EP1655235A1 - Use of a plastic film for grouping and packaging of containers - Google Patents

Abstract

The film has mechanical characteristics which permit to hold folding lines to constitute a parallelepipedic shaped sleeve or case. The case or the sleeve enclose and wrap the volumetric body resulting from the grouping of containers e.g. yoghurt pots (P). The package has sides (1a-1d) obtained from pre-folding lines (1e-1h). The film has a thickness between 100 to 200 microns.

Description

The invention relates to the technical sector of packaging and packaging, in particular bottles, cream jars, jars of yoghurt, ..., without excluding other containers of volumetric bodies of different nature, such as drinks cans.

More and more, different articles are grouped by variable number, in the form of a pack, to be put on sale. Various technical solutions have been proposed for carrying out this grouping.

For example, it is possible to use a plastic film, in particular polyethylene, of the heat-shrinkable, stretchable or other type. This solution is relatively economical but the results obtained, in terms of visual appearance, are not satisfactory. This is particularly the case with printing, observing that the film used, by its nature is not rigid, so that it can not be perfectly flat faces. There is also a certain fragility. As a result, this type of packaging is limited in its applications. For example, plastic films are rarely used for packaging containers with edges or other asperities, as is the case for jars of yogurts, cream, etc.

Another technical solution is to use appropriately cut and preformed cardboard blanks to enclose and wrap the group of containers concerned. This type of packaging is very often used for grouping and packaging yoghurt pots, cream, ... The cardboard blank can have different arrangements for holding containers and gripping the entire pack.

There may be mentioned, for example, the teaching of patents FR 2,418,158 and FR 2,664,239.

Unlike a heat-shrinkable plastic film, packaging made from a cardboard blank makes it possible to obtain a very good quality in terms of printing. By cons, this type of packaging fears moisture and requires significant implementation means to comply. Similarly, it is necessary, as indicated, to provide relatively large arrangements to maintain the containers.

The object of the invention is to remedy these disadvantages in a simple, safe, effective and rational manner.

The problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a package that can ensure the packaging of a pack of containers, including the type of yoghurt pots, jars of cream, ..., with the aim of making an impression of very high quality, and to obtain a particularly attractive and resistant packaging, especially to moisture and other external aggressions.

To solve such problems, the invention consists in the use and selection of a plastic film based on polyethylene, and having mechanical characteristics able to allow it to keep fold lines to form a sleeve shape generally parallelepipedic adapted to grip and envelop the volumetric body resulting from grouping said containers.

To solve the problem of obtaining rigidity of the planar faces to achieve a perfectly delimited cross-section packaging, in particular with respect to folding lines, the plastic film is a recyclable high density polyethylene of a thickness between 100 and 200 μ approximately, a stiffness, in the cross direction, between 200 and 240 daN / cm2 approximately, said film having no elastic memory.

To solve the problem of having easy access to the containers concerned for use, the film is easily tearable under a tearing force of less than 1cN / μ.

According to other characteristics, the thickness of the film is 180 μ, its rigidity, in the cross direction, being 220 daN / cm 2.

To solve the problem of gripping and wrapping the pack, the sleeve results from several folding operations performed from a blank, whose overlapping edges are assembled by heat sealing or gluing.

According to another characteristic, the film used is easily printable, thus making it possible to obtain a quality packaging.

To solve the problem of maintaining the pack with respect to the packaging obtained, the film, after conformation of the sleeve, is subjected, at its open ends, to a heat sealing operation in particular, able to form asperities retaining in translation of said pack.

To solve the problem of being able to easily grasp the entire package, the film is subjected to operations able to create gripping areas.

Advantageously, the film is subjected to operations capable of facilitating the tearing of the packaging.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un pack de quatre récipients du type pots de yaourts emballé au moyen d'un film selon les caractéristiques de l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe longitudinale de l'ensemble de l'emballage ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe transversale considérée selon la ligne 3-3 de la figure 2.

