WO2012042188A1 - Remplissage et scellement de récipients de boisson - Google Patents

Remplissage et scellement de récipients de boisson Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2012042188A1
WO2012042188A1 PCT/GB2010/001829 GB2010001829W WO2012042188A1 WO 2012042188 A1 WO2012042188 A1 WO 2012042188A1 GB 2010001829 W GB2010001829 W GB 2010001829W WO 2012042188 A1 WO2012042188 A1 WO 2012042188A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
lid
container
rim
beverage
heat sealer
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2010/001829
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
James Nash
Original Assignee
Wine Innovations Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Wine Innovations Ltd filed Critical Wine Innovations Ltd
Priority to PCT/GB2010/001829 priority Critical patent/WO2012042188A1/fr
Publication of WO2012042188A1 publication Critical patent/WO2012042188A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
    • B65B7/00—Closing containers or receptacles after filling
    • B65B7/16—Closing semi-rigid or rigid containers or receptacles not deformed by, or not taking-up shape of, contents, e.g. boxes or cartons
    • B65B7/28—Closing semi-rigid or rigid containers or receptacles not deformed by, or not taking-up shape of, contents, e.g. boxes or cartons by applying separate preformed closures, e.g. lids, covers
    • B65B7/2842—Securing closures on containers
    • B65B7/2878—Securing closures on containers by heat-sealing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
    • B65B3/00—Packaging plastic material, semiliquids, liquids or mixed solids and liquids, in individual containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, or jars
    • B65B3/04—Methods of, or means for, filling the material into the containers or receptacles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
    • B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
    • B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
    • B65B31/04—Evacuating, pressurising or gasifying filled containers or wrappers by means of nozzles through which air or other gas, e.g. an inert gas, is withdrawn or supplied
    • B65B31/043—Evacuating, pressurising or gasifying filled containers or wrappers by means of nozzles through which air or other gas, e.g. an inert gas, is withdrawn or supplied the nozzles acting horizontally between an upper and a lower part of the container or wrapper, e.g. between container and lid

