Patent Application
20110073605
In our increasingly fast-paced society, individuals are forced to eat on the run. Often, they purchase food and drinks from convenience stores, restaurants, and cafés which offer take out options. Take out options are typically packaged in, for example, disposable cups, plates, trays, bags or clamshells. After an individual consumes her food she can quickly dispose of the food packaging in a trash receptacle.
Some papermakers add seeds to paper, for example, to provide attractive stationary with seeds. The seeds are commonly integrated into the paper product manually during papermaking. For example, they begin by creating paper pulp from paper fragments, functional additives, and water and add to that some seeds and liquid starch before molding and screening the paper.
A method is disclosed for manufacturing a seed-containing material for a food or beverage container. The method is fully automated and uses roll or sheet materials such as single face material and fluted material. The container may be any type of food and beverage container such as a cup, plate, container sleeve, paper clam shell or tray. The method is automated by a machine or series of machines which convey the roll or sheet material to one or more work stations for processing into a seed-containing material. During the process, seeds and a securing material, such as an adhesive, are added to the roll or sheet material and the materials are laminated. The resulting seed-containing material is then conveyed for further processing including removal of the blanks from the sheet material and folding into the final product. The final product may be planted in a yard, garden, or flower pot to yield flowers, plants, or trees.
Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the disclosure will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims.
Societies and the individuals that inhabit them are becoming increasingly interested in reducing the environmental impact of consumerism. Environmental issues dominate popular media, news, entertainment, and even political campaigns. In light of this, corporations and the service industry are searching for ways to demonstrate commitment to environmental leadership and to fulfill customer demand by offering environmentally friendly options. Corporations and the service industry also enjoy providing environmental awareness promotional items.
Food packaging may be made multi-purpose, such as food packaging that incorporates plant seeds. After consuming the contents of the food packaging, an individual may plant the packaging in their yard, garden, window box, flower pot, or otherwise. From that packaging, they may receive fresh flowers or other plants or trees. This form of packaging may be used as a standard packaging or as an attractive promotional item.
The multi-purpose food packaging may be recycled or thrown away. If the packaging ends up in a landfill, it provides an advantage of germinating and contributing to the breakdown of rubbish and the removal of the greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Plants and trees are an effective means of removing carbon dioxide because they transfer carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen. The plants and trees may also improve the appearance of landfills.
Packaging materials integrating plant and tree seeds may be produced by the following machines and the methods at a rate, quality, and efficiency that may be superior to other paper making techniques. Because the seeds are exposed to moisture and heat during production, the types and sizes of the seeds may be chosen to take into consideration this moisture content and heat. In one embodiment, snapdragon flower seeds have been used and tested with favorable results, with roughly 2% to 30% of seeds planted germinated.
The machine system 100 may use a first sheet material 102 which may be provided in bulk as a roll or web. Accordingly, the term “sheet” is not to be limited to the source of the material or how it is delivered, e.g., the sheet material may come off a roll and/or come in the form of a web as well as be delivered as individual sheets. The first sheet material 102 may be fed into the machine system 100 and through the various steps of the process by a wheel-based, belt-based, or other conveyance system.
The first sheet material 102 may be composed of a generally-flat material having some rigidity and being capable of being bent or scored to facilitate bending along determined lines. For example, but not limited to, the sheet material 102 may be selected from a variety of paper, such as Kraft paper, clay-coated news board, white-top liner, containerboards, SBS (solid bleached sulfate) boards or other materials. The material may be treated, such as to provide increased water or fluid resistance and may have printing on selected portions of the material. The first sheet material 102 may be made of recyclable materials or may be compostable, biodegradable, or a combination of these.
