Container provided with a pouring spout having a system for guaranteeing the integrity of its contents

Abstract

 The container (20), particularly for products in granular or power form, is provided with a pouring spout (10) fixed to a tongue (23) formed in a wall (21) of the container and arranged to swivel outwards about an articulation line (x) so as to enable the opening of the container (20). The tongue (23) has an integral portion (26) connected to the remaining part of the wall (21) of the container (20) through an easy braking zone arranged in such a position that it is visible from outside, in order to enable a user or buyer of the container to check if the container has already been opened before.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a container of the type specified in the preamble of Claim 1.

[0002] In order to pour different kinds of products in granular or powder form, such as, for example, cereals or soluble food products, it is common to use substantially parallelepipedal containers, mainly made of cardboard, which are provided with retractable elements termed pouring spouts. These spouts are made of metal material (aluminium), plastic material or cardboard and are fixed to a swivelling tongue formed in a wall of the container by making an inverted U-shaped cut therein and on which a central portion of the spout is fitted by clinching or gluing.

[0003] A container according to the prior art specified above is illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the appended drawings.

[0004] By referring to the above-mentioned figures, a spout, generally indicated 10, is fitted to a box-like container 20 to pour a product in granular or powder form (not shown) contained inside the container 20. In the vertical wall 21 of the container 20 there is formed a substantially inverted U-shaped cut 22 defining a tongue 23 which, by oscillating outwards about a transverse and horizontal articulation line x, enables the opening of the container.

[0005] The spout 10 has a central portion 10a fixed to the tongue 23 and two lateral tabs 10b which are bent and joined to the central portion 10a along respective bending lines. At the lateral edges of the tabs 10b there are formed at the top two identical protuberances 10c acting as stop elements against the wall 21 of the container in order to define the fully open position of the spout 10, as shown in Figure 3.

[0006] Over the last years different systems have been introduced in order to guarantee the integrity of the container, that is, to assure the user/buyer that the container has not been opened before.

[0007] A first known system consists in applying on the pouring spout a guarantee label which has to be removed, for example, by tearing off, to allow the opening of the container. This solution has clearly the disadvantage of a high cost and it has also turned out in many cases not to be applicable to existing packaging lines.

[0008] With reference to Figure 4 of the appended drawings, another known system to guarantee the integrity of the container consists in providing a guarantee tongue 24, integral with the container, which extends downwards from the upper edge of the face 21 of the container to cover at least a portion of the spout 10. The tongue 24 is then glued onto the face 21 of the container, preferably by applying only one point of glue 25 at the lower end of the tongue.

[0009] Although this further solution is inherently less expensive than the preceding one, nevertheless it suffers from the disadvantage of requiring modification on the packaging line. These modifications may be very expensive or even not practicable, for example, owing to the high feeding speed of the containers on the conveyor belt or the reduced space available in which the supplementary fixtures required when applying this solution are to be arranged.

[0010] It is the object of the present invention to provide a system to guarantee the integrity of a container provided with a pouring spout, which system permits to eliminate the shortcomings of the prior art discussed above.

[0011] This object is fully achieved according to the invention by means of a container having the characteristics defined in the appended claims.

[0012] The invention will be described now in greater detail, merely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a partial perspective view of a container according to the prior art provided with a pouring spout, the spout being in the closed position;
• Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of the container of Figure 1 with the pouring spout in the open position;
• figure 3 is a vertically and longitudinally sectioned partial view of the container of Figure 1 with the pouring spout in the open position;
• Figure 4 is a perspective view of a container with a pouring spout provided with a conventional system for guaranteeing the integrity thereof;
• Figure 5 is a perspective view of a container with a pouring spout provided with a system for guaranteeing the integrity thereof according to the present invention;
• Figure 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the vertical wall of the container of Figure 5, which shows the swivelling tongue without the pouring spout; and
• Figure 7 is a vertical sectioned view schematically showing a portion of vertical wall of a container according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0013] With reference to Figure 5, where parts and elements identical or corresponding to those shown in Figures 1 to 4 have been given the same numerals, a box-like container 20 is provided with a pouring spout 10, a central portion 10a of which is fixed (in this case by clinching) to a swivelling tongue 23 formed by a vertical wall 21 of the container 20. The tongue 23 is obtained by making a substantially inverted U-shaped cut 22 in the cardboard blank from which the container 20 is manufactured, in the zone arranged to form the wall 21.

