Heat shrink package handle.

MEMORY

ASM

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Field of technical application

The present invention relates to the packaging or packaging of various articles, such as groups of beverage bottles, cans or cans, or boxes, with a heat-shrinkable plastic film.

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Technical background

Such packaging with ^? Elubula í d is jalas tico contrai ^cHeating by heat is relatively easy to do at speeds * e, commercially acceptable by automatic machines. »» ·,

The packages formed are economical, aesthetically.

Pleasant and assure the buyer that, the package has not been previously opened.

However, these packages need a handle to facilitate their handling. The prior art has attempted to solve this problem by forming belts around the package, or by adhering a handle thereto with a pressure sensitive adhesive, or by cutting slots together with portions of reinforced seams of the package. , after having been contracted by heat around the articles (see French Patent Publication No. 2,156,050). However, said attachment of a handle, has required an additional operation after the wrapping operation, and the aforementioned slotting has not provided easy access to the part of the body it provides, · then the handle .

Exhibition of the invention

The present invention provides a method for forming packages or packages with a shrinkable film "l'lojito" ηΛηι. 2 that has a handle, by means of which the packages can be handled without requiring any additional operation on the packaging line, in addition to the normal operations by which the heat-shrinkable plastic film is applied and contracted and whose handle is attached firmly to the film, it is well placed, and is easily accessible to a person who wishes to carry the paqueté.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for packaging at least one article into a heat shrinkable film, forming a handle to carry the resulting package, which method comprises the operations of (1) joining a section or piece of tape to all / 3. go to it to a sheet of shrinkable material or with tren-ble • · · · by heat; (2) weaken part of the sheet at the same time. • • • central parts of the longitudinal edges of the tape; (5) wrapping the article in the sheet of heat shrinkable material with the central part of the tape in a position relative to the article in which it is desired to place the handle: (4) sealing or welding together two opposite ends of the sheet; and (5) heating the sealed sheet at a temperature sufficient to contract the sheet on the article,

To adapt the method according to the present invention to production machinery, it may further include arranging a continuous strip of heat-shrinkable material; joining sections of tape to the strip at separate intervals to provide the joining operation; weaken parts of the strip along each of the sections of the tape

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to provide said weakening operation and to cut a portion of the strip including one of the tape sections for use in wrapping, sealing and heating operations.

weakened zones along the central part of the belt can be created by drilling, or. *, by cutting, or by thinning the heat-curable sheet, which can be done, for example, by pressing a heated sheet against said sheet, or through the printing of dark lines on the heat-shrinkable sheet, which will preferably be heated by the radiation shrinking the film as disclosed in French Patent No. 1,314,184, incorporated here · -orientry · · · · reference. * · ·.

• The tape can be joined to the heat-shrinkable sheet by any suitable means, but is preferably joined by a suitable adhesive, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive, by sealing or thermal bonding, or by welding ultrasonic

The present invention also provides a laminated packaging article, intended to be applied as a package of at least one article, said laminated article comprising packaging a heat-shrinkable plastic sheet, and at least one length of tape attached to a surface of the sheet, the shrinkable sheet being weakened by heat along central portions of the longitudinal edges of the tape. Preferably, the shrinkable plastic sheet is selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, biaxially oriented polyvinyl chloride and polyester * the reinforcement of the tape is * he11115 ρ_8510 cho of material selected from the group consisting of natural and synthetic fabrics , polyester, polypropylene, film reinforced with fibers, poly (vinyl chloride) stabilized, kraft paper and reinforced cardboard;

# z * the present invention also provides úh'ph • ·.

which comprises at least one article, a cfe.'núa sheet. heat-shrinkable polymer material around the article, a length of tape bonded to the surface of the po lime material and retaining the polymer material bonded to the tape in a relatively non-contracted condition, and a few coats in the polymer material contracted by heat to It was placed in a central part of the tape, so that the central part of it adjacent to the openings provided a handle for the package.

If desired, a package made in accordance with the present invention may have two (or more) handles located, for example, at its two opposite upper ends or on its two opposite sides, or diagonally across and crossed over the center of its upper surface.

If desired, end portions of the tape, on each side of the central part of it that provides the handles, can go virtually completely around the package, which may be necessary for relatively heavy packages.

The tape can be attached both to the inside and the outside of the heat-shrinkable sheet, with respect to the package, and can be used as a printing location, for example, for advertising purposes. Likewise, two sections of tape can be linked together opposite

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P-MGD-8510 llojMíiñm between themselves inside and outside the sheet contraíble by heat.

The application of the tape section to the heat-shrinkable film sheet and the weakening of the film along the central portion of the tape can be easily done by packaging machines, using methods well known to the art. Emphasis on the technique, particularly in the field of label application. . í. * ·

The intimate association between the tape handle and the packaging foil ensures excellent resistance to tensile and cutting forces. '· Ζ ·'

In addition, the formation of access openings to the handle from lines weakened by thermal contraction of the sheet reduces the formation of stress concentration incisions along the edges defining the opening, which reduces which can occur when an opening is cut in said film after being contracted by heat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts in different views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a package formed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the package of Figure 1;

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are top views of a second, third and fourth embodiments of packages,

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P4S0D-851O. ^: Hpje No. 5 according to the present invention; Y

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view I of a laminated sheet of packaging, according to the present invention.

