Patent Application
20230219718
The present disclosure relates generally to automated food handling equipment and, more particularly, to corrugated inserts for totes designed for automated food handling equipment.
Over the past decade, the e-commerce boom has resulted in increasing demand for automated material handling equipment in distribution centers, warehouses, and factories. More recently, automated material handling equipment is being deployed in hybrid stores that merge features of online shopping and conventional brick and mortar stores. As one example, Wal-Mart recently unveiled an automated food handling system called Alphabet for hybrid grocery stores that enable customers to order groceries online for curb side pickup. Alphabet uses autonomous carts to retrieve food items from a warehouse-style space and deliver them to a workstation where a human worker checks and bags the orders for pickup.
In automated material handling equipment, plastic containers called totes are used to collect and transport products. These standard totes are suitable for a wide range of packaged goods typically found in grocery stores but may not be suitable for fruits and vegetables that need to be refrigerated. Fruits and vegetables can leave residues or organic fragments that contaminate the plastic tote. Consequently, the plastic totes need to be cleaned frequently to avoid spoilage or contamination of food products carried in the totes. Thus, cleaning equipment is also needed to clean and disinfect the totes periodically. Additionally, the plastic totes are not available for use while they are being cleaned and disinfected, which results a larger number of totes that need to be on hand. Both of these factors, need for cleaning and increased number of totes required, increase the costs of operating automated food handling equipment.
The present disclosure relates generally to corrugated paperboard inserts for plastic totes designed for handling perishable food products, such as fruits, vegetables, and meat products. The corrugated inserts 10 can be made in different sizes designed to fit the space inside a standard tote. The corrugated paperboard insert includes four side walls and a bottom made from a single sheet of corrugated paperboard. The bottom comprises four interlocking flaps connected along fold lines to respective sidewalls and configured to form an auto-locking bottom that avoids the need for taping. The corrugated paperboard comprises an uncoated linerboard forming an exterior surface of the insert, a coated linerboard forming an interior surface of the insert, a corrugated sheet fixed between the outer linerboard and inner linerboard. The coated linerboard includes a water-based, moisture resistant coating that is food contact rated and recyclable with uncoated paperboard. In some embodiments, point size and/or weight of the inner linerboard is greater than a point size and weight of the outer linerboard.
The inserts are suitable for use in with organic and perishable food products. The inserts help retain moisture in the food products and will not break down when exposed to moisture in the food products. The inserts prevent contamination of the plastic totes so the totes need can be cleaned less often and thereby reduce operating costs for automated material handling equipment. Additionally, the inserts can be recycled with uncoated paperboard. Thus, natural resources for manufacture of the inserts are conserved and fees for disposal of the coated paperboard in landfills is avoided.
The present disclosure relates generally to corrugated paperboard inserts for plastic totes 12 designed for handling perishable food products, such as fruits, vegetables, and meat products. The corrugated inserts 10 can be made in different sizes designed to fit the space inside a standard tote 12. For example,
In one exemplary embodiment, the inserts 10 comprise open-ended, rectangular boxes made of corrugated board, each having a bottom and four walls. The inserts 10 may use a double wall or single wall construction. The corrugated board includes a fluted corrugated sheet sandwiched between two linerboards in a machine called a corrugator. The linerboards may be made of the same material or different materials.
Conventionally, wax treatments are used for corrugated boxes designed for shipping and packaging perishable food items. The wax treatment provides a moisture barrier to prevent moisture loss in food products and is acceptable for food contact. However, corrugated board with wax coating cannot be mixed with standard corrugated board for recycling and requires special handling because additional processing steps are required to separate the wax coating from the corrugated board.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the inserts 10 are coated on at least one side (e.g., inside only or both inside and outside) with a moisture-resistant coating that is 1) is food contact rated, and 2) can be recycled with standard uncoated corrugated board, i.e., compostable. In one embodiment, the coating comprises a water-based coating, such as the SURFSHIELD coating, FLUTESHIELD coating or FLEXSHIELD coating offered by Cascades Sonoco.
In one embodiment, the insert 10 has a single-wall construction and the inside linerboard, i.e., the linerboard facing the interior of the insert 10, is made with a heavier paperboard stock that the outer linerboard. Only the inner linerboard is coated with a water-based coating that is food contact rated and compostable.
The blank 20 comprises four wall panels 22A – 22D connected along fold lines 24 that form the side walls of the insert 1010. Four interlocking bottom flaps 26A-26D are connected along fold lines 28 to the bottom edges of the wall panels 22. The bottom flaps 26A-26D are designed to form an auto-locking bottom that does not require any tape or adhesive. The auto-locking bottom is preferred over a standard die cut bottom because the moisture in the food product may cause tape securing the bottom flaps to detach. A tab 30 extends along the edge of wall panel 22A for joining with the wall panel 22D when the insert 10 is being assembled. The tab 30 includes an adhesive (not shown), such as hot melt, for securing the tab 30 to the interior side of the adjacent wall panel 22D.
In one embodiment, the inner linerboard 42 is coated with a water-based moisture resistant coating, such as the SURFSHIELD coating offered by Cascades Sonoco. Both sides of the inner linerboard 42 can be coated or, alternatively, the coating can be applied only to the surface in contact with the food products inside the insert. The outer linerboard 44 is an uncoated paperboard. In other embodiments, both the inner and outer linerboards 42, 44 are coated.
In one embodiment, the point size and/or weight of the inner linerboard 42 is preferably greater than a point size and weight of the outer linerboard 44. For example, the inner linerboard may comprise a 55 lb. paperboard and the outer linerboard may comprise a 42 lb. paperboard. The flute may comprise a 26 lb. B flute paperboard.
The insert 10 as herein described is suitable for use in with organic and perishable food products. The inserts 10 help retain moisture in the food products and will not break down when exposed to moisture in the food products. The inserts 10 are designed to be disposable so that the inserts 10 can be replaced from time to time as the need requires. The inserts 10 prevent contamination of the plastic totes 12 so the totes 12 need can be cleaned less often and thereby reduce operating costs for automated material handling equipment. Additionally, the inserts 10 can be recycled with uncoated paperboard. Thus, natural resources for manufacture of the inserts are conserved and fees for disposal of the coated paperboard in landfills is avoided.
The present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/297,563, which was filed on Jan. 7, 2022, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63297563 | Jan 2022 | US |
