Patent Application
20160090217
The present disclosure relates to packaging containers for liquids such as pouches and boxes that provide sanitary surfaces for receiving straws. The containers comprise a primary insert affixed to the sidewall of the container, the primary insert comprising a peelable seal.
In the art of providing liquid containers, specifically those containers that use a straw for dispensing/delivery of the liquid such as juice in a pouch or box, certain current state-of-the-art technologies require insertion of the straw through a film, which may be difficult depending on the strength of the film. Some commercial packages rely on primary package walls having preformed holes with easily breakable films or with removable strips in order for the straw to penetrate, but this can create risk of failure due to premature puncture. Also, with some current practices, the straw must puncture a surface that may have been exposed to potentially unsanitary conditions.
There is an on-going need to provide liquid packaging containers such as pouches or boxes that provide excellent protection to and sanitary conditions for the liquid products such as juice, while at the same time are economical.
In order to provide sanitary conditions for receiving a straw and for providing a resealable container—a pouch, for example, having at least one sidewall—provided are primary inserts affixed to a body of a container, the primary inserts comprising a peelable seal that may be resealed as needed. The container comprises a sidewall defining the body and a hood. The sidewall has an edge seal and a frangible border that intersects the edge seal. Upon tearing of the frangible border, the hood is separated from the body. In use, a straw contacts the primary insert and opens the peelable seal which has not been exposed to the environment with the hood is removed. Thus, a sanitary surface—one that has not been exposed to the environment during handling—is provided for receiving a straw. Because there is not a pre-formed opening for the straw, the receipt by the inner layer of a straw conforms exactly to the straw being used and the straw fits snugly with the container during use. When a pressure sensitive adhesive is provided with the peelable seal, the seal may be resealed.
In an aspect, therefore, provided are packaging containers for liquids, such as beverages, the containers comprising at least one sidewall comprising an edge seal and a frangible border that intersects the edge seal, the sidewall defining a body and a hood; and a primary insert affixed to the body, the primary insert comprising a peelable seal. Upon tearing the frangible border, the hood and the body are separated.
Other features that may be used individually or in combination with respect to any aspect of the invention are as follows.
The sidewall may comprise a first panel and a second panel whose edges are affixed thereby forming the edge seal. The sidewall may comprise an ethylene-vinyl alcohol (“EVOH”) copolymer or a foil film. The packing container may optionally further comprise one or more gussets in conjunction with the panels, the container being formed into a stand-up pouch.
The peelable seal may comprises a strength layer and a delamination layer such that upon contact by a straw the delamination layer separates from the strength layer thereby opening the peelable seal. The delamination layer may comprise a polymer that is a pressure sensitive adhesive.
The container may further comprise a secondary insert affixed to one surface of the primary insert and to the body.
A first surface of the primary insert at a first end towards the hood may be affixed to the body and a second surface of the primary insert at a second end away from the hood may be affixed to the body.
A detailed aspect is a packaging container for liquid, the container comprising a first panel and a second panel whose edges are affixed thereby forming an edge seal; a frangible border along both the first panel and the second panel, the frangible seal intersecting the edge seal; and a primary insert both surfaces of which are affixed to the body, the primary insert comprising a peelable seal that comprises a strength layer and a delamination layer such that upon contact by a straw the delamination layer separates from the strength layer thereby opening the peelable seal.
In another aspect, provided is a method of a packaging container for a liquid, the method comprising: forming at least one sidewall by extruding a first polymer resin through a die or obtaining a foil film; affixing the primary insert to the sidewall; forming an edge seal by affixing the edges of the sidewall; and forming a frangible border by scoring the sidewall.
An additional aspect is a method of delivering a liquid product in a packaging container, the method comprising: obtaining any packing container of disclosed herein comprising liquid product therein; tearing the frangible border; and inserting a straw through the peelable seal. The method may further comprise resealing the peelable seal.
These and other aspects of the invention are described in the detailed description below. In no event should the above summary be construed as a limitation on the claimed subject matter.
The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments of the disclosure in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The figures are not necessarily to scale. Like numbers used in the figures refer to like components. It will be understood, however, that the use of a number to refer to a component in a given figure is not intended to limit the component in another figure labeled with the same number.
Provided are packaging containers for liquids that provide sanitary surfaces for receiving straws. The containers comprise a primary insert affixed to a body of the container, the primary insert comprising a peelable seal.
“Peelable seal” and like terminology are used herein to refer to a seal, and especially heat seals, which are engineered to be readily peelable without uncontrolled or random tearing or rupturing the packaging materials that may result in premature destruction of the package and/or inadvertent contamination or spillage of the contents of the package. A peelable seal is one that can be manually peeled apart to open the package at the seal without resort to a knife or other implement to tear or rupture the package. The force required to affect adhesive or cohesive failure of a delamination layer may be measured by its “peel strength” in accordance with ASTM F-904 test methods. A delamination layer is adapted to remain secure and unbroken during package fabrication, distribution and storage, and yet may be relatively easily ruptured. Accordingly, the peel strength of a frangible layer is between 1000 gram-force/inch (175.1 Newton/meter) and 5000 gram-force/inch (875.5 Newton/meter) as measured in accordance with ASTM F-904 test method. An exemplary peelable/resealable packaging film is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,422,782, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
A “delamination layer” is one that is structured to peel or delaminate during use in order to form a peelable seal. That is, such a layer exhibits adhesive failure, i.e., separation or delamination at an interface from an adjoining layer by application of a pulling or peeling force, or cohesive failure, i.e., separation within the delamination layer by application of a pulling or peeling force.
A “strength layer” is one that maintains its structure and is usually used in conjunction with a delamination layer to provide structure once the delamination layer has separated or delaminated.