[0014] The tongue 23 has also an integral portion 26 which extends upwards beyond the upper edge of the central portion 10a of the spout in order not to be covered by the central portion and hence to be clearly visible from the outside. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 6, the portion 26 is formed as a semi-elliptical extension appendage placed in an intermediate transverse position relative to the tongue 23.

[0015] In order to guarantee the integrity of the product held in the container 20, at least a part of the perimeter of the tongue portion 26 is integrally connected to the remaining part of the wall 21 of the container by an easy breaking zone. As it can be seen in Figure 6, the easy braking zone is obtained, for example, by making a non-continuous cut along the perimeter of the portion 26 so as to leave at least one point 27 of attachment to the wall 21, the tearing of this point enabling to open the pouring spout 10. The attachment point 27 is provided in a position clearly visible from the outside, for example, advantageously at the upper end of the portion 26, so that the user/buyer can immediately realise whether the container has already been opened or it is still intact.

[0016] Obviously, the easy braking zone can also be obtained by making a sequence of openings or at least a segment with a reduced thickness with respect to the thickness of the cardboard along the entire edge of the integral portion 26 of the tongue 23.

[0017] According to another embodiment, schematically shown in Figure 7, the portion 26 of the tongue 23 is formed in a surface layer 28 of a two- or multi-layered cardboard and is attached to an immediately underlying layer 29 which is integral with the remaining part of the container wall 21 by means of an easy braking zone of the same type as those described above. In this case, it is very easy to realise if the container has been opened since, due to the low thickness, it is very difficult that the tongue 26 can be reattached to the cardboard layer 29 without leaving clear signs of violation.

[0018] As it will be clear in view of the preceding description, a container according to the invention offers the following advantages:

• it is easy to manufacture by the maker of the cardboard blank, since the sole modifications to make to the production line involve the machine which carries out the pre-cut on the cardboard;
• it can be adapted to any packaging plant without further costs, since it does not require any modifications to the manufacturing lines;
• it can be applied to any type of container provided with a pouring spout, with no need of additional elements (such as glue, adhesive tapes, etc.);
• it enables the user/buyer to verify immediately and in reliable manner the integrity of the container, since for opening the container one needs to break the point(s) of attachment of the tongue portion 26 to the container, which is an irreversible operation; and
• it ensures a good tightness of the closure even after the first opening of the container.

[0019] Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining unchanged, embodiments and manufacturing details may be widely varied from those described and illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example.

Claims

1. A container (20), particularly for products in granular or powder form, of the type in which a pouring spout (10) is fixed to a tongue (23) formed by a wall (21) of the container (20); the tongue (23) being defined by a substantially U-shaped cut (22) in the wall (21) with two lateral legs connected by a central segment so as to swivel towards the outside of the container (20) about an articulation line (x) defined by the ends of the said legs of the U-shape in order to allow the opening of the container (20); the spout (10) comprising a central portion (10a) fixed to the tongue (23) and two lateral tabs (10b) bent and joined to the central portion (10a) along respective bending lines, the tabs being able to slide through the respective legs of the U-shaped cut (22); the container being characterised in that the tongue (23) has an integral portion (26) which is connected to the remaining part of the container wall (21) by an easy breaking zone arranged in a position such that it is visible from the outside in order to enable a user or a buyer of the container to check if the container has been opened before.

2. A container according to Claim 1, characterised in that the integral portion (26) of the tongue (23) is attached to the remaining part of the wall (21) of the container by at least an attachment point (27) integral with the portion (26) and the wall (21), said at least one attachment point forming a discontinuity in the cut (22).

3. A container according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the integral portion (26) is an appendage extending from the central segment of the U-shaped cut (22) beyond the central portion (10a) of the spout (10).

4. A container according to Claim 3, characterised in that the appendage (26) is substantially semi-elliptical and extends essentially perpendicular to the articulation line (x) of the tongue (23).

5. A container according to Claim 1, characterised in that at least a length of the easy braking zone is arranged along the perimeter of the integral portion (26) and has a lower thickness than the remaining part of the container.

6. A container according to Claim 1, characterised in that the integral portion (26) of the tongue (23) is formed in a surface layer (28) of a multi-layered cardboard and is connected to an immediately underlying layer (29), integrally formed with the container wall (21), by the easy braking zone.

Drawing