The present disclosure relates to packaging and more particularly to a sustainable packaging system including a carton and a sealed liner assembly for shipping liquid, viscous, or particulate products.
Substantially rigid plastic containers with replaceable covers, e.g., bucket-type containers, are commonly used to package and ship selected liquid and viscous materials in the nature of foods and food preparation materials, cosmetic preparations, detergents, and the like. Such containers are sturdy, typically having a wall thickness in the range of about 0.075 inches to about 0.090 inches, and have a large mouth that renders them well suited for storing and dispensing a variety of viscous liquids, e.g., syrups, mustard, and cosmetic preparations. A typical 20 liter empty bucket may weigh approximately 2.25 lbs.
Another mode of shipping liquid products is the “bag & box” arrangement in which a bag, made of flexible single or double ply plastic film and provided with a fitment for discharge of the bag's contents, is stored in a box made of corrugated cardboard. The latter type of packaging system is well suited for free-flowing liquids such as vinegar, wine, detergents, and the like. However, it is not well suited for viscous materials for a number of reasons. For example, it is difficult to remove all of the contents from the bag, due to the inability to scrape out the residual contents from the bag. Additionally, in the case of a material that consists of several ingredients that tend to separate from one another on standing, it is not possible to introduce a stirring implement into the bag for the purpose of mixing the contents to obtain a homogenous material.
Further limitations stem from plastic recycling requirements and food packaging regulations. Environmental regulations require containers with a volume of 5 gallons or less to be made of a recyclable material. Additionally, governmental regulations require that plastic containers for foodstuffs be made of a virgin plastic material. The substantially rigid plastic containers comprise a relatively large amount of plastic in comparison to the flexible bags used in the “bag & box” packaging system, thereby increasing the amount of plastic that has to be disposed of or recycled. Making such containers of virgin plastic is costly and hence discourages their use for containing foodstuffs. The “bag & box” system employs less plastic, but the bags are not as sturdy as the substantially stiff containers and also cannot be used where it is essential to access all of the contents or where it is desired to mix the contents in situ.
The present disclosure relates to a packaging system and more particularly to a sustainable packaging system including a carton and a sealed liner assembly for shipping liquid, viscous, or particulate products. The present disclosure in one embodiment, relates to a packaging assembly for holding liquids, viscous material, or particulate material. The packaging assembly includes a carton having side and bottom walls. The packaging assembly also includes a self-supporting plastic liner that fits inside of the carton for containing liquids, viscous material, or particulate material. The liner has either a substantially circular or substantially oval cylindrical side wall, a closed bottom end characterized by a bottom wall formed integral with said side wall, and an open top end having an outwardly-projecting rim. The rim has a radially-extending flange portion, and a dependent skirt portion, wherein when the self-supporting plastic liner is inside of the carton, the radially extending flange portion supports the liner on at least a portion of the carton. A lidding material is provided to seal the plastic liner.
The present disclosure, in another embodiment, relates to a packaging assembly for holding liquids, viscous material, or particulate material. The packaging system includes a carton having side, top, and bottom walls, and a carton lid near the top wall. The carton has a tear strip or perforation dividing the carton lid from the remainder of the carton. A self-supporting plastic liner is provided inside of the carton for containing liquids, viscous material, or particulate material. The liner may or may not be attached to the carton. The liner has a side wall, a closed bottom end characterized by a bottom wall formed integral with said side wall, and an open top end having an outwardly-projecting rim. The rim has a radially-extending flange portion, and a dependent skirt portion, wherein the radially extending flange portion supports the liner on at least a portion of the carton. Separation along the tear strip or perforation allows the carton lid to at least partially open and expose the liner within the carton.
While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. As will be realized, the various embodiments of the present disclosure are capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter that is regarded as forming the various embodiments of the present disclosure, it is believed that the disclosure will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying Figures, in which:
a is an exploded perspective view of the components of a packaging system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
b is a top, end, and side view of a round cylindrical liner according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
c is a top and side view of a packaging system with a round cylindrical liner according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
d is a top and side view of a packaging system with a round cylindrical liner according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
e is a top, end, and side view of a packaging system with a round cylindrical liner according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.
f is a top, end, and side view of a oval cylindrical liner according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
g is a top and side view of a packaging system with an oval cylindrical liner according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
h is a top and side view of a packaging system with an oval cylindrical liner according to another embodiment of the present disclosure
i is a top, end, and side view of a packaging system with an oval cylindrical liner according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure
a is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the components of a packaging system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
b is a perspective view of a carton lid according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
c includes perspective views of a carton and carton lid according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, utilizing a tear strip to separate the carton lid from the carton.
a is a perspective view of traditional packing buckets skidded on a pallet.
b is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present disclosure skidded on a pallet with 36 packaging assemblies.
c is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present disclosure skidded on a pallet with 48 packaging assemblies.
