10 GB GB0427140A patent/GB2421013B/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2005
  • 2005-12-12 DE DE602005019460T patent/DE602005019460D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2005-12-12 AU AU2005313124A patent/AU2005313124B2/en not_active Expired
  • 2005-12-12 ES ES05818483T patent/ES2342479T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2005-12-12 EP EP05818483A patent/EP1819607B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2005-12-12 CA CA2589035A patent/CA2589035C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2005-12-12 UA UAA200706429A patent/UA89389C2/ru unknown
  • 2005-12-12 JP JP2007544995A patent/JP2008522912A/ja active Pending
  • 2005-12-12 ZA ZA200705401A patent/ZA200705401B/xx unknown
  • 2005-12-12 AT AT05818483T patent/ATE457936T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2005-12-12 PL PL05818483T patent/PL1819607T3/pl unknown
  • 2005-12-12 WO PCT/GB2005/004790 patent/WO2006061654A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2005-12-12 RU RU2007123463/11A patent/RU2408509C2/ru active
  • 2005-12-12 NZ NZ555736A patent/NZ555736A/en unknown
  • 2005-12-12 US US11/721,048 patent/US8622619B2/en active Active
  • 2005-12-12 CN CN2005800424351A patent/CN101076482B/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2013
  • 2013-11-27 US US14/092,525 patent/US20140193105A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (6)

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