Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US5226531?dq=6011510
Timestamp: 2016-09-28 07:04:40
Document Index: 338814137

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 87', 'art 87', 'art 73', 'art 73', 'art 85', 'art 87', 'arts 85', 'art 197', 'art 195']

Patent US5226531 - Food packaging with gas between tensioned film and lid - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsImproved packaging for goods including a base on which goods are placed, and a flexible, gas-permeable web covering the goods, with portions of the web being secured to the base at positions below the top of the goods. The web is in tension and engages and holds the goods to the base, which is relatively...http://www.google.com/patents/US5226531?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5226531 - Food packaging with gas between tensioned film and lidAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS5226531 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 07/873,800Publication dateJul 13, 1993Filing dateApr 27, 1992Priority dateSep 3, 1986Fee statusLapsedPublication number07873800, 873800, US 5226531 A, US 5226531A, US-A-5226531, US5226531 A, US5226531AInventorsAnthony J. M. GarwoodOriginal AssigneeSeawell North America Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (63), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (98), Classifications (12), Legal Events (7) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetFood packaging with gas between tensioned film and lid
US 5226531 AAbstract
Improved packaging for goods including a base on which goods are placed, and a flexible, gas-permeable web covering the goods, with portions of the web being secured to the base at positions below the top of the goods. The web is in tension and engages and holds the goods to the base, which is relatively rigid compared to the web. A lid is positioned over and sealed to the base and defines a space between the web and the lid. A preservation-enhancing gas is in the space and permeates the web for enhancing preservation of the goods. The goods are retained against said relatively rigid base by the securing of the web to the base at positions below the top of the goods.
1. Improved packaging for goods, comprising:a base over which goods are placed; a flexible gas-permeable web covering said goods, portions of said web being secured to said base at positions below the top of said goods, said web being in tension and engaging and holding said goods to said base, said base being relatively rigid compared to said web; a lid positioned over said base and said web, said lid being sealed to said base and defining a space between said web and said lid; a preservation-enhancing gas in said space, said gas permeating said web for enhancing preservation of said goods, whereby said goods are retained against said relatively rigid base by the securing of said web to said base at said positions below the top of said goods. 2. Packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base has an upper peripheral lip and a lower lip intermediate said upper lip and a bottom of said base, and wherein said web is bonded to said lower lip.
3. Packaging as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bonding is not continuous around said lower lip whereby to define opening means through which gas in said packaging can pass to allow gas above said web to circulate and contact the surface of the meat or other goods under said web.
4. Packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base comprises a horizontal bottom wall, a generally vertical lower side wall extending upwardly from the bottom wall and terminating approximately intermediate said bottom wall and said lid, a lower lip extending upwardly and outwardly from a top portion of said lower side wall, an upper side wall extending generally vertically upwardly from said lower lip, and an upper lip extending laterally outwardly from a top portion of said upper side wall, the generally vertically intermediate positioning of said lower lip permitting said base to be filled to a level between said lower lip and said upper lip, and said web to be tensioned around said goods thereby creating compressive forces in said goods.
5. Improved packaging for goods, comprising:a base over which goods are placed; a flexible web covering said goods, portions of said web being secured to said base at positions below the top of said goods, said web being in tension and engaging and holding said goods to said base; said base being relatively rigid compared to said web and said goods being engaged against the relatively rigid base; a lid positioned over said base and said web, said lid being sealed to said base and defining a space between said web and said lid; and a preservation-enhancing gas in said space, said gas being at a pressure higher than the pressure under said web to hold said goods to said base, whereby said goods are retained against said base both by the pressure differential and by the securing of said web to said base at said positions below the top of said goods. 6. Packaging as claimed in claim 5 wherein said flexible web is gas-permeable.
