Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/30—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for articles particularly sensitive to damage by shock or pressure
  • B65D85/34—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for articles particularly sensitive to damage by shock or pressure for fruit, e.g. apples, oranges or tomatoes
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/02—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage
  • B65D81/022—Containers made of shock-absorbing material

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a receptacle for fragile products. It applies more particularly, but not exclusively, to the field of packaging of fruits and vegetables.
• thermoformed packaging of the "tray” type which allow on the one hand to obtain an attractive presentation due to their transparency, and on the other hand to protect the fruits well. from a hygienic point of view because they are closed packages.
• the best known and most used solution consists in introducing into the bottom of the trays a rectangle cut from a protective film with air bubbles, so as to constitute a mattress which protects the fruits from vertical shocks.
• the drawback of this solution is that it requires additional operations for cutting, placing, and possibly bonding the mattress, which generates very high costs, if they are compared to the low unit cost price of each packaging.
• this solution does not entirely solve the problem, because it only provides protection for vertical impacts, but does not protect the fruit against impact on the side walls of the packaging.
• the protective films are produced from a flexible plastic film in which the bubbles have been hot preformed, on which a flexible film has been laminated , so as to trap air between the two films.
• the mattress is always positioned in the bottom of the trays with its flat face upwards and the bubbles below, while it would be better to position the bubbles upwards, so as to maximize the points of contact - which distributes the reaction exerted by the packaging to inertial forces and reduces local pressure on each point of contact -, to ensure better wedging of the fruits, thanks to the lateral supports that the fruit can find on each bubble in contact with it, and to avoid that the fruits remain in contact with the juice which can run off, which is likely to cause incidences of rotting.
• US Pat. No. 3,610,509 describes a package, the bottom of which consists of an expanded foam sheet serving as a mattress, the fruits then being sandwiched between this mattress and an upper flexible film which blocks their movement.
• the disadvantage of this solution is that it forces the fruit to be compressed between the bottom and the upper film in order to keep it in position, which risks damaging the fruit if it is too fragile.
• it uses different materials, which is a drawback if environmental criteria are taken into account in the design of packaging.
• Patent EP 0 823 387 A1 describes a wedging process specially intended for the packaging of bananas consisting of a chain of air cushions which are placed manually between the fruits in order to wedge them. This solution, if it responds well to the specific problem of bananas, is ill-suited to the packaging of round fruits such as peaches, nectarines, apricots or tomatoes, and to that of small fruits such as strawberries, grapes, raspberries or currants.
• Patent EP 0 378 783 A1 describes a package consisting of a rigid and concave outer wall, in which a flexible film is welded at various points, so as to constitute “cushions” of air capable of absorbing shocks when the fruits come into contact with this flexible wall.
• patents DE 197 58 126 and DE 197 58 127 describe a folding box comprising a zone provided with concentric orifices allowing the passage of tubular elements, and the side walls of which include sheets forming a series of folds, which, when 'they are superimposed, allow to stiffen the periphery of the box. Consolidation of the packaging is thus obtained by superposition with an offset of the folds of the inserted sheet. According to a variant, the wedging and the consolidation are carried out by introduction into the box of sheets comprising bosses directed inwards.
• the present invention aims to provide a solution that is both effective, simple to implement and economically efficient to the problems described above.
• a receptacle made from a sheet of thermoplastic material, consisting of a rigid external wall formed according to the conventional thermoforming process, in which cavities are produced locally whose concavity is oriented towards the outside. of the receptacle, so as to constitute a plurality of support points for the packaged products, which makes it possible to reduce the contact pressure and to ensure better timing.
• said cavities can be closed by adding a film on the external surface of the receptacle, so as to constitute air bubbles serving as shock absorber for the packaged products, which increases the effectiveness of protection.
• the external film making it possible to close the bubbles can be a plastic film glued or heat sealed, or else an adhesive label, possibly printed, based on paper or plastic.
