TRANSPARENT POINTED BAG, PREFERABLY COMPRISING PLA

Abstract

The invention relates to a packaging, in particular a foodstuffs packaging, preferably for foodstuffs such as ice cream in cones and the like. The packaging (10) comprises a lid portion (14) and a packaging body (12), wherein the packaging body (12) is conical, in particular pointed conical, and wherein the lid portion (14) is held on the packaging body (12) when the packaging is closed.

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging, in particular a foodstuffs packaging, preferably for foodstuffs such as ice cream in cones and the like, comprising a lid portion and a packaging body, wherein the packaging body is conical, in particular pointed conical, and wherein the lid portion is held on the packaging body when the packaging is closed.

Packaging of the generic kind is known from conventional, commercially available packaging for ice-cream cones. Such packaging is generally produced from aluminium-coated paper, which can be printed, for example, with information such as the name of the manufacturer and the type of ice cream it contains and the like.

A disadvantage of the known packaging is that it consists of an opaque material, so that the observer cannot see the contents of the packaging without opening the packaging, which generally destroys it. In addition, opening the packaging, even when the packaging is resealable, is problematic for reasons of hygiene, in particular in the case of foodstuffs.

Based on the disadvantages of the packaging according to the above-described prior art, it is an object of the present invention to allow at least portions of the packaged product to be seen without impairment, in particular without opening the packaging.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that at least part of the packaging body is transparent.

This allows a consumer to recognize the contents of the packaging from the outside without distortion, destruction or other undesirable manipulation of the packaging. In particular, by means of the packaging according to the invention it is possible for the consumer, with an appropriate arrangement of the transparent portion, to view, without further measures, even a portion of the interior that is remote from the usual opening region of the packaging. The packaging according to the invention is therefore particularly suitable when different contents are disposed in different regions of the packaging.

For recognizing the entire contents of the packaging, the packaging body is preferably completely transparent.

The term “transparent” is to be understood as meaning a transmissibility of the material in question, ideally in the region of at least 50%, preferably at least 70%, particularly preferably at least 80%, for electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of visible light of at least one colour, so that objects located behind the material in the direction of viewing can be recognized substantially clearly. This means that the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation in question after passing through the material is at least 50%, preferably at least 70%, particularly preferably at least 80%, of the intensity of the light radiation before passing through the material.

In order to reduce the number of components required to form the packaging according to the invention, it is possible for the lid portion to be integral with the packaging body. In this case, it is particularly suitable, when the packaging is open, for the lid portion, which is formed in one piece with the packaging body, axially to lengthen the packaging body, which usually extends along a packaging axis, by comparison with when the packaging is closed, and to be folded radially inwards towards the packaging axis in order to close the packaging.

It is further possible for the lid portion to be separate from the packaging body. In this manner, the lid portion can be disposed of after it has been removed from the packaging body, which facilitates access to the contents of the packaging, in the case of foodstuffs in particular the consumption thereof.

Furthermore, it is conceivable for the lid portion to be connected to the packaging body in a form-fitting manner when the packaging is closed. In this manner, the packaging can be closed simply without additional components. According to the preferred embodiment already mentioned, an edge portion in the end region of the conical packaging body having a larger packaging cross-section can engage around at least part of the lid portion in a form-fitting manner by being folded over radially inwards towards the packaging axis.

Advantageously, in order that the packaging body can be produced with as low a weight as possible, the packaging body comprises a transparent film of a first plastics material. In order to facilitate closing of the packaging, for example by sealing, the first plastics material can be a thermoplastic. The use of a plastics film simplifies the work involved in producing the packaging material because conical packaging bodies can be rolled particularly simply from appropriately shaped pieces of film.

In one embodiment, the first plastics material is a polyester, in particular polylactic acid (PLA). Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable material, so that the use of such an environmentally friendly material allows the environmental compatibility of the packaging to be improved. Moreover, polylactic acid (PLA) is thermoplastic and has good heat sealing properties; it can be sealed to itself particularly well. Furthermore, polylactic acid (PLA) has low restoring forces, in particular when folded over, which facilitates a stable and form-fitting connection of the lid portion to the packaging body.