Detailed description ....·.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a package 1 according to the present invention containing six bottles, such as bottles of mineral water, is illustrated.

These six bottles are grouped and packed • · · · · · | in a plastic sheet 2 contracted by heat, such as a polyethylene sheet of the type currently used for such packages. · . ...

• ·, · ·.

At the center of the package 1 is attached a length of tape 3 »of which a central part extends through the upper part of the package 1 and provides a handle 4 for the package 1, and whose end portions 5 fix the handle 4 to the sheet 2. In most applications, it is preferable that the tape 3 be made of a material that is relatively non-shrinkable by heat, compared to the plastic sheet 2, before being wrapped around the bottles, when both the tape 3 and the sheet 2 are exposed to the temperatures at which the sheet 2 contracts normally.

On each side of the central part of the tape section 3 »the heat-shrinkable sheet 2 has cacceso openings 6 and 7, which allow the user's hand to grasp the handle 4.

For example, a plastic sheet material

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-contractable by heat that can be used to^: form package 1, is the one sold under the commercial name

Polyethylene, Linear film of 80 micras "by the French company REMEY. The thermal treatment of this laminar material at 230 - 250 degrees C during / about 6 seconds with hot air, or by infrared radiation, does. · That it contracts a 60 °, or in the longitudinal direction of. the sheet and a 20^s/ or in its transverse direction. For tanjo, it is advantageous, for most of the applications with this sheet, to arrange sections of tape to be used as handles, transversely with respect to the length. of said laminar material; nevertheless, the result.

Expected according to the present invention can also be disposed by arranging said tape aids in other orientations with respect to the length of said sheet material.

To pack 6 plastic bottles of 1.5 to liters, of the type currently used for mineral water, a sheet with a size of 420 mm in width and having an appropriate length could be used.

Suitable materials to be used for tape 3 include non-shrinkable, pressure-sensitive adhesive coated tapes, such as, for example, ribbon reinforced with glass filaments running along it, sold by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), Saint Paul, Minnesota, under the co-branded designation Scotch Brand Eilament Tape 898, or the ribbon sold by 3M under the trademark Scotch Brand Tape i^s 351, which has a polyester film reinforcement. Adhesive-coated tape sensitive to pressure and

11115 pIÍOD-8510.

They are also usable, and may be preferred for some uses, due to their shock absorbing properties. An example of such shrinkable tape is one that has a polypropylene reinforcement, sold by 3M under the trade name "8459 Scotch Brand Film Tape

The tapes of the aforementioned examples are coated with rubber-resin adhesives, which adhere very well to the polyethylene sheet material.

In Figure 3 a second embodiment of a package according to the present invention is illustrated, which encloses six bottles and which includes two sections of. ribbon that form the handles 8, 9, which have on both sides the openings 10, 11, 12 and 13 · ···· • «« 9 ·

In a third embodiment of a package of.

• • • according to the present invention, illustrated in the figure

4, only one ribbon handle 14 is joined diagonally; whereas in a fourth embodiment shown in the figure

5, two ribbon handles 15, 16 are joined in cross, with their central portions forming a single handle, with two openings 17, 18 on their sides.

Figure 6 illustrates a laminated packaging sheet according to the present invention, including a film 19 of heat shrinkable polymer packaging, having adhered to it at equally spaced intervals, transverse sections of tape 20, and weakened portions lines 21 and 22 of the film 19 along the central portions of the longitudinal edges of the tape 20.

The film 19 can be cut into equal pieces, generally along lines 23 and 24j then apply the pieces around one or more objects by rne30

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two.

The weakening lines 21 and 22 may consist of perforations spaced approximately from 2 to 3 millimeters apart, or in approximately 5 mm long incisions, separated, in between. s ^ 1 to 2 mm, approximately.

To pack 6 bottles of mineral water, each having 1.5 to 2 liters, you can use an adhesive tape 20 of 25 mm wide and 40 to 45 cm of .. '.

long The lines of weakness 21 and 22 can be ca ^ a'jma '• · of approximately 10 cm in length, which provides a good length for the handle. The contraction of the polyethylene core after the welding or joining of its ends, can be done in about 6 seconds, at 250 ° C, in a forced air oven for contraction by heat, of the type sold by the French company TBPJÓEIEC SA The resulting packages will each have two crescent-shaped openings, each 10 cm long and 5 to 7 cm wide, which are located on opposite sides of the handle provided by the central portion of the tape section 20.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but could be modified in many ways depending on the desired application, without departing from the | spirit of invention

Therefore, the scope of the present invention Ino should be limited to the structure described in the exhibit.

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