The first sheet material 102 may be conveyed by roller 108 to a first work station 120. The first work station 120 may be a corrugating station, which could be by-passed if material 102 does not need to be corrugated. For example, the first work station 120 may include a source of steam. The steam may be applied to the first sheet material 102. The first work station 120 may also include a corrugating roll. The corrugating roll may shape the first sheet material 102 into a series of waves or flutes. The first work station 120 may also include an applicator which may apply a securing or bonding material to a side of the first sheet material 102. For example, the applicator may be a metering roll applicator with a trough containing a securing material, such as an adhesive. The trough may be stationed near a corrugating roll such that the adhesive is applied to the tips of the waves or flutes generated by the corrugating roll. Additionally or alternatively, the securing material may be applied by spraying, brushing, or otherwise. For example, an applicator may apply the securing material by spraying it onto a side of the first sheeting material 102. The spray from the applicator may be constant or intermittent and may create broken lines, stripes, dots, or ellipses of securing material. Designs and patterns may be applied by moving the applicator or by moving the first sheet material 102 relative to the sprayer.
The securing material may be, for example, an adhesive, a thermal insulating material, or other materials or coatings, for example, those with securing properties. For example, the securing material may be a starch adhesive, or any other adhesives.
The securing material may be delivered to the applicator from a line 122, which may originate at a seed conditioning and preparation station 132. The securing material may be premixed with seeds at a seed conditioning and preparation station 132 before or during delivery to the applicator of the first work station 120.
The first sheet material 102 may be incorporated with a second sheet material 104, for example, by pressing the second sheet material 104 to the first sheet material 102. The second sheet material 104, which may be a liner, may be secured to the first sheet material 102 by the securing material resulting in a two-layer sheet material 126, such as single-face fluted sheeting as shown in
A seed-containing two layer sheet material 126, such as a single-face fluted sheeting, may exit the machine system 100 and go on to further processing (e.g., die cutting, printing, folding, etc.) into the desired final product.
Alternatively, the seed-containing or non-seed-containing two-layer sheet material 126, such as a single-face fluted sheeting, may be further processed by the machine system 100 as described below.
The sheet material, which may be seed-containing or non-seed-containing two-layer sheet material 126 may be conveyed to a second work station 130. The second workstation 130 may include an applicator which may apply a securing material, such as a seed-containing securing material, to a side of the two-layer sheeting 126, which may be single-face fluted sheeting. For example, the applicator may apply a securing material, such as a seed-containing securing material, to the second sheet material 104 side of the two layer sheeting 126, which may be the liner side of the two layer sheeting 126. Alternatively or additionally, the applicator may apply a securing material, such as a seed-containing securing material, to the first sheet material 102 side of the two layer sheeting 126. The securing material may be an adhesive, a coating material, a finishing material, or otherwise. For example, the securing material may be a cold set or a hot set adhesive, for example a hot-melt adhesive, starch-based adhesive, natural polymer adhesive, cellulose based adhesive, glue, hot melt glues, cold set glues, binder, polymeric binder, foams, and etc.
The securing material may be applied by spraying, brushing, or otherwise. For example, the applicator may be a trough containing a securing material. The trough may be stationed near the roll which feeds the paper into the second work station 130 such that the securing material is applied to the tips of the waves or flutes generated by the corrugating roll. As a second example, an applicator may apply the securing material by spraying it onto a side of the first sheeting material 102 the second sheeting material 104 or both. The spray from the applicator may be constant or intermittent and may create broken lines, stripes, dots, or ellipses of securing material. Designs and patterns may be applied by moving the applicator or by moving the first sheet material 102 relative to the sprayer. The securing material may be premixed with seeds at one or several separate seed conditioning and preparation station 132 before or during delivery to the applicator, for example, through a line 133.
The two-layer sheeting material 126 may be incorporated with a third sheet material 110, which may be a second liner, for example, by pressing the third sheet material 110 to the two layer sheeting 126 creating a three-layer seed-containing sheet material 134 also referred to as a single wall sheet material. Further processing may be performed to add another fluted sheet and another liner sheet, in that order, to the three-layer seed-containing material using additional securing material layers to optionally create a double wall seed-containing sheet material.
The third sheet material 110 may be composed of a generally-flat material having some rigidity and being capable of being bent or scored to facilitate bending along determined lines. For example, the third sheet material 110 may be single-face liner paper, for example but not limited to Kraft paper. The material may be treated, such as to provide increased water or fluid resistance and may have printing on selected portions of the material. Alternatively or additionally, the third sheet material 110 may be composed of corrugated cardboard, chipboard, SBS, metalized paper, plastic, polymer, fibers, composite, mixtures or combinations of the foregoing, and the like. The third sheet material 110 may be made of recyclable materials or may be compostable, biodegradable, or a combination of these.
The second work station 130 may be a laminator. The layers may be laminated which may improve the structural integrity and appearance of the resulting seed-containing packaging material. The temperature during the lamination process may be optimized to maintain seed integrity and improve germination fidelity.
As discussed above, securing material used in the process may be a seed-containing adhesive. Seeds may be added to the adhesive at a seed conditioning and preparation station 132, or at several of these kinds of stations. The seed-containing securing material may then be loaded into an applicator for application to the sheet material.
For example, the resulting sheet material may be further processed such as by application and subsequent removal of packaging blanks from the sheet material and assembly of the blanks into the final product, at block 260. The final product of the process (which may be, e.g., a cup, container holder, container sleeve, clamshell, tray, or otherwise) may be made of one or more layers of one or more of the aforementioned materials. Where multiple layers of material are used they may be joined, such as, but not limited to, being laminated, glued, or otherwise fastened together for increased strength.
Alternatively or additionally, the applicator 902 may move relative to the container 900 to achieve a desired pattern. For example, mandrels 904 may be arranged on a rotating arm 906. A container 900 may be loaded onto the mandrel 904 manually or be fed by machine. The arm 906 may move the container 900 proximate to the applicator 902. The applicator 902 may apply patterns of seed-containing securing material 312 to the container 900 by moving relative to the container 900. The mandrel 904 may also move the container 900 relative to the applicator 902, such as by rotation. As an example, stripes may be applied to the cup by side-to-side movement of the applicator 902 combined with rotational movement of the mandrel 904. The spray from the applicator 902 may be constant or intermittent and may create broken lines, stripes, dots, or ellipses of foam. Swirls may be applied by constant spray from the applicator 902 combined with side movement and rotation of the mandrel 904.
The applicator 902 may be attached to a line 908 which may deliver the seed-containing securing material 312, for example, from a seed preparation and mixing station 132. After the seed-containing securing material 312 has been applied, the arm 906 may move the container 900 to a different position where the cup may be removed from the mandrel for further processing. For example, an integrated, double-wall container may be formed by inserting the container 800 into an outer wall. The outer wall may be preformed and located in a cavity 810 into which the container 900 may be inserted.
Additionally or alternatively, the seed-containing securing material 1012 may be applied during the final processing steps, such as when blanks for cups, sleeves, clam shells, trays, are being folded into their final conformation or form.
After a final product, such as a container, cup, container sleeve, clamshell, or tray has been used, an end user may plant the item in a flower pot, in the yard, in a garden, or otherwise.
For instance,
The insulating material 1116 which may or may not contain seeds, such as an expandable material, may be applied to an inner face 1106 of the outer wall 1104 in an inactive form. The inactivated insulating material 1116 may be applied as a thin film that does not materially alter the thickness of the outer wall 104. Applying the insulating material 1116 to the inside of the outer wall 1104 may also maintain the printability of the outer face of the outer wall 1104.
The securing material 312 and the insulating material 1116, when used, may be largely free of fertilizers, pesticides, nitrogen fixing bacteria, spores, or other growth factors. This may decrease the cost of making the product and may also increase the safety of using the product in consumer products meant to be used with food items.
While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scope of the invention. For instance, steps of a method as displayed in the figures or reflected in the below claims do require a specific order of execution by the way they are presented, unless specified. The disclosed steps are listed as exemplary such that additional or different steps may be executed or the steps may be executed in a different order.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/246,779, filed Sep. 29, 2009, which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61246779 | Sep 2009 | US |
