WO2012137018A1

WO2012137018A1 - Pack of folded wipes featuring chevron perforation design

Info

Publication number: WO2012137018A1
Application number: PCT/GB2012/050782
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Gordon
Original assignee: Michael Gordon
Priority date: 2011-04-07
Filing date: 2012-04-10
Publication date: 2012-10-11
Also published as: GB201105916D0; GB2489737B; GB2489737A

Abstract

The invention relates to a pack of wipes. A container (20) is formed from flexible sheet material and has a wipe dispensing aperture (21) of resilient material. Wipes (1) are arranged in a folded zig zag format in the container for dispensing through the dispensing aperture (21). Wipes (1) are formed from a continuous length of material (2) having parallel side edges ((12a),12b) and a leading end (13a) and a trailing end (13b) with rupturable lines of perforations (14) spaced along the length of the length of material to create rupturable lines between wipes. Each line of essentially even strength perforations extends from a first point (15a) on one side edge (12a) to a second point (15b) between the side edges towards the leading end (13a) and then to a third point (15c) on the other side edge (12b) towards the trailing end (13b). In use the leading end of the length of material can be pulled through the aperture whereby the side edges are drawn in and compressed by the resilient aperture and causing the rupturable lines to start rupturing at the first and/or third points. Rupturing then spreads to the second point towards the leading end whereby to release a wipe from the pack and leave the second point of an adjacent wipe projecting through the aperture.

Description

Title: Pack of Folded wipes featuring a Chevron Perforation Design

The present invention relates to wipes with a chevron perforation design.

Wipes are usually formed from a continuous length of impregnated non-woven fabric with parallel side edges, and lines of rupturable perforations equally spaced along the length of the fabric with each line normal (i.e. perpendicular) to and spanning the width of fabric between the side edges. Each wipe is thus formed between lines of perforations.

Such wipes are often packaged in a tub or pack and dispensed through a narrow aperture or opening, the wipes being stored in a flat, folded format within the tub or pack, with rupturable perforation lines between each wipe. As the length of material is pulled from its pack through the aperture, the constricting pressure exerted by the aperture encourages the material to change from its flat folded format form into a longer thinner strip-like length by compressing the side edges of the material around the central regions of the material. This pressure also encourages rupturing along the perforation line as the wipe passes through the aperture, so encouraging separation into separate wipes.

A problem with such wipes is that the perforations between the wipes can rupture prematurely, prior to the presentment of a suitable ‘tail’ to be grasped to enable the user to withdraw the next wipe. Making sure that a suitable tail is always available for a user to grasp is a common problem as to wipes to be dispensed from containers featuring narrow apertures.

Also, these wipes are intended to be moist, but if the container of wipes is stored and not used for a length of time, the wipes will dry out because vapour can emerge from the container through the aperture unless it is airtight. Moisture can also be released from the container through the tail due to the action of wicking. A narrower aperture may help reduce the incidence of loss of moisture, however a narrower aperture would make it more difficult for the user to feed the first wipe through for the user to grasp. A narrower aperture could also cause too much pressure to be applied to the wipe as it is pulled through which could then result in its premature tearing and separation from the web prior to emergence of the full length of the wipe from the container.

In order to solve such problems, US 6460727 B1 discloses dispensing sheet products from continuous perforated web material which is in a flat, folded format within the tub or pack, with rupturable perforation lines between each wipe. The dispensing sheet material featuring gaps at various sections along the perforation line which form catch flaps. As the perforated web is withdrawn through the constricting opening, the catch flaps bend backwards and jam with the opening causing pressure on the perforation region bring about the onset of the rupturing process which then causes the individual sheets to break free.

The problem with this method is that many manufacturing machines which convert the material into discrete lengths for packaging into containers in a flat, folded zig zag format are unable to apply anything other than evenly distributed perforations of the same length or size along the length of the wipes without severe inconvenience to the manufacturing process.

WO2009060237A, GB 2454545 A, DE8715128 U all disclose types of perforation design appropriate for central dispensing as to wipes in a continuous roll format, the wipes emerging from the centre of a roll in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll through the nozzle or opening of the container. WO0103563 A1 and WO9322962 A disclose types of perforation design to encourage peripheral dispensing, the separation of wipes from the outside of a continuous roll of wipes. None of the latter disclose a solution for encouraging wipes that are in a flat, folded zig zag format to separate as they are pulled from their containers and to enable the availability of a suitable length of tail for the next user to grasp.

