WO2019081528A1

WO2019081528A1 - Product packaging

Info

Publication number: WO2019081528A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/079061
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nurani Dharmaraj Krishnaprakash IYER; Oliver James BOULTON
Original assignee: Unilever Plc; Unilever N.V.; Conopco, Inc., D/B/A Unilever
Priority date: 2017-10-26
Filing date: 2018-10-23
Publication date: 2019-05-02

Abstract

Display ready packaging for a product comprising a chain of blister packs (1) characterized in that the blister packs are arranged in an alternating manner displaying both the front of the blister pack (2a) and the blister backing (2b) at the same time.

Description

PRODUCT PACKAGING

Field of the invention

The present invention is in field of packaging; in particular, it relates to display ready packaging of FMCG products.

Background of the invention

Blister packs are pre-formed plastic packaging used for small consumer goods, foods, and for pharmaceuticals comprising a cavity or pocket (blister) made from a formable web with a paper or aluminium backing. Blister packs are most commonly used as unit- dose packaging for pharmaceutical tablets, capsules or lozenges.

Other types of blister packs consist of carded packaging where goods such as toys, hardware, and electrical items are contained between a specially made paperboard card and clear pre-formed plastic such as PVC.

One of the primary advantages of the blister pack is that it allows the consumer to see what he is buying. Almost every facet of the product is exposed to the view of the buyer.

The backing is usually used for providing the product information to the consumer such as the brand name and/or logo, graphics, advertising, usage instructions etc.

Blister packs are most commonly used as unit-dose packaging for pharmaceutical products. However, such packaging for FMCG products are less widely used. Sachets are the current options for consumers who want to buy unit-dose FMCG products but sachets have become a waste challenge in Asia, especially in countries like India and Indonesia. This is because the packaging material is partly made of a complex laminate which is not recyclable or biodegradable.

The known blister packs comprise blisters on one side and the product information on the backing on the other side where a consumer will have to keep turning the blister pack from one side to another in order to view the product and read the product information. US2005/0191544A1 relates to a battery package comprising at least two separate modules, each including a base having a first face and a second face, each module further including at least one pocket extending outwardly from the first face; at least one battery placed into each pocket; and a cover placed over at least two separate modules; two of the at least two separate modules have the first faces thereof facing each other, with at least one pocket of a first one of the two of the at least two separate modules being located between a pair of pockets of a second one of the two of the at least two separate modules; wherein at least two separate modules will easily separate upon removal of the cover from over at least two separate modules.

US2005/0043462A1 describes a biodegradable resin composition and an object molded or formed from the composition. The composition comprises 100 parts of a biodegradable polyester resin comprising not smaller than 50% by weight of polylactic acid having a melting point of not lower than 160°C, the biodegradable polyester resin having a melt flow rate of 0.1 to 50g/10min as measured under a load of 21 .2N at 190°C; and 0.1 to 20 parts of a phyllosilicate containing a primary, secondary, or tertiary amine salt, a quaternary ammonium salt or a phosphonium salt ionically bonded between layers thereof. DE100441 18A1 relates to blister pack for tablets (1 ) has additional blisters (28) between those (13) which hold the tablets and projecting beyond them. Centering blisters (20) project beyond both other sets of blisters. It also relates to a stack of blister packs with an exterior wrapping. When it comes to the pharmaceutical products this may not be a concern since the medicines have to be bought irrespective of how they look or what information is provided. This is not the case with FMCG products.

While buying FMCG products, the consumers are left to make difficult choices between the various brands of the same product which makes shopping for personal care, home care, or food products a time-consuming affair since everybody is looking for the best product of the lot.

So, any advancement to packaging which allows the consumer to spend less time choosing a product is an advantage. Hence, a need remains to move away from sachet packaging and preferably, to provide a packaging model that does not add to the waste challenge and at the same time provides all the product information to the consumer while on display. It is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a packaging which can display both the product and the product information to the customer at the same time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a packaging which can display more product information to the customer on first sight.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a packaging model which eliminates the need of using sachet packaging.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a packaging model which uses recyclable and/or biodegradable material for packaging.

Summary of the invention

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a display ready packaging for a product comprising a chain of blister packs (1 ) characterized in that the blister packs are arranged in an alternating manner displaying both the front of the blister pack (2a) and the blister backing (2b) at the same time.

