CONTAINER WITH A BOTTOM HAVING TRIANGULAR CELLS

Abstract

 The invention relates to a container made of a plastic material and having a floor (2) with triangular cells (4). The container is formed by side walls (1) with a retention edge (3), while its floor (2) has triangular cells (4) formed by sides (5) creating acute dihedral angles. A result of its shape is the maximum coverage of the floor area, due to nesting, while at the same time both surface tension and capillary effect are enhanced, resulting to a maximum retention of quantities of liquids in the cells (4). The container is manufactured from poly(ethylene terephthalate) and the container is ideal for use in fresh-foodstuff packaging.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of containers for packaging, storage and transport of foodstuffs, and in particular containers and packages for products requiring drainage or absorption of their liquids.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The container with a floor having triangular cells has not been disclosed in the prior art.

[0003] Until now, the known foodstuff packages which are mainly used for packaging and selling meat, poultry, fish and similar products, usually consist of a disk, in which the product is positioned and which is covered with a transparent, outer, plastic housing. There are several variations of this package, such as disks comprising an absorbent material, usually in the form of a sublayer, between the product and the disk, in order to retain liquids. These sub-layers are typically produced from absorbent paper pulp, while externally they have a coating with flexible polyethylene films, so that the pieces of paper pulp that come in contact with the foodstuff do not stick thereto. Such a product is presented for example in US4275811, aiming at the absorption of liquids, the extension of the lifetime of the foodstuff, the prevention of contamination when the product is kept in liquids for an extended period, and naturally for the aesthetically better appearance thereof to the consumer. Usually, these sublayers are perforated, so that the liquids of the meat pass through the paper mass and not remain on the surface.

[0004] Other variations may include the formation of disks incorporating the adsorbent surface, such as the disk presented in US5709897, or are focused on the improvement of the adsorbent surfaces, as with the invention described in WO2004099009. Furthermore, there are disks as the one proposed in WO2007008874, which apart from the individual adsorbent sublayer they also have a grid, on which the foodstuff is placed in order that it is elevated in relation to the bottom of the disk and not come in direct contact with the liquids.

[0005] All the above inventions, as well as those available in the market, although providing solutions for the storage, packaging and transport of liquids, present disadvantages which do not make them practical and preferable choices. The most important disadvantage of the simple disks, with or without an adsorbent sublayer, is that the meat remains in contact with the sublayer or the base of the disk and thus with its liquids. Apart from the emerging hygiene issues, there the issue of elegance, since the consumer obtains a product fully wetted and with blood when unpackaging the said product.

[0006] A further disadvantage of the disks with the adsorbent sublayers is the increased cost, which inevitable is conveyed to the final consumer, since he needs to obtain the specific laminated paper sublayer. Given that the paper sublayer is frequently glued to the bottom of the container, further issues emerge, since for the positioning and gluing additional expenses are required, either for the materials, and for the necessary work, even for the consumed energy.

[0007] Another disadvantage is that these disks are difficult to recycle, thus further issues regarding environmental friendliness are arise, especially in the modern era. Given that the sublayer consists of different materials, such as paper pulp and polyethylene films bonded between them, and that the sublayer itself is bonded to the bottom of the container, the materials must be separated before being recycled. These bonds are difficult to separate and also particularly costly. As a result, the said separation is considered expensive, making the recycling of the materials impossible, and these materials are simply buried when discharged.

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to address advantageously the above disadvantages and deficiencies of the prior art, by proposing a container with a bottom having triangular cells.

[0009] A further object of the present invention is to provide the proposed container with a bottom having triangular cells, which is manufactured from the same material constituting the container, poly(ethylene terephthalate), also known as PET. PET is a fully recyclable material, does not have toxic ingredients, is fully safe for use in food packaging. Also it has a high mechanical strength with a respective low weight, and it has a low permeability to oxygen, carbon dioxide and water, keeping the packaged products in optimal condition for a large time period. Finally, it should not be ignored that due to the full transparency of the material it provides cleanness and an optimal visual contact with the packaged products.

[0010] A further object of the present invention is to provide a container with a bottom having triangular cells, which retains the liquids in the cells, due to the capillary force phenomenon.

[0011] A further object of the invention, in order to make the container with a bottom having triangular cells of the present invention useful, is the formation of triangular cells with acute dihedral angles, which can enclose the liquids even better, due to the surface tension of the liquids being increased at acute recesses.

[0012] A further object of the invention is to provide a container with a bottom having triangular cells, which exploits the shape of the cells, occupying the maximum portion of the bottom area, due to the nesting of the triangles between them.

[0013] Another object of the invention is to provide a container with a bottom having triangular cells, which has a better liquid retention in the cells than any other currently available container with or without a sublayer.

[0014] An advantage of the present invention is also the manufacturing of a container with a bottom having triangular cells, which presents a reduced production cost, due to the elimination of the paper sublayer, while in parallel the cost is further reduced by the elimination of the positioning and bonding of the sublayer to the bottom of the container.

[0015] Another advantage of the present invention is its easy recycling, since it is manufactured exclusively from PET, which is fully recyclable.

[0016] Another advantage is the appearance of the packaged product to a consumer, since the liquids are substantially or fully separated from the product, and are kept in the triangular cells, without the use of blood-wetted sublayers.

[0017] These and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be fully apparent by the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0018] The invention will be understood to those skilled in the art with reference to the accompanying figures, in which it is shown in an exemplary, non-limiting way.

[0019] Figure 1(a) shows in perspective view an exemplary embodiment of the container with a bottom having triangular cells and Figure 1(b) shows in detail the bottom and the formed triangular cells.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0020] Referring now to the accompanying figures, exemplary embodiments of the container with a floor having triangular cells will be described, so that its features and advantages will be better understood.

[0021] The container with a floor having triangular cells of the invention, as shown in Fig. 1, consists of side walls (1) and a floor manufactured from poly(ethylene terephthalate). This specific material, known also as PET, is a fully recyclable material, suitable for use in foodstuff applications, since it does no present any migration of the materials to the packaged foodstuffs. It is completely transparent, with a high mechanical strength and easy to form, so that packages of various shapes and sizes can be obtained. It is apparent that other suitable plastic materials can be used, including polypropylene, polystyrene, polylactic acid, and or transparent, coloured plastic materials, suitable for use in foodstuff applications. The container has a retaining edge (3), which extends over the length of the walls (1) and which functions as a flange on which the individual package cap sticks.

[0022] The bottom (2) consists of triangular cells (4) over its length and width, which have an exemplary width of 2 mm, without being limited to that, for the retention of the liquids. The triangular cells (4) are derived from sides (5), Fig. 1 (b), which form acute dihedral angles. The formation of the triangular cells (4) contributes in the retention of the liquids due to the capillary force effect. As it is known, when liquids come in contact with solid body, attractive forces are developed, both between molecules of the liquid, and between molecules of the liquid and the solid. Since the value of both forces is different, the liquids are retained in the cells in an efficient manner. The retention is further enhance due to surface tension. Surface tension arises in liquids, mainly due to the fact that the molecules that are on the surface of a liquid tend to experience intermolecular forces only on the one side, resulting to a total force tending to move the molecules towards the interior of the liquid. A result of the above phenomenon is that the molecules on the surface have more energy than the molecules present within the cell and further away from the surface. Thus, there is a stored surface energy and given that each system tends to reduce its energy, the liquid tends to reduce its surface. Thus, forces are developed macroscopically, which tend to cause constriction of the surface and the surface tension phenomenon emerges. The phenomenon is further enhanced due to the presence of acute recesses, as those in the triangular cells (4) of the invention. The triangular shape of the cells contributes in the almost absolute covering of the floor (2) of the container, since in the space between two successive triangles another triangle may be further positioned reversely. The nesting of the triangles allows the evaluation of the maximum portion of the floor area, and as a result a significant quantity of water is retained, which may amount to 0.2 g/cm². This means that in a medium-sized foodstuff package container the total quantity of retained liquid may amount to 40 g in the triangular cells (4), a value fur larger than that of the paper pulp sublayer.

[0023] It should be noted that the description of the invention was made with reference to an exemplary non-limiting embodiment. Thus, any variation or modification as regards the shape, dimensions, morphology, construction and' assembling materials and components employed, as long as not constituting a new inventive step and not contributing to the technical advance of the already known are considered as encompassed in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A container with a floor having triangular cells, manufactured from a plastic material and consisting of side walls (1) with a retention edge (3) and a floor (2), on the surface of which triangular cells (4) are arranged, formed from sides (4) creating dihedral acute angles, characterised in that the triangular cells (4) retain the liquids in their interior, due to the capillary phenomenon and the surface tension which is increased at acute recesses.

2. A container with a floor having triangular cells, according to claim 1, characterised in that it is made of poly(ethylene terephthalate).

3. A container with a floor having triangular cells, according to claim 1, characterised in that it is made of polypropylene.

4. A container with a floor having triangular cells, according to claim 1, characterised in that it is made of polylactic acid.

5. A container with a floor having triangular cells, according to claim 1, characterised in that it is made of polystyrene.

Drawing