7. Packaging as claimed in claim 5, wherein said base comprises a horizontal bottom wall, a generally vertical lower side wall extending upwardly from the bottom wall and terminating approximately intermediate said bottom wall and said lid, a lower lip extending upwardly and outwardly from a top portion of said lower side wall, an upper side wall extending generally vertically upwardly from said lower lip, and an upper lip extending laterally outwardly from a top portion of said upper side wall, the generally vertically intermediate positioning of said lower lip permitting said base to be filled to a level between said lower lip and said upper lip, and said web to be tensioned around said goods thereby creating compressive forces in said goods.
This application is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 07/499,644, filed Mar. 27, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,974; which in turn is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/328,074, filed Feb. 23, 1989, now abandoned which in turn is the National Stage of PCT/AU87/00297, filed Aug. 28, 1987.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a form of plastics material packaging which has been proposed hitherto and which is generally disclosed in applicant's earlier application Ser. No. 86,046, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,271. In this packaging there is provided a plastics material base 1 with goods 3 such as fresh meat, fish, poultry and/or vegetables packaged therein. The base 1 has a peripheral lip 5 and the upper surface of the goods 3 is shown lower than the lip 5. A skin wrapping plastics material 7 is fitted over the goods 3 and is bonded to the peripheral lip 5 as by welding or the like bonding techniques. The skin wrapping 7 extends downwardly from the lip 5 and closely surrounds the upper surface of the goods 3 so that substantially all air and/or gases are excluded from the space between the base 1 and the skin 7. A plastics material lid 9 is provided over the skin 7 and is bonded to the base 1 around the peripheral lip 5. A space 11 is provided between the lid 9 and the skin 7. The space 11 can contain a gas which will assist the keeping of the packaged goods 3. In this connection the gas can be either, or a combination of gas such as O2, N2, CO2 which can enhance the colour and keeping qualities of the packaged goods 3 such as red meats.
Typically the base 1 is of PVC/PE, the skin 7 of a LLDPE material and the lid 9 is of PVC/PE. The base 1 can be 200-600 microns thick. The skin 7 can be 10-100 microns thick and the lid 9 50-100 microns thick. The goods 3 are compressed by the skin 7 being applied thereto under tension so that they produce outwardly directed forces 21 to the skin 7 and these forces 21 in turn provide for substantially continuously applied tension forces 23 to be retained in the skin 7. The tension forces may change slightly after a period of time, but the relationship is such that there will be a substantially, continuously applied tension in the skin 7. The tension forces, in effect stretch the skin 7 over the goods 3. A vacuum or lower than atmosphere pressure is provided under the skin and this to some degree assists in maintaining the skin 7 in contact with the upper surface of the goods 3. The space 11 under the lid 9 and above the skin 7 can contain a gas for enhancing the keeping qualities of the packaged goods 3. Typically the gas can be O2, N2 or CO2 or any combination thereof. Other gases or combinations thereof can be employed if desired.
Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown a close-up detail of the lip region of the packing shown in FIG. 3. It can be seen that lip 5 is generally horizontally extending and parallel with the bottom 15 of the base 1. It is also seen that the lip 13 is inclined relative to the bottom 15. The angle of inclination at about 45�. The upper side wall 27 between lip 13 and lip 5 is directed inwardly towards the bottom 15 of the base 1. Similarly the lower side wall 28 below the lip 13 is directed inwardly towards the bottom. In one particular embodiment, it is proposed that the depth of the packaging below lip 13 be changeable at the time of making the base 1 to compensate for different thicknesses of goods 3 which are to be packaged within the packaging. According, depth 29 will be arranged to be fixed while depth 31 can be arranged to be variable. The requirement is to provide a base 1 where the upper surface of the goods 3 will be in the region between the bottom of lip 13 and lip 5, i.e. within depth 29. In this way when the skin 7 is welded to the bottom of the lip 13 as at bond 17, the necessary compressive forces will be applied to the goods 3 and thus the tension and stretch forces 23 will be produced in the skin 7.