The present disclosure relates to a novel and advantageous sustainable packaging system that may be used to ship liquid or viscous products or particulate matter. Traditionally, liquid products, for example thick viscous products such as thick paints and inks, cosmetic compounds, food glazes and fillings, drywall mud, thick roof sealants, powders and flakes, or like products have been packed for shipping or sale in pails or buckets made of materials such as steel or thick plastic. A single traditional 20 liter bucket of this type may weigh approximately 2.25 pounds empty, which adds a considerable amount of weight to a truckload of product. Buckets or pails are also typically cylindrically shaped, making them inefficient for skidding or shipping because there is a substantial amount of unused space between one bucket and the next bucket. Further, due to the rigidity of the buckets, they may take up a significant amount of space after use, but before disposal. Additionally, the buckets may be difficult or costly to dispose of or recycle.
The packaging system of the present disclosure generally includes an outer container or carton box, and an inner liner. The inner liner may be sealed after the liner is filled with product. A liner cover may be placed over the sealed liner and/or a carton box cover may be placed over the cardboard box containing the sealed and filled inner liner. The square or rectangular shape of the packaging system allows one box to be placed directly next to and/or on top of another box, effectively maximizing the amount of product that can be stored or shipped in a limited space. For shipping purposes, the more units that can be loaded per truck reduces inbound transportation costs.
In addition to the advantageous shape of the packaging system of the present disclosure, a single empty packaging system, in one embodiment, may weigh approximately 0.3 pounds, compared to the approximately 2.25 pounds for a traditional pail of similar volume. This weight difference results in a 7.5 to 1 ratio in weight savings for the packaging system of the present disclosure over the traditional pail. The lighter weight packaging system of the present disclosure may be easier to move, be less costly to ship, require less energy to produce, and be easier to recycle, and easier to store prior to recycling than traditional pails.
In one embodiment, the liner 120 may be made of plastic and be relatively semi-rigid and thin, approximately in the range of about 0.008 inches to about 0.030 inches thick. However, it is recognized that the liner thickness could vary and could be outside the range of about 0.008 inches to about 0.030 inches, and in some embodiments, may depend on the desired use or application of the liner 120. The liner 120 may be made by any means known in the art, such as, but not limited to vacuum forming, blow molding, or injection molding. The liner 120 may be made, for example, of a 100% recyclable material, such as, but not limited to high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). Unlike the plastic film bags used in the bag & box arrangement described above, the liner 120 may be self-supporting. However, the relative thinness of the liner may make the liner easily collapsible, which may significantly reduce the volume and cost of disposal as compared to traditional pails. Due to the thinness and/or the weight of the carton 102 and/or the liner 120, more, and in some cases significantly more, liners may be shipped via truck than traditional rigid buckets. For instance, the liner may be shipped in truck loads of approximately 28,000 units compared to only 3,412 traditional buckets per truck. Increasing the number of liners that may be shipped in a single truck load can advantageously result in less truck loads needed to ship the packaging system of the present disclosure and therefore less greenhouse gases being produced.
The liner 120 may have a cross-sectional shape similar to the carton 102, e.g., square or rectangular cross-sectional shape. Alternately, the liner may have any other shape, such as, but not limited to an oval or round cylindrical shape, as described in more detail below. In any case, the liner 120 can be sized to fit within the carton 102. In the illustrated embodiment, the liner 120 has a substantially square cross-sectional configuration and comprises a bottom wall 124 and a side wall including four sides or panels 122 that can be substantially similar in shape to panels 104 of carton 102. When the plastic liner 120 is inside the carton 102, the plastic liner 120 may rest on and be supported by the bottom wall 106 of the carton 102. Panels 122 may typically be generally slightly smaller than panels 104 of carton so as to permit the liner 120 to fit inside the carton 102. In one embodiment, panels 122 of the plastic liner 120 may lie substantially close to the side walls 104 of the carton 102 when the liner is placed in the carton. The top end of the liner 120 can be open but may be formed with a rim 126. As can best be seen in
As stated above, the liner may have any other suitable shape. For example, in one embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment of a liner having a substantially circular cross-sectional shape, sized to fit within the carton 102, as shown in
In yet another embodiment of a liner having a substantially circular cross-sectional shape, sized to fit within the carton 102, as shown in
In still another embodiment of a liner having a substantially circular cross-sectional shape, sized to fit within the carton 102, as shown in
In yet another example embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment of a liner having a substantially oval cross-sectional shape, sized to fit within the carton 102, as shown in
In yet another embodiment of a liner having a substantially oval cross-sectional shape, sized to fit within the carton 102, as shown in
In still another embodiment of a liner having a substantially oval cross-sectional shape, sized to fit within the carton 102, as shown in
Other options for supporting substantially circular or oval shaped liners within a carton having a square or rectangular cross-sectional shape are within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Although features may be generally described with reference herein to liner 120, it is understood that such features may also be equally applied to other liner embodiments, such as those described above.