FR2623178 A3 (STORA BILLARUD GMBH) discloses sheet products from continuous perforated web material in a roll format, the wipes emerging from the centre of the roll in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll through a nozzle or aperture of the container. This opening offers resilience which causes the sheets to separate. The wipes are sheet wipes and are separated by perforation lines that do not follow a straight line. Instead the perforation line is formed by two straight line segments making a certain angle between them. BILLARUD teaches that the tearing process as to wipes featuring such a perforation design always starts initially at the tip. The problem with this method is that if the tearing process starts at the tip as the wipe is withdrawn from the aperture, then spreads to the trailing end or ends, the tearing process could start before a sufficient section of the next wipe has emerged from the container, or even before any of the wipes has emerged from the container at all. The latter scenario would require the user to open or remove the lid of the pack and feed the first section of the wipe through the aperture again. It is contended that it is better therefore if the tearing process starts at a location along the perforation line other than at the tip, i.e. after the tip of the perforation line has already exited the aperture. The tip therefore forms the beginnings of the tail of the wipe by the grasped by the next user the availability of which is assured by virtue of the fact that the tip has exited the container prior to the onset of the rupturing process.

In order to encourage the tearing process to start at a point other than the tip of the wipe, WO2009/060237 (GORDON) also discloses continuous perforated web material in a roll format emerging from the centre of the roll in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll through a aperture or opening of the container. However the perforation line features variable strength perforations. The leading end or tip of the wipe having strong perforations, the trailing end or ends featuring weaker perforations. As the wipes pass through the aperture, the perforation strength at the tip of the wipe is strong enough to overcome the restricting forces exerted at said aperture so as to prevent the onset of the tearing process.

As the wipe continues its passage through the aperture, the pressures exerted by the restricting forces at said aperture are strong enough to bring about the onset of tearing at the trailing end or ends of the perforation line which features the weaker perforations. The tearing then spreads from the trailing end or ends to the tip of the wipe, by which time the tip has already emerged from the aperture and formed a tail for the user to grasp. However, this result relies entirely on there being variable strength perforations along the perforation line. The problem with this method being that many converter machines that input the perforations onto rolls of continuous web are unable to input anything other than perforations of an even strength with any degree of accuracy and consistency.

The invention seeks to provide a solution to the problems related to 1) ensuring that wipes arranged in a flat, folded format within a pack separate from a length of material into individual sheets leaving a suitable tail of the next wipe for the user to grasp, 2) ensuring that the wipes do not tear prematurely prior to the full sheet exiting the aperture, 3) preventing loss of moisture from the container through the aperture, preventing loss of moisture through the tail due to the action of wicking and 5) to making it easy to feed the first wipe through a narrow aperture.

According to the present invention there is provided a pack of wipes comprising:

a) a container having a wipe dispensing aperture of resilient material, and

b) wipes arranged in a folded zig zag format in the container for dispensing through said dispensing aperture, said wipes being formed from a continuous length of material having parallel side edges and a leading end and a trailing end with rupturable lines of perforations spaced along the length of the length of material to create rupturable lines between wipes, each line of perforations extending from a first point on one side edge to a second point between the side edges towards the leading end and then to a third point on the other side edge towards the trailing end,

in use the leading end of the length of material can be pulled through the aperture whereby the side edges are drawn in and compressed by the resilient aperture and causing the rupturable lines to start rupturing at the first and/or third points, each rupturable line being comprised of essentially even strength perforations along its length such that the rupturable lines start rupturing at the first point or third point, or at the first and third points, said rupturing then spreading to the second point towards the leading end whereby to release a wipe from the pack and leave the second point of an adjacent wipe projecting through the aperture.

Preferably the dispensing aperture is formed from a flexible resilient nozzle through which wipes can be withdrawn from the container, said resilient aperture being expandable to allow withdrawal of wipes therethrough but being biased towards a contracted state,

Preferably the wipe material is a non-woven fabric.

Preferably the material is impregnated.

Preferably the wipes are wet.

Preferably the rupturable lines are curved, wavy or any other non straight orientation.

Preferably the container is formed from a flexible sheet material.