In a second aspect, the invention provides use of a chain of blister packs (1 ) according to the invention for packaging a FMCG product.

In a third aspect, the invention provides use of a chain of blister packs (1 ) according to the invention for packaging a home care, personal care or food product.

In the context of the present invention, the reference to "blister pack" typically means pre-formed packaging used for small consumer goods, foods, and for pharmaceuticals comprising a cavity or pocket (blister) made from a formable web.

In the context of the present invention, the reference to "chain" typically means a series of blister packs connected one after another. In the context of the present invention, the reference to "display ready" typically means ready for display on the supermarket shelves.

In the context of the present invention, the reference to "FMGC" typically means fast moving consumer goods.

In the context of the present invention, the reference to "line of weakness" typically means the line along which the blister packs can be separated and/or folded, preferably without the use of a tool, more preferably by hand

In the context of the present invention, the reference to "product information" typically means the brand name and/or logo, graphics, advertising, usage instructions, and combinations thereof. These and other aspects, features and advantages will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the following detailed description and the appended claims. For the avoidance of doubt, any feature of one aspect of the present invention may be utilised in any other aspect of the invention. The word "comprising" is intended to mean "including" but not necessarily "consisting of" or "composed of." In other words, the listed steps or options need not be exhaustive. It is noted that the examples given in the description below are intended to clarify the invention and are not intended to limit the invention to those examples per se. Similarly, all percentages are weight/weight percentages unless otherwise indicated. Except in the operating and comparative examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material or conditions of reaction, physical properties of materials and/or use are to be understood as modified by the word "about".

Numerical ranges expressed in the format "from x to y" are understood to include x and y. When for a specific feature multiple preferred ranges are described in the format "from x to y", it is understood that all ranges combining the different endpoints are also contemplated.

Detailed description of the invention

In a first aspect, the present invention relates to a display ready packaging for a product comprising a chain of blister packs (1 ) characterized in that the blister packs are arranged in an alternating manner displaying both the front of the blister pack (2a) and the blister backing (2b) at the same time.

Chain of blister packs

The chain of blister packs (1 ) according to the present invention can be a single chain of blister packs or multiple chains attached to each other. The chain is preferably hanging or self-standing.

The blister packs of the present invention are arranged in an alternating manner in such a way that the front and the back of the blister packs are visible at the same time when on display at the supermarket shelves. The advantage of this kind of an arrangement of blisters is that the consumer can see the product while reading the product information and also both the front and the back of the blister packs can be used for providing product information to the consumer thereby letting the consumer have as much as information as possible about the product.

Each blister pack is provided with a blister (5) and a backing (2b).

The blisters (5) can be made of any known materials commercially available for forming web (blisters) in blister packs. The blisters (5) are preferably made of biodegradable or recyclable plastic. Suitable biodegradable or recyclable plastic include machine- direction orientation (MDO) films, in particular MDO films made from polyethylene, BOPP/PE films, BOPP/CPP films.

In a preferred embodiment, the plastic is transparent allowing the product inside the blister to be seen.

In another preferred embodiment, the plastic may be both biodegradable and recyclable.

In a preferred embodiment, the printing on the front of the blister (2a) is different from the printing on the blister backing (2b). The printing can be done either on both sides of the backing or in a blister pack that has a blister extending along the surface of the backing, on the blister material itself.

The blisters (5) can be of any shape, but preferably all the blisters (5) are of the same shape. It ensures that after product use, the empty blisters can be folded to form a compact concertina fold. By compact concertina fold is meant that the repeating units of the blister chain are linked in such a way that their cavities fit into each other when stacking in an alternating way. Ideally, the cavities fit into each other by having their walls at a slight angle, preferably between 1 and 60°, more preferably less than 45°, or even less than 30°. When folded into a compact concertina fold, the emptied pack is easy to be collected, disposed and recycled.

Each blister pack may contain one or more blisters, preferably it contains at least one blister, but for the scope of the present invention blister packs containing two or more blisters are not excluded, for example a blister pack with two blisters, one blister with a shampoo and the other with a conditioner.

The backing (2b) can be made of any known materials commercially available for forming a backing in blister packs such as paper, aluminium or plastic. The backing (2b) is preferably made of a biodegradable or recyclable material. Suitable biodegradable or recyclable material include paper or cardboard.