A lidding material 140 may be sealed over the top of the liner 120 in order to contain the product within the liner 120. The lidding material 140 can be advantageous when the contents of the liner must be protected against moisture, air, bacteria, or other materials that may have a deleterious effect on the contents. The lidding material 140 may be, for example, a thin film plastic material or a thin metal foil that may be sealed to the liner 120 by any means, for example by hermetically heat-sealing the lidding material 140 to the liner 120. In other embodiments, the lidding material may be manufactured from any material suitable for sealing the liner from one or more of moisture, air, bacteria, or other materials that may have a deleterious effect on the contents. In some embodiments, the lidding material may be made of a 100% recyclable material. The lidding material may also be secured to the liner by adhesive or other methods of sealing now known or developed in the future. As can be seen in
The packaging system 100 illustrated in
The plastic lid 150 may be attached to the liner 120 by pressing it down over the rim 126 of the liner 120. The pressing down action can result in the bottom end of the skirt portion 220 of the plastic lid 150 being forced outwardly far enough to snap over the skirt portion 212 of the liner 120. The inherent resilience of the plastic of which the plastic lid 150 is made can cause its rim 216 to engage, or tightly engage, with the liner rim 126 as shown in
In another embodiment, the packaging system may have a carton lid in addition to or instead of a plastic lid.
In a further embodiment, as shown in
In still another embodiment, the carton lid may be generally integral with the carton 102 and comprise one or more flaps, that may be folded over the carton opening to close the carton. The flaps may also include one or more tear strips to secure the flaps in a closed position until the carton is opened for the first time.
At any rate, in some embodiments the packaging system may include a carton 102, a liner 120, a lidding material 140, and a carton lid 400 without a plastic lid 150. In yet another embodiment the packaging system may include a carton 102, a liner 120, a plastic lid 150, and a carton lid 400 without a lidding material. In any event, the packaging system may be designed to include one, two, or each of the lidding material 140, plastic lid 150, and carton lid 400. For example, in some embodiments, the packaging system may include only the lidding material 140 without a plastic lid 150 or carton lid 400.
Because traditional pails or buckets that are used to ship viscous materials are typically cylindrical, a significant amount of space may be wasted during shipping because one bucket can not line up directly next to another bucket as can be seen in
As can been seen, each skid 510, 520 contains 36 units, however, the height of the skidded present disclosure 520 is considerably less than the height of the skidded traditional bucket 510. In fact, adding another layer of the packaging system of the present disclosure to the skid 520 may only increase the height of the skid by a small amount, such as a couple inches, compared to the traditional bucket system 510 as shown in
In practice, the liner of the present disclosure may be filled with a liquid, viscous material or particulate material before the liner is placed in the carton, or while the liner is in the carton. In existing conventional packaging systems, a liner might also be filled before being placed inside a box, or after being placed in a box. However, if a sealing member was going to be applied to the liner, the liner would have to be filled before being placed in the box. In that case, a sleeve or support member would need to be placed around the liner to stabilize the liner. Alternately, in conventional packaging systems, the liner could be placed inside the box and then filled with material, but in that case, the liner could not be sealed with a lidding material. One such existing packaging system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,933, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. One novel and advantageous aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, however, is that the liner may be filled when it is in the carton, and the lidding material may be sealed to the liner after the liner has been filled, and while the liner is still in the carton.
A further embodiment of the present disclosure illustrated in
In some embodiments, a liner pad 180, as shown in
Once the filled liner has been covered with a lidding material, a plastic lid may be applied to the liner. Additionally, a carton lid may cover the plastic lid. In other embodiments, as mentioned previously, only a carton lid may cover the lidding material of the liner. The packaging system may then be shrink wrapped or banded for skidding and shipping.
A further embodiment of the present disclosure is a method for packaging and holding liquids, viscous, or particulate materials as illustrated in
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a lidding material is affixed to the plastic liner after the plastic liner has been filled with product. In some embodiments, the affixing of the lidding material may be facilitated by pushing the plastic liner up and away from the carton so as to more easily access and seal the lidding material onto the rim of the plastic liner. The plastic liner may be pushed up through liner access points in the bottom of the carton, as described above.
Another advantage of the present disclosure is that the system may be integrated into already existing single and multi-head filling lines. Furthermore, the carton 102 may be assembled using standard equipment. The liner 120 may be installed, and the carton 102 and liner 120 may be conveyed to the existing filler. Once the liner 120 has been filled with product, a lidding material 140 may be heat sealed in place to protect the product. A plastic lid 150 may, or may not be, installed over the liner 120. A secondary or tertiary carton lid 400 may, or may not be, installed over the packaging system to protect the package during shipping. Then the packaging system may be shrink wrapped or banded for skidding and shipping.
In the foregoing description various embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for the purpose of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principals of the invention and its practical application, and to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/620,446, filed Nov. 17, 2009, titled “Sustainable Packaging System for Shipping Liquid or Viscous Products,” the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12620446 | Nov 2009 | US |
Child | 12767981 | US |