Tamper-Evident Packaging

Abstract

A packaging container that has a tamper-evident feature is described whereby an effort to tamper with the packaging is evident to a later consumer. The packaging includes a lid that is securely attached to a lid. The lid includes a perforated area that may be pressed down to create a hole to allow the consumer to pull the lid off the tub. A cover may be placed on the lid that includes an area that is pressed down with the lid's perforated area. The cover may serve a marketing function.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention relates to packaging such as packaging used for food, including packaging that allows a potential consumer to see whether the packaging has been previously tampered with.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Food and other items are often packaged in containers where it is intended that the contents are not tampered with. With such containers, it is desirable to warn the potential buyer if the food or other item contained therein has been tampered with. If a container is mangled or otherwise significantly tampered with, it may be easy to see such tampering and it will be evident to the buyer that someone else has already touched the food contained therein, and the buyer will know not to buy that particular container. However, slight or other tampering may not be readily apparent to the potential buyer because the container does not look tampered with.

Various mechanisms have been used so that packaging containers will show whether they have been tampered with. Where a packaging container includes a tub (or lower portion) and lid (or upper portion), different types of mechanisms have been used to connect the lid and tub in such a way that if they are tampered with, it will be evident to the potential buyer.

For example, the lid may be ultrasonically welded to the tub. Ultrasonic welding is an industrial technique whereby high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are locally applied to work pieces being held together under pressure to create a solid-state weld. It is commonly used for plastics, and especially for joining dissimilar materials. In ultrasonic welding, there are no connective bolts, nails, soldering materials, or adhesives necessary to bind the materials together. The “weld” between the lid and tub is generally strong, such that if someone tampers with the packaging container by trying to partially pull off the lid, the container will be relatively mangled so that the tampering is evident to a later potential buyer.

Drawbacks of ultrasonic welding, however, are that it is an expensive process and the machinery used to ultrasonically weld plastic container pieces together may be loud and thus harmful to employees in the workplace. Furthermore, a disproportionate part of the total cost of the packaging may be the ultrasonic weld.

Another technique used to join lids to tubs so that tampering may be shown, involves a shrink wrap band. With this technique, the lid is placed on the tub and the packaging container is fitted with a band that may extend around the upper part of the tub that engages the lid. Heat is then applied to the container and the band shrinks so as to firmly hold the lid in place on the tub. After the packaging is assembled in this manner, if someone later attempts to partially remove the lid from the tub, the shrink wrap band will generally be removed or altered enough to show that someone has indeed tried to tamper with the packaging.

Drawbacks of the shrink wrap band include cost and that it involves a labor intensive process. For example, to apply heat to the shrink wrap band, the assembled container is typically run through a heat tunnel on a conveyor. This typically involves a significant capital investment for the machinery. Also, the application of heat itself may be a drawback to certain contents. For example, where the container contains food such as lettuce or other produce, the food may be adversely affected by the heat.

Another drawback involves the fact that the shrink wrap band is typically made up of plastic that will ultimately be removed after the customer buys the product and thrown away. For example, the customer will typically remove the band so that the lid may be removed from the tub so that the contents, e.g., food, are accessible. This is a drawback because the discarding of plastic may pose environmental and other safety hazards.

Other techniques have also been used to join lids to tubs, or to join other components of packaging in a way that will make it evident to a potential consumer that the packaging has been tampered with. However, these techniques often involve multiple or complex tabs, layers or other locking devices that add to the cost to manufacture the packaging and make it difficult for the consumer to open the packaging after the item is purchased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The current invention addresses the foregoing issues and drawbacks and provides an improved tamper-evident packaging.

In an aspect of the current invention, a tamper-evident packaging is described that may be manufactured at decreased cost and that avoids cumbersome or dangerous manufacturing processes and that avoids significant capital equipment expense.

In another aspect of the invention, a tamper-evident packaging that is relatively easy to open is described.

In another aspect of the invention, a tamper-evident packaging that may be sealed without a heat intensive process that could damage the contents in the packaging is described.

In another aspect of the invention, a tamper-evident packaging that avoids the use of pieces that are removed from the packaging, such as a plastic shrinkwrap band that can pose environmental issues, or other pieces that may be littered, is described.

In another aspect of the invention, a tamper-evident packaging that includes a cover or label that may provide a marketing function is described.

In another aspect of the invention, a packaging that may be readily opened without the use of complex tabs and other hard-to-open components is described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container or tub for use in the current invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lid.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cover sheet or adhesive cover.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a lid with a hole.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a lid that includes a depression that may accommodate a consumer's finger.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a lid with a hole.