Referring now to FIG. 5 there is shown a detail of how the skin 7 is moved during the method of producing the packaging. In this embodiment the goods 3 are loaded into the base 1 so that the upper surface of the goods 3 is in the region between the bottom of the lip 13 and the lip 5. The skin plastics material 7 is then placed over the opening in the top of the base 1 and held thereto by holding means not shown. Air pressure is reduced in a chamber (not shown in FIG. 5) which surrounds the base 1. A platen 33 with outwardly biased resilient pushing members 35 is depressed into the top of the base 1 stretching the skin 7 downwardly into the base 1. If the opening at the top of the base 1 is rectangular there will be four such pushing members 35--one for each side. The pushing members 35 have a roll lowermost end 37. Thus, when the platen 33 is lowered onto the clamped skin 7 which is flexible and stretchable, the skin moves downwardly down the upper side wall 27 by the roll lowermost end 37 engaging therewith. The roll lowermost end 37 then locates at the top of the lip 13, and as it moves downwardly thereover, there is provided inwardly directed forces to that portion of the side edges of the goods 3 which is above the bottom of the lip 13. Thus, the goods 3 are pushed inwardly relative to the lower side wall 28. As the platen 33 is lowered the resilient pushing members 35 move inwardly by their sliding action down the upper side wall 27 and the second lip 13. The skin 7 can then be bonded to the lowermost region of the lip 13 by a heated die member which can be inserted downwardly into the base 1 between the pushing members 35 and the side wall 27. This will be explained in due course. Thus, there will be a lower than atmospheric pressure of air sealed under the skin 7.
Referring now to FIG. 8 there is shown a packaging similar to that shown in FIG. 1 but here the packaging is provided with an optical liner tray 59 which has a corrugated bottom 61. The corrugations in the corrugated bottom 61 space the meat or other goods 3 upwardly a small distance from the bottom of the base 1. The lowermost corrugations have a number of openings 63 therein, only some of which have been shown in FIG. 8 in order to aid clarity. The liner tray 59 is preferably of a clear plastics material such as of PVC. The openings 63 provide air passageway means for (a) enabling easy nested insertion of the liner tray 59 in the base 1 and (b) to also allow liquids which may escape from the meat to settle underneath the liner tray 59 and should the packaging be inverted then any liquids will be inhibited from passing through the openings 63 as those openings will now be the crests rather than the troughs of the corrugations. The openings 63 also allow gas packaged within the package to circulate. This will be explained more fully in due course. The height of the liner tray 59 is arranged to be just below the second lip 13. It will be noted that the packaging has a bond 19 around the peripheral lip 5 and that it has four bonds 17--one along each of the respective sides of the packaging on the second lip 13. It can be seen in FIG. 8 that the bonds 17 along each side do not meet and that there is provided an unbonded section 65 in each corner of the packaging. Gases are permitted to flow from under the skin 7 into the space 11 and vice versa by passing through the unbonded sections 65. In order to facilitate the gases passing from space 11 through the unbonded sections 65 there are provided a plurality of apertures 67 in that portion of the skin 7 which extends from the bond 17 to the bond 19. The apertures 67 may be provided by finger like rods 68 (see FIG. 5) which extend from the outermost faces of the pushing members 15 and pierce the skin material as the pushing members 35 are lowered. The rods 68 are swingable towards the outer face of the pushing members 35 as the heated skirts 55 of the heat bank 53 are lowered. This occurs when the skirts 55 engage with the rods 68 during the movement of the skirts 55 to effect bonding of the skin 5 to the lower lip 13.
It should be noted, that in order to assist the skin 7 from moving and stretching onto the goods 3, that the gas which is passed through passageway 81 can be used to inflate the skin 7 relative to the base 1 so as to cause the skin 7 to move upwardly into the cavity 116 of the lower cooled part 87 or the corresponding cavity in any of the previous embodiments. For this purpose the lowermost surfaces of the cooled part 87 can be positioned to align with the height level of the undersurface of the plate 71 until it is required to cause the skin 7 to engage with the surface of the goods 3. The skin 7 may be heated to a suitable deforming temperature to assist application of the skin wrapping prior to it entering the skin station. The cavity 116 can therefore be suitably shaped for this purpose. The pressure of inflation can be to about 10% of atmospheric air pressure such as 0.1 BAR.
