ES2818615T3 - Bag that can be resealed - Google Patents

Abstract

Flexible packaging (1) of the bag type for perishable food products packaged loosely, comprising: a front wall (2) and a rear wall (3) located opposite each other, defining at the top a closing flap ( 4) and laterally connected to each other by two reinforcing walls (5); and an insert for new closure (10) comprising a connecting portion (7), which adheres externally to said rear wall (3), and a non-adhesive free portion (8), contiguous to said connecting portion ( 7) and defining between itself and the rear wall (3) an insertion space (6) open from above; said free portion (8) being adapted to retain, in a reclosure configuration, a folded portion of said closure flap (4) within said insertion space (6), characterized in that said reclosure insert (10 ) is a rigid plane element.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Bag that can be resealed

Scope

The present invention relates, according to its most general aspect, to a flexible bag-type container, in particular but not exclusively suitable for perishable food products, such as baked goods, in particular cookies, and the like.

Therefore, the invention may have a useful application in the packaging sector, in particular in the food packaging sector.

Previous technique

It is known that one of the main requirements in the sector for the production and distribution of perishable foods is to provide a container that can maximize shelf life, specifically to extend the period during which the preservation of the main organoleptic properties of foods can be reasonably guaranteed.

For this purpose, suitable paper or plastic materials have been designed, tested and made available for the manufacture of the container, together with suitably shaped containers and suitable methods to seal them once filled with the required products.

With regard to baked food products, such as shortbread and the like, which are generally packaged loosely in a bag-type container and eaten gradually over time, along with the requirement mentioned above there is also the problem of guaranteeing a certain degree of protection for the product that remains after opening the container.

For this purpose, bag-type containers have been designed and made available equipped with devices or structural systems designed to allow said container to be temporarily closed again, after detaching, tearing or cutting the upper flap necessary for access to the products. products.

The main most widely used re-closure system of this type is the self-adhesive label; it is used to fix an upper part of the front and rear walls of the bag-type container, comprising the entrance opening thereof, in a state folded several times on itself.

For example, a bag-type package provided with a self-adhesive resealable label is described in European patent EP 0677832 B1 in the name of the applicant.

However, it is known that self-adhesive labels allow efficient reclosure only a limited number of times due to the rapid deterioration of their adhesive properties and the fact that they are used in the presence of grease, crumbs and other contaminating agents.

Document US2016318666A1 discloses resealable packages to contain a product therein including a flexible container having a front side and a back side sealed together along at least one longitudinal seam and two side end seams. , and a flexible film element that is configured to releasably secure between its permanently adhered opposite ends one of the two side end seams of the flexible container following the opening of one of the two side end seams.

Document EP2030906A1 discloses a tubular bag comprising a locking unit, specifically a fastening button or a clip, protruding from an area of one of its main surfaces and acting in conjunction with a free longitudinal section of the tubular bag , so that (once the tubular bag is open) such free longitudinal section is again locked in said area by means of said locking unit. Document US2004008908A1 discloses a reinforced bag of disposable packaging material having a closure device comprising two fastener components that can be releasably hooked. Each fastener component comprises a plastic base layer carrying either hook or loop elements. The hook component is carried on a flexible wing attached to a lower portion of a main face of the bag, so that (when the upper part of the bag is rolled or folded on said main face) the hook component engages with the loop component.

Among the various alternative reclosure systems that have been proposed in the prior art, none of them have proven to be a commercially viable alternative to the self-adhesive label for bag-type packaging of the type considered in the present invention. In reality, these alternative systems have a number of drawbacks that currently remain unsolved, including a relatively high cost of production, a system that is not easy to use, and, in some cases, a closure efficiency that, in any case, is limited to the long of the time.

Summary of the invention

The underlying problem of the present invention is to provide a flexible bag-type container provided with a reclosing device that overcomes, in a simple and economical way, all the drawbacks mentioned with respect to the prior art: in particular a bag wherein the reclosing device always guarantees, ie an indefinite number of times, the same efficient reclosing action while ensuring low production costs.

