U.S. patent application number 13/701337 was filed with the patent office on 2013-08-08 for closure for plastic packaging containers.
The applicant listed for this patent is Sergio Romeiro. Invention is credited to Sergio Romeiro.
Application Number | 20130202826 13/701337 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45066075 |
Filed Date | 2013-08-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130202826 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Romeiro; Sergio |
August 8, 2013 |
CLOSURE FOR PLASTIC PACKAGING CONTAINERS
Abstract
The present invention relates to a closure for plastic packaging
containers that exhibits innovative features that can simplify the
manufacturing process and the filling with liquid and viscous
products, but the main effect of which is to prevent the package
walls from collapsing following a change in vapour pressure inside
the container, regardless of the filling temperature.
Inventors: |
Romeiro; Sergio; (Sao Paulo,
BR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Romeiro; Sergio |
Sao Paulo |
|
BR |
|
|
Family ID: |
45066075 |
Appl. No.: |
13/701337 |
Filed: |
May 10, 2011 |
PCT Filed: |
May 10, 2011 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/BR2011/000145 |
371 Date: |
April 2, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
428/35.8 ;
428/179 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 43/0202 20130101;
B65D 85/72 20130101; B65D 77/2024 20130101; B65D 79/005 20130101;
Y10T 428/24669 20150115; Y10T 428/1355 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
428/35.8 ;
428/179 |
International
Class: |
B65D 43/02 20060101
B65D043/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 31, 2010 |
BR |
PI1001431-4 |
Claims
1. A lid for a plastic pack comprising a sheet with a plurality of
ridges and grooves in a corrugated format that surround at least
part of the surface of the sheet.
2. The lid for a plastic pack according to claim 1, wherein the
ridges and grooves in the corrugated format are endowed with curved
ends.
3. The lid for a plastic pack according to claim 1, wherein the
number and height of the ridges and grooves varies, depending on
type of product and its fabrication and filling processes, being
larger when stronger vacuums are formed due to the product filling
temperature as well as product oxidation reactions during the
useful life thereof.
4. The lid for a plastic pack according to claim 1, wherein the
sheet comprises a layer of aluminum covered by a layer of
polyethylene, polypropylene or thermo-sealing varnish.
5. Plastic packaging comprising the lid according to claim 1.
6. The lid for a plastic pack according to claim 2, wherein the
sheet comprises a layer of aluminum covered by a layer of
polyethylene, polypropylene or thermo-sealing varnish.
7. The lid for a plastic pack according to claim 3, wherein the
sheet comprises a layer of aluminum covered by a layer of
polyethylene, polypropylene or thermo-sealing varnish.
8. Plastic packaging comprising the lid according to claim 2.
9. Plastic packaging comprising the lid according to claim 3.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention comprises a lid for plastic packs, especially
thermo-formed cup-type packs that are commonly used for containing
liquid products and ready-to-drink beverages, such as teas, fruit
drinks etc. The lid addressed by this invention is endowed with
innovative technical characteristics that prevent the collapse of
such packs.
[0002] Additionally, this invention addresses a lid for plastic
packs that comprises a structure endowed with a configuration that
can allow sterilization during hot filling operations (up to
92.degree. C.) with high acidity pastes or liquids (pH<4.5),
thus eliminating the use of preservatives for the storage,
distribution and sale of such products at room temperature.
Furthermore, through eliminating the effect of the collapse of the
pack, this allows these packs to be stacked and displayed on sales
gondolas in an appropriate and safe manner.
GROUNDS FOR THE INVENTION
[0003] Thermo-formed cup-type plastic packs are commonly used on
the Brazilian market for liquid products, especially low
value-added ready-to-drink beverages, consisting of a plastic cup
whose open end is closed with a seal-type lid in the form a flat
sheet.
Normally, this lid consists of a layer of aluminum and another of
polyethylene, with the latter allowing it to be thermo-welded to
the rim of the cup.
[0004] As known to technical experts in this matter, the market
requires that the final cost of these products be relatively low.
As a result, companies are seeking solutions that reduce
fabrication expenditures as much as possible, particularly for
secondary items such as packs, labels and lids, for example. Along
these lines, as a common practice in these companies, the packs are
produced with the smallest possible amount of material, resulting
in a light, thin product, normally using what are known as
thermo-moldable polymers, which are the cheapest raw materials.
[0005] However, for beverages with lower added value, reducing the
thickness of the walls of these packs quite logically results in
less rigidity and more flexibility for their structure.
[0006] As a result, it is noted that during the fabrication and
filing process of these beverages, this fragility adversely affects
the structure of the final product, and may result in the collapse
of the pack walls after the lid has been placed in position and the
beverage has cooled.
