RESEALABLE CONTAINER

Abstract: The present invention relates to a resealable container (1). The container (1) comprises a casing (11) having a flap (14), which is openable to uncover an opening in the casing (11), and a covering foil (16), which covers and is attached to the flap (14) and extends beyond this. The covering foil (16) is resealably attached to the casing (11) by a first adhesive force in a first area (20) outside the flap (14) and is substantially permanently attached to the casing (11) by a second adhesive force greater than the first adhesive force, on the one hand in a basic area (30) of the flap (14) and, on the other hand, in a second area (22) positioned outside the first area (20). According to the invention, the covering foil (16) has only one perforated line (17) between the first and second areas (20, 22) and is not attached to the casing (11) in a third area (21) within which the entire perforated line (17) is extended.

Description: RESEALABLE CONTAINER The present invention relates to a resealable con¬ tainer having means for indicating whether the container is opened. More specifically, the present invention re- lates to a resealable container comprising a casing and a covering foil which is resealably attached thereto and has means for indicating whether the container has been opened. Many different resealable containers have been de- scribed in the literature. An important demand placed on these is that it must be easy to see whether the con¬ tainer has been opened. This is particularly important for resealable foodstuff containers, since an open con¬ tainer always yields reduced tightness and, thus, the risk of foreign microorganisms and the like entering the container. Also for containers containing wet products, e.g. wipes, there is a need of visible proof that a container has been opened, since the liquid inside an open package evaporates more easily. In these containers, there may also be problems with undesired microorganisms if the container is intended for e.g. sterile compresses or the like. US-A-4, 679, 693 discloses a resealable container co - prising a casing and a label having a pulling tab defined by two parallel perforated lines and intended for opening the container, a removed pulling tab indicating that the container has been opened. To secure the container against opening of the label from any other position than the one in which the pulling tab is located, either permanent adhesive or slits are arranged in the periphery of the label, such slits tearing if one tries to open the con¬ tainer along these. Inside the permanently attached peri¬ phery or inside the slits, there is a perforated line which defines an opening tab in the label. 2 EP-Al-0,249,337 discloses a resealable container having a releasably attached covering foil which has a pulling tab for opening the container. Also in this case, a removed pulling tab indicates that the container has been opened. To protect the container from being opened from a position other than the one in which the pulling tab is located, inclined cuts have been formed in the periphery of the covering foil. This causes the forming of small triangular portions in the periphery of the covering foil if one tries to open the container from these directions, which clearly proves that someone has opened or tampered with the container adjacent these cuts. In many cases, the surface on which the label or covering foil is to be applied can be limited. Conse¬ quently, it can be difficult to accommodate the addi¬ tional space required for a pulling tab. Moreover, it should be possible to uncover a sufficiently large open¬ ing in the container to reach the packed product, which entails that outside the opening of the container there is only a restricted surface on which the label or cover¬ ing foil can be releasably attached. A drawback of the technique described above thus is that pulling tabs and cuts require too large a space on the casing. Thus, the general object of the invention is to pro¬ vide a container of the type discussed by way of intro¬ duction, that does not suffer from this drawback. A specific object of the present invention is to provide a resealable container having a covering foil, which in a narrowly restricted area can indicate whether the container has been opened. A further object of the present invention is to pro¬ vide a container of the above-mentioned type, which is protected against any attempt to circumvent the tear indication. These and other objects are achieved by means of a container according to claim 1. Particularly preferred embodiments are stated in the depended claims. Briefly, the present invention relates to a reseal- able container comprising a casing having a flap, which is openable to uncover an opening in the casing, and a covering foil, which covers and is attached to the flap and extends beyond this. The covering foil is resealably attached to the casing by a first adhesive force in a first area outside the flap and is substantially perma¬ nently attached to the casing by a second adhesive force which is greater than the first adhesive force, on the one hand in a basic area of the flap and, on the other hand, in a second area positioned outside the first area. According to the invention, the covering foil has only one perforated line between the first and second areas and is not attached to the casing in a third area, within which the entire perforated line is extended. An advantage of the present invention is that it is possible to provide a resealable container which, in spite of a minimum area in which a covering foil is to be resealably attached, can present clear evidence whether the container has been opened. The first time the container is opened, the single perforated line tears. When the container is then closed by reattaching the covering foil to the casing, the por¬ tions of the covering foil that are positioned on both sides of and immediately adjacent the torn perforated line, i.e. portions in said third area, will remain, slightly outwardly folded or bent away from the casing, caused by the first opening of the container. Thanks to the fact that said third area is not adhesive, one cannot adhere these portions to the casing in an attempt at con¬ cealing that the perforated line is torn. Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments must not be considered to restrict the scope of the present invention. Figs 1-7 illustrate different embodiments of how, according to the present invention, areas having differ- ent degrees of adhesion and non-adhesive areas with per¬ forated lines extending in these areas can be arranged on the covering foil side that faces a casing. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a preferred embodi¬ ment of an unopened container according to the present invention, provided with a covering foil according to Fig. 4. Fig. 9 shows the container in Fig. 8 in its com¬ pletely open state. Fig. 10 shows the container in Fig. 9 in its re- sealed state; it is quite obvious that the container has been opened. According to the invention, the casing of the con¬ tainer can be designed in various ways. The container in Figs 8-10,- generally designated 1, is of the type having a casing 11 consisting of a relative rigid, cup-shaped flanged lower part 12 and a flat upper part 13 which is permanently attached to the flange and has a non-closed perforated line 15, alternatively an all-punched line, which defines an openable flap 14 for reaching the inte- rior of the container. The container 1 further comprises a covering foil or label 16, which is attached on top of the upper part 13 and is intended to be opened, as shown in Fig. 9, together with the flap 14, thereby making it possible to reach the interior of the container. It should be noted that the planar flange of the lower part 12 preferably is elastically resilient for reasons that will be discussed below. The perforation 15 is torn dur¬ ing the first opening of the container 1, since the cov¬ ering foil 16, which is substantially permanently at- tached to the flap 14, entrains the latter during the opening of the container. The casing of the container can be designed as a so- called flow-pack of the type illustrated and disclosed in, for instance, EP-A2-0,193, 130 and PCT/DE86/00176. Reference is now made to Figs 1-7, which schemati- cally illustrate different variants of covering foils usable as the covering foil 16 in Figs 8-10. The covering foil in Figs 8-10 corresponds to the variant in Fig. 4. In Figs 1-7, which illustrate different areas having different degrees of adhesion and non-adhesive areas on the side of the covering foil 16 which faces the casing 11, the dark screening designates areas having substan¬ tially permanent adhesion to the casing, the bright screening designates areas having resealable adhesion, i.e. weaker adhesion, and unfilled areas designate no adhesion between the covering foil and the casing. The dashed lines indicate perforated lines, and a full line indicates an all-punched line. In all the embodiments, the covering foil 16 is resealably attached to the casing 11 by a first adhesive force in a first area 20 outside the flap 14 and is sub¬ stantially permanently attached to the casing 11 by a second, relatively greater adhesive force, on the one hand in a basic area 30 of the flap 14 and, on the other hand, in one or more second areas 22 positioned outside the first area 20. Between the first and second areas 20, 22, the covering foil 16 has, according to the invention, only one perforated line 17, which is torn during the first opening of the container 1. Moreover, the covering foil 16 is not attached to the casing 11 in a third area 21, within which the entire perforated line 17 is ex¬ tended and which is arranged between said first and second areas 20, 22. The covering foil 16 can be substantially permanent¬ ly attached to the casing 11 in a plurality of spaced- apart second areas 22, which are distributed outside and round the first area 20 and adjacent a pertaining third area 21. The covering foil 16 has a perforated line 17 in each third area 21. If the covering foil 16 is rectangular, preferably at least two of said plurality of second areas 22 are each positioned in a corner of the covering foil 16. As is evident from Figs 1-7, the covering foil 16 preferably is substantially permanently attached to the entire flap 14, and this area 31 having substantially permanent adhesion passes continuously into the basic area 30 of the flap 14. If the flap 14, as shown in Figs 1-3 as well as 6 and 7, is extended perpendicularly from a side edge S of the covering foil 16, the basic area 30 of the flap 14 can pass into an area 32, which is ex¬ tended along the entire or substantially entire length of said side edge S. The flap 14 can further be extended from its basic area 30 in the direction of an opposite corner H3 of the covering foil 16, as shown in Figs 4 and 5. The basic area 30 of the flap 14 can, thus, also comprise a corner Hi from which the flap 14 is extended. Reference is now made to the container 1 in Figs 8-10, which, as mentioned above, has a covering foil 16 according to Fig. 4. The covering foil 16 is resealably attached to the casing 11 by a first adhesive force in a first area 20 outside the flap 14 and is substantially permanently attached to the casing 11 on the one hand in all corners HI, H2, H3, H4 of the covering foil 16 and, on the other hand, adjacent the flap 14, whereby the covering foil 16 is continuously permanently attached to the casing 11 in the flap 14 and in that corner HI of the covering foil 16 from which the flap 14 is extended. In the remaining corners H2, H3, H4 are third areas 21 of the above-mentioned type, which have no adhesion between the casing 11 and the covering foil 16. Only one perfo- rated line 17 is extended in each third area 21. The per¬ forated