Alternatively the container is formed from a rigid material.

Preferably the aperture provides a substantially airtight seal to the contents of the pack when a wipe is compressed by the aperture.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of wipes,

Figure 2 shows a wipe emerging through a dispensing aperture,

Figure 3 shows various schematics of further embodiments of patterns of line perforations, and

Figure 4 shows a cutaway isometric view of the continuous length of material with rupturable lines spaced along its length, and arranged in a folded, stacked, zig zag format within the container.

Referring to Figure 1 there shown wipes 1 formed from a continuous length of material 2 having

parallel side edges

12a,12b and a leading end 13a and a trailing end 13b.

Rupturable lines 14 of perforations are spaced along the length of the length of material to create rupturable lines 14 between each wipe 1. Each line of perforations extending from a first point 15a on one side edge 12a to a second point 15b between the

side edges

12a,12b towards the leading end 13a, and then to a third point 15c on the other side edge 12b towards the trailing end 13b.

Each rupturable line 14 is formed from

slots

16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, 16e, 16f, 16g, 16h, 16i, 16j, 16k, 16l, 16m. which are largely evenly distributed along the perforation line 14 whereby each line of perforations is of even strength along the length of the line.

The wipes 1 may be formed of any suitable material, such as a non-woven fabric or paper, and may be impregnated as is well known in the art. The wipes are preferably wet (but may be dry).

As shown in Figures 2 and 4, there is shown a pack of wipes 20 with its container formed from soft sheet material of the type known in the art. A resilient wipe dispensing aperture is provided in a face of the pack 20 in the form of a flexible nozzle 21. Wipes 1 are arranged in a folded zig zag format (see Figure 4) in the container for dispensing through nozzle 21. The nozzle provides a substantially airtight seal to the contents of the pack when a wipe emerging through the nozzle is compressed by the nozzle.

In use the leading end 13A of the length of material, being slimmer in nature to the main body of the wipe, can be easily fed into and then pulled through the aperture 21 which expands to allow the wipe free passage, the wipe pulling with it the next second wipe. As the wipe is withdrawn from the nozzle 21, the wider main body of the wipe then wedges itself into the resilient nozzle whereby the side edges are drawn in and compressed by the nozzle concertina style, not in a rolled, tube-like format as is the case as to wipes that emerge from the centre of a roll of wipes in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll through the nozzle. The tip or leading edge of the wipe, being compressed and located within the concertina format does not come into contact with the resilient nozzle. As the wipe emerges, the rupturable lines meet the compressing forces of the resilient nozzle. These compressing forces cause the rupturable lines to start rupturing at the first and

third points

15a,15c when they pass through the nozzle 21, the rupturing then spreading to the second point 15b (already out of the pack 20), whereby to release a wipe from the pack and leave the leading section of the next second wipe projecting through the nozzle, the leading section comprising the leading end 15a through 15b to 15c plus a short length of the wider main body of the wipe. The second point 15b of the wipe can be therefore gripped easily to withdraw the second wipe. The nozzle 21 will then contract around the second wipe now that the wipe has come to rest, so providing a substantially airtight seal to the contents of the pack. So the leading end of the wipe needs to by slimmer than the main body of the wipe to enable easier feed of the first wipe through the aperture. The elastomeric nature of the resilient aperture, such as the nozzle 21 shown, ensures that it compresses tightly enough around the wider main body of the wipe in order to discourage the release of moisture from the container without inhibiting free movement of the wipe through the aperture or causing the wipe to tear prior to the rupturable line meeting the compressing forces of the nozzle as the wipe is withdrawn through the aperture. Figure 2 shows the leading edge being the last part of the wipe to separate from the continuous web, thereby ensuring that a tail is available for the next user.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown further embodiments of patterns for the perforation lines 14 which extends from point 15a of the perforation line 14 on one side 12a of the wipe through to the leading edge 15b between the

side edges

12a,12b towards the leading end 13a, and then to a third point 15c on the other side edge 12b towards the trailing end 13b. As shown the rupturable lines may be curved, wavy or any other non straight orientation to create a leading edge which may be rounded in shape, or zig zag or any other shape or design.

