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
  • B65D75/5894—Preformed openings provided in a wall portion and covered by a separate removable flexible element
• • 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
  • B65D2201/00—Means or constructions for testing or controlling the contents

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a container suitable for containing and dispensing wipes. More specifically, the invention is directed to a container comprising a portion sample made of the same material as the wipes contained within the container, wherein the portion sample is attached onto at least one external surface of the container.
• Containers suitable for dispensing wipes, and in particular pre-moistened wipes are known in the art. Flexible containers comprising pre-moistened wipes are, for example, described in WO91/04920 whereas rigid containers suitable for dispensing pre-moistened wipes are disclosed, for example, in US5791465.
• Both flexible and rigid containers known in the art generally comprise a dispensing opening, typically situated on the upper surface of the container, and a lid or sealing device, which can usually be repeatedly opened and resealed.
• Known containers therefore provide good sealing and satisfactory dispensing of the contained wipes.
• known containers do generally not allow the consumer to inspect and see the appearance of the wipe products before purchase (i.e. in the point of sale).
• the known containers would need to be opened so as for the potential consumer to see and touch its content, i.e. the wipes. This is of course not ideal since opened containers on the shop shelves will detrimentally affect their aesthetic appearance.
• the action of opening and re-opening may lead to pre-maturate evaporation of the lotion applied onto said pre- moistened wipes. Partial solutions have been proposed e.g. in US 2004/0094437, wherein the wipe packaging is provided with a window capable of displaying the product enclosed within the container.
• the aspect of the enclosed wipes may be graphically represented in one of the external surfaces of the container so as to permit identification of its content.
• the known wipe containers provide the consumer with the possibility to touch and feel the texture of the wipe which is intended to be purchased. This is particularly appreciable when the wipe is provided with some very soft touch or a three-dimensional structure on it, as described e.g. in US 2003/0228813.
• a container 1 suitable for containing and dispensing wipes comprising external and internal surfaces and said wipes being made from a substrate, wherein the container 1 comprises a portion sample of the substrate, and wherein the portion sample is attached onto at least one external surface of said container 1.
• the portion sample according to the preceding invention may be attached onto the container 1 using any labeling machine/technique commonly known in the art.
• consumer wipes such as dry or pre-moistened hard-surface cleaning wipes
• the substrate material is usually chosen to provide good cleaning lotion absorbance and sufficient integrity. However, it remains substantially flexible, fibrous and porous. Those flexibility, fibrous-like and porosity characteristics render the substrate materials difficult to process when trying to directly attach a portion of said substrate material onto any surface, in particular the surface of a wipe- containing container.
• the above processing problem is solved when the portion sample for use in the present invention is laminated with a supporting material thereby forming a laminate piece 4, and wherein the laminate piece 4 has an effective stiffness.
• the present invention relates to a container 1 suitable for containing and dispensing wipes, the container 1 comprising external and internal surfaces and the wipes being made from a substrate, wherein the container 1 comprises a portion sample of the substrate, and wherein the portion sample is attached onto at least one external surface of the container 1.
• the present invention encompasses a process of manufacturing an improved container 1 suitable for dispensing wipe, wherein the process comprises the steps of (a) providing a container suitable for containing and dispensing wipes, wherein the container comprises external and internal surfaces and said wipes are made from a substrate; (b) laminating a portion sample of the substrate with a supporting material thereby forming a laminate piece 4, wherein the laminate piece 4 has an effective stiffness; and (c) attaching by means of an adhesive the laminate piece 4obtained in step (b) onto at least one external surface of the container.
• the present invention is further directed to a process of presenting wipes contained within a container 1, wherein the process comprises the steps of (a) providing a container suitable for containing and dispensing wipes, wherein the container comprises external and internal surfaces and said wipes are made from a substrate; and (b) attaching a portion sample of the substrate onto at least one external surface of the container.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container 1 according to the present invention.
• the container 1 comprises a dispensing opening 2 covered by an adhesive cover label 3 and a laminate piece 4 attached onto the top panel of the container 1.
• Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the device used for the stiffness measurement described in the Test Method Section.
• the device comprises a plunger 5 having a diameter of 14 mm and a holed platform 6 comprising an orifice 7.
• the orifice 7 has an upper/outer diameter of 34 mm and a lower/inner diameter of 30 mm.
• the orifice 7 is provided with a width suitable for operating the test method described herein.
• the maximum height of the holed platform 6 is of 60 mm.
• the circular sample 8 has a diameter of 60 mm.
• substrate any material commonly known in the art of wipes, formed as a single structure during the manufacturing, or present in the form of two or more material laminates.
