The present invention relates to a row of lids defining an unbroken sheet material having a longitudinal direction, the sheet material being shaped so that the rim of the sheet material defines first rims sections of the lids and so that second rims sections of two lids being adjacent to each other in the row of lids are defined by one cut in a direction being different from perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the sheet material
Lidding of premade containers usually takes place by placing die cut lids of aluminium or plastic or a laminate of those two materials on the containers and heat sealing them to the containers. These die cut lids are separated from each other and each lid therefore needs to be handled separately, e.g. each lid is taken from a stack of lids by a transporting device and placed on the open end of the container. Such separate handling of lids is time consuming and technically difficult.
A system is also known in which the lids are not completely separated and wound into a roll, from where final separation takes place in a filling and sealing machine by a cut at a right angle to the direction of movement of the row of lids. Such a row of lids can be as shown in
The row of lids shown in
It is an aim of the present invention to mitigate the problems pertaining to waste material in an efficient lidding system.
In a first aspect the present invention relates to a row of lids defining an unbroken sheet material having a longitudinal direction, the sheet material being shaped so that the rim of the sheet material defines first rims sections of the lids and so that second rims sections of two lids being adjacent to each other in the row of lids are defined by one cut in a direction being different from perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the sheet material.
In a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method of lidding a container, the method applies a row of lids according to present invention and comprises
Thus, the invention pertains to a lidding process, where the lids are not completely separated initially and where the final separation of the lids preferably takes place in a filling and sealing machine by a lidding system, and where the cuts separating the lids are angled in relation to the direction of movement of the row of lids and the angle of the cut separating the lids is not 90° in relation to the direction of movement of the row of lids as the direction of movement preferably is coincident with the longitudinal direction of the row of lids.
By this invention it is possible to reduce the consumption of lidding material compared to the known rows of lids and typically reduce the consumption to a minimum, as by the right choice of cutting angle the centre to centre distance on the row of lids can be reduced.
The present invention and in particular preferred embodiments thereof will now be disclosed in connection with the enclosed drawings in which:
and
Rows of lids are typically manufactured from cutting a blank in the form of a sheet material so as to define the first sections of the lids in an unbroken sheet material. In
For a container with a diameter of 75 mm an pull tab of 7.5 mm the centre to centre distance of the configuration shown in
The row of lids 1 according to the present invention is preferably applied in a lidding system where the row is wound into a roll. An end of the row of lids is advanced towards the open end of a container, at which position the lid is cut off the row which provide a second rim section, and sealed to the container.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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PA200800518 | Apr 2008 | DK | national |
PCT/DK2008/050093 | Apr 2008 | DK | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/DK08/50093 | 4/25/2008 | WO | 00 | 9/29/2010 |