As the length of material is pulled from the pack through the aperture, the restricting pressures exerted by the resilient aperture encourages the material to change from its flat folded form into a longer, thinner strip like sheet by compressing the side edges of the material around the central regions of the wipe concertina style. The central region of the wipe featuring the tip therefore does not come directly into contact with the forces of the resilient aperture.

This is not the case with reference to continuous perforated web material in a rolled format emerging from its container through a resilient aperture. The latter emerges from the centre of a roll in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll in a tube like shape, the whole of the perforation line being exposed to the incisive forces of the resilient aperture. Being of small surface area relative to the surface area of the wipe passing through it, the inside of the resilient aperture exerts ‘incisive’ pressure as the wipe passes over it. The incisive nature of the pressures can cause the tearing to start at any position at which the perforation line comes into contact with the resilient aperture. This is confirmed by Billarud which teaches that the tearing process always starts at the tip, the tip of the perforation line being the first part to come into contact with the incisive pressures of the resilient aperture.

Occupying a mid section position within the perforation line, the tip of a zig-zag folded wipe does not come into contact with the incisive forces of the resilient aperture which bring about the onset of tearing, because of the concertina nature in which the continuous web of material forms as it emerges through the resilient aperture. Only the perforations featured at the outside edges of the concertina of web on the wipe (the trailing ends of the wipe sheets) come into contact with the incisive forces exerted by the aperture, therefore the rupturing tearing process starts at these trailing end points, not at the tip.

In order to achieve the objective of having the tearing process start at the trailing end or ends, rather than the tip of the perforated lines separating the wipes it is therefore imperative to have knowledge as to the dynamics of how continuous webs of material exit containers with resilient apertures and why the dynamics differs depending on whether the webs are in rolled or folded, zig-zag formats. These dynamics have a direct effect as to whether the tearing starts at the tip/leading end or the trailing ends.

Without this knowledge the skilled man would assume from the learnings obtained from STORA BILLERUD that the tearing process for wipes separated by a perforation lines featuring a tip along a continuous web arranged in a zig-zag folded format would also start from the tip. Whereas the exact opposite is actually the case, the rupturing process actually starts at the trailing end or ends. The skilled man trying to ensure that the tearing process does not take place at the tip of the perforation line as zig-zag folded wipes are pulled from their container would therefore not be able to derive the correct principles from the learnings provided by STORA BILLERUD in order to achieve this.

The invention may take a form different to that specifically described above. For example instead of the container being formed from sheet material, it could be formed from rigid material.

Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

A pack of wipes comprising (a) a container having a wipe dispensing aperture of resilient material, and (b) wipes arranged in a folded zig zag format in the container for dispensing through said dispensing aperture, said wipes being formed from a continuous length of material having parallel side edges and a leading end and a trailing end with rupturable lines of perforations spaced along the length of the length of material to create rupturable lines between wipes, each line of perforations extending from a first point on one side edge to a second point between the side edges towards the leading end and then to a third point on the other side edge towards the trailing end, in use the leading end of the length of material can be pulled through the aperture whereby the side edges are drawn in and compressed by the resilient aperture and causing the rupturable lines to start rupturing at the first and/or third points, each rupturable line being comprised of essentially even strength perforations along its length such that the rupturable lines may start rupturing at the first point or third point, or at the first and third points, said rupturing then spreading to the second point towards the leading end whereby to release a wipe from the pack and leave the second point of an adjacent wipe projecting through the aperture.
A pack of wipes according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing aperture is formed from a flexible nozzle through which wipes can be withdrawn from the container, said resilient aperture being expandable to allow withdrawal of wipes there through but being biased towards a contracted state.
A pack of wipes according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the container is formed from a flexible material
A pack of wipes according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the container is formed from a rigid material
A pack according to any preceding claim, wherein in use when a rupturable line starts rupturing at the first point.
A pack according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein in use when a rupturable line starts rupturing at the third point.
A pack according to any preceding claim wherein in use, a rupturable line starts rupturing at the first and third points
A pack according to any preceding claim, wherein the material is a non-woven fabric.
A pack according to any preceding claim, wherein the material is impregnated.
A pack according to any preceding claim, wherein the wipes are wet.
A pack according to any preceding claim wherein the rupturable lines are curved, wavy or any other non straight orientation.
A pack according to any preceding claim, wherein the aperture provides a substantially airtight seal to the contents of the pack when a wipe is compressed by the aperture.