This problem is solved, according to the present invention, by means of a flexible bag-type container for perishable food products packaged loosely, comprising: a front wall and a rear wall positioned opposite each other, defining a flap in the upper part closing and laterally connected to each other by two reinforcing walls; and an insert for reclosure comprising a connecting portion, which is externally adhered to said rear wall, and a free non-adhesive portion (or tab) contiguous to said connecting portion and defining between itself and the rear wall. an insertion space open at the top; said free portion being able to retain, in a reclosure configuration, a folded portion of said closure flap within said insertion space.

As the person skilled in the art will recognize, the configuration proposed above advantageously defines a reclosing device that, on the other hand, is reliable over time, since it does not use removable adhesives, the adhesive properties of which may deteriorate after closing it. again repeatedly; on the other hand, it is relatively inexpensive since it is defined by a single element with a simple shape that can be associated with the already sealed container by means of a single operation at the end of the production line, unlike mechanical solutions that involve two connecting elements mounted on the opposite walls of the container. The reclosure insert is a rigid flat element. Obviously, the rigidity of the element does not have to be absolute, it being sufficient to guarantee a strength of the flat insert such as to keep the folded closure flap in position once it is inserted below the free portion. In this regard, the adjective "rigid" should be understood as the opposite of "soft" and not the opposite of "flexible" or "elastic". Rather, a certain degree of flexibility of the reclosure insert is preferable in order to facilitate operations involving insertion and removal of the closure flap below the free portion. Said insert for reclosure preferably consists of a sheet of thin cardboard or a material with a similar consistency, possibly of the type of recyclable paper. Alternatively, it is possible to make the insert for reclosure using other materials as well, for example plastic material.

The bonding portion is preferably glued onto the outer surface of the rear wall, rather said free portion being adhesive-free. In any event, other methods of fixing the attachment portion, which are known to the person skilled in the art, may be considered.

In order to ensure that the insert for reclosure remains fixed to the rest of the container and prevents the risk of breakage or tearing, the joining portion has an extension (specifically a surface for joining the container) preferably equal to one quarter of a the full extension of the insert for new closure. Even more preferably, the attachment portion has an extension equal to at least half the total extension of the reclosure insert.

The reclosure insert preferably has a substantially rectangular profile that is horizontally subdivided into a joint portion and a free portion. Optionally, the joining portion may also have a lower skirt, for example with a trapezoidal shape, which is smaller in size than the remainder of the substantially rectangular profile, to improve adhesion to the outer surface of the rear wall.

The upper edge of the recloser element, in a shelf configuration, is preferably offset downward relative to the upper edge of the closure flap. In this way, the user can easily remove the seal from the closure flap and fold it properly.

It is indicated that the walls of the flexible container according to the present invention are preferably made of a material similar to paper, but obviously the use of another material (for example, plastic) is possible as long as it allows the necessary flexibility to fold the container during the operation of the container. reclosing device described above. Therefore, it is possible to have a container that is made entirely of plastic material. The user can conveniently remove the seal, or otherwise cut, the aforementioned closure flap, which is sealed in the shelf configuration (preferably by means of heat sealing), to define an opening for access to the product.

Therefore, in order to close the container again, the user can fold at least twice, along a first folding axis and a second folding axis located parallel to and below the first axis, said flap of closure against the rear wall to close said access opening, and then insert the resulting closure flap that has been folded several times into the insertion space below the free portion, to ensure closure provisional.

The advantages and characteristic features of the flexible container according to the present invention will become more clear from the description of an embodiment thereof provided hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings provided by way of example. limitative.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 schematically shows a perspective view of a bag-type container according to the present invention in a shelf configuration.

Figure 2 schematically shows a method for opening the bag-type container according to Figure 1. Figure 3 schematically shows a method for reclosing the bag-type container according to Figure 1.

