Patent Application
20150217919
The present invention concerns a flexible, triangular sachet that can be opened into a cone-like open shape and to a method of manufacturing such a sachet.
Flexible packaging prefilled with a smaller amount of an eatable product is often referred to as a sachet. It comes in different shapes, but an often used one is as a rectangular bag which has the advantage of easy storage in a flat condition, but which on the other hand is not particularly well suited for easy holding by one hand and possibly sharing with others.
Another often used shape is a conical packaging which is used in a number of variations. The conical shape of the wrapping or packaging is often used for eatable products that are eaten directly from the packaging while carrying it along, such as sweets, nuts, chips or freshly baked cakes, e.g. sold at market places. The packaging is typically delivered to the shop or boot as cone shaped, or it is made by rolling a piece of paper into a cone shape. In both cases it may be filled with the product as a part of the sales process.
The cone shape is thus used partly to give the product a freshly-made look and partly due to the easy-to-carry-along characteristics of that shape. The latter is also a reason for delivering pre-packed products in that shape of packaging. However, it is a disadvantage of the conical shape that the packaging has a shape from the beginning which cannot easily be transported in a flat condition without damaging it—especially if it is make from cardboard or another relatively stiff plastic or laminate material.
A cone-shaped packaging is e.g. known from sweets where the bag is typically closed by a piece of tape which makes them hard to open. They are alternatively often closed by some kind of sealing in a way that makes it hard to open the sachet without ripping the sachet whereby so much damage is easily applied to the package that part of the content is dropped on the ground. Furthermore, it is often necessary to put the package with its remaining content into a separate bag, if it is decided to store some of the content for later.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a sachet which can be transported in a flat condition.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a sachet which is easily opened into a shape that is easy to hold by hand and easy to serve from to a group of people sharing the content of the sachet.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sachet which is easy to open in a controlled way.
It is an object of some embodiments of the present invention to provide a sachet which can easily be re-sealed if it is desired to save some of the content for later.
At least some of the objectives mentioned above are fulfilled in a first aspect of the invention by providing a sachet having a triangular shape and comprising:
The shape of the sachet and the arrangement of the tear strip advantageously provide that the sachet obtains a cone-like shape after opening. This cone like shape makes it easy both to hold by the open sachet in one hand and provides a convenient large opening for a hand to reach into to take out content from the sachet. Adantageously the sachet can take a relatively flat form when closed, convenient for storage and transport of the sachet, particularly for storage and tansport of multiple sachets, whilst wen opened the cone-like shape of the open sachet permits easy holding of the sachet in an open position, without risk of spilling/dropping contents from the open sachet, and easy access to the contents of the sachet
By cone-like is preferably meant that the shape resembles a geometrical cone to such an extent that it obtains the same properties with respect to ease of holding the sachet by hand. It does not need to be an exact cone in geometrical terms.
The interior space is preferably fully closed, but sachets having interruptions in the sealing are also covered by the present invention.
In presently preferred embodiments of the invention, the tear strip is arranged along one sealing only, since the sachet is intended to be opened along one sealing only.
If desired, the sachet may comprise a row of split lines in the sheet material along the tear strip to facilitate opening. This would be particularly relevant when the sheet is made from a material having relatively high tear strength.
The tear strip may e.g. be made from a polymer material, such as polypropylene, comprising a self-adhesive treatment so that it is fastened to the sheet material as part of the manufacturing process. The adhesive may also have been applied to the tear strip as a part of the manufacturing of the sachet.
In some embodiments of the invention, the sachet is shaped as a right triangle having the tear strip arranged along one of the catheti. The sachet may be shaped as an isosceles right triangle. The advantages of such a shape will be elucidated in the below description of the manufacturing method.
The means for starting opening of the sachet may be a pre-score or split extending from an edge of the sachet where the sheet is folded. The pre-score or split may extend towards a row of split lines located to so that a designated corner of the sachet can be manually torn off by starting at the pre-score or split. The row of split lines may extend to the tear-strip so that the tearing off of the designated corner can continue into a tearing along the tear strip. The combination of a torn-off corner and a torn-off edge results in an open sachet having a shape close to a truncated cone; i.e. having approximately a constant height as measured from the vertex. Such a shape may be easier to reach into e.g. if a group of people is sharing a food product located in the sachet.
In some embodiments of the invention, the tear strip does not run all the way along an edge of the sachet. E.g. it does not need to run into a corner that is torn-off. In other embodiments it does not run all the way to the opposite corner, i.e. the corner where two sealed edges meet. Hereby it can be obtained that the almost torn-off part stays attached to the sachet to avoid a small piece of rubbish that is likely to be thrown away by the consumer when opening the sachet. This means that only one piece of waste is created which increases the chance that it is thrown in a bin instead of on the ground. If, on the other hand it is desired to have a sachet where it is easy to fully remove one of the sealings, the tear strip should preferably run all the way to the corner where two sealed edges meet.
The front layer and the rear layer of a sachet according to the invention may be joined by welding, e.g. by ultrasonic means, whereby a strong sealing which can withstand rough handling is ensured. It could also be joined by other suitable techniques, such as gluing, cold sealing, or other conventional sealing methods, depending on the properties of the material from which the sachet is made.
In some embodiments the front layer and the rear layer may be joined by cold sealing. Hereby it will be possible to design the sachet so that only one layer of the sachet is removed along the tear strip leaving a portion the second layer, e.g. the rear layer, exposed with cold sealing intact. In this way the exposed portion of the second layer can form a flap, whereby the sachet can then be re-sealed by folding the flap formed by the exposed portion of the second layer over the opening. The cold-sealing strip on the second layer can thereby form a seal with the outside surface of first layer of the packaging material. This function may be improved by providing the layer to be torn-off with a row of split lines along and adjacent to the position of the tear strip.
The sachet may be made from a sheet material which is impermeable to oxygen and/or to water vapour. Hereby the content of the sachet may be better preserved. The actual requirements to be met by the material depend on the actual content and expected environmental conditions during transportation and storage. The sheet material may e.g. be made of aluminium, polyester, polypropylene, polyamide, polystyrene, paper, copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl acetate, bio-plastic or mixtures thereof.
In presently preferred embodiments of the invention, an eatable product is located inside the interior space. Such a product is preferably discrete food pieces which may e.g. have an average size in the range of 5 to 50 mm, such as 5 to 20 mm or 20 to 50 mm. In some embodiments the discrete food pieces have an average size in the range of from about 15 mm to about 50 mm, for instance from 20 to 40 mm 20 to 30 mm, or 30 to 40 mm, or for instance from 40 to 50 mm. The size of the product is defined as the maximum dimension of the product. The products could e.g. be a snack product, such as nuts, dried fruit pieces, crisps, chocolate, sweets or other confectionery. The product may also be pet food so that the sachet can easily be brought along e.g. when walking a dog.
A second aspect of the invention relates to a chain of sachets being formed by a plurality of interconnected sachets according to any of the preceding claims. Such a chain is directly obtained by at least some of the manufacturing processes according to a third aspect of the invention as will be described in the following. Leaving the sachets in the chain may be advantageous e.g. with respect to display in a sales store.
A third aspect of the invention relates to a method of manufacturing a triangular closed flexible sachet holding a product, the method comprising:
The third aspect of the invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a chain of interconnected triangular closed flexible sachets holding a product, comprising:
In an embodiment of the invention, the method of manufacturing a chain of triangular closed flexible sachet holding a product, comprises:
The tear strip may be pre-treated with self-adhesive before being applied to the sheet. Hereby it may be easy to ensure that the adhesive properties fulfil the necessary conditions to ensure a good fastening. Alternatively, the tear strip may be passed through a liquid adhesive before being applied to the sheet.
The means for starting opening of the sachet may be a pre-score or split extending from an edge of the sachet where the sheet is folded.
A better adhesion of the tear strip to the sheet may be ensured by application of pressure so that the tear strip is pressed against the sheet.
In presently preferred embodiments of the invention, the sheet is folded upon itself at a 45 degrees angle relative to the length to form a right angle triangular shaped interior space.
The front layer and the rear layer are preferably sealed along one edge before filling the interior space with the product and sealed along another edge after filling the interior space with the product. Hereby a partly closed interior space can be made before filling, so that it is easier to keep the product in the desired location.
The method of providing the sealing may be selected from: welding, adhesive bonding, cold sealing,
A method according to the invention may further comprise providing a row of split lines extending between the means for starting opening the sachet and the tear strip. Hereby a controlled opening of the sachet is ensured.
Any of the embodiments of a method according to the invention may further comprise dissociating the chain of triangular sachets to form a plurality of individual triangular sachets.
