U.S. patent application number 11/989783 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-04 for polymeric sheets and articles wrapped therewith.
Invention is credited to Aharon Ben-Soussane, Yoav Guthman, Yiftach Nir, Maor Segal.
Application Number | 20090142456 11/989783 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37000034 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090142456 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Segal; Maor ; et
al. |
June 4, 2009 |
Polymeric Sheets and Articles Wrapped Therewith
Abstract
A polymeric sheet having low density and comprising a low to
non-existent amount of cyclic olefinic polymers (COP) and/or cyclic
olefinic copolymers (COC). The overall density of the sheet may be
lower than water. The sheet may be stretched and then heat shrinked
onto an article. The sheet may be used as a label or package to
wrap articles therewith.
Inventors: |
Segal; Maor; (D.n. Negev,
IL) ; Guthman; Yoav; (D.n. Negev, IL) ;
Ben-Soussane; Aharon; (Beer Sheva, IL) ; Nir;
Yiftach; (Yokneam Illit, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THE NATH LAW GROUP
112 South West Street
Alexandria
VA
22314
US
|
Family ID: |
37000034 |
Appl. No.: |
11/989783 |
Filed: |
August 3, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
August 3, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IL2006/000893 |
371 Date: |
January 26, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60705195 |
Aug 4, 2005 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
426/125 ;
426/383; 426/412; 426/415; 428/212; 428/35.7; 526/348.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65C 3/06 20130101; B65C
3/00 20130101; C08L 23/0815 20130101; C08L 57/00 20130101; B32B
2307/412 20130101; Y10T 428/24942 20150115; B65C 9/00 20130101;
C08J 2325/08 20130101; C08J 2423/06 20130101; C08L 23/06 20130101;
C08L 67/03 20130101; B32B 27/36 20130101; B32B 2250/24 20130101;
B32B 2307/75 20130101; C08J 2323/08 20130101; B32B 2519/00
20130101; Y10T 428/1352 20150115; Y10T 428/31797 20150401; B32B
27/08 20130101; B32B 27/322 20130101; C08L 45/00 20130101; C08L
23/0823 20130101; B32B 2439/70 20130101; C08L 25/06 20130101; B32B
27/32 20130101; C08J 5/18 20130101; C08L 23/0815 20130101; C08L
2666/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
426/125 ;
526/348.1; 428/212; 428/35.7; 426/415; 426/412; 426/383 |
International
Class: |
B65D 85/60 20060101
B65D085/60; C08F 10/00 20060101 C08F010/00; B32B 27/32 20060101
B32B027/32; A23P 1/08 20060101 A23P001/08; B32B 1/00 20060101
B32B001/00; B65B 25/06 20060101 B65B025/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 31, 2006 |
DE |
202006001454.3 |
Claims
1. A polymeric sheet stretched along the machine direction, and
comprising 50% or less, preferably 40% or less, Cyclic Olefinic
Copolymer and/or Cyclic Olefinic Polymer (hereinafter COC/COP).
2. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, comprising at least one
layer made of COC/COP blended with at least one other polymeric
substance.
3. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, comprising: a. one or
more layer made of COC/COP, optionally blended with one or more
other polymeric substance; and b. one or more layer free of
COC/COP.
4. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, produced in a short gap
stretching process.
5. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, having thickness of from
40 to 50 micrometers.
6. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, having thickness of from
20 to 30 micrometers.
7. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, used as a label or
package, wrapped around an article and heat shrinked thereto.
8. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, used as a twist-wrap for
articles.
9. A polymeric sheet according to claim 8, wherein the article is a
candy.
10. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, adapted to undergo
shrinkage in a monoaxial direction to 85% of it's original
dimension or less, the shrink thus being 15% or more, upon heating
of the sheet to 100.degree. C. or less and having a density less
than the density of water.
11. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, adapted to undergo
shrinkage in a monoaxial direction to 60% of it's original
dimension or less, the shrink thus being 40% or more, when heated
and having a density less than the density of water.
12. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, used to envelope a
container having an outer surface including at least two portions
having different cross-sectional diameters; wherein said polymeric
sheet circumferentially envelopes at least said two portions of the
outer surface, closely and substantially uniformly following the
contour of said portions, characterized in that the polymeric sheet
has a density less than the density of water.
13. A polymeric sheet according to claim 1, comprising at least two
materials, wherein at least one of the at least two materials has a
density greater than the density of water.
14. An article wrapped around with a label or package made of a
sheet according to claim 1, heat shrinked around the article.
