Patent Application
20090184017
The present invention is directed to a semi-rigid packaging unit for articles such as razors, articles of personal use and the like.
Conventional packaging units for articles are made from two walls secured to one another. The walls are relatively stiff with a heat seal weld along the peripheral edges or indeed surrounding the entire periphery. Examples of these packaging units are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,241 issued to Althaus and U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,066 issued to Grange.
Blister packs are known to have a plastic blister front and a cardboard rear wall, the plastic front being glued to the cardboard, which is opened when the user peels the two halves away from one another or pulls back a perforated flap or panel on the cardboard back wall. Examples of these packs are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,691 issued to Iten; U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,417 issued to Iten et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,194 issued to Iten; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,245 issued to Mullen.
It is recognized that various disadvantages of these known packs include they are frequently difficult to open, usually requiring scissors or considerable force, or do not allow easy access to the article within, which is inconvenient for the user.
The present invention comprises a packaging unit. The packaging unit comprises a front wall and a back wall sealed together at a peripheral joint. The front wall and the back wall are formed of semi-rigid material and are spaced apart from one another to define an article-receiving region between them. A line of weakness is formed in the back wall. The line of weakness defines an opening flap to be at least partially separated from the remainder of the back wall. A raised opening tab is positioned on the opening flap along the line of weakness. The raised opening tab extends away from the opening flap. The line of weakness is rupturable by a user by applying a manual force to the opening tab to at least partially separate the opening flap from the remainder of the back wall along the line of weakness in order to access the article-receiving region.
The front and back walls may be formed of plastic or cardboard.
The line of weakness comprises perforations.
The peripheral joint may comprises a heat-sealed seam, a radio frequency sealed seam a ultrasonic sealed seam or an adhesively sealed seam.
The packaging unit may further comprise a hinge in the back wall to facilitate separation of the opening flap from the back wall.
The opening flap may be completely separable from said back wall.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as forming the present invention, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The semi-rigid plastic material walls 11, 12 can be thermally formed from plastic materials, preferably polyester materials. Suitable materials also include, without limitation, PVC, PET G (extra glycol polyester), PET, PETGAG and PP. In the case of walls 11, 12 being made of plastic, suitable forming techniques include vacuum forming and deep drawing, whereby a sheet of material is drawn down with the assistance of pressure over an aluminum tool corresponding in shape to the article-receiving region 13 to be formed, then cooled and set. Alternatively, although presently less preferred, one wall could be made of plastic and another wall of cardboard or paperboard. The use of an all-plastic packaging unit has the advantage that it may be recyclable without having to separate dissimilar materials, is strong and provides a good opportunity to view the contained article. It is understood that the materials can be chosen with regard to the weight of the article to be packed therein, the desired resistance to package crushing or deformation, material cost, and environmental matters such as ease of recycling a package made of a homogenous material rather than dissimilar materials.
The packaging unit 10 is sealed along a peripheral joint 14. The packaging unit 10 is preferably sealed around all peripheral edges. The sealed packaging unit 10 defines a semi-rigid assembly which has a good degree of stiffness to protect an article contained therein and resists accidental opening.
The peripheral joint 14 may be achieved by use of such convenient techniques as adhesives, ultrasonic, heat-sealing, radio-frequency (RF) sealing (also referred to as “high frequency” HF sealing), or firm mechanical interlock. It is preferred that the joint be strong enough such that it is not easily peeled apart (i.e., resists delamination), since it is not necessary for the consumer to separate the layers of the joint itself. The type of joint chosen depends on the material of which walls 11, 12 are made, as is understood in the art. A heat seal or RF seal is understood in the art to form a firm, “welded” joint in the classes of preferred plastics such as above mentioned, as is commonly used in blister packs and well understood in the art. A suitable RF seal is about 2.5 mm wide in plan view. Adhesives of the isocyanate type would also “weld” these kinds of plastics, although rubber based adhesives are not preferred since they are less resistant to being peeled open. Also alternatively, if one wall were made of plastic and the other of cardboard, a suitable adhesive can form the joint, as is well understood in the art.
Referring to
An advantage of the invention has been determined to exist in that users intuitively understand to grasp opening tab 24 to open the packaging unit 10, thus eliminating the need for extensive opening instructions to be printed on the package, which permits more of the finite surface area of the package to be available for viewing the article and communicating substantive information about vended article itself.
Perforations 16 can be any convenient weakening and/or stress-concentrating features such as made by mechanical die cutting or slitting. The perforations 16 can be formed to extend through back wall 12 as might conveniently be done with die cutting or slitting. Depending on the material, as understood in the art 100 percent cuts (slits extending through 100% of the thickness) could be sufficient. Perforations 16 are formed to completely extend through back wall 12, such as by cutting fully through the material's thickness, as is presently preferred. It is presently preferred to form the perforations as 10 mm long running slits with 1 mm of un-slit portion (“land”) between the slits when using PVC, PET G, PET, PETGAG, or PP sheets of about 0.4 mm thickness, it being understood that the choice of dimensions would be made by one of skill in the art in light of the thickness and stiffness of the wall material. The perforations 16 can be formed subsequent the formation of the plastic material back wall 12. It is preferred that perforations 16 be done in the blank for back wall 12 before the front and back walls 11, 12 are heat-welded together, since then the wall forming step can be done in one operation; otherwise, if the perforations 16 were formed after the walls are heat-welded, that would require an additional processing step.
The article within packaging unit 10 may be an article of personal use, such as a razor, a razor blade unit, a shaving unit, a shaving head, a toothbrush, a battery, an energy or other fuel cell for an electric or gas powered appliance, or the like.
Referring now to
The line of weakness 115 defines an opening flap 120. A raised opening tab 124 is positioned on the opening flap 120 along the line of weakness 115. The raised opening tab 124 extends away from the opening flap 120. By extending away from the opening flap 120, the raised tab 124 provides a convenient location for a user to grasp when opening the packaging unit 110. When the perforations 116 of the line of weakness 115 are ruptured, which can be done upon application of a moderate manual force to the opening tab 124, the opening flap 120 can be completely separated from the remainder of the back wall 112 allowing for easy access to the article-receiving region 113.
The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm.”
All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of any document is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior art with respect to the present invention. To the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
