PACKAGING, PRIMARILY FOR INSTANT COFFEE

Abstract: Packaging (10) comprises a body (12) for containing a product to be packaged and a cover (14) for resisting escape of the product from the body, characterised in that the cover (14) incorporates an enclosure (26), with an aromatic liquid (28) being confined within the enclosure (26), and with volatile components of the aromatic liquid (28) being permitted to permeate through a semi-permeable part (30) of the enclosure.

Description: 1 PACKAGING. PRIMARILY FOR INSTANT COFFEE The present invention relates generally to packaging and relates more especially but not exclusively to the packaging of instant coffee. It is desirable, in the packaging of instant coffee, for there to be an aroma of coffee when the packaging is opened, even though instant coffee, which is typically spray dried or freeze dried, can be far less aromatic than ground coffee. For this reason, it has already been proposed that the packaging of instant coffee should include a suitable aromatic liquid, such as coffee oil, whose volatile components can closely match the aroma of ground coffee. An example of a previous proposal is the coffee pack illustrated in EP-A-0793918 to which an interested reader is hereby instructed to refer. In that coffee pack, a body may be thermo-moulded to present a pocket for receiving coffee and another pocket for receiving a coffee aroma liquid. The two pockets may be connected by a groove. When a cover is heat-sealed to the body, the pockets are transformed into respective coffee and aroma compartments and the groove is transformed into a communicating opening. In use, volatile components from the coffee aroma liquid in the aroma compartment pass to the coffee compartment through the opening - it is said that the coffee aroma liquid is inhibited from passing to the coffee compartment through the opening possibly as a result of any of the coffee aroma liquid which does pass through the opening mixing with the coffee in the coffee compartment to form a plug substantially preventing any additional coffee aroma liquid from passing through the opening. Another example of a previous proposal is a generally similar coffee pack in which coffee aroma liquid is smeared on to the cover at regions where the cover is to be heat- sealed to the body so that the coffee aroma liquid becomes sandwiched between the cover and the body. An object of the present invention has been to provide packaging which can lead to improvements in manufacture and can also lead to improvements in subsequent use. According to the present invention, packaging comprises a body for containing a product to be packaged and a cover for resisting escape of the product from the body, characterised in that the cover incorporates an enclosure, with an aromatic liquid being confined within the enclosure, and with volatile components of the aromatic liquid being permitted to permeate through a semi-permeable part of the enclosure. The fact that the aromatic liquid is confined within the enclosure ensures that there is no risk of the aromatic liquid reaching the product to be packaged. The fact that the enclosure is incorporated in the cover allows the body to be formed and filled in a conventional manner with subsequent attachment of the cover to the body also being achievable in a conventional manner. Preferably, the product to be packaged is instant coffee and the aromatic liquid is coffee oil. Also preferably, the cover is of a laminated construction comprising two sections which are sealed to one another to define the enclosure therebetween. One section of the cover, which in use is intended to face inwardly towards the body, may comprise a layer of polyethylene, which is permeable to the volatile components of coffee oil. The other section of the cover, which in use is intended to face outwardly away from the body, may comprise a barrier, such as a layer of aluminium foil, which is not permeable to the volatile components of coffee oil, and said other section of the cover may also be of a laminated construction, with the layer of aluminium foil being sandwiched between an inwardly facing layer of polyethylene and an outwardly facing layer of PET. Preferably, the enclosure is defined by heat-sealing the polyethylene of the inwardly facing cover section to the polyethylene of the outwardly facing cover section. Preferably, the cover is heat-sealed to the body after forming the body by thermo-moulding a flat sheet of plastics material. The function of the semi-permeable part of the enclosure in permitting molecular transmission therethrough of the volatile components of the aromatic liquid can be considered to be a result of "reverse osmosis". An example of packaging in accordance with the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:- Figure 1 is side view of said packaging; Figure 2 is a plan view of said packaging; Figure 3 is a greatly enlarged schematic fragmentary cross-sectional view through said packaging showing just the enclosure in the cover and the aromatic liquid in the enclosure; and Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a method of producing said packaging. With reference initially to Figures 1 to 3 , packaging 10 embodying the present invention comprises a body 12 and a cover 14. The body 12 may be formed by thermo-moulding a flat sheet of plastics material to present a pocket 16, a spout 18 communicating with the pocket 16, and a peripheral flange 20. The cover 14 may be of a laminated construction, to be discussed hereinafter, whose periphery 22 is to be heat-sealed to the peripheral flange 20. Before the cover 14 is sealed to the body 12, a predetermined amount of instant coffee is placed in the pocket 16. After the cover 14 has been sealed to the body 12 , access to the instant coffee is achieved by controlled opening of the spout 18. The controlled opening may be facilitated by the provision of frangible means in the body 12 such as a tear line 24. Clearly, the instant coffee may be replaced by any other product which is to be packaged. As will be appreciated, however, the present invention finds particular utility when the product to be packaged is normally associated with an aroma. To overcome the problem of the aroma being absent, or less powerful than is desired, the cover 14 is specially formed to incorporate an enclosure 26, with an aromatic liquid 28 being confined within the enclosure 26. If the product to be packaged is instant coffee, the aromatic liquid 28 is preferably a coffee aroma liquid such as coffee oil. The enclosure 26 is preferably defined between a layer 30 and a laminate 32. The layer 30, which in use is intended to face inwardly towards the body 12, may be formed of polyethylene, which is permeable to the volatile components of coffee oil and thus constitutes a semi-permeable part of the enclosure 26. The laminate 32, which in use is intended to face outwardly away from the body 12, may include a barrier which is not permeable to the volatile components of coffee oil and thus constitutes a non- permeable part of the enclosure 26. Preferably, the laminate 32 includes a layer of aluminium foil 34 which acts as a barrier to the volatile components of coffee oil and is itself sandwiched between an inner layer of polyethylene 36 and an outer layer of PET 38. The enclosure 26 is defined radially by the polyethylene of the layer 30 being secured to the polyethylene of the laminate 32 by heat-sealing 40. A preferred method of producing the packaging 10 is indicated schematically in Figure 4. More particularly, the laminate 32 is unwound from roll 42 and passes beneath a row of micro-dosing heads 44 which apply predetermined amounts of coffee oil from a reservoir 46 to the upper surface of the laminate 32 (the polyethylene layer 36) . The viscosity of the coffee oil is such that it does not spread to any great extent. At the same time, the layer 30 of polyethylene is unwound from roll 48 and is then heat-sealed to the laminate 32 by a heat-sealing assembly 50 which is configured such that each drop of the coffee oil (the aromatic liquid 28) is surrounded by heat-sealing to form a sealed compartment (the enclosure 26) containing a single drop of the coffee oil. The cover 14 formed from the layer 30 and the laminate 32 is then heat-sealed by a heat-sealing assembly 52 in a conventional manner to heat-seal the layer 36 to the layer 30 and at the same time to heat-seal the layer 30 to the peripheral flanges 20 of a row of bodies 12 to which predetermined amounts of instant coffee have already been added to form packaging 10. The rate at which the volatile components of the coffee oil can permeate through the semi-permeable layer 30 can be calculated and indeed can be controlled by controlling the physical properties of the semi-permeable layer 30.