Definitions

  • This disclosure is concerned with filling and sealing of beverage containers.
  • Wine is traditionally sold by the bottle, usually in 70cl bottles. However, it is drunk by the glass, and often sold in bars, cafes and restaurants by the glass in measures of different sizes. The bar, cafe or restaurant owner must supply glasses, dispense the selected wine from a bottle into the glass, collect empties and wash them up for reuse. There are thus significant capital and labour costs inherent in selling wine in the traditional manner by the glass. Usually only a small selection of popular wines will be supplied in this way since, once a bottle is opened, its contents will start to oxidise. Small amounts of wine left at the end of a bottle must generally be thrown away.
  • a method of filling and sealing a beverage container comprising the following steps in order:
  • the tacked lid may be engaged in a number of different ways to cause flexure thereof to create the gap. For example, a sucker arm may lift an edge of the lid vertically, or a horizontally acting pusher arm may push an edge portion of the lid.
  • the lid is generally circular with an area corresponding to the area of the container at its rim and having a tab extending beyond the said rim to one side of the container for subsequent manual removal of the lid by a consumer to open the sealed container in order to drink the beverage, and the tab is pushed to cause flexure of the lid.
  • the gap is created by using relative movement between the container and a ring of radius slightly larger than the radius of the container at its rim to cause the ring to engage the tab.
  • the ring takes the form of a skirt.
  • the inert gas is supplied via the skirt, which serves to partially contain the inert gas. A flush of inert gas is timed to coincide with the skirt brushing the tab.
  • the heat sealer is generally annular and mounted coaxially with the skirt for relative movement between heat sealer and container to bring the heat sealer into engagement with the lid while the container is within the ring.
  • the vessel is a wineglass into which wine is dispensed in the method.
  • a particularly preferred form of the glass is where the glass comprises a goblet moulded from PET (Polyethylene terephthalate).
  • the lid is preferably dispensed from a stack of lids in a hopper or cassette by a suction arm.
  • the suction arm is preferably adapted to swivel from a position in which ft engages the lowermost lid of the stack to a position in which it places the lid atop the rim of the container.
  • the suction arm preferably includes a spot heat sealer to provide the temporary tacking.
  • the method is preferably performed on an indexed turntable, with successive index positions for (i) filling, (ii) initial application of a lid, (iii) flexure and inert gas flush and final seal and (iv) presenting the filled and sealed container to a packaging conveyor.
  • a system for filling and sealing a beverage container comprising:
  • a tacking device adapted temporarily to tack the film lid to the rim of the container at at least one position around the rim while leaving the remainder of the rim free;
  • a dispenser for dispensing an inert gas or substantially oxygen free gas or gases through the gap so created and into the headspace to displace air therefrom;
  • a heat sealer configured to be brought into engagement with the lid to heat seal the lid to the rim about its entire circumference, thereby trapping the inert gas or substantially oxygen free gas or gases within the headspace.
  • Figure 1 schematically illustrates successive stages (a) to (g) in the filling and sealing of a glass
  • FIG 2 shows a perspective view of a gas flushing ring assembly
  • Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the assembly of Figure 2 from the opposite side.
  • a beverage container here a clear goblet 1 formed of PET
  • the turntable presents the glass 1 to a plurality of indexed stations as it rotates.
  • a predetermined volume of a beverage here wine 2
  • a clear headspace 5 is left between the level of wine 2 and open top 4 of glass 1.
  • the filled glass is carried by the turntable to the second index position (ii), where a generally flat flexible film lid 6 is applied to the open top 4 of glass 1 in step (c).
  • a swivel suction arm 7 withdraws lowermost lid 6 from a stack of lids in a hopper or cassette (not shown), and is swivelled, as shown by the arrow, to place lid 6 atop glass 1.
  • the swivel section of arm 7 includes a spot heat sealer which spot tacks the lid 6 to rim 8 of the glass 1 at one or more points to hold the lid temporarily in place, while leaving the remainder of the lid free around the circumference of the rim 8.
  • the lid 6 consists of a generally flat flexible film and, in this arrangement, is circular with an area corresponding to that of glass 1 at its rim 8, and having a tab 9 extending beyond the rim 8 to one side of the container to allow a consumer to grasp the tab to manually remove lid 6 from glass 1 in order to drink the wine 2.
  • the film lid may be made of a variety of materials, suitably biocompatible materials with good oxygen barrier properties as desired and may comprise several layers, the lowermost of which is a heat seal layer that will fuse with the PET of the glass to form a seal sufficient to hold the lid firmly in position but capable of being broken by pulling on tab 9.
  • the temporarily lidded glass is carried by the turntable to the third index position (iii).