[0007] More specifically, these beverages are at temperatures of
around 30.degree. C. during regular filling processes, and closing
the pack with a lid results in an inner space containing air
between the surface of the beverage and the inner face of the lid,
also known as head space.
[0008] With the drop in the temperature of the product in the
refrigerator, a vacuum forms in the pack, caused by the shrinkage
in the volume of the beverage and a reduction in vapor pressure in
this headspace region. Thus, as is known to technical experts in
the matter, for this type of pack and packaging for liquid
products, there is no way of offsetting this vacuum without
weakening the pack structure. Consequently, due to a natural
effect, attempts are made to offset this in the weakest parts,
which may result in the partial collapse of the pack walls, as they
are less rigid, being thinner and more flexible, as mentioned
above.
[0009] This collapse effect increases as the temperature of the
filled beverage rises: the higher the filling temperature, the more
severely the pack walls collapse as the beverage cools, meaning
that sterilization through hot bottling (up to 92.degree. C.) is
impractical for this type of pack. Consequently, it is important to
stress that bottling at temperatures below 60.degree. C. does not
sterilize the beverages, meaning that preservatives are required
for their storage, distribution and sale at room temperature. In
today's world, when health and good nutrition are increasingly more
important in the lives of human beings, the use of preservatives is
viewed and considered as being harmful to health.
[0010] Additionally, it is known that the collapse of these packs
causes a series of problems for the logistics, packaging and sale
of the end product. This is because a `crushed` pack is normally
viewed as being a product with problems, or old, meaning that
consumers normally refuse to purchase a product when it is crushed
or collapsed.
[0011] This is also a sales gondola display problem as, depending
on the extent to which the pack has collapsed, it may be distorted;
as a result, it will be difficult to stack or display one pack over
another on the sales gondolas. This problem is relatively critical
for supermarkets, hypermarkets and markets in general, as gondola
stacking must be optimized to the greatest possible extent, using
the least possible space to display the largest variety of
products. Consequently, if state-of-the-art packs are subject to
this collapse effect, becoming irregular, they cannot be stacked,
and consequently they must be displayed at a single level.
[0012] In another situation, such as cream cheese, for example,
which is necessarily thermo-processed (up to 92.degree. C.) as the
packs are filled by heat-treating the product, partial solution was
to use injected plastic cups with thicker and more resistant walls.
Although they are far more expensive than the thermo-shaped plastic
cups used for low value added ready-to-drink beverages, they are
still less expensive than traditional glass packs.
[0013] It is thus important to stress that injected plastic packs
would make low value added ready-to-drink beverages too expensive,
while at the same time the thermo-shaped plastic packs known as the
state of the art do not allow hot processing while filling packs
with products such as cream cheese.
[0014] In other words, in order to avoid the collapse of packs
containing low value added ready-to-drink beverages, it would be
necessary to use heavier injected plastic packs which would not be
economically feasible, while hot-processing products in
thermo-formed plastic packs is also not feasible in practice, as
the packs would collapse. Consequently, there are clear constraints
currently in place on the filling and sale of specific consumer
goods.
[0015] In order to resolve some of the inconvenient aspects listed
above, a thermo-formed cup-type pack is shown that was developed in
order to avoid the collapse of the structure after the pack is
filled and closed. This pack comprised a type of valve at the
bottom of the cup body; more particularly, this bottom was intended
to retract when a vacuum formed in the cup. However, this
configuration did not prove effective, as an expensive cup
fabrication process was required, using specific high-precision
equipment for shaping the pack bottom.
[0016] In practice, it was also noted that the adverse effects
remained for the flexibility and rigidity of the walls of the cup
structure, which in fact continued to collapse even before the
above-mentioned valve was tripped into action. The possible
alternative of increasing the wall thickness undermined the
economic feasibility of the pack, and consequently the end product,
for low value added ready-to-drink beverages.
[0017] Consequently, it is quite clear that, although functional so
far, these packs, especially thermo-formed cups for low value added
ready-to-drink beverages, offer some inconvenient aspects and
limitations, related mainly to the quality of the pack structure,
intervening negatively in the configuration and appearance of the
end product.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Consequently, the purpose of this invention comprises a lid
for thermo-formed plastic packs for packaging pastes and liquid
products, preferably similar to cream cheeses and ready-to-drink
beverages, which manages to resolve all the inconvenient aspects
apparent in the state of the art as mentioned above, in a simple,
safe and efficient manner.
[0019] More preferably, the purpose of this invention is to provide
a lid for thermo-formed plastic packs with a configuration that can
efficiently avoid the collapse of the walls of the pack as the end
product cools after it has been filled and sealed, regardless of
the beverage filling temperature.
