PACKAGING

Abstract: A package and method of making the same in which a first and second container portion (20) and (22) are coupled together to define a space (70) therebetween for receiving liquid which can seep from the contents of the package. Apertures (32) are provided in the innermost container to communicate the interior of the package with the space (70) and the apertures have walls (72) to prevent liquid from passing from the space (70) to the interior of the package if the package is inverted.

Description: PACKAGING This invention relates to an improved package and a method for making the same and particularly, but not exclusively, to a package for containing fresh meat. Conventionally, fresh meat is packaged in a container in the form of a dish made from polystyrene or the like material and is closed by a thin sheet of transparent plastics material. An absorbent pad is located in the bottom of the dish to absorb blood which seeps out of the meat. The need to provide an absorbent pad in the package greatly increases the cost of the package and the object of this invention is to provide an improved package which is less expensive to form, which can be used to package meat and which does not require an absorbent pad. The invention in a first aspect may be said to reside in a package, said package comprising a first container portion and a second container portion, said first container portion being coupled to said second container portion with a space provided between the container portions, an inner most of said container portions being provided with apertures to allow the inside of said package to communicate with the space between the packages. The invention may also be said to reside in a method of manufacturing a package, said method comprising the steps of forming a first container portion, forming a second container portion, coupling the first container portion to the second container portion such that a space is provided between the container portions and forming a plurality of holes in an inner most of the container portions so that the inside of the package communicates with the space between the container portions. The provision of apertures in the inner most of the container portions enables any fluid which accumulates in the package to pass from the inside of the package into the space defined between the container portions. If the substance contained within the package is meat, any blood which seeps from the meat will therefore pass through the apertures and will accumulate in the space. Meat packaged in the package of this invention therefore has an attractive appearance since it will not sit in a pool of blood and the package of this invention is relatively inexpensive since it does not require an absorbent pad to absorb the blood. Preferably the apertures are provided with a wall portion which extends from the aperture in the inner most container portion towards the second container portion so that if the package is inverted blood will not flow from the space between the container portions back into the interior of the package. Preferably the outer most container portion is provided with corrugations and is adhered to the other container portion by high frequency welding or by forcing the first container portion against the other container portion whilst the container portions are in a heated condition so that the heated material of the container packages causes the container portions to bond together at locations where the peaks of the outer most container portion contact the inner most container portion. The latter method of joining the container portions together is more fully disclosed in our copending Patent Application No. PH 0593. Preferably the apertures are formed in recesses in the first container portions. A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view showing the formation of container portions used in the preferred embodiment of the invention; Figures 2A and 2B show, in cross section, the container portions; Figure 3 is a view, partly in cross section, of a formed package according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 is a detailed view of a portion of the package of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a side view of the portion of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a schematic view of a device for forming apertures ; and Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 at a slightly later point in time. With reference to Figure 1 container portions are formed from any suitable material such as P.V.C. by heating the P.V.C. material 12 with a heater 10 and then heat forming container portions 20 and 22 in appropriately formed dies 24 and 26. Figure 2A shows a first container portion 20 and Figure 2B shows the second container portion 22. The first container portion 20 is in the form of a rectangular dish and includes a plurality of recesses 30 on the container portion 20. The container portion 22 is corrugated and as shown in Figure 3 peaks 33 of corrugations 34 are adapted to contact the container portion 20 when the container portions 20 and 22 are brought together. It should be noted that the recesses 30 are arranged such that they are intermediate corrugations 34. The container portion 20 is coupled to the container portion 22 with the container portion 20 on the inside of the container portion 22. The container portions 20 and 22 may be coupled by high frequency welding or they may be coupled immediately after the container portions 20 and 22 have been formed in dies 24 and 26 whilst the container portions are in a heated condition by forcing the container portions together so that the peaks 32 of the corrugations 34 contact the container portion 20 and in view of the heated condition of the container portions the container portions 20 and 22 are bonded to the container portion 20 at the locations where the peaks 33 contact the container portion 20 as well as around the peripheral edge 50 of the container portions. This method of bonding the container portions together is more fully set forth in our copending Patent Application No. PH 0593 and reference should be made to that application for further details. A space 70 is formed between the container portions 20 and 22 and is defined by a plurality of chambers 71 formed between adjacent corrugations 34, the container portion 20 and the portion of container portion 22 before the corrugation 34. Figure 4 shows a detailed view of a recess 30. Each recess 30 is provided with a plurality of apertures 32 along its length. The apertures 32 are preferably formed by a device which is shown in Figure 6 and 7. The device shown in Figures 6 and 