In a preferred embodiment, the material may be both biodegradable and recyclable. In one embodiment, the blister and the backing are made of the same material.

In another embodiment, the blisters are made of a material running continuously along the whole chain and the backing is made of a different material to seal the cavities on alternating sides.

In yet another embodiment, the backing is made of a material running continuously along the whole chain and the blisters are made of a different material to cover the product on alternating sides. Foldable regions

Between each blister pack, there is provided a foldable region (3) on the backing which is preferably weaker than the rest of the backing for easy folding between the packs.

The foldable region (3) preferably comprises a line of weakness (4) along which the blister packs can be separated and/or folded. The line of weakness (4) can be continuous such as the use of a thinner or weaker material than the backing material that can be folded and/or torn. The line of weakness (4) can also be discontinuous such as scored or perforated. In preferred embodiments, the foldable region (3) comprises a groove (6) along which the blister packs (2) can be folded. The groove may further comprise the line of weakness (4). The character of the line of weakness (4) may be according to the description of the paragraph immediately above. The groove is found particularly helpful to guide consumer to fold as well as control the manner of folding. It also ensures the cavities can fold inside one another. The grooves may all be protruding in the same direction, or they may be alternating.

Product

The product according to the present invention is preferably in solid or a semi solid format such as a gel to avoid any product wastage during use.

The product is typically a dehydrated product that may be dissolved using a solvent before use. The product comprises less than 50% of water, preferably less than 45%, more preferably less than 40%, still more preferably less than 35%, even more preferably less than 30%, or even less than 25% or even less than 20% or even less than 15% or even less than 10% by weight of the total product composition. The product of the present invention is preferably a FMCG product; in particular, a personal care, home care or food product. Home care products may be detergent tablets (such as laundry or dishwashing detergents), cleaning composition tablets, water purification compositions. Food products may include, bouillon cubes, food concentrates, instant soups or sauces, chewing gum, instant dressings. Personal care products may include detergent compositions such shampoo, conditioner, soap (such as hand wash, face wash or body wash/shower gel), mouthwash, intimate wash, shaving gel.

Preferably the product is a personal care product, which is a shampoo, conditioneror body wash/shower gel in dehydrated format. Each blister pack may contain one or more products in a blister, preferably it contains at least one product, but for the scope of the present invention blisters containing two or more products are not excluded, for example a blister pack comprising a blister with a shampoo and a conditioner. In case of more than one product, said products may be same or different.

In a second aspect, the present invention relates to use of a chain of blister packs (1 ) according to the invention for packaging a FMCG product. In a third aspect, the present invention relates to use of a chain of blister packs (1 ) according to the invention for packaging a home care, personal care or food product.

Brief Description of the figures Figure 1A is a perspective view of a chain of blister packs arranged in an alternating manner.

Figure 1 B is a side view of a chain of blister packs arranged in an alternating manner. Figure 2 is a side view of a chain of blister packs arranged in an alternating manner with lines of weakness and grooves.

Claims

1 Display ready packaging for a product comprising a chain of blister packs (1 ) characterized in that the blister packs are arranged in an alternating manner displaying both the front of the blister pack (2a) and the blister backing (2b) at the same time.

2 Display ready packaging according to claim 1 wherein the printing on the front of the blister pack (2a) is different from the printing on the blister backing (2b).

3 Display ready packaging according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the display is self- standing or hanging.

4 Display ready packaging according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the chain of blister packs (1 ) have foldable regions (3) between the packs.

5 Display ready packaging according to claim 4 wherein the foldable region (3) comprises a line of weakness (4) between each blister packs. 6 Display ready packaging according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the blisters (5) are made of biodegradable or recyclable plastic.

7 Display ready packaging according to claim 6 wherein the plastic is transparent. 8 Display ready packaging according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the blister pack has a backing (2b) made of a biodegradable or recyclable material.

9 Display ready packaging according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the product comprises less than 50% of water by weight of the total product composition.

10 Display ready packaging according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the product is a FMCG product. Display ready packaging according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the product is a personal care, home care or food product. Use of a chain of blister packs (1 ) according to claims 1 to 1 1 for packaging a FMCG product. Use of a chain of blister packs (1 ) according to claims 1 to 1 1 for packaging a home care, personal care or food product.