PACKAGING COMPRISING A CONTAINER AND A MEMBRANE

Abstract: The present invention relates to packaging comprising - a jar (8) with a neck (10) and a body (9), the said neck having an external screwthread (11) and a rim (13), - a closure means which can be screwed onto the external screwthread of the neck of the jar, and - a substantially circular membrane (14) sealed around the entire periphery of the rim, the said packaging being characterized in that the rim of the neck has one or more particular zones (12) over part of its periphery, so as to allow a good grasp of the membrane.

Description: Packaging comprising a container and a membrane The present invention relates to packaging comprising a container with a neck or a flange and a body, the said neck having a rim and a substantially circular or elliptical membrane sealed around the entire periphery of the rim or of the flange. Packaging currently known on the market comprises a jar with a rim, a closure means and an membrane bonded onto the periphery of the rim. This type of packaging is more particularly used for packaging soluble coffee, but can also be used for any packaging of powdered product . With this type of packaging, in order to open the jar, the membrane has to be torn, and this may cause problems regarding the possibility of getting bits of membrane into the product in the jar. At the present time, instead of bonding the membrane onto the rim of the jar, the technique of induction sealing has been developed. This technique consists in filling the jar with the product concerned and in bringing the closure means in which the membrane is located onto the filled jar and in carrying out sealing of the membrane by induction. The major benefit of this technique is that it is then possible, when the jar is opened for the first time, for the membrane to be peeled off: to peel off, a part for grasping is needed. Normally, this is a tab which protrudes from the periphery of the rim of the jar. It would be advantageous to have a peel-off solution without the use of a tab. Such a solution is already known in the US Patents No. 3' 857' 506 and 3 '632' 004. The drawback of these solutions is that they do not allow a good grasp of the membrane and on the other side, it is not possible to guarantee a peel-off without a tearing of said membrane. The object of the present invention is to have a container with an induction-sealed membrane or another type of sealing, in which the consumer can easily peel off the membrane without the presence of a tab and wherein there is a guarantee that the membrane does not tear during the peel-off. The present invention relates to packaging comprising - a container with a neck or a flange and a body, the said neck having a rim and a substantially circular or elliptical membrane sealed around the entire periphery of the rim or of the flange, the said packaging being such that the rim of the neck or the flange has one or more particular zones over part of its periphery, so as to allow a good grasp of the membrane and a good peel-off of said membrane. It is possible according to the invention to have two types of container. The first solution is to have a container in the form of a cup or a tray with a flange on which the membrane is sealed. The second solution consists to have as container a jar with a neck and a body, said neck comprising an external screwthread or bosses and a rim, as well as closure means which can be screwed or snap-fastened over the external screwthread or the bosses of the neck of the jar. The means of closure by screwing or snap-fastening are known per se and will not be explained further in the present description. In the case of screw-fastening, there is a screwthread on the neck of the jar and, in the case of snap-fastening, there are bosses on the neck. The closure means in both instances comprise catching means collaborating with the screwthread or the bosses of the neck of the jar. It is to be clearly understood that the packaging contains any type of product, either in the form of powder, or paste, or granules or liquid. This may, with equal preference, be a food product or a cosmetic product or any other type of product that can be packaged in a container with a membrane. For example, the invention envisages the packaging of soluble coffee in a jar, of yoghurts or petfood in the case that the container is a cup or a tray. The cup can be a thermoformed plastic or an aluminium tray. The term "jar" is to be understood in the present description as meaning a container of roughly square or circular cross section or of any other geometry with a roughly circular or elliptical neck onto which the closure means is screwed or snap-fastened. The closure means is a lid of circular, elliptical or polygonal shape, such as a hexagonal or octagonal shape. The jar can equally well be made of glass, plastic, aluminium or a composite/multilayers. The term "plastic" is to be understood as meaning a plastic that can be employed in the food area, for example polyethylene, polypropylene or polystyrene. In the case of glass, it is possible to have either a bottle or a cup for yoghurts or others. The lid is made of plastic. This lid is preferably made of polyethylene or polypropylene. According to a first embodiment of the packaging according to the invention, the rim of the neck or the flange have one particular zone which consists of at least one reentrant part of appropriate size. This re-entrant part has preferentially the form of an arc of circle, which corresponds to the ergonomics of the thumb or a finger. There is thus a small niche into which a finger can be slipped to pull on the membrane at the time of use with further a regular and constant strength thanks to the curve of said re-entrant part. The appropriate dimensions of this re-entrant part are a width of about 1-2 cm and a depth of about 5 mm. In this embodiment, the rim has the same thickness around the entire periphery of the jar. The membrane used according to the invention is not critical. It may be of any type, namely of aluminium or a multi-layer with a sealable layer or the like allowing good sealing when it passes under the induction sealing head. It is also possible to have a membrane with a paper layer and a sealing layer. The paper and aluminium have an oxygen barrier functionality. The membrane, can be sealed by conduction, by induction, by sticking or ultrasound. In a second embodiment of the packaging according to the invention, the rim of the neck or the flange have one particular zone in which the rim or the flange have at least one flat, sized such that it allows the membrane to protrude. The flat is designed in such a way that the membrane protrudes by about 4 to 6 mm. If consideration is given to the roughly circular neck of the jar and the centre of symmetry of the said jar, it is possible to envisage a flat over an angle of between 10 and 45°. As a preference, the angle subtended is of the order of 20-30°. Quite obviously, in this embodiment, the rim has the same thickness around the entire periphery. In a third embodiment of the packaging according to the invention, the rim of the neck has one or two particular zones, for which the thickness of the rim is less over a distance such that it allows the membrane to protrude . The difference with respect to the previous solution is that in this case there is no flat, that is to say that the rim is circular around the entire periphery, but it is the thickness of the rim which is less over a certain distance. This distance with the zone of lesser thickness is of the order of 1 to 2 cm and allows the membrane to protrude by 1-3 mm. It is preferable to have two diametrically opposed zones, but it is also possible to have more zones. The remainder of the description is given with reference to the drawings with screw-closure means, in which drawings: Fig. 1 depicts a perspective view of the packaging according to the first embodiment, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the packaging according to a second embodiment, Fig. 3 is a view from above of the rim of the embodiment of Figure 2, Fig. 4 is a part section of the packaging according to the invention in the third embodiment, and Fig. 5 is a view from above of the rim of the jar. The glass jar (1) comprises a body (2) and a neck (3) . An membrane (4) is sealed onto the rim (5) of the neck. The screwthread (6) onto which the closure means (not depicted) will be screwed can be clearly seen. In this embodiment, the neck (3) has a re-entrant part (7) . The rim has the same thickness and this re-entrant part has a width of 15 mm and a depth of 5 mm. At the time of use, the consumer removes the closure means and flips his finger under the re-entrant part (7) to lift the membrane (4) : the product can be consumed and the closure means then has merely to be replaced. In the embodiment of Figure 2, the jar (8) comprises a body (9) and a neck (10) . An membrane (14) is sealed to the rim (13) of the jar. The screwthread (11) of the jar allows the closure means (not depicted) to be screwed on. According to this second embodiment, the rim of the jar has a flat (12), so that the membrane protrudes at (21) to allow, at the time of use, the said membrane to be grasped easily. Figure 3 specifies that in this embodiment, the angle α subtended at the centre is 30°. In this case, the distance by which the membrane protrudes is 5 mm. The last two figures give a third embodiment, in which the jar (14) has a body (15) and an neck (16) . The screwthread (18) on the jar allows the closure means (not depicted) to be screwed on. The rim (17) has a constant thickness, except in the two zones (19, 20) in which it has a smaller thickness, so that the circular membrane (22) protrudes at (23) from these two zones, thus allowing the user to grasp the membrane easily when he wishes to peel it off. In the example in this figure, the rim has a thickness of 3 mm and, in the zones (19, 20) has a thickness of 1.5 mm, the membrane thus protruding by 1.5 mm on each side. The present invention makes it possible to provide the consumer with packaging with an induction-sealed membrane, in which there are good solutions for grasping hold of the said membrane, without having a tab.