• Substrates herein include, but are not limited to, a woven fabric, a knit fabric, a nonwoven fabric, a paper material, a laminate of a fabric and a polymeric film and combinations thereof.
• abrasive it is referred to the ability to abrade or remove a relatively small, undesirable item otherwise affixed to a surface as the wipe is moved back and forth over the item.
• abrasive means it is meant herein a discrete three-dimensional structure made of an abrasive material.
• the present invention is directed to a container 1 suitable for containing and dispensing wipes, the container 1 comprising external and internal surfaces and the wipes being made from a substrate, wherein the container 1 comprises a portion sample of the substrate, and wherein the portion sample is attached onto at least one external surface of the container 1.
• the flexible container 1 is preferably made from a multilayered polymeric material.
• the flexible container 1 is made from a dual-layered film comprising a polyethylene terephthalate layer and polyethylene layer.
• the flexible container 1 may further comprise a metallized polyethylene terephthalate layer.
• the package body forms an internal space or pocket for housing the wipes contents of the container 1.
• the pocket has a top panel, a bottom panel and opposing side panel.
• the wipes may be packaged in the container 1 in any convenient configuration which allows easy removal of a single or multiple wipe from the container 1.
• the wipes are packaged in rolls, stacks, piles or are interleafed. More preferably the wipes are provided in a stacked configuration which may comprise any number of wipes. Typically, the stack comprises from 2 to 150, more preferably from 5 to 100, most preferably from 10 to 60 wipes. Moreover the wipes may be provided folded or unfolded. Most preferably, the wipes are stacked in a folded configuration.
• the external surface container 1 may be additionally provided with a pivotably mounted flap or lid having an inner and an outer side and which is intended to pivotably cover the dispensing opening 2/cover label 3 combination.
• the portion sample or the laminate piece 4 for use in the present invention is preferably attached onto the inner side of the pivotably mounted flap or lid.
• a preferred wipe for dispensing from the container 1 of the present invention is a surface cleaning wipe, preferably a hard surface cleaning wipe.
• the wipes are pre-moistened wipes, sometimes referred to as wet wipes, or towelettes.
• pre-moistened wipes are impregnated with an appropriate cleansing or cleaning lotion.
• the pre-moistened wipes for use in the present invention are impregnated with a hard-surface cleaning lotion.
• Suitable lotions for use in the context of the present invention as well as optional ingredients which may be incorporated in said lotion are described for example in WO 03/031557 under the paragraph entitled "Aqueous
• lotions for use in the present invention are formulated as a liquid composition.
• a preferred lotion herein is an aqueous composition and therefore, preferably comprises water, more preferably in an amount of from 60% to 99%, even more preferably of from 70% to 98% and most preferably from 80% to 97% by weight of the total lotion composition.
• the wipe is a pre- moistened wipe comprising a substrate having a plurality of abrasive means applied thereon, i.e. a plurality of discrete three-dimensional structure made of an abrasive material applied thereon.
• abrasive wipes are described e.g. in co-pending EP Patent Application N° 05075308.
• Portion sample In the context of the present invention, it has been surprisingly found that by providing a container 1 which comprises a portion sample of the substrate which the wipes contained within the container 1 are made of, and wherein the portion sample is attached onto at least one external surface of the container 1, the user or purchaser is not only allowed to inspect the appearance of the wipes but he may also touch and feel the texture of the wipes contained within the container 1.
• the user may therefore fully appreciate and inspect the quality of the wipes which are enclosed within the container 1 that he is intending to purchase, without the need to open or affect the integrity of the container 1.
• the portion sample for use in the present invention is made of the same material (i.e. substrate) as the wipes contained within the container 1. In a preferred execution, the portion sample would have exactly the same appearance and texture as the wipes which are contained within the container
• the portion sample for use in the present invention has the same colour, texture and is provided with same three-dimensional structures (if applicable) or aesthetic features as the wipes contained within said container 1.
• the container 1 according to the present invention provides the purchaser with the highest informative value.
• the portion sample is attached by means of an adhesive and preferably onto at least the top panel of the container 1 according to the invention.
• the portion sample attached onto the container 1 is preferably not loaded with a lotion, but may be.
• the portion sample for use in the present invention is preferably attached onto at least one external surface of the container 1 by means of a permanent adhesive.
• Suitable permanent adhesives are those know in the field.
• Preferred adhesives are for example acrylic -based permanent adhesives.
• the portion sample is laminated with a supporting material thereby forming a laminate piece 4.
• Suitable lamination processes for use herein are well known in the art of labeling.
• the portion sample is laminated with the supporting layer by means of an adhesive.
• Suitable adhesives for use in the lamination process are identical to those described above for attaching the portion sample onto at least one external surface of the container 1.
