Opener for packages

Abstract: A means which aids in the opening of a flexible package comprising a tab (10) made of a resilient material integral with or secured to the package, lines of weakening (13) de­ fining a cutter (14) capable of piercing the lidding material (17) of the package, said lines of weakening (13) capable of being bent, broken or torn by finger pressure on the tab (10) to expose or make effective the cutting edge of the cutter (14).

Description: The present invention relates to a flexible package comprising a means which aids in the opening of the flexible package. On most types of "difficult to open" flexible packages, especially for soft products such as pastas, sauces and cheese, printed instructions for opening by cutting with a knife or scissors is commonplace. It would however be more convenient for the consumer if such packages had an easy opening mechanism which did not require the use of tools which may not always be readily available. DE-A-3330354 describes an opening aid for a plastic or film bag pack containing a low-viscosity substance such as a liquid or semi-liquid comprising a cutting-open point for piercing the bag enabling the contents to flow out from the cut-open point. It would not allow solid products to be removed from the pack. FR-A-1174250 discloses a container with an opener comprising a thin flat metal strip folded upon itself forming upper and lower "tongue"portions. DE-A-2417494 discloses a device for opening a container such as a flexible bag positioned within a corner of the bag and formed of two distinct portions connected by a common base or hinge, such that one portion may be rotated out of a plane defined by the base to form a slit in the bag. DE-A-900921 describes an opening device which is fixed to the internal face of the wall of a package and opening is by pressure on the opposite wall of the package to cut open only a part of the wall and then reclosing. EP-A-0 058 859 describes a hermetically sealed foodstuff container having an out-turned rim to receive the sealed cover foil. A tag projects radially from the rim and has a sharp pointed cone projecting from its undersurface. There is a line of weakness at the junction of the tag with the rim enabling the tag to be broken off whereupon the sharp pointed cone, attached to the tag, can be used to pierce a hole in the cover foil to provide access to the contents. We have now developed a flexible package comprising a means to aid the opening of the flexible package which means is secured to the package. The present invention, therefore provides a package comprising at least one flexible surface having a planar tab made of resilient material and having a first planar portion affixed to a flexible surface of the package and having a second planar portion containing a line or lines of weakening for enabling a cutter (14) having a cutting edge to be broken or bent by finger pressure from the second tab portion at the line or lines of weakening and to be bent out of a plane defined by the length and breadth of the second tab portion for making effective the cutting edge of the cutter for enabling piercing of the flexible surface of the package and pulling back the said flexible surface of the package with the affixed first planar portion of the tab for opening the package. Conveniently, the flexible package further comprises a score line positioned between the first and second tab portions for assisting in bending the second tab portion out of a plane defined by the length and breadth of the first tab portion. Preferably, the cutting edge of the cutter has at least one pointed end, and for example, the second tab portion may contain two lines of weakening for forming a V-shaped cutter. Advantageously, the tab is configured for further defining a hole for enabling the tab to be hung. For instance, the tab further comprises a third portion configured for defining a hole for enabling the tab to be hung, the third portion being delimited from the remainder of the tab by a score line for assisting bending the third portion out of a plane defined by the length and breadth of the remainder of the tab. By "flexible package" in this invention we mean a package in which one or more surfaces is flexible in nature e.g. a lid or top membrane herein referred to as the "lidding material". The package body may be made of plastics material, foil, thin paper or laminates etc. The tab may be made of a rigid or semi-rigid material such as a thin metal, wood or heavy gauge plastic and is preferably a slightly flexible material e.g. polyester, PVC, high impact polystyrene and other thermoplastics. The lines of weakening may be for example, scores, cuts, incisions, indents, notches, grooves or perforations etc. and may be formed by conventional methods of forming scorelines or by partially or completely breaking through the material of the tab, for instance by die cutting, stamping, punching or perforating. Desirably, the configuration of the lines of weakening ensures that the cutting edge of the cutter is held intact before use, for example, during storage and distribution so that there are no sharp edges or points exposed which could be dangerous during handling or which could rupture the package. The tab is advantageously adhered to the lidding material by means of an adhesive. The adhesive should be capable of withstanding temperature changes and abuse in the distribution environment. It may be applied onto the material of the tab either directly or by means of a carrier material such as polyester tape and should be aggressive enough to hold the tab to the package. Alternatively, a double-sided adhesive may be used wherein adhesive is present on both sides of a carrier material, one side adhering aggresively to the package and the other side securing the tab to the carrier material and thus holding the tab to the package. In this case the tab may be removed completely and the adhesive remaining on the exposed surface of the carrier material may, if desired, serve to reseal the opened package. The cutter has a cutting edge with one or more pointed ends or it may be serrated. The lines of weakening do not surround the whole of the cutter so that when the lines of weakening are bent, broken or torn by finger pressure, at least part of the non-cutting edge of the cutter remains attached to the tab. This enables the consumer to pierce the lidding material of the package with the cutting edge of the cutter while holding the tab, preferably ensuring that the cutting edge pierces substantially at right angles to the lidding material. After piercing the lidding material, the consumer may pull back the lidding material and the tab with the attached cutter to peel open the package. The tab body stays intact with the package while the cutter breaks away and is removed with the lidding material. Advantageously, the tab may be provided with a hole or notch which enables the package to be hung, for example, while on display in the retail centres. Normally, the package is displayed in a near horizontal position which inhibits product display characteristics, whereas when the tab is provided with a hole or notch, the package can be displayed by hanging to enhance display characteristics and, in addition, all but the front package may be largely protected from visible light degradation. The thickness of the tab may be from 0.1 to 1 mm but is more usually from 0.2 to 0.6 mm, preferably from 0.3 to 0.5 mm. The length and breadth of the tab may vary according to the dimensions of the package and, typically, the length may be from 2 to 10 cm, more usually 4 to 8 cm while the breadth may be from 1 to 5 cm, more usually from 2 to 4 cm. The present invention will now be further illustrated by way of example only by reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 represents one form of tab of the package according to the present invention, Fig 2 shows a tab of Fig 1 adhered to a package Figs 3-5 illustrate the steps of opening the package by means of the tab adhered as in Fig 2. Figs 6-10 represent alternative forms of tabs Figs 11-14 illustrate the steps of piercing a package by means of the tab represented in Fig 9 Figs 15-17 illustrate the steps of opening a package by means of the tab represented in Fig 10 Referring to the drawings, Fig 1 represents a tab generally designated (10) made of rigid slightly flexible PVC sheet material 0.4 mm thick having a strong adhesive (11) in one area, an end (12) which can be gripped and pulled up with the fingers and perforated pre-cut "V" score lines (13) defining a cutter (14) with a pointed end (15). Figure 2 represents a flexible package (16) to which is adhered the tab (10) by means of the adhesive (11) on the lidding material (17). To open the package, the front end (12) of the tab is pulled up by the fingers, then the "V" shaped score lines (13) are broken by the thumb and the cutter (14) is pushed out towards the package as shown in Fig 3. The cutter is then pierced through the lidding material (17) by its pointed end (15) as shown in Fig 4 and then the lidding material and the tab are pulled back as one unit with the fingers as shown in Fig 5 and the lidding material peeled back to open the package. In Fig 6 the tab (10) is provided with adhesive (11), front end (12), precut "V" score lines (13) defining a cutter (14), a die-cut hole (20) to enable hanging of the package to which the tab is adhered and score lines (19) to allow bending. In Figs 7 and 8 the tab is provided with adhesive (11), front and end (12), precut "V" score lines (13) defining a cutter (14) and a notch (20) to enable hanging of the package to which the tab is adhered. In Fig 9 the tab is provided with adhesive (11), front end (12), precut "V" score lines (13) defining a cutter (14), a die-cut hole (20) to enable hanging of the package to which the tab is adhered, and a pivot point (21). In Fig 10 the tab is provided with adhesive (11), front end (12) and a perforated precut score line (22) at which the front end of the tab can be bent to form a cutter (14) with a pointed end (15). To pierce the package represented in Fig 9, the front end (12) of the tab extends beyond the edge of the package (16) as shown in Fig 11 and is lifted up as shown in Fig 12. As shown in Fig 13 the front end is pulled back towards the left and then pivoted at the pivot point (21) with the fingers to break the score lines (13) to release the cutter (14) with its pointed end (15). As shown in Fig 14 the lidding material (17) is pierced by the pointed end (15) of the cutter (14). To open the package represented in Fig 10, in which the tab is adhered to the lidding material (17) of the package (16) by means of adhesive (11), the front end (12) of the tab is pulled up as shown in Fig 15 and then bent down at the perforated score (22) to form a cutter (14) with a pointed end (15) as shown in Fig 16. As shown in Fig 17 the cutter (14) is forced in the direction of the arrows by the fingers to pierce the lidding material with its pointed end and then the tab and lidding material are peeled back to open the package.

