[0001] Protective sheet for fruit packaging and particularly for strawberry packaging.
[0002] The technical field involved in this invention is that of fruit packaging technology.
Statement of the prior state of the art.
[0003] It is customary for fruit to be sold weighed and labelled placed in a package. When
these are products with a soft skin, such packages can damage the fruit. We refer
in particular to packages of the sort described in ES I 151.239 as well as ES I 145283
or any similar one in which the material of which this consists forms a very thin
laminated package, generally made through moulding.
[0004] In these packages the product rests directly on the bottom, which entails the possibility
of it deteriorating, any such deterioration, when visible, spoiling the product and
possibly preventing its sale.
[0005] The object of this invention is the use of a protective sheet in fruit packages and
particularly in strawberry packages, which helps the products placed therein not to
be damaged nor sweat out their liquid content.
[0006] In order to make the following explanation clearer, a sheet of drawings is enclosed
which represent the essence of this invention on two sheets.
[0007] Figure 1 displays a view of a fruit package, on whose base the sheet is placed.
[0008] Figure 2 shows a detail of said sheet.
[0009] In said Figures 1 indicates the package, 2 the bottom of this, 3 the sheet placed
on top of said bottom, 4 the structure of the sheet, 5 the small internal pockets
of air inside the sheet, and 7 the walls of the package.
Explanation of a form of embodiment.
[0010] In the way these items are generally made, the package tends to have a thin bottom,
like its walls, which proves aggressive for soft perishable products such as strawberries,
for example. These products are relatively stable when they are piled up on top of
one another, since their own skin absorbs any friction or pressure that could exist
between them. But in these conditions, the skin of these strawberries quickly deteriorates
when pressed against a hard surface, such as the bottom of the recipient or even rubbing
against one of the holes in the bottom, the effect being to break its skin, as well
as allowing out the liquid, which also has an awful commercial effect, entailing rejection
of the project, often through a single deteriorated unit.
[0011] The sheet in question can come in large pieces and be pre-cut so as to be placed
on each bottom of each package, with no detriment to being integrated in this in its
manufacturing process.
[0012] The package can be fitted with a sheet which produces the dampening effect between
the fruit and the internal surface of this package, to prevent the aforementioned
deterioration.
[0013] To do this, said use constitutes a means to solve the aforementioned problems.
[0014] One possible embodiment consists in the same moulded package 1 of identical characteristics
to the one stated, with thin walls, having its bottom integrated forming a single
body with said sheet.
[0015] This is for industrial application for protecting the products contained in laminated
fruit packages and particularly for strawberries.
1. Protective sheet in fruit packages and particularly strawberry packages, for thin
moulded plastic type packages and fruit containers, of the sort that have holes at
the bottom for ventilation and moulded or flat bottoms, characterised in that a sheet of expanded polypropylene is set on said bottom of said packages.
2. Sheet, according to claim 1, characterised in that the sheet is made in large pieces pre-cut to match the size of the bottoms of the
packages.
3. Sheet, according to claim 1, characterised in that the sheet of foamy material is integrated in the bottom of the thin moulded plastic
packaging item.