[0020] Additionally, another purpose of this invention is a lid for
plastic packs that allows sterilization while filling with (up to
92.degree. C.) hot high acidity (pH<4.5) beverages, with no need
for preservatives.
[0021] Another purpose of this invention is a lid for thermo-formed
cup-type plastic packs that ensures the integrity of the entire
structure, meaning that the original appearance is maintained,
allowing better displays, including the stacking of these packs on
sales gondolas, in order to fine-tune their fabrication and
transportation logistics, as well as displays for sale.
[0022] Yet another purpose of this invention is a lid for cup-type
and pot-type thermo-formed and injected plastic packs that can
resolve the problems caused by the collapse of the walls thereof
due to the formation of inner vacuums in a simple, low-cost manner,
with no need for reformulating either their materials or sizes.
[0023] These and other purposes, effects and advantages offered by
the lid addressed by this invention are achieved through the
configuration developed and applied to the structure that comprises
the lid. As set forth in this invention, the lid comprises a
structure that efficiently assures the structural integrity of the
body of the packs, regardless of the condition of beverage during
and after filling, closing and cooling of the end product.
[0024] Consequently, a preferential purpose of this invention is a
lid for plastic packs that comprises a sheet with a plurality of
ridges and grooves in a corrugated format, surrounding at least
part of the surface of such sheet, with such ridges and grooves
having ends that may be curved to a greater or lesser extent.
[0025] It must also be made clear that the quantity and height of
the ridges and grooves arrayed this sheet vary according to the
type of beverage and fabrication and filling process thereof. More
particularly, they are larger and higher for beverages that are
hotter during the filling process.
[0026] Preferably, this sheet consists of a layer of aluminum
covered by a layer of polyethylene, polypropylene or thermo-sealing
varnish that allows such lid to be heat-welded to the rim of the
plastic pack.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0027] These and other purposes, technical effects and advantages
of the lid for the thermo-formed plastic packs encompassed by this
invention will be clear to technical experts in the matter, through
the appended schematic figures, which illustrate preferred, but not
limiting, realizations of this invention, as follows:
[0028] FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D schematically present the lid and
the closed, thermo-sealed plastic pack, as constituted by the state
of the art;
[0029] FIGS. 2A and 2B schematically present two preferred
realizations of the pack lid, as addressed by this invention;
[0030] FIG. 3 schematically presents a thermo-sealed plastic pack
closed by a lid, as addressed by this invention, particularly after
filling with beverages at a conventional temperature;
[0031] FIG. 4 schematically presents the closed pack illustrated in
FIG. 3, now cooled;
[0032] FIG. 5 schematically presents a thermo-sealed plastic pack
closed by a lid in an alternative realization of this invention,
particularly after filling with a beverage at a high
temperature;
[0033] FIG. 6 schematically presents the closed pack illustrated in
FIG. 5, now cooled;
[0034] FIGS. 7 and 8 show side views of the lids as addressed by
this invention under different beverage volume and vapor steam
pressure conditions, after closing the plastic packs.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0035] Initially, it must be reiterated that the lid for plastic
packs addressed by this invention will be described below according
to preferred realizations that are not limiting, as its application
may be valid for different packs and for packaging different
products presenting variations in the vacuum resulting from the
reduction in the product volume and its vapor pressure while
cooling after filling during the fabrication process or through the
consumption of O.sub.2 in the air found in the pack through
oxidation reactions during the useful life of the product.
[0036] Merely as an illustration, FIGS. 1A to 1D illustrate
conventional realizations of a lid and pack as known in the state
of the art. FIG. 1A shows a lid 1 comprising an aluminum sheet and
a layer of polyethylene, polypropylene or thermo-sealing varnish.
As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the above-mentioned lid 1 is placed on
the open end 3 of the pack 2 after it is filled with a beverage 4
at a temperature of around 30.degree. C. to 35.degree. C.; this lid
1 is then heat-welded to the rim of the above-mentioned pack 2,
leaving it ready for sale.
[0037] However, as mentioned previously, these closed packs are
subject to reductions in temperature, frequently reaching around
10.degree. C. or less, when in a refrigerator or cooling unit. Due
to this reduction in temperature, the volume of the product and its
vapor pressure also drop, resulting in the formation of a vacuum in
the head space 5 holding air in the pack. Consequently, in an
attempt to offset this reduction in the product volume and the drop
in its vapor pressure, with a consequent reduction in the head
space volume, the walls of the body of the pack 2 are subject to
collapse 6, as illustrated in FIG. 1C.