15. An article according to claim 14, obtained by steam shrinking
said label onto the article.
16. An article, preferably a candy, twist-wrapped in a polymeric
sheet according to claim 1.
17. Use of a polymeric sheet according to claim 1 as a twist-wrap
for candies.
18. A process for labeling a product with a polymeric sheet, the
process comprising: a. wrapping the sheet around the article; and
b. heating the labeled article as to let the label shrink to follow
the article's shape; characterized in that said polymeric sheet is
according to claim 1.
19. A process according to claim 18, wherein the heating in b is to
100.degree. C. or less, preferably by steam.
20. An article twist-wrapped with a stretched polymeric film
comprising COC/COP.
21. An article according to claim 20, wherein said film is
stretched in the machine direction.
22. An article according to claim 20, wherein said film is
stretched in the short gap stretching method.
23. An article according to claim 20, wherein said film comprises
at most 50% COC, more preferably at most 40% COC, and most
preferably, about 30% COC.
24. A method for wrapping an article, preferably a candy, the
method comprising wrapping around said article a polymeric film and
twisting said polymeric film in the vicinity of the edges of said
article, characterized in that said film is a stretched polymeric
film comprising COC/COP.
25. A method according to claim 24, wherein said film is stretched
in the machine direction.
26. A method according to claim 24, wherein said film is stretched
in the short gap stretching method.
27. A method according to claim 24, wherein said film comprises at
most 50% COC, more preferably at most 40% COC, and most preferably,
about 30% COC.
28. A polymeric sheet adapted to undergo shrinkage in a monoaxial
direction to 85% of it's original dimension or less, the shrink
thus being 15% or more, upon heating of the sheet to 100.degree. C.
or less and having a density less than the density of water.
29. A polymeric sheet according to claim 28, wherein said shrinkage
is in the machine direction (MD).
30. A polymeric sheet according to claim 28, wherein said shrinkage
is in the transverse machine direction (TD).
31. A polymeric sheet according to claim 28, comprising at least
two materials, wherein at least one of the at least two materials
has a density greater than the density of water.
32. A polymeric sheet according to claim 31, wherein said materials
are in the form of layers.
33. A method for labeling a product with a polymeric sheet, the
process comprising: enveloping the article with the polymeric sheet
and heating the labeled article to let the label shrink to follow
the article's shape, characterized in that said polymeric sheet is
according to claim 28.
34. A method according to claim 33, wherein said enveloping is done
by wrap around.
35. A method according to claim 33, wherein said enveloping is done
by sleeving.
36. A polymeric sheet adapted to undergo shrinkage in a monoaxial
direction to 60% of it's original dimension or less, the shrink
thus being 40% or more, when heated and having a density less than
the density of water.
37. A polymeric sheet according to claim 36, wherein the shrinkage
is in the machine direction (MD).
38. A polymeric sheet according to claim 36, wherein the shrinkage
is in the transverse machine direction (TD).
39. A polymeric sheet according to claim 36, wherein the
temperature to which said sheet is heated does not exceed
130.degree. C.
40. A polymeric sheet according to claim 36, comprising at least
two materials, wherein at least one of the at least two materials
has a density greater than the density of water.
41. A polymeric sheet according to claim 40, wherein the at least
one material is polystyrene (PS) or PETg (Poly (ethylene
terephthalate) glycol).
42. A polymeric sheet according to claim 40, wherein said materials
are in the form of layers.
43. A method for labeling a product with a polymeric sheet, the
process comprising: enveloping the article with the polymeric sheet
and heating the labeled article to let the label shrink to follow
the article's shape, characterized in that said polymeric sheet is
according to claim 36.
44. A method according to claim 43, wherein said enveloping is done
by wrap around.
45. A method according to claim 43, wherein said enveloping is done
by sleeving.
46. An article comprising: a container having an outer surface
including at least two portions having different cross-sectional
diameters; and a polymeric sheet that circumferentially envelopes
at least said two portions of the outer surface, closely and
substantially uniformly following the contour of said portions,
characterized in that the polymeric sheet has a density less than
the density of water.
47. An article according to claim 46, wherein said diameters differ
by at least 15%, more preferably by more than 25%.
48. An article according to claim 46, wherein said polymeric sheet
was heat shrinked onto the article.
49. An article according to claim 48, wherein said heat was caused
by steam.
50. An article according to claim 46, wherein the sheet is
enveloped using wrap around method.
51. An article according to claim 46, wherein the sheet is
enveloped using sleeving method.
