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(11) | EP 3 434 607 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
COOLING HOLES FOR FILM WRAPPED ARTICLES KÜHLLÖCHER FÜR IN FOLIE EINGEWICKELTE ARTIKEL TROUS DE REFROIDISSEMENT POUR ARTICLES EMBALLÉS SOUS FILM |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
Background Art
[0001] This invention relates to cooling or freezing an article or a bundle of articles after the article has been filmed wrapped and heat shrunk. The term article refers to a bundle of articles such as bottles or a single article. These articles are perishable and require a cooled environment.
[0002] The prior art (s. e.g. EP 0 879 770) has placed articles in cartons, having holes in the carton, to allow cold air to circulate in the carton during the freezing or cooling of the articles. This technique of cutting holes in the heat shrink film for air circulation of the article has been tried without success. Cutting the holes mechanically with an heated die or heat while the heat shrink material is moving resulted in hole sizes of less than about 3/8 inch. The prior art was in need of a commercial viable way of creating openings large enough to allow sufficient air circulation to cool or freeze articles wrapped with a heat shrunk film.
[0003] The prior art, shown in US Patent Application number 13/972,078 filed on August 21, 2013 by Alain Cerf titled, Cooling film Wrapped Articles, is acknowledged. The application shows forming slits or slots in the longitudinal direction in a heat shrink film for allowing cooling air to circulate between the articles while maintaining the structural integrity of the heat shrunk film. This invention was not always able to achieve openings of sufficient size for allowing cooling air to circulate between the articles
Description of embodiments
[0004]
Figure 1 shows a film 1 moving between a set of rollers 2 and 3. Adjustable blade 7 on pivot 6 is lowered to cut a slit in the film. The location and the length of the slit is formed so that when a bundle of articles are film wrapped the slit 4 is located on the vertical sides of the bundle.
Figure 2 shows three vertical slits 4 and three vertical slits 5 to be located on opposing vertical sides of the bundle. After film wrapping the bundle moves through a heat shrink tunnel on a conveyor where the film is heat shrunk. Within in the tunnel, the slits are opened by increasing the shrinkage of the film surrounding the slit. This can be accomplished by directing high speed jets of hot air on the slits. Openings in excess of 20-25 mm can be achieved.
Figure 3 shows cups of yogurt 7 having opened slits using jets of hot air.
forming an opening in the film (1),
film wrapping the bundle,
transporting the wrapped bundle to a heat shrink tunnel,
heat shrinking the bundle, characterised by the step of
increasing the size of the opening during heat shrinking by further heating the film surrounding the opening to a temperature that increases the heat shrinkage of the film surrounding the opening.
means for forming an opening in the film (1),
means for locating the opening (4, 5) so that the opening is positioned on the vertical sides of the bundle during film wrapping,
means for film wrapping the bundle,
means for transporting the wrapped bundle to a heat shrink tunnel,
means for heat shrinking the bundle, characterised by
means for increasing the size of the opening during heat shrinking by further heating the film surrounding the opening to a temperature that increases the heat shrinkage of the film surrounding the opening.
Bilden einer Öffnung in der Folie (1),
Einwickeln des Packens mit Folie,
Transportieren des eingewickelten Packens zu einem Heißschrumpftunnel,
Heißschrumpfen des Packens, gekennzeichnet durch den Schritt des
Vergrößerns der Größe der Öffnung während des Heißschrumpfens durch weiteres Erhitzen der Folie, die die Öffnung umgibt, auf eine Temperatur, die die Heißschrumpfung der Folie, die die Öffnung umgibt, erhöht.
Mittel für das Bilden einer Öffnung in der Folie (1),
Mittel für das Lokalisieren der Öffnung (4, 5), sodass die Öffnung auf den vertikalen Seiten des Packens während des Einwickelns mit Folie positioniert ist,
Mittel für das Einwickeln des Packens mit Folie,
Mittel für das Transportieren des eingewickelten Packens zu einem Heißschrumpftunnel,
Mittel für das Heißschrumpfen des Packens, gekennzeichnet durch
Mittel für das Vergrößern der Größe der Öffnung während des Heißschrumpfens durch weiteres Erhitzen der Folie, die die Öffnung umgibt, auf eine Temperatur, die die Heißschrumpfung der Folie, die die Öffnung umgibt, erhöht.
la formation d'une ouverture dans le film (1),
l'emballage sous film du paquet,
le transport du paquet emballé vers un tunnel de thermorétraction,
la thermorétraction du paquet, et
l'augmentation de la taille de l'ouverture durant la thermorétraction en chauffant davantage le film entourant l'ouverture jusqu'à une température qui augmente le retrait thermique du film entourant l'ouverture.
un moyen de formation d'une ouverture dans le film (1),
un moyen de localisation de l'ouverture (4, 5) de manière à ce que l'ouverture soit positionnée sur les côtés verticaux du paquet durant l'enveloppement sous film,
un moyen d'emballage sous film du paquet,
un moyen de transport du paquet emballé jusqu'à un tunnel de thermorétraction,
un moyen de thermorétraction du paquet, caractérisé par
un moyen d'augmentation de la taille de l'ouverture durant la thermorétraction en chauffant davantage le film entourant l'ouverture jusqu'à une température qui augmente le retrait thermique du film entourant l'ouverture.
REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
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.
Patent documents cited in the description