The invention is described below in more detail with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pack of four containers of yogurt pots type packaged by means of a film according to the features of the invention;
• Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the entire package;
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

The figures of the attached drawings show the packaging of a pack of four pots of yogurts (P). Obviously, the invention applies to other types of packs, containers of different types and different number.

According to a characteristic underlying the invention, the packaging is obtained from a plastic film (1) based on polyethylene, having mechanical characteristics capable in particular to allow him to keep fold lines. Indeed, as will be indicated in the following description, the plastic film (1) is subjected to different operations to form a sleeve of generally parallelepipedal shape. For example, the package obtained has faces (1a), (1b), (1c) (1d) obtained from pre-folding lines (1e), (1f), (1g), (1h). The film (1) can also be shaped in the form of a case for packaging.

The plastic film (1) is made of recyclable high density polyethylene with a thickness of between 100 and 200 μ approximately. Advantageously, this thickness is 180 μ. Furthermore, the film (1) has a rigidity, in the cross direction, of between 200 and 240 daN / cm 2. Advantageously, this rigidity is about 220 daN / cm 2.

As indicated, importantly, the film (1) has no elastic memory to keep the memory of the fold and allow, therefore, to constitute a perfectly defined cross-section packaging and delimited with respect to the four lines of pre-folding, for example (1e), (1f), (1g) and (1h).

Furthermore, the film (1) is perfectly tearable under a tearing force of less than 1daN / μ.

The film (1) therefore has the appearance of a thick paper and can, for example, be made in an opaque white color. Of course, the characteristics of the film are determined to enable it to be shaped, welded and printed.

The sleeve, of the type shown in FIG. 1, is obtained continuously by any known and appropriate means. In particular, it can be obtained from a machine simultaneously having several strips of film that are cut to form blanks. On each blank obtained, the folding operations are performed. The overlapping edges of the blank are assembled by heat sealing, gluing or otherwise, designated by (2).

According to another characteristic, the film (1), after conformation of the sleeve or the case, is subjected, at its open ends, to a heat-sealing operation, for example, able to form asperities retainer (1k), to ensure the locking and the translation of the pack relative to the packaging sleeve (1).

Similarly, the film may be subjected to operations capable of creating gripping areas (11) to facilitate the transport of the assembly.

To facilitate access to the containers (P), the film may have pre-cut lines or other arrangements, able to facilitate its tearing.

The advantages are apparent from the description, in particular it emphasizes and reminds the qualitative aspect of the package obtained.

Claims (10)

Use of a plastic film (1) for grouping and packaging containers, the film (1) being based on polyethylene and having mechanical characteristics able to allow it to keep fold lines to form a sleeve or Case of generally parallelepipedic general shape, able to grip and envelop the volumetric body resulting from the grouping of said containers. Use of a plastic film according to claim 1, characterized in that the plastic film is a recyclable high density polyethylene, of a thickness of between 100 and 200 μ, of a rigidity, in the cross direction, included between 200 and 240 daN / cm 2 approximately, said film having no elastic memory. Use of a plastic film according to claim 2, characterized in that the film is easily tearable under a tearing force of less than 1cN / μ. Use of a plastic film according to claim 2, characterized in that the thickness of the film is 180 μ. Use of a plastic film according to claim 2, characterized in that the film stiffness, in the cross direction, is 220 daN / cm 2. Use of a plastic film according to claim 1, characterized in that the sleeve results from several folding operations executed from a blank, whose overlapping edges are assembled by heat sealing or gluing. Use of a plastic film according to claim 1, characterized in that the film is printable. Use of a plastic film according to claim 1, characterized in that the film (1), after conformation of the sleeve, is subjected, at its open ends, to a heat-sealing operation capable of forming asperities (1k ) retaining the containers in translation. Use of a plastic film according to claim 1, characterized in that the film (1) is subjected to operations capable of creating gripping zones of the sleeve for transporting the packaging. Use of a plastic film according to claim 1, characterized in that the film (1) is subjected to operations capable of facilitating the tearing of the packaging.

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