The first, second and third aspects of the present invention may be combined. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the description of the presently preferred embodiments which are set out below with reference to the drawings in which:
The sachet 1 is formed by one sheet of flexible blank material, which has been folded upon itself to form a front layer 2 and a rear layer 3 of the sachet 1; the front layer 2 and the rear layer 3 are more clearly seen in
In the embodiments shown in
In a sachet 1 as described above, the front layer 2 and the rear layer 3 are typically joined by welding, but any appropriate joining process for a given sheet material is covered by the scope of the present invention. In some embodiments of the invention, the front layer 2 and the rear layer 3 are joined by cold sealing. As described above, it will hereby be possible to remove only one layer of the sachet 1 along the tear strip 11 while a portion of the other layer is left exposed with cold sealing left intact, or at least intact over a major part of its length.
The invention can in principle be applied to sachets of any size. However, the intention is to obtain a sachet which is easy to hold in one hand, and typical dimensions and geometries will therefore be some resulting in a height of the sachet measured from a closed corner 14 to the opened corner at the other end 15 of the un-broken sealing 4 in the order of 50 to 200 mm, such as 80 to 150 mm, and preferably 100 to 130 mm. The width of a sealing 4 measured perpendicular to the edge 5 along which it runs is typically in the order of 3 to 15 mm, such as 3 to 8 mm or 8 to 15 mm. It should be wide enough to ensure a joining which stays intact before and during use of the sachet and on the other hand not significantly wider than necessary to keep manufacturing cost down.
The tear strip will typically have a width in the order of 0.5 to 2 mm. The actual dimensions and strength depends on the strength of the sheet material from which the sachet 1 is made. This material may be any material which is suitable for storage of the content of the sachet. Possible materials are mentioned above. The position of the tear strip will typically be between just at the edge of the sealing 4 facing towards the interior space 6 and up to about 2 mm from the sealing 4.
A sachet 1 as described above may be made by folding a single sheet at 45 degrees over itself, sealing and folding again, and so on. A possible manufacturing method will be described in the following.
The method comprises folding upon itself a flexible sheet to form a triangular interior space 6; filling said triangular interior space 6 with the product 12; and sealing said at least one folded sheet along a plurality of sealing lines 4 so as to capture the product 12 in said interior space 6; and repeating the steps above one or more times.
The sheet is foldable along the folding line 202 in the folding direction 204 so as to create in it an interior space 6 that may receive the product 12 to be stored therein. Assuming that what is meant to be manufactured is the closed flexible right isosceles triangle sachet 1 as described above, the length of the folding line is equal with the hypotenuse 104 of said triangle. In this case, the width 206 of sheet 200 is conveniently elected at the beginning of the manufacturing process so as to accommodate diagonally across a folding line 202 of length equal with the hypotenuse of the desired size of the sachet 1. The flexible sheet is then folded around itself along the lines 202 disposed at 45 degrees angle in the folding direction 204. Once one side of the triangle has aligned with the margin 208 of the blank 200 and the other side is perpendicular on said margin 208, the folding is accomplished and the desired enclosed right angle triangular shaped interior space 6 is formed.
As illustrated in
In the subsequent step, the flexible sheet is again folded upon itself at 45 degrees angle to form the next enclosed interior space 6. The operation is repeated one or more times, as many times as desired, until the desired number of triangular sachets 1 in the chain has been formed, or alternatively the length of the sheet has been exhausted.
In these embodiments a sheet of material is rolled upon itself as in
In one embodiment for application of the tear strip to the sheet material in an an intermittent manner in order to provide a tear strip along only one sealed edge of each sachet, the tear strip material's movement is registered by electronic means in the tear-strip applying apparatus and is synchronised with the movement of the sheet material, in order to place the tear strip correctly. The tear strip is cut at the end of the desired application length and reapplied in the next appropriate position as dictated by the movement of the sheet material on the tube.
As it may further be observed in section view 810 in
In the course of forming the right angle isosceles triangle, the sachet 1 may be provided with pre-scores 7 and/or split lines 9 as described above in relation to
The described manufacturing process results in a chain of sachets which may be kept interconnected or separated, e.g. by cutting as a part of the manufacturing process. If the sachets are kept in a chain, the areas where they are to be separated later may be weakened, e.g by perforation, to facilitate the separation.
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11195673.6 | Dec 2011 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP12/76034 | 12/18/2012 | WO | 00 |