• This film can be added at the time of manufacture of the receptacle, just after the thermoforming operation, or else at the time of packaging. This last option makes it possible to reduce the transport and storage volumes by reducing the stacking step of the empty receptacles, and it makes it possible to affix a printed film carrying variable graphic information according to the nature of the product packaged, the date or the place. packaging, etc.
• a greater material stretching is carried out locally than in the current zone, for example by suction, so that the walls of the stretched cavities are no longer rigid but semi-rigid, or even flexible, and constitute a plurality of deformable support points for the packaged products, which makes it possible to better protect them from shocks and vibrations.
• FIGS. 1a and 1b show in section and in perspective a receptacle produced according to the invention, with an attached outer film,
• FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a thermoforming mold making it possible to cause a local stretching of material, so as to produce flexible cavities according to the invention
• FIG. 3 shows an installation for manufacturing the receptacles made according to the invention, in which the outer film is continuously reported just after the forming of the receptacle and heat sealed -
• Figures 4a and 4b show the comparison between a stack of receptacles made according to the invention in which the outer film is attached at the time of packaging with a stack of receptacles in which the film is attached at the time of manufacture of the receptacle.
• FIG. 5 shows a receptacle produced according to the invention in which the cavities are grooves arranged in the bottom of the receptacle
• FIG. 6 shows a receptacle produced according to the invention comprising both cavities in the bottom of the receptacle and grooves on the side walls of the receptacle,
• FIG. 7 shows in section a receptacle produced according to the invention in which the cavities have a variable height, in order to maintain a good distribution of the packaged products over the entire surface of the bottom,
• FIG. 8 shows in section a receptacle produced according to the invention in which the cavities have a shape adapted to the shape of the packaged products, in order to ensure perfect wedging,
• FIG. 9 shows a receptacle produced according to the invention in which the cavities are telescopic
• FIG. 10 shows a receptacle produced according to the invention in which the outer film itself consists of a rigid or semi-rigid thermoformed film, which allows for example to stiffen the bottom of the receptacle, and
• FIG. 11 shows a receptacle made according to the invention in which the cavities contain a liquid or powder product having an active function for the preservation of products.
• the receptacles according to the invention represented by a tray designated under the general reference (1) and an example of which is shown in section and in perspective in FIGS. 1a and 1b, are produced according to conventional thermoforming techniques.
• the invention makes it possible to obtain excellent protection of the products against shock and vibration, and this thanks to two characteristics.
• the first characteristic is that at least one of the external walls (2) of the receptacle (1) comprises a plurality of cavities (3) whose bottom (4) is semi-rigid, even flexible.
• the cavities (3) are formed on the base of the receptacle (1). They could just as easily be formed on one or more of the side walls, without this modifying the explanations given below.
• An advantageous method for obtaining cavities with flexible walls consists in locally causing a stretching of material in the zones of cavities greater than in the current zone, for example by means of suction channels (5) located at the bottom of each cavity ( 3), as shown in FIG. 2 which shows in section a thermoforming mold making it possible to cause a local stretching of material to produce flexible cavities according to the invention.
• the second characteristic is that there is attached to the outside of the wall (2) of the receptacle a film (6) glued or heat sealed, so as to close the volume of the cavities (3) and to trap air inside.
• Each closed cavity thus formed becomes an air cushion capable of deforming when the product rests on it, and therefore of ensuring a wedging function by adapting to the exact shape of each product, to produce an effect of shock absorption, due to its ability to deform under the effect of a pressure exerted by the product, to produce an elastic reaction to the stresses exerted by the products on the walls, which considerably improves the protective effect against shock and vibration,
• the invention can be implemented in a simple and inexpensive manner on the scale of industrial mass production.
• the film (6) can be printed before installation, so as to allow graphic and informative communication intended for the consumer. It can consist, for example, of an adhesive label made of paper or plastic. It can also consist of a plastic film which is preferably, but not necessarily, identical to the material which constitutes the rigid body of the receptacle. In this case, the film can be glued, welded or heat sealed on the outer wall of the receptacle.
• the film (6) can be continuously and automatically added immediately after the receptacle has been formed and heat sealed, as shown in FIG. 3.
• the film (6) can also be added at the time of packaging of the products, manually or using a heat-sealing or labeling machine, depending on the volumes and production rates.
• the transport and storage volume is reduced because the stacking pitch of the receptacles (1) is limited, because the cavities (3) of the superimposed receptacles can be nested one inside the other, as illustrate it in Figures 4a and 4b.
• this option makes it possible to place a personalized label according to each product packaged, while using a single packaging model for the entire range, which makes it possible to rationalize the supply of packaging and the management of packaging stocks. .
• the cavities (3) can have any shape. They can, for example, be in hemispherical or ovoid form, or take the form of longitudinal grooves (3 ′), as shown in FIG. 5. It is possible in this case to generate in the bottom (2) of the container (1) parallel grooves or else interleaved grooves in the form of braces.
• the cavities (3) can be located on the bottom (2) of the receptacle (1) or on the side walls (2 '), so as to absorb shocks side, as shown in figure 6.
• the cavities (3) are located on the side walls (2 '), it is preferable to give them the form of grooves (3') oriented vertically, as shown in Figure 6, to allow easy removal of the receptacle after forming.
• the form of grooves (3') oriented vertically, as shown in Figure 6, to allow easy removal of the receptacle after forming.
• the cavities (3) can all be identical or have different shapes and heights. We can for example alternate cavities of low height with cavities of greater height, as shown in Figure 7, so as to ensure a good distribution of products (9) packaged over the entire surface of the bottom (2) and better wedging, especially when these are small.
• the cavities (3) can have shapes specifically adapted to the shape of the product, so as to ensure perfect wedging, as it is shown in Figure 8.
• the cavities When the cavities are rigid, their function consists in ensuring the setting of the products and distributing the reaction of the walls over several contact points.
• a solution shown in FIG. 9 consists, for example, in giving the cavities (3) the shape of a pyramid (3 "), the successive stages (7) of which are capable of falling into each other telescopically when the product s press at the end.
• a possible variant consists in closing the cavities (3) from the outside not with a flexible or semi-rigid film, but with a sheet (6 ') which has itself been previously thermoformed, so as to obtain specific results. research.
• This variant allows for example, as shown in Figure 10, to strengthen the rigidity of the bottom (2) of the receptacle (1) by stiffeners. It is particularly advantageous when the weight of the packaged products is large or when the surface of the receptacle is large relative to its height, which harms the rigidity of the assembly.
• FIG. 11 Another possible variant shown in FIG. 11 consists in introducing inside the cavities (3) a flowable product (8) such as a powder or a liquid which can perform an additional function in the receptacle, such as, for example example, a moisture or oxygen absorber which improves the shelf life of packaged products.
• a flowable product (8) such as a powder or a liquid which can perform an additional function in the receptacle, such as, for example example, a moisture or oxygen absorber which improves the shelf life of packaged products.
• a flowable product such as a powder or a liquid which can perform an additional function in the receptacle, such as, for example example, a moisture or oxygen absorber which improves the shelf life of packaged products.
• a flowable product such as a powder or a liquid which can perform an additional function in the receptacle, such as, for example example, a moisture or oxygen absorber which improves the shelf life of packaged products.
• the film constituting the receptacle is not imper

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packaging Frangible Articles (AREA)
• Buffer Packaging (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=32893244

Family Applications (1)

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Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2003
  • 2003-03-12 FR FR0303059A patent/FR2852300A1/fr active Pending
• 2004
  • 2004-03-10 EP EP04719032A patent/EP1633652A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2004-03-10 WO PCT/IB2004/001229 patent/WO2004080818A2/fr not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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