7 comprises an array of needles 60 which are movable from a first position to a second position by a cam or roller device 62. Movement of the cam or roller device 62 in the direction of arrow A causes the needles 60 to project upwardly in the form of a wave moving along the array of needles. Figure 6 shows the array at a first time and Figure 7 shows the array at a slightly later time in which it will be noted that the cam or roller 62 has moved and that the wave formed by the cam or roller 62 has also moved with the cam or roller 62. As the needles 60 move upwardly one or two of the needles will be brought into contact with the base of the recess 30 and will puncture the base of the recess 30 to form the aperture 32. It is preferred that the completed package shown in Figure 3 is held by vacuum adjacent to the device shown in Figures 6 and 7 and the fact that only one or two needles of the device contact the package at any time will enable the package to be held in place by vacuum and the needles will not tend to push the package away but will rather puncture the base of the recess 30 to form the apertures 32. As the needles 60 puncture the base of the recess 30 to form the apertures 32 the material in the vicinity of the needle is pushed into the space 70 between the first container portion 20 and the second container portion 22 and forms an annular wall 72 surrounding the aperture 32 and projection well into the space 70. Any articles packaged in the complete package shown in Figure 3, from which liquid can seep will therefor not remain in a pool of the liquid as the liquid can pass through apertures 32 into the space 70 between the container portion 20 and the container portion 22. The container portion 22 is preferably formed from an opaque material or is painted so that it cannot be seen through and the complete package which may be finished by a thin plastics sheet to enclose the article in the package will result in a package in which the article is contained which has an extremely neat appearance and in which the article contained in the package is separated from liquid which seeps from the article. In the case of fresh meat, blood which seeps from the material will therefore be contained within the space 70 and will not remain in the interior of the package in which it is contained. The appearance of the packaged meat will therefore be pleasing and furthermore it is not necessary to provide an absorbent pad beneath the meat to absorb any blood which seeps from the meat. The walls 72 which project into the space 70 prevent the liquid from returning to the interior of the package if the package is inverted. Accordingly, in the finished package in which meat or the like is contained any liquid which gathers in the space 70 will not return to the interior of the package in which the article is contained and will generally not be seen from above since the article normally fills the entire package. The formation of the outer container portion 22 from an opaque material or by painting the outer container portion prevents liquid which accumulates in the space 70 from being seen and the fact that the liquid can not easily pass from the space 70 back into the interior of the package in view of the walls 72, a used package can be easily handled and disposed of. If the container portions 20 and 22 are coupled together by the method described in our Patent Application No. PH 0593 the apertures 32 are formed after the coupling so that the container portions do not cool whilst the apertures are - 1 - formed. The formation of the aperture 32 by the device shown in Figures 6 and 7 also prevent separation of the container portions 20 and 22. If the portions 20 and 22 are coupled by high frequency welding the apertures could be formed prior to coupling. The present embodiment therefore provides a package which overcomes problems associated with the accumulation of liquid therein without the need to provide absorbent pads and is also relatively inexpensive to form since the inner and outer container portions can be easily formed by thermo forming the container portion and bonding them together. Since modification within the spirit and scope of the invention may readily be effected by persons skilled within the art, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described by way of example hereinabove.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A package, said package comprising a first container portion and a " second container portion, said first container portion being coupled to said second container portion with a space provided between the container portions, an inner most of said container portions being provided with apertures to allow the inside of said package to communicate with the space between the packages. 2. The package of Claim 1 wherein the apertures are provided with a wall portion which extends from the aperture in the inner most container portion towards the second container portion so that if the package is inverted liquid will not flow from the space between the container portions back into the interior of the package. 3. The package of Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the outer most container portion is provided with corrugations and is adhered to the other container portion by high frequency welding or by forcing the first container portion against the other container portion whilst the container portions are in a heated condition so that the heated material of the container packages causes the container portions to bond together at locations where the peaks of the outer most container portion contact the inner most container portion. 4. The package of any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the apertures are formed in recesses in the first container portions. 5. A method of manufacturing a package, said method comprising the steps of forming a first container portion, forming a second container portion, coupling the first container portion to the second container portion such that a space is provided between the container portions and forming a plurality of apertures in an inner most of the container portions so that the inside of the package communicates with the space between the container portions. 6. The method of Claim 6 further comprising the step of forming a wall about the aperture, said wall extending into the space to prevent liquid from flowing into the interior of the package from the space when the package is inverted.

Inventors: GARWOOD ANTHONY JAMES MURRAY, GARWOOD, ANTHONY, JAMES, MURRAY
Applicants: GARWOOD LTD, GARWOOD LIMITED
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B65D81
IPC codes: B29C51, B65D81