Container and a material for producing thereof

The invention relates to a container made of a bendable material with fold lines, with an upper end wall with two front corners, between which an extendable flap is placed, with an openable part extending both into the extendable flap and into the adjacent part of the upper end wall. The invention also relates to a material for the production of this container with a carrier layer and a water-impermeable layer of thermoplastic material.

Prior art

A number of containers for liquids such as milk, fruit juices and the like are known, and these containers have various designs. One of the generally known and used packages is a container made of flexible. material, which consists of a layer of paper and a layer of thermoplastic material and is fed to the packaging machine in a linear form. After processing into a tubular form, the material is sealed in the transverse direction in regular sections, thus forming predominantly cushion-shaped packages provided with protruding sealing flaps. These cushion-shaped packages are processed into parallelepiped-shaped packages by bending the projecting sealing flaps downwards, after which these triangular-shaped flaps with double walls are attracted to the outer wall of the package. This package is then provided with an upper end wall of rectangular shape, at the shorter ends of which flaps are made. One corner flap, like the adjacent part of the upper end wall, is provided with a weakening and a tear-off mark, so that it is possible to tear off a part of the corner of the package to obtain a suitable pouring hole, the shape and size of which may vary according to the type of product for which packaging designed. If the package is to be opened, the corner flap with the opening must be released from its seal to the side wall of the package, bent upwards and flattened from the sides so that the consumer can tear off the relevant part and create a pouring opening. In order to ensure that a corresponding amount of air can enter the container at the same time as the contents flow out of the pouring opening, the tear-off mark is usually provided with an elongated end, so that the pouring opening is slightly elongated towards the middle of the upper end wall. If the consumer does not open the package completely, i.e. does not extend the opening towards the middle of the upper end wall, problems arise when pouring the contents due to the fact that air access to the package is partially or completely excluded. The same problem arises with some types of products with too high a viscosity even if the flap is torn off sufficiently.

In order to overcome these problems, it has been proposed that the container be provided at its rear end of the upper end wall with a further separate opening, which would open in connection with the opening of the pouring opening of the package. However, it is difficult to create any form of automatic opening of such an air opening, since this means performing two opening movements before pouring the contents. This proved to be difficult in practice, so that the problem remained unresolved.

It would generally be desirable to design a container of the above type in which opening would automatically result in a pouring opening of such a shape that the contents of the container could flow out without problems and at the same time the poured volume was replaced by air flowing into the container from the outside.

It is an object of the invention to provide a container with a pouring opening with such a shape and such a size that air can flow into the container without hindrance as soon as the contents of the container begin to be emptied through the pouring opening.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a container which, when opened, ensures that the pouring opening allows the contents of the container to flow out without any problems, even if the container is completely filled with contents and no space remains in the contents.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a container of the above-mentioned type, the shape and size of which would correspond to a large extent to the previously known types of parallelepiped shaped containers, so that the container should be able to be manufactured on existing types of packaging equipment.

These and other objects of the invention are solved by a container according to the invention and a material for its production.

The essence of the invention

The invention relates to a container of flexible material with bending lines, with an upper end wall with two front corners between which an extendable flap is placed, with an openable part extending to both the flap and an adjacent part of the upper end wall, the upper end wall of the container being provided with lines of weakness. extending from the rear end of the openable part and diverging from each other.

In a preferred embodiment, these lines of weakness diverge from the rear end of the openable part.

In another preferred embodiment, the upper end wall is provided with a plurality of such lines of weakness, which together form the central rhombic part of the upper wall.

In another preferred embodiment, the lines of weakness are guided symmetrically on both sides of the sealing flap, placed in the middle of the upper end wall, the front end of the sealing flap forming an openable part of the container.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a suitable material for the production of such a container so that this material can be processed into the containers according to the invention in conventional packaging machines without their substantial modifications or alterations.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a material for the production of a container of the above-mentioned type so that it can be processed with only a small modification compared to known materials for producing parallelepiped-type packages into a container with substantially improved casting properties.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the surface of the material formed by the carrier layer and the water-impermeable layer of thermoplastic material is provided in the region corresponding to the upper end wall with a series of lines of weakness which are arranged at angles which define a region which when shaping the material into a container, it is folded so that it protrudes upwards when the container is opened.