52. A polymeric sheet stretched monoaxially and comprising 50% or
less, preferably 40% or less, Cyclic Olefinic Copolymer and/or
Cyclic Olefinic Polymer.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to polymeric sheets, for example such
sheets comprising cyclic olefinic polymers (COP) and/or cyclic
olefinic copolymers (COC). The relation also relates to articles
wrapped with such polymeric sheets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In recent years, some novel substances have become
commercially available under the generic titles of cyclic olefinic
polymers (COP) and cyclic olefinic copolymers (COC). These
substances are known for a variety of uses, such as manufacture of
optical lenses, packaging of pharmaceuticals, packaging for
candies, and others.
[0003] Another known use of such polymers, is in manufacturing of
bidirectionally oriented polymeric sheets and unidirectionally
oriented polymeric sheets, in which the orientation is in the
transverse direction (TD). The latter sheets are useful as sleeves
for unidirectionally shrinkable packaging of bottles.
[0004] Films that were shrinked in the transverse direction and
contained at least 60% COC and/or COP were reported to closely
follow a bottle's shape without creasing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It has been surprisingly found by the inventors, that the
properties of closely following bottle's shape without creasing,
may be achieved with polymeric sheets comprising COC and/or COP
(hereinafter COC/COP) even when they include less than 50% COC/COP,
if these sheets are stretched monoaxially, preferably in the
machine direction.
[0006] In the present application and claims the term "monoaxial
shrinkage" means shrinkage along one direction or axis of a sheet,
for example the machine direction, whilst the direction or axis
essentially perpendicular thereto, in this case the transverse
direction, retains the sheet's original dimension, or else changes
by no more than 5%-10%.
[0007] Thus, according to a first aspect thereof, the present
invention provides a polymeric sheet stretched along the machine
direction, and comprising 50% or less, preferably 40% or less, most
preferably about 30% of COC/COP.
[0008] In the present description and claims, unless otherwise is
indicated, percentages represent the weight of the COC/COP out of
the weight of the entire sheet or film.
[0009] The invention also provides articles wrapped in polymeric
sheets as described above in a wrap-around method, sleeving and
twist-wrap method.
[0010] Sheets for, use in wrap-around or sleeving applications
preferably have thickness of from about 40 to about 50 .mu.m,
whereas sheets used in twist wrap method according to the invention
have preferably thickness of from about 20 to about 30 .mu.m.
[0011] The sheet of the invention, whether being suitable for
wrap-around, for sleeving, for twist wrapping, or for any other
purpose may be made of a blend comprising COC/COP and other
polymeric substances, such as mLLDPE (metallocene linear low
density polyethylene), LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene),
Copo PP (copolymer polypropylene), polystyrenes like PS
(polystyrene) and SBC (styrene-butadiene copolymers), polyesters
like PET (poly (ethylene terephthalate)) and PETg (Poly (ethylene
terephthalate) glycol), and polymers of non-cyclic olefins, such as
polyethylene, polypropylene, and ethylene propylene copolymer.
[0012] The polymeric sheet as defined above may be made of one
layer of a polymer comprising COC/COP and other polymeric
substances, it may be a multilayer comprising at least one layer of
COC/COP and at least one layer of other polymeric substances, or it
may be a multilayer comprising at least one layer made of a blend
of COC/COP and other polymeric substances.
[0013] The various layers may be attached to one another in any
means known in the art per se, for instance, they may be
co-extruded together with or without adhesive layers between them,
they may be laminated by heat or glue, etc.
[0014] Non-limiting examples for non-COC/COP polymeric substances
useful in the productions of polymeric sheets according to the
invention are polyolefins, such as polyethylene and polypropylene;
polystyrenes such as PS and SBC; and polyesters, such as PET or
PETg.
[0015] Preferably, the shrinkage stage of the wrap around process
in carried out in a steam tunnel.
[0016] A further advantage of using sheets comprising COC/COP as
defined above in wrap-around labeling may be that the label follows
bottle's shape without creasing, and offers excellent transparency
of as low as 3.0% HAZE (ASTM D 1003) and all this is combined with
relatively low price (thanks to the low COC/COP content) and with
the high labeling speed provided by the wrap-around method.
[0017] Accordingly, a second aspect of the invention is an article
enveloped with a polymeric sheet according to the invention,
wherein the label was heat shrinked onto the article, preferably
with steam. Furthermore, the article may be enveloped using the
wrap-around method, sleeving method or any other applicable method
known in the art.
