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(11) | EP 0 579 030 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Easy opening package |
| (57) A package for a bar of a rigid or semi-rigid food product (10) comprising a double
layer, one layer being a packaging material having a notch (13) adapted to lie substantially
parallel to an edge of the bar and having peelably sealed to its outer surface a covering
film (14) provided with a plurality of lines of weakness (15) arranged in two rows,
one row on either side of and parallel to the notch (13). |
[0001] The present invention relates to an easy-opening package for a rigid or semi-rigid food product.
[0002] Easy-opening packages for bars of sweet and confectionery products such as chocolate are well known. Examples are systems comprising a zig-zag cut at each end of the package surrounding the bar, single notches or tear tabs on the sealed ends of the package and a tear tape that can be positioned lengthwise or widthwise on the package. There are three disadvantages of current widthwise tear tape systems:
1) The tear tape is positioned at the back of the product and therefore is not immediately apparent to the consumer.
2) The tear tape system has a limitation in source reduction action as it is necessary to create two notches and a zone with no sealing to enable a tab to be seized.
3) On a wrapping machine working continuously, the tear tape is applied discontinuously. Consequently, while the equipment is very sophisticated, the speed is limited.
[0003] In our co-pending EP-A-90111507.1, there is described and claimed a package for a bar of a rigid or semi-rigid food product comprising a packaging material enclosing a food product, the packaging material having a notch substantially parallel to an edge of the bar. We found that by realising a notch in the packaging film substantially parallel and relatively near to one edge of the bar, the packaging film can be torn off at that end of the bar by holding the major part of the bar beyond the notch in one hand and bending or folding the packaging film with the other hand. The notch may be covered by an adhesive member which may or may not be attached to the packaging material.
[0004] We have now devised an improved modification of the package claimed in EP-A-90111507.1 wherein the notch is covered by a transparent film which is peelably sealed to the top of the basic packaging film, the transparent film being provided with two rows of cuts one row on either side of and parallel to the notch.
[0005] Accordingly the present invention provides a package for a bar of a rigid or semi-rigid food product comprising a double layer, one layer being a packaging material having a notch adapted to lie substantially parallel to an edge of the bar and having peelably sealed to its outer surface a covering film provided with a plurality of lines of weakness arranged in two rows, one row on either side of and parallel to the notch.
[0006] The covering film may be made of any material used to make films in the packaging industry e.g. polypropylene, expanded polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, paper, paper laminate or aluminium. However, the covering film is conveniently transparent. The lines of weakness may be scorelines, cuts or holes.
[0007] Although not essential, each scoreline or cut in the covering film is advantageously at an acute angle to the notch and may be from 10° to 80°, conveniently form 30° to 60° e.g. "herring bone" slits.
[0008] Preferably, at least one edge of the covering film orthogonal to the notch of the packaging material is provided with two continuous cuts, each continuous cut extending from the edge towards one of the rows of the plurality of lines of weakness, to form a tab which may be gripped and pulled by the consumer to tear the covering film along the two rows of the plurality of lines of weakness on either side of the notch to expose the notch. The width of the covering film is preferably at least as wide as the length of the notch in the packaging material.
[0009] The packaging material may be made of any conventional wrapping material which can be torn easily e.g. polypropylene, expanded polypropylene, paper, complexed film. The packaging material may be cold sealed.
[0010] The notch is conveniently a simple slit in the packaging material and may have a curved, triangular or zig-zag shape but is preferably linear. It is also possible that the notch could be a small hole in the packaging material with slits on opposite sides of the hole. The length of the notch may vary depending upon the size or shape of the food product. Although the notch could extend over three sides of the bar i.e. to cover the width and twice the height, preferably the length of the notch is less than the width of one side of the bar parallel to the notch. For example, the length of the notch may be as little as 2 or 3 millimetres on a mini bar or may be up to 5 cms or more on a more conventionally sized bar. In terms of costs it is advantageous to make the notch as small as possible and on a conventionally sized bar a notch length of 2 to 3 cms is sufficient.
[0011] Normally the notch is eccentrically positioned towards an edge of the bar. The position of the notch on the bar is preferably very close to the edge of the bar parallel to it so that only a very small length of the bar is present on one side of the notch. However, if the bar comprises two food products e.g. two mini-bars, then the notch could be in the middle between the products.
[0012] When the bar of food product is rectangular in shape the notch advantageously extends transversely in the packaging material on the upper longitudinal side of the bar a few millimetres from a short edge.