Claims: A package (16) comprising at least one flexible surface (17) having a planar tab (10) made of resilient material and having a first planar portion (11) affixed to a flexible surface (17) of the package and having a second planar portion (12) containing a line or lines of weakening (13, 22) for enabling a cutter (14) having a cutting edge (15) to be broken or bent by finger pressure from the second tab portion (12) at the line or lines of weakening (13, 22) and to be bent out of a plane defined by the length and breadth of the second tab portion (12) for making effective the cutting edge (15) of the cutter (14) for enabling piercing of the flexible surface (17) of the package (16) and pulling back the said flexible surface (17) of the package with the affixed first planar portion (11) of the tab (10) for opening the package. A package (16) according to claim 1 further comprising a score line (19) positioned between the first (11) and second (12) tab portions for assisting in bending the second tab portion (12) out of a plane defined by the length and breadth of the first tab portion. A package (16) according to claim 1 wherein the cutting edge (15) of the cutter (14) has at least one pointed end. A package (16) according to claim 1 wherein the second tab portion (12) contains two lines of weakening (13) for forming a V-shaped cutter (14). A package (16) according to claim 1 wherein the tab (10) is configured for further defining a hole (20) for enabling the tab to be hung. A package (16) according to claim 1 wherein the tab (10) further comprises a third portion configured for defining a hole (20) for enabling the tab to be hung, the third portion being delimited from the remainder of the tab by a score line (19) for assisting bending the third portion out of a plane defined by the length and breadth of the remainder of the tab (10).

Inventors: JOHNSON BARBARA JILL, JOHNSON, BARBARA JILL
Applicants: NESTLE SA, SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S.A.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65D77
IPC codes: B65D77, B65D17, B65D75