Figure 4 schematically shows the bag-like packaging according to Figure 1 in the closed configuration again.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

With reference to the attached figures 1 to 4, 1 designates globally a flexible bag type container for perishable food products, in particular for baked products such as shortbread cookies and the like, which are packaged loosely.

The positional references used in the present description, comprising indications such as "front" or "rear", "in front of" or "behind", "upper" or "lower", "above" or "below "," Laterally "or similar terms, refer in all cases to the illustrative configuration shown in the figures mentioned above and in no case should any limiting value be attributed.

With particular reference to the terms "front" or "rear" it is indicated that they are used primarily in favor of easier description and, although they suggest a preferred orientation of the container on the shelf at the point of distribution, they should not be considered that have a limiting meaning. In particular, it is possible that the side described herein is printed as "back" or otherwise decorated with markings and / or brand images of the product in such a way that it can be displayed for presentation to consumers.

The flexible container 1, which is hereinafter simply referred to as "container", has a substantially parallelepipedic shape with a front wall 2 and a rear wall 3, opposite and identical to each other, and reinforcing walls 5 laterally connecting said front and rear walls. . The front wall 2 and the rear wall 3 are joined together from above in the form of a closing flap 4 in which the two upper edge areas of these walls are heat-sealed or in any case sealed using a suitable method. At the bottom, the container 1 has a support base 14 which can be defined by a suitably folded bottom flap or in any other way known to those skilled in the art.

Preferably, the walls 2, 3, 5 and the support base 14 are all composed of paper-like material, ie paper, cardboard or other material that can be recycled along with the paper. Alternatively, other materials may be used, for example plastic materials, as long as they obviously do not adversely affect the flexibility of the walls when necessary for the reclosing operations described below. In a manner known per se, the sealing of the closure flap 4 mentioned above can be removed, or in any case torn along the seal, to define an opening 9 for access to the products (in the preferred example, baked goods such as cookies) contained within the container 1.

The container 1 also comprises an insert 10 for reclosing the aforementioned access opening 9, which can be used by the end user to close said opening after initially opening the container 1.

This insert for reclosure 10 is in the form of a flat element, preferably composed of rigid cardboard or another material with sufficient rigidity that is fixed (by means of gluing or some other suitable system for the preselected material) to the wall. back 3 of container 1.

The reclosure insert 10, in the preferred embodiment described herein, has a rectangular profile, with a lower trapezoidal skirt 11 extending transversely of the rectangular profile above it. In the context of the present invention it is obviously possible to conceive reclosure inserts 10 having a different conformation both for functional requirements and for purely aesthetic and / or commercial reasons.

The re-closure insert 10 is only partially fixed to the rear wall 3: in particular only a lower portion of the re-closure insert 10, identified herein as portion bonding 7, adheres to the rear wall surface. Instead, the upper portion defines a free portion 8 that can move away from the outer surface of the rear wall 3 in order to free an insertion space 6 that is directed upward.

Preferably, the attachment portion 7 and the free portion 8 are vertically subdivided: in the present case of a rectangular shape of the reclosure insert 10, the upper portion of the rectangle defines the free portion 8.

The bonding area, specifically the extent of the bonding portion 7, is large enough with respect to the entire surface area of the reclosure insert 10: in the preferred embodiment described herein it is equal to half the total surface area.

Finally, it is indicated that the insert for reclosure 10 is fixed to distance it from the upper edge of the respective rear wall 3, in order to allow the folding operations described below. Instead, in terms of position along the horizontal axis, the reclosure insert 10 is preferably arranged in a central position, specifically equidistant from the two side reinforcing walls 5. In a shelf configuration, specifically in the configuration after packaging and before opening by the end user, the container 1 has the shape shown in figure 1. In this configuration, the closure flap 4 (whose upper seal remains intact ) is arranged vertically upright; in any case it is also possible to conceive that the closing flap 4 has already been presented in the folded configuration to suggest to the user the correct reclosure procedure.

In this configuration, the reclosure insert 10 is arranged against the rear wall 3 although the free portion 8 can be detached from this wall.

