The present invention relates to a box-shaped package assembly having a longitudinal direction and comprising:
Packages of the above type are today widely used for packing ground coffee. The inner package, which has barrier properties, serves to retain the aroma of the coffee for long period of time until the package is opened. The inner vacuum package unit has, however, a slightly uneven surface structure caused especially by creasing in the inner package during vacuum packaging. This uneven surface structure is considered unappealing by many consumers.
An essential object of the outer package is thus to hide this uneven surface structure and to provide the package assembly with an appearance which is appealing to the consumers. An additional object of the outer package is that it can contain printed information about the packed product.
Access to the packed product or coffee is gained by opening both the outer package and the inner package. It is known to form the top of the outer package by means of folded-in end portions of the packaging material to enable opening of the outer package without using utensils, said folded-in portions are kept in place by means of a attached label. By removing the label, the folded-in portions are exposed and access to the inner package is obtained. This opening principle does, however, not always work satisfactorily in that it is not always possible to remove the adhered label in its entirety, whereby the top of the outer package remains at least partially closed. Further,
Additionally,
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The object of the present invention is thus to provide a package assembly of the above type, wherein a simple and reliable opening of the outer package is ensured. In satisfaction of the above object the package assembly according to the invention is characterised in that the circumferential lateral wall of the outer package is provided with at least one circumferential weakening line and that the weakening line(s) reduce(s) the tear strength of the material by 50-90%, preferably by 60-90%. The weakening line provides such a weakening of the outer package that it is easily torn manually along said line. A sure and reliable opening of the outer package is thus obtained. The weakening line may be provided by perforating the material or by cutting partially through the material by means of a laser beam or a knife. when the weakening line is a perforation line including alternating perforations, ie. throughcuts, and connecting portions arranged with the same mutual spacing, the perforations constitute between 50 and 90% of the length of the perforation line(s). The perforation may constitute between 60 and 90%, and in practice excellent results have been obtained with a range between 70 and 80% when the outer package is made of a paper material.
According to the invention the at least one weakening line may extend rectilinearly in its entirety.
The at least one weakening line may at least in some areas, however, also be provided with a non-rectilinear extent. By providing the weakening line with a non-rectilinear extent at least in some areas, it is possible to divert the weakening line away from prints, such as eg. logos or other prints, on the outer package, thereby providing a high degree of freedom as to the graphic design of the outer package.
Furthermore, according to the invention the outer package may be provided with two mutually spaced apart, circumferential weakening lines. The two weakening lines may be mutually parallel.
The lines may, however, also extend non-mutually parallel at least in some areas.
Moreover, according to the invention the two weakening lines may have a rectilinear extent in their entirety.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention a gripping flap may be provided in an area defined by the two weakening lines. By gripping the gripping flap and pulling this in a circumferential direction, a strip of the outer package's circumferential wall is torn, said strip being defined by the two weakening lines. Easy access to the top of the inner package is thus obtained by removing the top of the outer package and the associated upper portion of the outer package's circumferential wall.
The gripping flap is advantageously provided in the longitudinal overlap area of the outer package, ie. in the outermost side edge of the packaging material.
Furthermore, according to the invention the longitudinal overlap area of the outer package may advantageously be provided adjacent a longitudinal corner of the package, thereby facilitating gripping of the gripping flap.
The weakening line(s) may advantageously be arranged adjacent the top of the outer package.
When - as it is preferred - a paper material is used for the outer package, the grammage thereof is less than 150 g/m2, preferably 50-100 g/m2. A grammage of between 65 and 95 g/m2 is considered particularly advantageous, and in practice excellent results have been obtained with a grammage of 80 g/m2.
The invention further relates to a method of producing a box-shaped package according to the invention and wherein:
Such a method of manufacturing of a box-shaped package assembly is for instance known from the company of Robert Bosch GmbH's leaflet called "PKD 3121 BV, PKD 3122 BV - Vacuum Package Makers for ground coffee".
The method according to the invention is characterised in that the second web-shaped packaging material supplied to the packaging manufacturing machine is provided with at least one weakening line extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the second packaging material.
When manufacturing a package according to the invention by means of the above method according to the invention, the said at least one weakening line extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the second packaging material provides the least one circumferential weakening line in the outer package's circumferential lateral wall.
The at least one transverse weakening line may extend rectilinearly in the width of the entire web. It may, however, also at least in some areas have a non-rectilinear course across the web.
Furthermore, the supplied second web-shaped packaging material may be provided with two mutually spaced apart weakening lines jointly defining a transverse strip-shaped area of the web. This strip-shaped area is intended to define a strip-shaped area on the circumferential wall of the outer package, said area being torn off for opening of the outer package as explained above.
In the said area defined by the weakening lines an end portion may be provided which serves to form a gripping flap.
The gripping flap is advantageously provided at one of the side edges of the second web-shaped packaging material.
The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the drawings, in which
The embodiment of a box-shaped package assembly 1 according to the invention shown in
The inner package unit 2 is formed from a bag-shaped inner package 4 in which a preferably granular product such as ground coffee is hermetically vacuum-packed such that the inner package and the vacuum-packed product therein form the box-shaped, hard inner package unit 2 in a known manner. The inner package 4 is made from a flexible film material with barrier properties and as seen in
At its bottom 9 the inner package 4 is closed by means of a transverse seal 10. Bottom flaps 11, 12 formed due to the transverse seal 10 are folded inwards. A typical film material for the formation of the inner package 4 is a laminate comprising OPET-A1-PE, wherein OPET is oriented polyethylene terephthalate, A1 is aluminium, which may be an aluminium film or a metallisation, and PE is polyethylene. Numerous other laminates or film can, however, also be used depending on the packed product, as well-known to persons skilled in the art.
Referring now to
The outer package 3 has a circumferential wall 16 arranged adjacent a circumferential wall 17 of the inner package unit 2. Extension areas of the outer package's 3 circumferential wall 16 which initial extend beyond the bottom 9 of the inner package 4 are folded inwards and sealed together in a known manner, as shown by means of the bottom flaps 18, 19 so as to form a closed bottom 20 on the outer package. The bottom 20 is arranged closely adjacent the bottom 9 of the inner package. The bottom flap 19 is the outermost flap.
Correspondingly, extension areas of the outer package's 3 circumferential wall 16 are folded inwards against the top 6 of the inner package unit 2, as shown by means of the top flaps 21, 22. The top flaps 21, 22 are retained by means of a top label 23 to form the top 24 of the outer package. In this connection it should be noted that the top 24 of the outer package may also be closed by using the same closing principle as used for the bottom 20 of the outer package 3, ie. by means of interconnected flaps 18, 19. Similarly, the bottom 20 of the outer package may also be closed by means of the closing principle used for the top, ie. by means of an adhered top label 23.
Near the top 24 the circumferential wall 16 of the outer package 3 is provided with two circumferential, mutually parallel weakening lines 25, 26, which are illustrated in the drawings as perforation lines. The weakening lines 25, 26 jointly define a strip 27 having a gripping flap 28 in the overlap area 13. The gripping flap 28 is defined by a portion 29 of the free edge 15 of the overlap area and by two incisions 30, 31 being aligned with their respective weakening line 25, 26. By gripping and pulling the gripping flap 28 in the direction of the arrow P, the strip 27 is torn along the weakening lines 25, 26. A lower area of the outer package is thus separated from the upper area of the outer package, said upper area arranged above the uppermost weakening line 25. Removal of the said upper area provides access to the top 6 of the inner package unit 2. It is thus possible to open the inner package.
As regards the course of the weakening lines 25, 26 and 125, 126, respectively, it should be noted that the weakening lines do not necessarily have a mutually parallel course as shown in
It should also be noted that the present invention further covers a situation where only one circumferential weakening line is provided, eg. the upper weakening line 25 in
Reference is now made to
A first web 40 of a first flexible packaging material for forming the inner package 4 is wound into a first reel 41. The first web 40 is supplied to the diagrammatic shown packaging manufacturing machine 42. In this machine a first sheet 43 is separated from the first web and wound transversely of web direction (shown by means of the arrow B1) around a mandrel 44 of a rectangular cross-section. The mandrel 44 is one of a number mandrels arranged in a rotatable mandrel wheel 45. The opposed side edges of the first packaging material sheet 43 are brought into engagement with each other and joint sealed along a longitudinal sealing seam 5 in a first sealing station 46. As a result a hose is formed of the first packaging material sheet 43. In a subsequent second sealing station 47 the hose is closed by means of a transverse seal 10 in an area of the hose extending beyond the free end of the mandrel 44. As a result a box-shaped inner package having a closed bottom and an open top is formed.
A second web 48 of a flexible packaging material for forming the outer package 3 is wound into a second reel 49. The second web 48 is supplied to the packaging manufacturing machine 42 in the longitudinal direction of the second web, said direction shown by means of the arrow B2.
The second web is provided with two mutually parallel weakening lines 25, 26 extending across the longitudinal direction B2 of the second web and with a gripping flap 28 at one side edge of the web. A sheet 50 of the second web material 48 is separated from the second web in the packaging manufacturing machine 42. In the station 51, the separated sheet 50 is wound transversely of the web direction B2 around the mandrel on which the partially formed inner package is arranged. In the subsequent station 52 opposed, overlapping side edges of the second package sheet 50 are sealed by means of a longitudinal seal 13. The side edge containing the gripping flap 28 is arranged outermost in the overlap area, ie. in the sealing area. A hose is formed of second sheet 50 by means of the longitudinal seal. In stations 53-56 a portion of hose extending beyond the bottom of the inner package and the free end of the mandrel is folded inwards onto the bottom of the inner package and sealed to form the bottom of the outer package.
The partially formed package assembly is then removed from the mandrel and passed to a filling section 57, the assembly being made to stand on the bottom of the outer package at the same time. In the filling station 61 of the filling section 57 the desired product is filled into the open inner package. A check weighing is carried out and any topping up, if necessary. Further, non-acceptably filled package assemblies are discarded. After filling and the said check, the package assembly is passed to a vacuum section 58 in which the interior of the inner package containing the product is subjected to vacuum in a vacuum chamber. A closing of the inner package 4 also takes place in the vacuum chamber by means of transverse seal, whereby a closed top is provided on the inner package. This action takes place in a transverse sealing station 59.
The partially formed package assembly is then conveyed to a top sealing section 60 in which the areas of the outer package 3 extending beyond the closed top of the inner package is folded inwards onto the inner package. A top label 23 is placed on the folded-in portions of the outer package so as to retain these and for forming the top of the outer package.
The package assembly is thus completed and is led out of the packaging manufacturing machine 42.
It should be noted that in the just described embodiment, the second web material has been provided with the transverse weakening lines 25, 26 and the gripping flap 28 by the material supplier. It is, however, also envisaged that these may be provided in or at the packaging manufacturing machine, if desired.
List of reference numerals
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.