• suitable adhesive may be applied as a coating layer either on the integrality of the portion sample surface or at selected areas of it. Preferably, suitable adhesive is applied onto the entirety of the portion sample surface. In an alternative execution of the present invention, suitable adhesive is applied at selected locations, preferably on the central zone, of the portion sample surface. This particular embodiment allows the purchaser to inspect and feel both sides of the wipes he is intending to purchase.
• Suitable supporting materials are those well know by the person skilled in the art of labeling. As a minimal requirement, suitable supporting material shall be fully compatible with the above-mentioned adhesive.
• the supporting material is a flexible material, such paper or plastic films. More preferably, the supporting material is a polymeric film. In a highly preferred execution of the present invention, the supporting material is a polypropylene film. Suitable supporting materials will not detrimentally affect the texture and/or the colour of the portion sample when applied onto it. In contrast and in a preferred aspect, the supporting material for use in the present invention will help enhancing the touching and feeling of the portion sample and may be used to provide additional aesthetic benefits to the portion sample attached onto the container 1 of the present invention.
• the laminate piece 4 herein is provided with an effective stiffness.
• effective stiffness it is meant herein that the laminate piece 4 is provided with a stiffness which is suitable for said laminate piece 4 to be dispensed from a regular labeling machine. Suitable regular labeling machines are described e.g. in EP-Bl-O 677 013.
• Stiffness of the laminate piece 4 is measured, at 23 0 C under 50% relative humidity, according to a modified Standard Test Method D 4032, as described in the Test Method Section hereinafter. Stiffness measurement may be performed using the Instron 6021 Dynamometer manufactured by Instron.
• the stiffness of the laminate piece 4 is of at least 3N, when measured according to the Test Method described herein.
• the stiffness of the laminate piece 4 ranges from 3N to 2ON, preferably from 4N to 15N, more preferably from 5N to ION, even more preferably from 5N to 7N, most preferably from 5.5N to 6.5N.
• the Applicant has surprisingly found that when selecting stiffness of the laminate piece 4 to be of at least 3N, preferably from 3N to 2ON, more preferably from 4N to 15N, still more preferably from 5N to ION, even more preferably from 5N to 7N, and most preferably from 5.5N to 6.5N, the corresponding laminate piece 4 is provided with suitable stiffness for it to be easily dispensed from a regular dispensing machine in the context of a regular product labeling process. Suitable dispensing/labeling apparatus and processes are described e.g. in EP-Bl-O 677 013.
• laminate pieces not fulfilling the above stiffness requirements will lead to obtain laminate pieces not easily processable or releasable from commonly used label-applying machines. As a consequence, such non-suitable laminate pieces may only be dispensed manually onto the corresponding containers forbidding therefore any large scale industrial production.
• the laminate pieces 4 suitable for use in the context of the present invention will provide the user with a pleasant and realistic touching/feeling experience. Moreover, suitable laminate pieces 4 will not detrimentally affect conformability properties exhibited by flexible containers 1 according to the present invention.
• the laminate piece 4 for use in the present invention is preferably attached onto at least one external surface of the container 1 by means of a permanent adhesive.
• Suitable permanent adhesives are those well known in the field.
• Preferred adhesives are for example acrylic-based permanent adhesives.
• the laminate piece 4 is attached onto at least the top panel of the container 1 according to the invention.
• Containers 1 may additionally comprise laminate pieces 4 on the bottom panel and/or on the opposing side panels.
• the laminate piece 4 is preferably attached onto the cover- label.
• a process of manufacturing an improved container 1 suitable for dispensing wipe comprising the steps of (a) providing a container suitable for containing and dispensing wipes, wherein the container comprises external and internal surfaces and said wipes are made from a substrate; (b) laminating a portion sample of the substrate with a supporting material thereby forming a laminate piece 4 wherein the laminate piece 4 has an effective stiffness; and (c) attaching by means of an adhesive the laminate piece 4 obtained in step (b) onto at least one external surface of the container.
• Step (c) of the above process may be performed manually or in an automated manner according to techniques well known in the art. Those will therefore not be described in further details herein.
• the step of attaching by means of an adhesive the laminate piece 4 onto at least one external surface of the container 1, is performed using a regular label-applying station as described in EP-Bl-O 677 013.
• the surface of the laminate piece 4 comprising the supporting material is coated with a permanent adhesive layer which is preferably non- sticky until appropriate activation Suitable permanent adhesives for attaching the laminate piece 4 onto the container 1 are for example acrylic- based permanent adhesives.
• Process of presenting wipes The present invention is further directed to a process of presenting wipes contained within a container 1, wherein the process comprises the steps of (a) providing a container suitable for containing and dispensing wipes, wherein the container comprises external and internal surfaces and said wipes are made from a substrate; and (b) attaching a portion sample of the substrate onto at least one external surface of the container.