By providing the material for the upper end wall of the container with two suitably placed lines for its folding, it is possible to achieve an automatic folding of the upper end wall together with a corner flap which is flattened when opening the container and then protrudes upwards. Folding according to the above lines of weakening occurs in the region of the end wall located near the rear end of the pouring opening, so that this part of the upper end wall extends slightly higher and is held in this position, the rear end of the pouring opening is slightly higher than in the case of known containers, thus facilitating the access of air, which can then replace the poured volume of the contents of the container, so that the contents can be poured without problems.

In a preferred embodiment, the container according to the invention and the material for the manufacture of this container will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which only the details necessary to clarify the meaning of the invention are schematically shown.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a container according to the invention in an unopened state.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the upper part of the container shown in Fig. 1 in the open state.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the container shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows the material for the production of the container according to the invention in a previously unfolded form.

The container according to the invention, as shown in Fig. 1, is essentially a container of known type, which is made of a flexible laminate formed by a central carrier layer of fibrous material, e.g. paper, a water-impermeable layer deposited on both sides. thermoplastic material, such as polyethylene. On the material for the production of the container, a series of lines for the assembly of the container is made from the originally flat shape to the shape of the finished container, which is predominantly parallelepiped.

The processing of the originally linear laminate for the production of the container according to the invention is carried out by successively processing this laminate first into a tubular form by folding the longitudinal edges of the material, watertight welding of the folded edges of the laminate by heat, welding the outer thermoplastic layers of the laminate. Then, the resulting tube is filled with the desired content, such as milk, fruit juice and the like, and then the tube is sealed transversely at regular intervals, so that a strip of filled pad-like formations is formed. By transversely breaking this strip at the welds, the individual packages are separated and processed into the final shape. When processed to the desired final shape of the parallelepiped, four corner flaps with double walls, triangular in shape, are formed, which are then flattened and folded so as to rest on the corresponding parts of the outer wall of the container, and remain in this position.

- 6 even during heat melting. At the same time, the sealing flaps are folded in the upper and lower part of the container so that they are placed against the outside of the container, thus creating a predominantly parallelepiped shape, which is retained until the container is opened.

As can be seen in particular from FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the container according to the invention has the shape of a parallelepiped with the upper end wall JL, the four side walls 2 and the lower wall (not shown). In the embodiment shown, the upper end wall 1 has the shape of a rectangle and the sealing lip 3, which is folded flat and placed against the end wall, extends from the center to the two m short sides. Two corner flaps χ are formed on these short sides, which in each case connect the front and rear corners of the upper end wall JL, the sealing flap being placed above these corner flaps and terminating at the free corners of these corner flaps 4. At one or front end of the upper end wall 1, the sealing flange 3 is provided with the designation P^ro an opening which is in the form of a weakened line in the packaging material, for example a perforation which extends along the underside of the sealing flap 3 between its end and the central part of the upper end wall 1 so as to lie against the free edge 6 of the sealing flap 3. The% designation thus defines an openable a part 3 * of the sealing flap, this openable part 3 'extending both into the corner flap 4 and into the adjacent part of the upper end wall JL. If the container is to be opened so that its contents can be poured out, the corner flap 4 is first released. ^withby marking% to open the container, then the corner flap X is bent upwards and pressed from the sides and at the same time the openable part 3 'of the sealing flap 3 is torn off along the marking 2. In this way a pouring opening 2> is formed. the flap X in the upright form creates an extension of this opening.

- 7 If the container is tilted forwards after opening so that part of its contents can be poured through the pouring hole 2 »j^E it is desirable that the contents can be poured out in the form of a continuous stream of liquid. In order to ensure this, it is desirable that the effluent be replaced immediately by the incoming air. In the container according to the invention, this is ensured in that the air is supplied through the rear end of the pouring opening 2 ^ ^ 3 · by the part facing the corner flap Aby · In order to ensure that the user actually uses the entire length of the opening marking when opening the container. tears off this part so that the pouring hole 2 has its maximum length, it is necessary to arrange the container so that this tearing always occurs. If it does not occur, or if the contents of the container have a high viscosity, it may happen that not enough air enters the container when it is first opened, especially if the container is completely filled.