[0018] Another use of sheets according to the invention is for
packaging articles with a twisted polymeric sheet. Twisted packages
are in common use in candies packaging. Accordingly, the present
invention also provides an article, preferably a candy,
twist-wrapped in a sheet according to the invention. Thus,
according to a further aspect of the invention there is provided an
article twist-wrapped with a stretched polymeric film as defined
above. The film may be stretched in the machine direction, in the
traverse direction, or in both directions. Articles wrapped with
films stretched at least in the machine direction are preferred,
and most preferred are such articles stretched in the short gap
stretching method. The films used for twist wrapping preferably may
comprise at most 50% COC, more preferably at most 40% COC, and most
preferably, about 30% COC.
[0019] Thus, one embodiment of the invention is a method for
wrapping an article, preferably a candy; the method comprising
wrapping around said article a polymeric film and twisting said
polymeric film in the vicinity of the edges of said article,
characterized in that said film is a stretched polymeric film
comprising COC/COP.
[0020] The polymeric sheet in accordance with the first aspect of
the invention may have low density (.rho..sub.p), i.e. less than
the density of water (.rho..sub.w), enabling the material from
which the sheet is made to float when submerged in water, which is
particularly useful in the separation of materials phase of a
recycling process which utilizes water submersion for articles to
be recycled.
[0021] Since the density of water is known to be about one gram per
centimeter cubed (1 g/cm.sup.3), and the density of COC/COP is
greater than that, the content of COC/COP in the sheet, being less
than 50% allows the sheet to have a density lower than that of the
water, which is not the case with known shrinkable polymeric sheets
comprising COC/COP, used in packaging.
[0022] Thus, in accordance with a third aspect of the invention
there is provided a polymeric sheet adapted to undergo shrinkage in
a monoaxial direction to 85% of it's original dimension or less
(15% shrink or more) upon heating of the sheet to 100.degree. C. or
less and having a density less than the density of water.
[0023] In accordance with a fourth aspect of the invention there is
provided a polymeric sheet may be adapted to undergo shrinkage in a
monoaxial direction to 60% of it's original dimension or less (40%
shrink or more) at temperatures that may be greater than
100.degree. C. and having a density less than the density of
water.
[0024] Both the third and fourth aspects of the invention may be
constituted completely of materials other than COC/COP.
[0025] A sheet according to the third and fourth aspects of the
invention may comprise of more than one material, in which case not
all the materials necessarily need to have a density less than that
of water as long as the total density of the sheet is less the
density of water. In particular, at least one of the materials
included in the sheet may have a density greater than the density
of water. The material in the sheet having a density greater than
the density of water may be, for example, polystyrene (PS) or PETg
(Poly (ethylene terephthalate) glycol).
[0026] The invention also provides articles wrapped in polymeric
sheets in accordance with the current aspect of the invention, in a
wrap-around method and sleeving method.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0027] In order to better understand the invention and to see how
it may be carried out in practice, some exemplary embodiments will
now be described.
EXAMPLE 1
[0028] A multi-layer polymeric film, 50 micrometers in thickness,
was produced by a blown film process from two polyolefin resins.
One of the resins was mLLDPE (metallocene linear low density
polyethylene) produced by ExxonMobil and sold under the trade-name
of EXCEED.TM. 1018CA, the density of which being 0.918 g/cm.sup.3,
and the other resin was COC produced by Ticona and sold under the
trade-name of Topas.RTM., the density of which being 1.02
g/cm.sup.3. The multi-layer film was processed in a
short-gap-stretching machine produced by Lenzing
Aktiengesellschaft, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,379, at a
heating temperature of 90.degree. C.-120.degree. C. and a stretch
ratio of 1:3 to produce a monoaxially heat shrinkable film.
[0029] This film was found to undergo shrinkage, in the monoaxial
direction, to 20% of it's original dimension (80% shrink), upon
heating to 100.degree. C., and to 40% of it's original dimension
(60% shrink) upon subsequent heating to 110.degree. C.-120.degree.
C. and offered excellent transparency of as low as 3.0% HAZE (ASTM
D 1003). The density of the film after shrinkage was about 0.96
g/cm.sup.3.
[0030] The obtained film was used for wrapping a polyethylene
bottle having a feminine figure shape with a maximal outer diameter
of 6.84 cm and minimal outer diameter of 6.05 cm. The wrapping was
carried out on a KRONES roll-fed shrink labeling systems type
Krones Contiroll 745-C96, with a steam tunnel at temperature of
100.degree. C., at 20,000 bottles per hour.