line designated 17a, which extends within the third area 21a adjoining that corner H3 towards which the flap 14 is extended, includes an all-punched line 18. The line 18 is, like the rest of the perforated line 17a, completely extended within said third area 21a and de¬ fines a gripping tab 19 for opening the container 1. In Fig. 10, the container 1 is resealed after being opened as illustrated in Fig. 9, and the fact that the container 1 has been opened is obvious because of the up¬ wardly bent edges 5 formed at the three perforated lines 17a, 17. The covering foil 16 is formed of such a mate- rial that it gets such a permanent deflection from the casing 11 when the container 1 is opened the first time, and these portions are initially raised from the casing 11 before the perforated lines 17a, 17 tear. Since there is no adhesion in said third areas 21a, 21, within which the perforated lines 17a, 17 are extended, the upwardly bent edges 5 as formed cannot be pressed back to make the container 1 look as if it had not been opened. It 'should be noted that the gripping tab defined by the line 18 can be excluded, thereby instead making it possible to open the container by bending down the corner where one intends to open the container, thus tearing the corresponding perforated line. Since the covering foil 16 has no adhesion in a third area 21 between the perforated line 17 and the first area 20, this part of the covering foil 16 will constitute a gripping tab for opening the container. Since the perforated lines 17a, 17 and said third areas 21a, 21, respectively, are so extended as to open into the circumferential edge of the covering foil 16, the perforations 17a, 17 are torn when an attempt is made to open the container 1 between the permanently attached areas, for instance between the corners H3 and H4 in Fig. 4.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A resealable container comprising a casing (11) having a flap (14), which is openable to uncover an open¬ ing in the casing (11), and a covering foil (16), which covers and is attached to said flap (14) and extends be¬ yond this and which is resealably attached to said casing (11) by a first adhesive force in a first area (20) out- side the flap (14) and is substantially permanently attached to the casing (11) by a second adhesive force, which is greater than the first adhesive force, on the one hand in a basic area (30) of said flap (14) and, on the other hand, in a second area (22) positioned outside said first area (20), the covering foil (16) having, between the first and second areas (20, 22), perfora¬ tions, which are torn when the container is opened the first time, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the covering foil (16), between the first and second areas (20, 22), has only one perforated line (17) formed of said perforations, and that the covering foil (16) is not attached to the casing (11) in a third area (21), within which the entire perforated line (17) is extended. 2. The container as claimed in claim 1, c h a r - a c t e r i s e d in that the covering foil (16) is sub¬ stantially permanently attached to the casing (11) in a plurality of spaced-apart second areas (22) of the above- mentioned type, which are positioned outside and dis¬ tributed round said first area (20) and adjacent a per- taining third area (21) of the above-mentioned type, the covering foil (16) having a perforated line (17) in each third area (21) . 3. The container as claimed in claim 2, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i s e d in that the covering foil (16) is rec- tangular, and that at least two of said plurality of second areas (22) are each positioned in a corner (HI, H2, H3, H4) of the covering foil (16). 4. The container as claimed in claim 3, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i s e d in that the flap (14) of the casing (11) is extended from its basic area (30) in the direc¬ tion of an opposite side edge of the covering foil (16), and that said corners of the covering foil are corners of said side edge. 5. The container as claimed in any one of claims 1-4, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the flap basic area (30) , in which the covering foil (16) is substan- tially permanently attached to the casing (11), is an area (32) which is extended along the entire or substan¬ tially entire length of a side edge (S) of the covering foil (16), the flap (14) being extended from said side edge (S) . 6. The container as claimed in any one of claims 1-3, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the flap (14) of the casing (11) is extended from its basic area (30) in the direction of an opposite corner (H3) of the covering foil (16). 7. The container as claimed in claim 6, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i s e d in that the basic area (30) of the flap (14) comprises a corner (HI) of the covering foil (16), the flap (14) being extended from said corner (HI). 8. The container as claimed in any one of the pre- ceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the perforated line (17) or the perforated lines (17a, 17) in the covering foil include/s an all-punched line (18), which is also extended within said third area (21a, 21) and defines a tab (19) for opening the container (1). 9. The container as claimed in any one of the pre¬ ceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the covering foil (16) is substantially permanently attached to the flap (14) . 10. The container as claimed in any one of the pre- ceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the flap (14) of the casing (11) is defined by a perforation (15) which is torn when the container (1) is opened the first time.

Inventors: ANDERSSON THOMAS, GOERTZ HANS, ANDERSSON, THOMAS, GOERTZ, HANS
Applicants: ANDERSSON THOMAS, GOERTZ HANS, REGATH HB, ANDERSSON, THOMAS, GOERTZ, HANS
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65D75
IPC codes: B65D75, B65D77