[0013] $Our system using a transparent film provided with a plurality of cuts arranged in two rows has the following advantages over current systems using tear tape:
a) Our system provides an easy opening device well identified on the visible part of the bar,
b) It is quicker to open a wrapper than using tear tape,
c) There will be less risk of leakage, which can occur using tear tape,
d) As the wrapping system may be working continuously, the current high wrapping speeds can be achieved and,
e) Owing to the system itself, source reduction of wrapping material can be realised.
[0014] The food product may be, for example, a chocolate bar or an iced bar. It may be of various shapes, for example square, oval, circular or rectangular.
[0015] The present invention will now be further illustrated by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1
represents part of a transparent film with "herring bone" slits,
Figure 2
represents part of a wrapper with a notch,
Figure 3
represents a chocolate bar enclosed by a wrapper of Figure 2 to which is sealed a
transparent film of Figure 1,
Figure 4
represents part of a wrapping machine.
[0016] Referring to the drawings, Figure 3 shows a bar of chocolate generally designated 10 enclosed by a packaging material made of polypropylene 11 part of which is shown in Figure 2 cold sealed at each end 12 and having positioned 0.5 cm from the edge of the bar, a notch 13 of length 3 cm. A transparent film 14 with herring bone slits 15 and a tab 16, part of which is shown in Figure 1, is peelably sealed by a heat sealing method to the external surface of the packaging material so that the notch 13 lies between the two rows of slits 15. To open the package, the consumer first pulls the tab 16 to tear the transparent film along the two rows of slits 15 thus exposing the notch 13, and then tears off the packaging material 11 by holding the major part of the bar beyond the notch in one hand and bending or folding the packaging material with the other hand.
[0017] Figure 4 shows a reel of packaging film 17, a pair of rollers 18 one of which is provided with circumferential knives 19 for cutting notches 13 at intervals in the packaging material 11 and a reel 20 of transparent polypropylene film 14, coated with a low temperature heat sealing coating in a cross-patterned manner, a pair of rollers 21 one of which is provided with circumferential knives 22 for cutting the herring bone slits 15 and the tab 16 at intervals along the transparent film 14: a hot air flow device 23 is is positioned just before a roller 24 where the coated transparent film 14 is to be sealed to what will be the external surface of the packaging material 11 when it encloses the chocolate bar. The transparent film 14 is sealed in such a way to ensure that the herring bone slits are arranged so that one row is on each side of the notch 13. When the transparent film 14 has been sealed to the packaging material 11 after passing beneath the roller 24, the double layer of packaging 25 passes to a folding box (not shown) where it is folded around the chocolate bar.
1. A package for a bar of a rigid or semi-rigid food product comprising a double layer,
one layer being a packaging material having a notch adapted to lie substantially parallel
to an edge of the bar and having peelably sealed to its outer surface a covering film
provided with a plurality of lines of weakness arranged in two rows, one row on either
side of and parallel to the notch.
2. A package according to claim 1 wherein the covering film is transparent.
3. A package according to claim 1 wherein the lines of weakness are scorelines, cuts
or holes.
4. A package according to claim 3 wherein each cut or scoreline in the covering film
is at an angle of from 10° to 80° to the notch.
5. A package according to claim 3 wherein each cut in the covering film is at an angle
of from 30° to 60° to the notch.
6. A package according to claim 1 wherein at least one edge of the covering film orthogonal
to the notch of the packaging material is provided with two continuous cuts each continuous
cut extending from the edge towards one of the rows of the plurality of lines of weakness,
to form a tab which may be gripped and pulled by the consumer to tear the covering
film along the two rows of the plurality of the lines of weakness on either side of
the notch to expose the notch.
7. A package according to claim 1 wherein the width of the covering film is at least
as wide as the length of the notch in the packaging material.
8. A package according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch is a simple slit.
9. A package according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch is linear in shape.
10. A package according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch is eccentrically positioned
towards an edge of the bar.
11. A package according to claim 1 where the bar is rectangular characterised in that
the notch extends transversely on the upper longitudinal side of the bar a few millimetres
from a short edge.
12. A process of producing a package suitable for packaging a rigid or semi-rigid food
product according to claim 1 which comprises sealing the covering film to the external
surface of the packaging material so that one row of the plurality of lines of weakness
of the covering film lies on either side of and parallel to the notch of the packaging
material.