• the portion sample is attached onto at least one external surface of the container 1 by means of an adhesive.
• Containers 1 according to the present invention provide the user or purchaser with an improved informative value with respect to the wipes which are contained within the container 1.
• a further advantage of the containers 1 according to the present invention is that they increase the advertising value of containers for wipes commonly known in the art and provide the consumer with a unique buying experience.
• Method ASTM D 4032 using as the device as described in Figure 2.
• the method covers the determination of the stiffness by the circular bend procedure.
• the bending force or stiffness of a sample is calculated after folding the sample inside a hole by a plunger.
• N The average load expressed in Newton (N) to fold a circular flat shaped sample placed onto a hole by a plunger at 90° penetration angle.
• the inlet hole In order to determine the folding force the inlet hole must have rounded edges to minimize any friction. This test is designed for samples not exceeding lmm thickness.
• Test sample should be conditioned in a climatic room for not less than 6 hours before testing.
• the plunger 5 and the holed platform 6 are respectively fixed to the upper cross head and the lower clamp of the tensile tester.
• a circular sample 8 of 60 mm diameter is cut out and put it over the holed Platform.
• the plunger end is set 10 mm above the sample surface.
• An abrasive wipe was made using a commercially available carded hydro-entangled nonwoven substrate of 58 g/m 2 basis weight containing 60% synthetic fibers and 40% absorbent fibers.
• the applied polymeric material is polypropylene supplied by Basell under the trade name Moplen HF 1005.
• the polymeric material was applied by a gravure printing process as described in EP-Al-I 262 531.
• the abrasive wipe is then laminated with a bi-axially oriented, gloss polypropylene film in a conventional manner using an acrylic -based intermediate adhesive coating.
• the obtained laminate is then coated on its polymeric film surface with an acrylic- based permanent adhesive material.
• the overall stiffness of this laminate piece (4) has been determined to be of 6.1N, as measured according to the Test Method described herein.
• the laminate piece (4) coated with the acrylic-based adhesive is then attached to a regular wipe-containing flexible packaging according to the method described in EP- Bl-O 677 013.
• Example 2 The following examples serve to exemplify pre-moistened contained within the container 1 according to the present invention.
• the lotions are made by combining the listed ingredients in the listed proportions to form homogeneous mixtures (solution weight % unless otherwise specified).
• the following examples are meant to exemplify lotions used in pre-moistened wipes for use in the present invention but are not necessarily used to limit or otherwise define the scope of the present invention.
• All substrates have homogeneously distributed fibers, have dimensions 26 cm * 17 cm, are initially dry, and are impregnated with lotion at loading factor between 2.0 x and 4.40 x factor, based on basis weight of the substrate before abrasion application. Following substrates are mentioned for example purposes:
• Substrate 1 is a hydroentangled 67g/m "2 substrate, consisting of 20% polypropylene and 80% PET, that is substantially free of binders and latexes;
• Substrate 2 is a hydroentangled 58 g/m "2 substrate, consisting of 90% polypropylene and 10% viscose fibers, that is substantially free of binders and latexes;
• Substrate 3 is a hydroentangled 58 g/m "2 substrate, consisting of 60% polypropylene and 40% viscose fibers, that is substantially free of binders and latexes;
• Substrate 4 is a hydroentangled 58 g/m "2 substrate, consisting of 50% polypropylene and 50% viscose fibers, that is substantially free of binders and latexes;
• Substrate 5 is a hydroentangled 58 g/m "2 substrate, consisting of 10% polypropylene and 90% viscose fibers, that is substantially free of binders and latexes;
• Substrate 6 is a carded thermobonded 45 g/m "2 substrate, consisting of 80% polypropylene and 20% viscose fibers, that is substantially free of binders and latexes;

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
• Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)
• Cleaning Implements For Floors, Carpets, Furniture, Walls, And The Like (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)

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Citations (6)

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• 2005
  • 2005-07-14 EP EP05076616A patent/EP1743848B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2005-07-14 ES ES05076616T patent/ES2319436T3/es active Active
  • 2005-07-14 AT AT05076616T patent/ATE420039T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2005-07-14 DE DE602005012253T patent/DE602005012253D1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2006
  • 2006-07-07 CA CA002615095A patent/CA2615095A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2006-07-07 WO PCT/IB2006/052313 patent/WO2007007266A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2006-07-07 CN CNA2006800255856A patent/CN101223087A/zh active Pending
  • 2006-07-07 MX MX2008000561A patent/MX2008000561A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2006-07-14 US US11/486,730 patent/US20070012715A1/en not_active Abandoned

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