According to the invention, this disadvantage can be eliminated by always ensuring that the rear end of the pouring opening 2 is in a higher position than the other parts of the upper end wall 1 of the container, thus achieving a more advantageous shape of the pouring opening 2. ^and ensure that sufficient air enters the tank even under unfavorable conditions. In order to actually achieve the desired higher seating of the rear end of the pouring hole 2ⁱⁿ the upper end wall 1 of the container according to the invention, the upper end wall 1 is provided with two lines of weakness 8, which extend from the rear end of the openable part, from where they diverge from each other. The lines of weakness 8 diverge in particular towards the rear of the upper end wall JL, which is preferably provided with two further lines of weakness 2, which together with the lines of weakness 8 define a central, predominantly rhombic region of the end wall 1. The upper end wall is J. provided with lines 8 of weakening and other parts 2 of weakening, there is a tendency in folding the upper end wall 3 in the mentioned places and their

- 8 presses together with the front corner flap A when opening the hopper. The diamond area, which is placed between the lines of weakness 8 and the other lines of weakness 2, forms an inclined surface which protrudes at its rear end from the original level of the upper end wall JL and is 3 to 6 mm above this level at its front end. to raise the rear end of the pouring hole 2^on the corresponding distance with respect to the surface of the liquid contained in the reservoir. This fact ensures that air flows into the container even if the consumer has not opened it completely or because the product stored in the container has a high viscosity.

When using lines of weakness, a weakening is provided on the upper end wall 1 of the container according to the invention, which helps to keep this part of the upper end wall JL in an elevated position which is naturally taken in connection with the raised corner flap A when opening the container. This tendency is even more pronounced when the lines of weakness 8 are made symmetrically on both sides of the sealing flap 2 and it has been shown to be optimal when the line of weakness extends predominantly in the middle direction of the upper end wall JL with side edges parallel to the sealing flap. According to a preferred embodiment, the angle between the first lines 8 of attenuation is 120 °, but it is possible to achieve a certain effect with another mounting, for example at a mutual angle in the range of 60 to 160 °.

The two further lines of weakness 2 are arranged in the same way predominantly symmetrically with respect to the sealing flap, the mutual angle between these further lines of weakness 2 being preferably 60 °. In order to achieve the desired effect, it is particularly suitable for the angle between the two further lines of weakness 2 to be at most 90 °.

- 9 The lines of weakness 8 and the other lines of weakness 2 can be made in the form of a conventional type of weakening by compressing the container material linearly so as to achieve the desired weakening, but it is also possible to proceed in another way, for example by making a linear perforation of the carrier layer. If the lines of weakness 8 may be sufficient in this case, it is possible to dispense with making two rear lines of weakness, since both front lines of weakness 8 weaken the material for the production of the container in a sufficient manner so that an elevation can occur. part of the upper end wall at the rear end of the pouring opening 2 and to permanently maintain this elevation.

The material for the production of the container according to the invention is shown in Fig. 4. This material is essentially a laminated material which is formed by a carrier layer of e.g. paper, layers of thermoplastic material, e.g. polyethylene, are placed on both sides of the carrier layer. The material shown may form a fall, with. It is provided with lines 10 for the next composition of the material, which divide these materials into a number of panels, for example panels 11 for forming side walls, panels 12 for producing bottom and panels 13 for producing upper end wall, lines in which the material is to be folded. also lines for forming corner flaps, but all these lines are parts of the material which are quite common and therefore do not need to be described in more detail in connection with the manufacture of the container according to the invention. The dashed line in Fig. 4 also indicates the marking e for the container opening point, which has the form of a perforation extending into a narrow area on one side of the container manufacturing material at the point where the upper sealing flap 2 of the container according to the invention is to be formed. Strong solid lines also show the two front lines of weakness £ 5 as well as two further lines of weakness 2, placed in the rear of the container, which are placed on the panel 13 for the rear wall and delimited by lines 10 for folding. The lines of weakness 8 extend predominantly at an angle between the fold line 14, which define the field for forming the sealing flap in the finished container and the fold line 15, parallel to the fold line 14 and defining the upper end wall JL and the adjacent side walls 2 in the finished container. which are formed by the lines of weakness 8 and the other lines of weakness with the fold lines 14, 15 vary depending on the size and shape of the container, but it is always necessary to observe the above values ​​of the individual angles.

Represents: