The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an illustrative embodiment shown in the drawing. In the drawing:
FIG. 1 shows, diagrammatically, a perspective and partially exposed view of the container according to the invention;
FIG. 1
a is a detail of FIG. 1 with the lid in closed condition;
FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the seal according to the invention;
FIG. 3 shows the section along the line III-III in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 shows the section along the line IV-IV of the lid and the container in closed position;
FIG. 5 shows in perspective view a further embodiment of the lid according to the invention;
FIG. 6 shows in top view the lid of FIG. 5; and
FIG. 7 shows, diagrammatically, an installation for the production of packs according to the invention.
In FIG. 1 a packaging according to the invention is indicated by 1. This consists of a container 2 with base 17. The base 17 is positioned inside the container so that it is somewhat raised, so that an upright rim 29 is produced. This upright rim facilitates stacking of further containers.
3 indicates a lid with lip 18 that is joined via a hinge 5 to a lid rim 4. Lid and lid rim consist of a plastic material and are produced by injection moulding. As can be seen from FIG. 4, in the closed position the top of lid 3 close to the periphery thereof is somewhat below the top of the raised peripheral edge 23 of the lid rim. The lid 3 is provided with a depending edge 26 fitting relatively closely inside the circumferential edge 27 on the lid rim 4. The circumferential upper part of lid 3 is referred to by 28 and fits closely adjacent to peripheral edge 23. As a result it is not possible to grasp the lid except at the location of the cut-out 24 in the peripheral edge 23. In the closed position the depending part of lip 18 extends in front of cut-out 24. Access to lip 18 is prevented by part 25 being in front of lip 18. This is shown in more detail in FIG. 1a. It is clear that lip 18 has a barbed protrusion engaging below a projection of part 25 and preventing lifting of lip 18 as long as part 25 is present. On delivery, the cut-out 24 is closed off by part 25, which is joined to the peripheral edge 23 on either side by two points 48 in each case. Connection of part 25 to the circumferential edge 23 can be realised in any other way such as by local decrease in thickness. Part 25 can be broken away easily and after breaking away the lid can be opened by lifting lip 18. In this way it is clear to the user that he or she is the first person to open the pack.
If part 25 has been tampered with this will be immediately evident because it is at the outer circumference of the container. It must be understood that the evidence of first opener described above (tamper-proof evidence) can also be used in combination with packagings other than are described here and rights are explicitly requested for this. The lid rim is clamped or bonded to the container wall, or fixed in some other way known in the state of the art. The outer periphery of the lid/lid rim is such that this falls within the periphery of upright lower rim 29. The container is of essentially rectangular construction, but it can clearly be seen from the drawing that there is slight bulging in the middle of the flat walls. This is indicated diagrammatically by b for the front face. Such bulging can be limited and is preferably less than approximately 7 mm on the short side and less than approximately 16 mm on the long side. That is to say, with respect to the straight line that joins the points of greatest deflection/inflection, the outward deviation is less than approximately 7 mm and approximately 16 mm, respectively, and preferably 3-6 and 7-15 mm, respectively. Furthermore, the container can be provided with finger holds to facilitate handling thereof.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the lid rim 4 is provided with a levelling-off strip 6. When the pack is held at an angle, the overfilled scoop can then be moved under edge 6 and an accurate volume is thus determined. Moreover, as a result of the construction of the edge, no compression of the powder or product takes place, so that there is always a reproducible amount of material in the scoop.
Product 11, such as baby food, is contained in the container 2. A seal 13, consisting of a film material that has been applied to the inside of the wall of the container 2 by heat sealing, has been arranged immediately above this product. This film material is provided with a weakening line 14 and a pull lip 15. When pull lip 15 is grasped, film 13 will tear along weakening line 14 and access to the product thus becomes possible.
Lid 3 is provided with a convex portion 9 that falls within the elevation produced by the upright rim 28 of a further pack optionally stacked on top of the pack shown here. Moreover, there is a further elevation 10 in which part of scoop 8 is accommodated. This part is preferably the bowl of the scoop. Optionally there can be yet a further elevation for the (end of) the handle.
The size of the scoop is dependent on the desired dosage. The elevation 10 can extend above the elevation 9, as can be seen from the cross-section according to FIG. 3. The maximum of the elevation 10 with respect to the base is indicated by “a” and is between 4 and 12 mm. Because the container is provided with a peripheral rim 28 at the bottom, these elevations fall within the space delimited by said rim 18 and base 17. For accurate centring, rim 18 is flanged inwards to some extent from the base 17, so that a clearly fixed position is obtained when stacking. The height of the base with respect to the positioning surface of the container is matched to the height of the elevation with respect to the position where the side walls of the container bear on the underlying pack. This is shown by “b” in FIG. 4. The handle of scoop 8 can be clamped with a snap fit between lips 7 that are integral with the lid and are preferably located close to or in the middle of the lid. The container wall is provided with recesses 16 that correspond to the shape of the user's fingers. Clamping the scoop to the lid avoids the scoop being dropped back into the powder after first use. If the scoop is clicked into the lid, bacterial contamination can be prevented as far as possible. Before the first opening of the container, i.e. after shipment from the filling facility the scoop 8 might be loosely arranged on seal 13. This is shown in FIG. 4. It can be concluded from FIG. 4 that the size of scoop 8 is such that the accommodation defined by the top of the lid and the lower side thereof is not sufficient to receive the scoop. Because of that seal 13 is provided at a distance r from the lowest point of the accommodation in the lid for spoon of the container. This distance r is preferably between 20 and 50 mm and more in particular about 40 mm. In this way the height of the lid can be kept relatively low which allows for easy stacking during production thereof.
Preferably, the height of the lid is such that also after first use, when the seal is removed and scoop 8 is clamped between lips 7, the scoop extends partially in the space below the lid and defined by the top of the container 2.
The edge 23 is made upright in order to make it possible that powder that is spilt during movement of the filled scoop falls back into the container.
It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the wall of the container is made up of a laminate. From outside to inside this consists of a layer of board/paper 20, a relatively thin aluminium foil 21 and, arranged inside this, a layer of a plastic material 22 that can be joined to seal 13 by heat sealing. As a result of the use of the seal, the risk that foreign bodies could reach the product is limited. After all, after the seal has been applied such undesired bodies, such as plastic parts of the scoop, will remain on top of the seal and not be able to reach the powder.
A few typical dimensions of the packaging will be given below. However, it must be understood that these must be interpreted as non-limiting if baby food is packed.
The distance between the bottom of the lid and the top of the seal is preferably between 14 and 27 mm. More particularly this distance is between 7 and 23 mm. Such a gap is precisely enough to accommodate a scoop. However, this height will vary depending on the desired volume of the scoop.
The gap below the seal and above the powder is preferably less than 10 mm and more particularly less than 5 mm. That is to say the seal is positioned as close as possible to the powder during packing.
As can be seen from the drawing, the container is of rectangular construction, as a result of which this can be emptied to the optimum with the aid of scoop 8. In order to optimise emptying, the length of the scoop is preferably 60-95% of the diagonal of the container and more particularly 70-90% thereof.
As a result of the use of rectangular containers, optimum use can be made of the available volume either in the packaging or on the shelf of the retail organisation.
In FIG. 5 a further embodiment of the lid according to the invention is shown. This is generally referred to by 53 and basically correspond with lid 3 according to the previous figures. The elevation for the scoop is referred to by 60, 61. Elevation 60 is adapted to receive part of the bowl 52 of scoop 58 whilst elevation 61 is provided to receive stem 54 thereof. In between both elevation 60, 61 reinforcement ribs of the lid extend. Clamping means 57 are shown in dotted lines. This embodiment arrangement is such that in clamped position the open side of bowl 52 is directed to accommodation 60. This means that it is possible to receive bowls having different “height” between clamping lips 57 This allows for the use of several sized bowls of scoop 58 without adaptation to the design of the lid. Also, in this embodiment only part of the scoop is accommodated by the lid whilst the remaining part is accommodated by the space above the seal in the container.
An installation for the production of a pack is shown in FIG. 6. This consists of a feed station 31, into which blanks 32 are introduced. With the aid of a folding/sealing station 33 the containers 34 according to the present invention are produced therefrom. These containers consist of a wall and a base without lid. The product is then introduced at 35. At 30 the sealing film is applied by heat sealing while introducing an inert gas into the space in which the product is stored. In this way a volume that remains gastight is obtained in which the product can be stored for a very long period without damage. The introduction of gas can be carried out either batchwise or continuously in station 30. Checks on the packaging and the contents are carried out at 39. The lid, together with the lid rim, is then pressed onto the container wall and fixed thereto at 37. Collection and packing takes place at 38.
Although the invention has been described above with reference to a preferred embodiment, it must be understood that numerous modifications can be made thereto without going beyond the scope of the present application as defined in the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080041861