Reference to “frangible” means easily broken.
A “layer” as used herein refers to a building block of sidewalls that is a structure of a single polymer-type or a blend of polymers or that may be an additive.
Reference to “abuse layer” or “outer layer” as used herein refers to the portion of the container that located outermost of all the layers and is subject to handling and the environment. The abuse layer is exposed to varying conditions at any given time, some of which may be unsanitary.
Reference to an “inner surface” means the surface of a layer away from the outer layer and towards the interior where the liquid is packaged.
An “inner layer” as used herein refers to a layer is that is not exposed to the handling and the environment. An exemplary inner layer is a barrier layer, which provides protection to the packaged liquid for freshness and/or a barrier to oxygen.
A “sealant layer” is one that seals to itself to form a liquid-tight seal. That is, the sealant layer comprises a thermoplastic polymer or polymer mixture that softens when exposed to heat and returns to its original condition when cooled to room temperature.
A “sidewall” is a discrete piece of polymer film or multi-layer laminate that is sealed to itself or another sidewall by, for example, welding or an adhesive, to form a pouch or a bag.
Insert Materials
An insert structure, e.g., primary and/or secondary insert, is typically formed from a multi-layered laminate. In general terms, the primary insert comprises at least a strength layer and a delamination layer. The secondary insert comprises a strength layer and optionally a delamination layer.
The delamination layer may comprise a polymer that is a pressure sensitive adhesive. The pressure sensitive adhesive may comprise an elastomeric first component and a tackifier second component. The elastomeric first component may comprise a styrene/rubber copolymer selected from the group consisting of: polystyrene/butadiene/styrene (SBS), polystyrene/isoprene/styrene (SIS), polystyrene/ethylene-butylene/styrene (SEBS), and polystyrene/ethylene-propylene/styrene (SEPS), or blends of any of these materials, and the tackifier second component may comprise a terpene resin or a petroleum hydrocarbon resin.
The strength layer may comprise a polymer that is a heat-sealable, water-insoluble polyester. The polyester may comprise a homopolymer or copolymer of an alkyl-aromatic ester, such as, for example, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET), crystalline polyethylene terephthalate (CPET), glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG), and polybutylene terephthalate; copolymers of terephthalate and isophthalate, such as, for example, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate/isophthalate copolymer; and homopolymers and copolymers of aliphatic esters such as, for example, polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkonates, such as, for example, but not limited to, polyhydroxypropionate, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PH3B), poly(3-hydroxyvalerate) (PH3V), poly(4-hydroxybutyrate) (PH4B), poly(4-hydroxyvalerate) (PH4V), poly(5-hydroxyvalerate) (PH5V), poly(6-hydroxydodecanoate) (PH6D) and blends of any of these materials.
Sidewall Materials
A sidewall is typically formed from a multi-layered laminate. In general terms, there is at least an abuse layer and an inner layer. In specific terms, there may be an abuse layer, an inner or barrier layer, and a sealant layer.
The abuse layer may comprise any suitable polyester. An exemplary polyester is an oriented polyethylene terephthalate (OPET).
In general, the sealant layer may comprise any suitable thermoplastic material including, but not limited too, synthetic polymers such as polyesters, polyamides, polyolefins, polystyrenes, and the like. Thermoplastic materials may also include any synthetic polymer that are cross-linked by either radiation or chemical reaction during a manufacturing or post-manufacturing process operation. Exemplary polyolefins include polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
A layer having an ethylene/vinyl alcohol (“EVOH”) copolymer film provides oxygen barrier protection and may be suitable in an inner layer such as a barrier layer. A foil film, such as aluminum foil, also provides oxygen barrier protection and may be suitable alone or in combination with other films in an inner layer such as a barrier layer.
Between any of the layers, an adhesive coating or layer may be provided to provide adhesion and continuity between the layers. Adhesive compositions invention may include, but Pare not limited to: modified and unmodified polyolefins, preferably polyethylene, most preferably, ethylene/α-olefin copolymer, modified and unmodified acrylate resin, preferably selected from the group consisting of ethylene/vinyl acrylate copolymer, ethylene/ethyl acrylate copolymer, ethylene/butyl acrylate copolymer, or blends thereof. EVA is an ethylene/vinyl acetate co-polymer, which may be used in particular to form a layer to facilitate bonding of polymerically dissimilar layers.
Fabrication
In general terms, to form the containers disclosed herein, the following steps are used. A desired sidewall is formed by making a single layer or a multi-layered laminate. The sidewall comprises at least one layer that provides a barrier such as an ethylene-vinyl alcohol (“EVOH”) copolymer or a foil film. To form a multi-layered laminate, techniques known in the art may be used. In general terms, there is at least an abuse layer and an inner layer. In specific terms, there may be an abuse layer, an inner or barrier layer, and a sealant layer.
Thus, the sidewall is formed by extruding at least a first polymer resin through a die or obtaining a foil film. For multi-layers, multiple resins or prepared films are used and attached to each other. A primary insert may be formed in a manner similar to that of the sidewall using the desired polymeric ingredients. Both surfaces of the primary insert are affixed to the sidewall—directly or indirectly. Should a secondary insert be used, one of its surfaces would be affixed to a surface of the primary insert and the other of its surfaces would be affixed to the sidewall. An edge seal is formed by affixing, for example, heat sealing, the edges of the sidewall. A frangible border is formed by scoffing the sidewall.
Before describing several exemplary embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction or process steps set forth in the following description. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways.
Turning to the figures,
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present disclosure. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “certain embodiments,” “one or more embodiments” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases such as “in one or more embodiments,” “in certain embodiments,” “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the method and apparatus of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention include modifications and variations that are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