[0031] The wrapping was carried out as follows: the film was
wrapped around a drum, cut to form a label, and glue was applied to
the label's edges. Then the label was wrapped around the bottle
such that one glued edge attached the label to the bottle and the
edges were glued to each other. The label was heated as to shrink
onto the bottle.
EXAMPLE 2
[0032] A multi-layer polymeric film was prepared as in example 1,
and was used for wrapping a mock-up bottle having a feminine figure
shape with a maximal outer diameter of 6.84 cm and minimal outer
diameter of 5.00 cm. The wrapping was carried out on a KRONES
roll-fed shrink labeling systems type Krones Contiroll 745-C96,
with a hot air tunnel at temperature of about 120.degree. C., at
20,000 bottles per hour.
[0033] The wrapping was carried out as follows: the film was
wrapped around a drum, cut to form a label, and glue was applied to
the label's edges. Then the label was wrapped around the bottle
such that one glued edge attached the label to the bottle and the
edges were glued to each other. The label was heated as to shrink
onto the bottle.
EXAMPLE 3
[0034] A multi-layer polymeric film, 50 micrometers in thickness,
was produced by a blown film process from different resins. A inner
layer was produced of the same mLLDPE (metallocene linear low
density polyethylene) described in Example 1. The inner layer of
mLLDPE was disposed between two outer layers of identical
composition. The outer layers were produced from the following
blend of polystyrene resins: (i) General Purpose Polystyrene (GPPS)
produced by The Dow Chemical Company and sold under the trade-name
of STYRON.sub.--678E.TM. the density of which being 1.05
g/cm.sup.3, and (ii) Styrene-butadiene Copolymer (SBC) produced by
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company and sold under the trade-name of
K-RESIN.RTM., the density of which being 1.01 g/cm.sup.3, and (iii)
High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) produced by Chevron Phillips
Chemical Company and sold under the trade-name of VALTRA MA8000 the
density of which being 1.05 g/cm.sup.3. The multi-layer film was
processed in a short-gap-stretching machine produced by Lenzing
Aktiengesellschaft, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,379, at a
heating temperature of 90.degree. C.-120.degree. C. and a stretch
ratio of 1:4 to produce a monoaxially heat shrinkable film.
[0035] This film was found to undergo shrinkage in the monoaxial
direction, to 85% of its original dimension (15% shrink) upon
heating to 100.degree. C., and to 40% of its original dimension
(60% shrink) upon subsequent heating to 130.degree. C.-140.degree.
C. The density of the film after shrinkage was about 0.97
g/cm.sup.3.
[0036] The obtained film was used for wrapping a PET (polyethylene
terephthalate) bottle having a feminine figure shape with a maximal
outer diameter of 6.75 cm and minimal outer diameter of 5.94 cm.
The wrapping was carried out on a KRONES roll-fed shrink labeling
systems type Krones Contiroll 745-C96, with a hot air tunnel at
temperature of about 120.degree. C., at 20,000 bottles per
hour.
[0037] The wrapping was carried out as follows: the film was
wrapped around a drum, cut to form a label, and glue was applied to
the label's edges. Then the label was wrapped around the bottle
such that one glued edge attached the label to the bottle and the
edges were glued to each other. The label was heated as to shrink
onto the bottle.
[0038] In the current example the density of the multi-layer
polymeric film from which the label is made is about 0.97
g/cm.sup.3 and the density of the PET material from which the
bottle is about 1.3 g/cm.sup.3, therefore, the material that the
label is capable of floating when submerged in water and the bottle
is inclined to sink in water. Consequently the different components
of the article may be separated in a recycling process which
utilizes water submersion for such a purpose.
EXAMPLE 4
[0039] A film was prepared as in example 1, but had a thickness of
25 micrometers. The transparency was excellent, as in the film of
example 1.
[0040] The film was found to have the advantage of low back-twist,
namely, after it is twisted, it has low tendency to release the
twist. It was found that when a polymeric sheet according to the
invention is twisted in 540 degrees (namely, one and a half full
turns), the final twist achieved is of 375 degrees, which is
slightly more than a full turn. A similar sheet but without the
COC/COP provided final twist of 325 degrees, which is less than one
turn. A similar sheet with the COC/COP but not stretched provided a
final turn of 280.degree..
[0041] The film was successfully used for wrapping lollypops on an
Aquarius.TM. machine.
[0042] Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains
will readily appreciate that numerous changes, variations and
modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the
invention mutatis mutandis.
* * * * *