The principle of operation of the container 1 with reclosing device according to the invention is already clear to the reader and is described in detail below, with particular reference to Figures 2 to 4.

Figure 2 shows the opening of the container 1 by the end user. During this stage the sealing of the closing flap 4 is removed in order to free the access opening 9 and, therefore, allow the user to reach the product. Therefore, the configuration obtained is the open configuration of the container 1.

Figure 3 shows a first stage of the reclosure procedure in which the closure flap 4 is folded along the rear wall 3 along a first fold line "x" parallel to the upper edge, to close the access opening 9 and then folded again along a second fold line "y" located parallel to and below the first axis, to define a closure flap 4 that folds twice.

During the last stage of the folding procedure, the closure flap 4 which has been folded twice is inserted into the previously defined insertion space 6 where it is mechanically retained by the free portion 8. The configuration for reclosure thus achieved is shown in figure 4.

From this configuration for new closure it is obviously possible to obtain the open configuration of the container 1 by extracting and then unfolding the closure flap 4 to leave the access opening 9 free.

It should be noted that, during the packaging operations, the reclosure insert 10 is preferably applied after the formation, filling and closing of the container 1. Therefore, these operations can be advantageously carried out using a conventional packaging line that It should not be substantially modified, other than in order to integrate downstream, where necessary, an additional station to apply the insert for reclosure 10.

The main advantage achieved by the container according to the present invention is that of allowing a practical, fast and efficient new closure of said container, which can be repeated a significantly greater number of times than is possible with the prior art, while guaranteeing relatively low production costs.

The flexible resealable package, particularly for perishable food products, described above may be subject to other variations and modifications, all of which are within the scope of those skilled in the art and, as such, are within the scope of protection defined by the following claims.

Claims (11)

i. Flexible packaging (1) of the bag type for perishable food products packaged loosely, comprising: a front wall (2) and a rear wall (3) located opposite each other, defining at the top a closing flap ( 4) and laterally connected to each other by two reinforcing walls (5); and an insert for new closure (10) comprising a connecting portion (7), which adheres externally to said rear wall (3), and a non-adhesive free portion (8), contiguous to said connecting portion ( 7) and defining between itself and the rear wall (3) an insertion space (6) open from above; said free portion (8) being adapted to retain, in a reclosure configuration, a folded portion of said closure flap (4) within said insertion space (6), characterized in that said reclosure insert (10) ) is a rigid plane element. Package (1) according to claim 1, wherein said insert for reclosure (10) is a cardboard sheet. 3. Container (1) according to claim 1, wherein said insert for reclosure (10) is made of plastic material. Container (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said joining portion (7) is glued onto the outer surface of the rear wall (3), rather said free portion (8) being without adhesive. 5. Container (1) according to claim 4, wherein said joining portion (7) has an extension that is at least equal to a quarter of the overall extension of the insert for reclosure (10). Package (1) according to one of claims 2 to 5, wherein said insert for reclosure (10) has a substantially rectangular profile, which is horizontally subdivided into a connecting portion (7) and a free portion (8). 7. Container (1) according to claim 6, wherein the joining portion (7) has a lower skirt (11) that is smaller than the remainder of the substantially rectangular profile. Packaging (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the upper edge of the reclosure insert (10), in a shelf configuration, is offset downwards with respect to the upper edge of the flap of closure (4). Packaging (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the walls (2, 3, 5) are made of paper material. Package (1) according to one of Claims 1 to 8, in which the walls (2, 3, 5) are made of plastic material. Method for reclosing a flexible container (1) according to one of the preceding claims, comprising, after opening the closing flap (4) to define an upper opening (9) for access to the products, the stages of: - folding said closing flap (4) at least twice against the rear wall (3) along a first folding axis (x) and a second folding axis (y) that is parallel to and is below the first axis; - inserting the resulting closing flap (4), which is folded at least twice, into the insertion space (6) under the free portion (8).