FIG. 7 is a front section view of a tub or container taken along line A-A in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a front section view of a lid taken along line B-B in FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a tub or container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The current invention preferably provides packaging for food and other items that may alert a consumer to any tampering with the packaging that has occurred. The current invention also preferably avoids expensive or labor intensive manufacturing processes and/or that involve shrink wrap bands that may not environmentally friendly. The current invention may also provide marketing functions and may provide a packaging that may be readily opened. The current invention is now described with reference to the figures. Components appearing in more than one figure bear the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, 6 and 7, packaging container 10 may generally include tub 20, lid 50 and adhesive label or cover sheet 80. As shown, lid 50 may include several tabs 52 about its periphery. Tabs 52 may extend upward so that when viewed from the bottom of lid 50, tabs 52 may each form an upwardly-extending cavity. Tabs or cavities 52 are shown as rectangles but other shapes may be used. Cavities 52 may be located on lid 50 to correspond to tabs 22 on tub 20 when lid 50 is placed on tub 20. In this manner, tabs 22 of tub 20 may extend into cavities 52. Tabs 22 are shown as rectangles but other shapes may be used.

When lid 50 is placed on tub 20, the peripheral edge 54 of lid 50 may generally coincide with edge 24 of tub 20. In this embodiment, lid 50 may generally reside within the periphery of tub 20. Furthermore, the top of lid 12 may also be recessed within the profile of tub 12. However, other configurations for the manner in which lid 50 is positioned on or within tub 20 may be used.

In a preferred embodiment, tabs 22 frictionally engage cavities 52 to help secure lid 50 to tub 20. Alternatively, the walls of tabs 22 and cavities 52 may include corresponding latching devices to lock them together. Furthermore, the placement of lid outer edge 54 within tub edge 24, and/or the placement of lid 50 within the profile of tub 20, may also help secure lid 50 to tub 20. This may occur in this configuration because the edge 54 of lid 50 may not be easily accessible to pry off of tub 20. But as discussed below, it is still preferred that lid 50 may be readily removed from tub 20 without the consumer having to negotiate complex tabs and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, lid 50 may preferably include a perforation 56 that is shown as a line forming half of an ellipse. Perforation 56 may comprise a weakened line in the plastic or other material comprising lid 50 that will break when pressed down, e.g., by a consumer's finger, so that the area or portion 58 of the lid within perforation 56 will separate from the rest of lid 50.

After the consumer has purchased the container and items contained therein, he or she may press down on area 58 within perforation 56 so that the perforated edge breaks away from the rest of lid 50 and hole 59 is formed as shown in FIG. 4. The consumer may then stick his or her finger through hole 59 and pull off lid 50 from tub 20 readily easily. Accordingly, with this embodiment, while lid 50 may be securely attached to tub 20, e.g., may not readily be pried off by its edge, lid 50 may still be easily removed from tub 20 by using hole 59.

Besides providing a secure engagement between tub 20 and lid 50, this embodiment also provides a tamper-evident function. That is, if someone had previously attempted to access the contents of packaging container 10, it would be readily apparent that perforation 56 had been tampered with because area 58 within the perforation would be detached from the rest of lid 50. And if the person who attempted to tamper with packaging 10 simply attempted to remove lid 50 from tub 20 without pushing down on perforation 56, the frictional engagement between tabs 22 and cavities or tab receptacles 52 is preferably strong enough that they would necessarily be damaged or visibly altered by someone trying to remove lid 50 from tub 20. Accordingly, the packaging container 10 of the current invention preferably makes it evident that tampering has occurred in either of the scenarios discussed above.

The packaging 10 of the current invention may also include adhesive label or cover 80 that may be placed on the top of lid 50. In one embodiment, adhesive label 80 may include peripheral edge 82 that may generally coincide with edge 60 of lid 50 when adhesive label 80 is placed on lid 50. To this end, the top surface of lid 50 may include a recessed area 62 within edge 60. The underside of adhesive label 80 may include adhesive that will secure adhesive label to lid 50. Adhesive label 80 may comprise paper with an adhesive backing, but other materials may be used.

Adhesive label 80 also preferably includes perforation 86 in proximity to perforation 56 of lid 50. In this configuration, the consumer may press down on area 88 of adhesive label 80 that is near perforation 86 and that overlies area 58 within perforation 56 on lid 50. The perforation of 86 adhesive label 80 will allow area 88 of the paper or other material comprising cover sheet or adhesive label 80, overlying area 58 of perforation 56 of lid 20, to break away from the rest of label 80 as the plastic or other material in area 58 within the lid perforation 56 is pressed downward. In an alternate embodiment, such as where cover 80 comprises a material like paper that may be easily broken, cover 80 may not include perforation 86.

Adhesive label 80 may include instructions indicating where the consumer is to press down. Adhesive label 80 may also include a description of the contents in the packaging and/or any other marketing or other information that may be desired. To this end, adhesive label 80 may comprise a coupon that may be torn away in connection with the consumer breaking the seal of perforations 56, 86. For example, after the consumer breaks perforations 56, 86, adhesive cover 80 may be configured so that a part of cover 80 may be torn off or otherwise removed from lid 50. The portion of cover 80 may comprise a coupon that the consumer may then redeem. In this manner, packaging 10 may serve a marketing function in addition to the tamper-evident function. Alternatively, the entire lid 50 with cover 80 may itself function as a coupon.