Claims: Claims 1) Packaging comprising a container with a neck or a flange and a body, the said neck having a rim and a substantially circular or elliptical membrane sealed around the entire periphery of the rim or of the flange, the said packaging being characterized in that the rim of the neck or the flange has one or more particular zones over part of its periphery, so as to allow a good grasp of the membrane and a good peel-off of said membrane. 2) Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the container has the form of a cup or a tray. 3) Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the container is a jar with a neck and a body , said neck comprising an external screwthread or bosses and a rim, as well as closure means which can be screwed or snap-fastened over the external scrwethread or the bosses of the neck of the jar. 4) Packaging according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the rim of the neck or the flange have one particular zone which consists of at least one re-entrant part of appropriate size. 5) Packaging according to any of claims 1 to 3 , characterized in that the rim of the neck or the flange have one particular zone in which the rim or the flange have at least one flat, sized such that it allows the membrane to protrude. 6 ) Packaging according to any of claim 1 to 3 , characterized in that the rim of the neck has one or two particular zones, for which the thickness of the rim is less over a distance such that it allows the membrane to protrude . 7) Packaging according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the jar is made of glass, plastic or aluminium. 8) Packaging according to Claim 4, characterized in that the appropriate dimensions of the re-entrant part are a width of 1-2 cm and a depth of about 5 mm. 9) Packaging according to Claim 5, characterized in that the rim has a flat over an angle of between 10 and 45°, with the membrane protruding by 4-6 mm. 10) Packaging according to Claim 6, characterized in that the rim has a zone of lesser thickness over a length of 1-2 cm with the membrane protruding by 1-3 mm.

Inventors: SERVAUX JEAN, SERVAUX, JEAN
Applicants: NESTLE SA, SERVAUX JEAN, SERVAUX, JEAN, SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S.A.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: B65D1
IPC codes: B65D1, B65D51, B65D53, B65D77