  • Step (d) relative movement takes place between the temporarily lidded glass 1 and a ring 10 in Step (d), the ring 10 being moved generally vertically down a rail 11 in the illustrated arrangement, while the glass 1 is held stationary; and the ring 10 engages tab 9 to push it down sufficiently to cause upward flexure of the lid to create a gap 12 between lid and rim into which an inert gas is dispensed in Step (e).
  • the ring 10 itself, is formed in two halves 13 and 14.
  • the upper half 13 forms an upper gas flush plate
  • lower half 14 forms a lower gas flush plate, the two effectively forming a skirt that surrounds the top of glass 1 , as shown at (e) in Fig. 1 , to partially contain dispensed inert gas, as explained below.
  • One or more, here a plurality, of gas flush channels 15 are defined between the upper and lower gas flush plates, in this case by machining the channels in lower face 16 of the upper plate.
  • the ring assembly of gas flush plates 13, 14 is mounted on an adjustment plate 17 that allows some adjustment in the position of the gas flush nozzles, as defined by the openings of channels 15 on inner surface 18 of upper gas flush plate 13, angularly about the axis of the ring assembly.
  • An adapter plate 19 serves both to couple the adjuster plate 17 to a carriage 20 adapted to move vertically on linear rail 11 , and to mount a cylinder 21 of inert gas, preferably nitrogen, shown separated in Fig. 2, via a cylinder mount plate 22.
  • Step (e) As the ring assembly 3, the inner radius of which is only slightly larger than the radius of the glass 1 at its rim 8, is lowered over the top of the glass, the ring assembly 10 brushes against tab 9, and, in so doing, pushes it down sufficiently to cause upward flexure of the flexible film lid 6 to create gap 12 between the lid and the rim 8. As ring assembly 10 engages tab 9 to create gap 12, a flush of inert gas is timed to be dispensed from channels 15 through gap 12 and into the headspace 5 within the temporarily lidded glass defined between wine 2 and lid 6, to displace air from the headspace, thereby completing Step (e).
  • Step (f) is initiated to bring a heat sealer 23 into engagement with the lid 6 to heat seal the lid to the rim about its entire circumference, thereby trapping the inert gas within the headspace.
  • heat sealer 23 comprises a machined annular copper heat seal plate 24 mounted from a carriage 25 adapted to move vertically along rail 11 , the heat seal plate 24 being adapted to come down within the inner radius of the gas flush plates to engage the lid 6 immediately over rim 8 of glass 1 to effect a seal around the entire circumference of the rim.
  • the filled and sealed wine glass 26 is then moved by the turntable to its final index position (iv) in Step (g), where it is presented to a packaging conveyor of conventional form (not illustrated) for movement to a packaging station for packaging and dispatch to customers.
  • the lid need not be circular and need not have a tab.
  • the term "circumference" is used herein to refer to 'the whole of the rim", even in the case of a container with a non-circular opening.
  • the lid may be generally square and arranged to be pierced by a drinking straw to reach a soft drink packaged within an opaque four sided plastics container, so that it has no tab.
  • the lid need not extend beyond the edge of the rim of the container. In such arrangement, a ring assembly 3 could not be employed to cause flexure of the lid.
  • a vertically acting sucker arm may be used to lift the tacked lid slightly to create a gap for the inert gas.
  • Other arrangements for causing flexure of the tacked lid are also feasible.
  • a horizontally reciprocating side arm may push an edge portion of the tacked lid opposite the tacked portion and slightly towards it sufficiently to flex the lid and create a gap.
  • beverages other than wine may be filled, sealed and packaged in accordance with the teachings herein.
  • beer may be packaged in a PET beer glass in a similar manner to the packaging of wine as specifically described above.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
  • Closures For Containers (AREA)
  • Vacuum Packaging (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un procédé pour le remplissage et le scellement d'un récipient de boisson. Le procédé comprend les étapes suivantes réalisées dans cet ordre : a) distribuer une quantité prédéterminée de boisson, de préférence du vin, dans un récipient dont la partie supérieure est ouverte et présentant un bord qui s'étend de façon circonférentielle, de préférence un verre à vin en plastique, de manière à laisser un espace au-dessus de la boisson dans le récipient ; b) placer un opercule souple généralement plat de sorte qu'il couvre entièrement la partie supérieure ouverte du récipient ; c) faire adhérer temporairement l'opercule sur le bord du récipient en au moins un point le long du bord en laissant le reste du bord dégagé ; d) manipuler l'opercule adhérant au bord afin qu'il se courbe et s'écarte ainsi du bord sur un côté ; e) distribuer un gaz inerte, de préférence de l'azote, à travers l'écartement ainsi créé et dans l'espace afin de déplacer l'air s'y trouvant ; et f) appliquer un appareil de thermosoudure sur l'opercule de manière à le souder sur la totalité de la circonférence du bord, emprisonnant ainsi le gaz inerte dans l'espace.
PCT/GB2010/001829 2010-09-30 2010-09-30 Remplissage et scellement de récipients de boisson WO2012042188A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/GB2010/001829 WO2012042188A1 (fr) 2010-09-30 2010-09-30 Remplissage et scellement de récipients de boisson