[0038] FIG. 1D illustrates the more critical situation, in which
beverage 4 was filled at a high temperature of around 92.degree. C.
and then cooled to a temperature close to 10.degree. C. In this
case, the collapse is more severe and causes even more problems in
structural and visual terms, resulting in inconvenient aspects for
the logistics of the end product.
[0039] Now referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, which illustrates two
preferred realizations of the lid, according to this invention, it
is noted that the surface of the above-mentioned lid 10 is extended
with concentric corrugations, meaning through ridges and grooves 11
that surround the entire lid structure. Preferably, these ridges
and grooves 11 comprise a corrugated format, meaning a sequence of
corrugations in a pleated section.
[0040] Even more preferably, the configuration of the
above-mentioned ridges and grooves 11 may vary according to the
type of beverage and its fabrication and filling process, meaning
the quantity and/or height of the corrugations may be increased or
decreased, depending on the properties of the liquid or product in
the pack. In other words, depending on the processing conditions,
with or without heat-sterilization of the beverage, the number
and/or height of the ridges and grooves 11 may be greater or
lesser, meaning that the corrugated configuration may be higher
and/or longer and lower and/or shorter.
[0041] FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate two preferred realizations of
the elongated lid 10 according to this invention, closing a
thermo-formed plastic pack 2 holding a beverage 4. More
specifically, the realization presented in FIGS. 3 and 4 simulates
a conventional beverage processing and filling system, although
using the elongated lid 10 in question. In this realization, the
liquid was filled at a temperature close to 30.degree. C., which
did not result in drastic variations in the configuration of the
pack 2, nor in the elongated lid 10. However, when sealed pack 2 is
placed at a temperature of around 10.degree. C., it is noted that
the volume of the liquid drops, with a reduction in its vapor
pressure in the head space 5 and, in a response that offsets such
effects, this corrugated configuration of the ridges and grooves 11
extends, filling part of the head space 5. As may be noted, the
body of pack 2 remains unaltered, with no indication of the
collapse of its walls.
[0042] In the realization illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an
elongated lid 10 was used whose corrugated configuration of ridges
and grooves 11 is larger, meaning that it presents a larger number
of corrugations. In this case, the parameter for the simulation was
the sterilization of the beverage during the fabrication and
filling process, meaning the elimination of the use of
preservatives. As may be noted, when closing pack 2 with elongated
lid 10, due to the increased vapor pressure in the head space 5,
elongated lid 10 stretches positively. When cooling, with a lower
beverage volume and a reduction in its vapor pressure in the head
space 5, the elongated lid 10 retracts and shrinks negatively,
resulting in the corrugated configuration of the ridges and grooves
11 being eliminated in the head space 5, thus offsetting the
above-mentioned reduction in the beverage volume and the drop in
its vapor pressure.
[0043] This corrugated configuration of ridges and grooves 11 may
be better understood through FIGS. 7 and 8, which present
comparative illustrations of the extension levels of the surface of
elongated lid 10, both positively and negatively.
[0044] More specifically, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, it is
noted that the natural status of elongated lid 10 is at level (0),
with the ridges and grooves 11 apparent; after filling and closing
the pack, the high temperature of the filled beverage increases the
product volume and its vapor pressure in the head space 5; as a
result, the above-mentioned elongated lid 10 stretches positively,
whereby the corrugated configuration begins to vanish, resulting in
a flat configuration, as shown by levels (+1, +2, +3, +4).
[0045] While cooling, the product volume and its vapor pressure in
the head space start to shrink and consequently, the
above-mentioned elongated lid 10 begins to retract, then stretching
negatively in order to offset the space resulting from the
reduction in the product volume and the drop in its vapor pressure
in the head space, reaching the respective levels (-1, -2, -3, -4)
and avoiding the risks of the pack wall collapsing.
[0046] It is important to stress that, although the illustrations
and descriptions presented above mention a circular cup-type pack,
there is nothing preventing this lid from being applied to packs of
different shapes, for example: rectangular, triangular, elliptical,
etc.
[0047] Thus, it is stressed that the lid, as addressed in this
invention, can resolve a series of inconvenient aspects caused by
plastic pack lids constituting the state of the art, particularly
with regard to pack integrity.
[0048] Furthermore, it is possible to upgrade the fabrication
process in beverage plants, as this allows the beverage to be
heat-sterilized while filling, meaning that no preservatives are
required for these products.
[0049] As well understood by technical experts in the matter, there
are many possible modifications and variations of this invention in
the light of the explanations presented above, without moving
beyond the scope of its protection, as demarcated in the appended
Claims.
* * * * *