Cover 80 may also provide a tamper-evident function. Where adhesive label 80 is used, if someone attempted to gain access to the contents of packaging 10 by pressing down on the area 88 near perforation 86, the break in adhesive label 80 will be evident to a later consumer.

An alternate embodiment of lid 50 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 where similar components bear the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, lid 50 may include recess 55 that extends downward from the surface of lid 50. Recess 55 may include an area 57 where a consumer's finger may engage lid 50. In this embodiment, after the consumer has pressed down on area 58, 88 and broken perforations 56, 86, the consumer may insert his or her index finger in hole 59 and place his or her thumb on area 57 of recess 55. The consumer may then pull up and remove lid 50 from tub 20.

With the tamper proof mechanisms of the current invention, expensive machinery and/or labor intensive process such as those used in ultrasonic welding or heat shrink band wrapping may be avoided. This results in cost savings.

Instead, the assembly of the packaging container 10 may only involve placing lid 50 having a perforation 56 on tub 20. In one embodiment, this is all the assembly required. Where tabs 22 and cavities or tab receptacles 52 are used, the assembly may include placing lid 50 on tub 20 with enough force so that tabs 22 lock or otherwise engage with cavities or tab receptacles 52. Where an adhesive label is also used, assembly of the container packaging 10 may include the foregoing steps along with placing adhesive label 80 on lid 50 so that the respective perforations 56,86 on lid 50 and adhesive label 80 coincide.

In one embodiment, when the consumer gains access to the contents of packaging container 10, the part of adhesive label 80 that was pressed down need not be fully removed from lid 50 which avoids the situation of having a paper (or other material) sheet to discard. Besides avoiding the creation of litter, the downsides of using a plastic shrink wrap band are avoided.

Tub 20 and lid 50 of packaging 10 are now further described with reference to FIGS. 7-9 to elaborate on additional aspects of the current invention. For example, the manner in which lid 50 may engage tub 20 and the manner in which packaging 10 may be strengthened are described.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, tub 12 may include walls 25 that in turn include ribs 26 that preferably strengthen tub 12 and packaging 10 overall. As better shown in the top view of FIG. 9, ribs 26 may generally comprise an alternating or corrugated configuration. However, ribs 26 may be configured in other ways. Generally, by creating edges and other alterations to the general plane of walls 25, tub 20 is preferably strengthened.

As also shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, tub 20 preferably includes lip 30. Lip 30 preferably extends around the periphery of tub 12 and may include several ridges, shelves, surfaces and/or walls as described below. Preferably, these features further strengthen tub 20. Lip 30 may also extend outward beyond the outer edges of tabs 22.

Lip 30 and lid 50, as well as the manner in which tub 20 and lid 50 may engage each other, are now described in more detail. As shown, lip 30 may include recess 31, wall 32, shelf 33, wall 34, top surface 35, outer surface 36, lip 37 and recess 38. As described below, lid 50 may have several corresponding features such as ridge 71 that may extend into recess 31; wall 72 that may generally be located adjacent to, and may frictionally engage, wall 32; lip 73 that may rest on shelf 33; and an outer lip edge 74 that may be adjacent to or generally be located within wall 34. In this manner, the outer edge 54 of lid 50 may reside within the outer profile of tub 20. A benefit of this is that lid 50 may not be easily pried off of tub 20.

When lid 50 is placed on tub 20, cavities 52 of lid 50 may receive tabs 22 of tub 20. At the same time, lid ridge 71 may extend into tub recess 31 so that the inner wall of ridge 71 may engage the outer wall of tab 52 and so that the lid outer wall 72 may engage wall 32 of tub 20. Lid lip 73 may then come to rest on shelf 33 and lip edge 74 may abut or be located near wall 34.

Preferably wall 34 extends above lip 73 and lip edge 74 so that lid 50 may not be easily pried off tub 20 as mentioned earlier. However, lid 50 may still be readily removed from tub 20 by using hole 59 (and optional recess 55 discussed above).

Recess 38 of lip 30 preferably allows space for a consumer's fingertips to help pick up packaging 10.

Although certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A tamper-evident packaging, comprising: a tub; anda lid having a perforation and an area near the perforation that is separated from the rest of the lid when the area is pressed, thereby creating a hole;wherein the lid is removable from the tub by pulling up the lid by using the hole.

2. The tamper-evident packaging of claim 1, further comprising a cover located on the lid, wherein the cover includes a second perforation that coincides with the perforation of the lid.

3. The tamper-evident packaging of claim 2 wherein the cover includes a coupon.