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/GB2010/001829 WO2012042188A1 (fr) 2010-09-30 2010-09-30 Remplissage et scellement de récipients de boisson

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2012042188A1 true WO2012042188A1 (fr) 2012-04-05

Family

ID=43902708

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB2010/001829 WO2012042188A1 (fr) 2010-09-30 2010-09-30 Remplissage et scellement de récipients de boisson

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2012042188A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2014001859A1 (fr) 2012-06-27 2014-01-03 Manarin S.R.L. Bouteille à dose unique pour boisson alcoolisée
EP3569112A1 (fr) * 2018-05-18 2019-11-20 Ken Coates Récipient hermétique pour boissons

Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2054492A (en) * 1932-07-30 1936-09-15 American Can Co Method of and apparatus for gassing and sealing products in cans
US3398500A (en) * 1967-06-30 1968-08-27 Scientific Atlanta Method and apparatus for packaging
US4009552A (en) * 1974-06-25 1977-03-01 Kramer & Grebe Gmbh & Co. Kg Maschinen-Und Modellfabrik Device for packaging of goods
US4409252A (en) * 1982-04-12 1983-10-11 Messer Griesheim Gmbh Procedure for packaging of food under protective gas in synthetic containers with flexible tops
US4513015A (en) * 1981-02-27 1985-04-23 Nestec, S.A. Method of sealing a container and removing air headspace
JPS63281930A (ja) * 1987-05-15 1988-11-18 Sumitomo Bakelite Co Ltd ガス充填包装方法
US5071667A (en) * 1986-07-24 1991-12-10 Lieder Maschinenbau Gmbh & Co. Kg. Method of preserving foodstuffs in cup-shaped containers
WO1996005123A1 (fr) 1994-08-10 1996-02-22 Quality Capital Management Limited Recipient pour boissons alcoolisees et procede de production et de conditionnement
GB2385577A (en) 2002-01-25 2003-08-27 Solovino Australia Pty Ltd Alcoholic beverage container
EP1235501B1 (fr) 1999-12-09 2004-06-30 Pascal Carvin Procede de conditionnement de vin ou boisson similaire, produits obtenus par ce procede et dispositif pour la mise en oevre du procede
GB2469554A (en) * 2009-04-14 2010-10-20 Wine Innovations Ltd Filling and Sealing of Drinking Vessel

Patent Citations (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2054492A (en) * 1932-07-30 1936-09-15 American Can Co Method of and apparatus for gassing and sealing products in cans
US3398500A (en) * 1967-06-30 1968-08-27 Scientific Atlanta Method and apparatus for packaging
US4009552A (en) * 1974-06-25 1977-03-01 Kramer & Grebe Gmbh & Co. Kg Maschinen-Und Modellfabrik Device for packaging of goods
US4513015A (en) * 1981-02-27 1985-04-23 Nestec, S.A. Method of sealing a container and removing air headspace
US4409252A (en) * 1982-04-12 1983-10-11 Messer Griesheim Gmbh Procedure for packaging of food under protective gas in synthetic containers with flexible tops
US5071667A (en) * 1986-07-24 1991-12-10 Lieder Maschinenbau Gmbh & Co. Kg. Method of preserving foodstuffs in cup-shaped containers
JPS63281930A (ja) * 1987-05-15 1988-11-18 Sumitomo Bakelite Co Ltd ガス充填包装方法
WO1996005123A1 (fr) 1994-08-10 1996-02-22 Quality Capital Management Limited Recipient pour boissons alcoolisees et procede de production et de conditionnement
EP1235501B1 (fr) 1999-12-09 2004-06-30 Pascal Carvin Procede de conditionnement de vin ou boisson similaire, produits obtenus par ce procede et dispositif pour la mise en oevre du procede
GB2385577A (en) 2002-01-25 2003-08-27 Solovino Australia Pty Ltd Alcoholic beverage container
GB2469554A (en) * 2009-04-14 2010-10-20 Wine Innovations Ltd Filling and Sealing of Drinking Vessel
EP2256040A2 (fr) * 2009-04-14 2010-12-01 Wine Innovations Ltd. Remplissage et scellage de conteneurs pour boisson

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2014001859A1 (fr) 2012-06-27 2014-01-03 Manarin S.R.L. Bouteille à dose unique pour boisson alcoolisée
EP3569112A1 (fr) * 2018-05-18 2019-11-20 Ken Coates Récipient hermétique pour boissons
WO2019219856A1 (fr) * 2018-05-18 2019-11-21 Ken Coates Récipient étanche pour boissons

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