Referring now to FIGS. 13 and 14 it can be seen that the skin wrapping station is sealed by an upper chamber part 73 as in previous embodiments. The space under the upper chamber part 73 can be filled with a suitable gas such as O2, N2 or CO2 or mixtures thereof after evacuation of the air pressure so that the environment of the skin wrapping station contains a desired gas. The heated part 85 and the cooled part 87 are shown together as blocks 143. Heated bars 163 are provided down each side of the skin wrapping station. In use, the heated bars are lowered prior to movement of the parts 85/87 so as to heat weld the skin material 7 (not shown in FIGS. 13 or 14) to the side edges of the material from which the bases 1 are made. A further heated bar 165 is also provided and this is lowered to effect heat bonding transverse to the web 1 from which the bases 1 are made prior to opening of the upper cavity 73 and the lower cavity 75, after the skin material 7 has been suitably bonded to the lips 13. The bars 163 and 165 bond the skin material 7 to the web of material from which the bases 1 are formed and thus physically hold the skin material in a generally planar stretched condition across the bases 1. When the upper cavity 73 is closed relative to the lower cavity 75 then the skin material 7 is held on the upstream side of the skin wrap station by the closing of the upper cavity 73 onto the plate means 71. The downstream side of the skin material is then held to the bond created by the heating bar 165 from the previous bonding operation of the bases 1 which are then downstream of the skin wrapping station.
The platen comprises a central portion 195 and an outer peripheral portion 197. In use, both the central portion 195 and the peripheral portion 197 are brought down together to engage with or be in proximity to the upper surface of a web of skin material 7. The peripheral portion 197 is then lowered and pressure applied so that bonding occurs around the upper lip 5. It will of course be appreciated that air has been evacuated from the skin wrapping station and a desired gas introduced at a pressure lower than atmosphere under the web 7. Because the air pressure will be lower above the web 7 than below the web 7, the web 7 will displace upwardly towards the central portion 195 and be heated thereby. It will generally conform to the shape of the cavity 199 in the central portion 195. The central portion 195 can then be lowered so that the undermost surfaces 201 provide the bonding by heat welding of the skin material 7 to the lower lips 13. It may be desirable to apply greater pressure for the bonding of the web 7 to the upper lip 5 than to the lower lip 13. This may be required to ensure that there is an absolute gas tight seal around the upper lip 5 but whereas at the lower lip 13 it may not be necessary to provide for such a good and gas tight seal. Thus, because the peripheral portion 197 can be heated to a desired temperature and because the central portion 195 can be heated to a different desired temperature, there can be control of the temperature of the web of material which is to be bonded. This control of the temperature coupled with the independent control of pressure applied by the peripheral part 197 and the central part 195 can be used to enhance the packaging process. This type of platen can also be used in any of the embodiments previously described and in other arts where material may need to be selectively heated in areas to different temperatures such as in the blow moulding arts.
Referring now to FIG. 18 there is shown a variation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 through 11. in this embodiment there are three moveable platens. The lower platen 87 is a colled platen. Intermediate platen 85 is a heated platen and upper platen 88 is a cooled platen.
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KgPackaging machine with sealing deviceUS20130269166 *Jun 10, 2013Oct 17, 2013Kraft Foods Group Brands LlcMethod for Forming A Reclose Mechanism on a Reclosable Package* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification206/213.1, 426/396, 426/129, 53/433, 53/427, 206/497International ClassificationB65D21/00, B65D81/20Cooperative ClassificationB65B9/04, B65B61/02, B65B47/02, B65B31/021Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMay 10, 1996ASAssignmentOwner name: ELONEX IP HOLDINGS LTD., ENGLANDFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:CORDATA, INC. (BVI);REEL/FRAME:007961/0321Effective date: 19960105Feb 18, 1997SULPSurcharge for late paymentFeb 18, 1997REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedFeb 18, 1997FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Feb 6, 2001REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedJul 15, 2001LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesSep 18, 2001FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20010713RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services