Claims: 6 CLAIMS 1. Packaging (10) comprising a body (12) for containing a product to be packaged and a cover (14) for resisting escape of the product from the body, characterised in that the cover (14) incorporates an enclosure (26) , with an aromatic liquid (28) being confined within the enclosure (26) , and with volatile components of the aromatic liquid (28) being permitted to permeate through a semi-permeable part (30) of the enclosure. 2. Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the product to be packaged is instant coffee and the aromatic liquid is coffee oil. 3. Packaging according to claim 1 or claim 2 , characterised in that the cover (14) is of a laminated construction comprising two sections (30, 32) which are sealed to one another to define the enclosure (26) therebetween. 4. Packaging according to claim 3 , characterised in that the section (30) of the cover facing inwardly towards the body comprises a layer of polyethylene which constitutes the semi-permeable part of the enclosure. 5. Packaging according to claim 3 or claim 4, characterised in that the section (32) of the cover facing outwardly away from the body comprises a barrier (34) which constitutes a non-permeable part of the enclosure. 6. Packaging according to claim 5, characterised in that the barrier (34) comprises a layer of aluminium foil. 7. Packaging according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterised in that the section (32) of the cover facing outwardly away from the body is also of a laminated construction. 8. Packaging according to claim 6 and claim 7, characterised in that the layer of aluminium foil is sandwiched between an inwardly facing layer (36) of polyethylene and an outwardly facing layer (38) of PET. 9. Packaging according to claim 4 and claim 8 , characterised in that the enclosure (26) is defined by heat-sealing the polyethylene of the inwardly facing cover section (30) to the polyethylene of the outwardly facing cover section (32) . 10. Packaging according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the cover (14) is heat-sealed to the body (12) after forming the body (12) by thermo-moulding a flat sheet of plastics material.

Inventors: EASTMAN HAROLD, MILLIGAN PETER STANLEY, EASTMAN, HAROLD, MILLIGAN, PETER, STANLEY
Applicants: EASTMAN HAROLD, MILLIGAN PETER STANLEY, MINIPACK LIMITED, EASTMAN, HAROLD, MILLIGAN, PETER, STANLEY
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B65D81
IPC codes: B65B9, B65D51, B65D75, B65D77, B65D81