In an alternative embodiment, the first plastics material is a polyether, in particular cellulose hydrate (cellophane). Cellulose hydrate is suitable as a packaging material because, owing to its shaping properties, it exhibits only low restoring forces after shaping. The use of a cellulose hydrate further ensures that liquids are unable either to penetrate the packaging or to escape therefrom, while water vapour, on the other hand, is able to pass through the cellulose hydrate. This prevents condensation from forming inside the packaging. Furthermore, the use of cellulose hydrate, like PLA, permits coating with further barrier layers if a reduction in the permeability of gases, for example oxygen or water vapour, is to be achieved.

According to a particularly inexpensive embodiment, the packaging body can in principle be formed substantially of a merely single-layer transparent film. This then comprises only the first plastics material. In other words, the packaging body then preferably comprises a single-layer PLA film or cellulose hydrate film. This preferably has a thickness of from 30 μm to 100 μm.

Furthermore, it is appropriate for the transparent film to form a carrier layer for at least one further layer, in particular for at least one further film. In this manner it is possible to use a combination of different materials having different material properties as regards transparency, mechanical stability, sealing properties and the like, depending on the application demands made of the packaging, and thus to obtain a layer composite having desired composite properties.

The expression “carrier layer” is to be understood as meaning a base layer to which at least one further layer or a succession of layers is applied in the course of the production of a multi-layer structure during the production process.

Advantageously, the carrier layer and the at least one further layer are laminated to form a multi-layer structure. In this manner, a multi-layer structure having defined properties can be designed and realised, so to speak, using different individual layers optionally having different material properties. This improves the flexibility in the production of a packaging body that is particularly suitable for a specific packaging content as regards the required material properties such as tear strength, deformation resistance, heat resistance, printability, tear properties, ability to be bonded with itself and/or with other materials, specific weight and the like.

In one embodiment, the multi-layer structure comprises as at least one further layer of at least one of the following materials:

• • polyester, in particular polylactic acid (PLA) and/or polyethylene terephthalate (PET),
  • polypropylene, in particular biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP),
  • polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC),
  • polyethylene (PE),
  • cycloolefin copolymers (COC),
  • oriented polyamide (OPA).

For better screening of the packaging content from external influences, which in the case of packaged foodstuffs increases their shelf life in particular, the multi-layer structure comprises as at least one further layer a barrier layer, which can particularly preferably comprise a metal oxide, for example Al_XO_Y, in particular Al₂O₃, and/or for example Si_XO_Y, in particular SiO₂, and/or an oxide of a metal of the second main group of the periodic system, and/or ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and/or polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH).

It is possible for the further layer, for example one of the aforementioned plastics layers, first to be coated, in particular vapour coated, with a metal oxide and then laminated with the carrier layer and optionally further layers to form a multi-layer structure. Alternatively, lamination can be carried out first, followed by coating with a metal oxide. In the production of a multi-layer structure having more than two layers, combinations of both procedures are also conceivable.

In order to enable the thickness of the barrier layer, and accordingly its properties as regards optical transparency on the one hand and its properties as a gas barrier on the other hand, to be adjusted very precisely, it is further conceivable for the barrier layer to be vapour deposited on one of the layers of the multi-layer structure.

In principle, it is possible to provide between immediately adjacent layers of the multi-layer structure an adhesion promoter layer, which is thin and therefore disregarded hereinbelow.

Preferably, the multi-layer structure comprises on each of its two outer sides a transparent outer film of polylactic acid (PLA) and/or of polyether, in particular cellulose hydrate. However, materials which are also suitable in principle include polypropylene, in particular biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), and/or polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) and/or polyethylene (PE) and/or cycloolefin polymers (COC) and/or oriented polyamide (OPA). The process of producing the packaging body is further simplified by a structure of the outer films of the multi-layer structure that is substantially identical in terms of the materials used and/or the film thicknesses used, because the orientation of substantially identical outer films is of no or little importance during further processing of the multi-layer structure.

Accordingly, the packaging body, and optionally also the lid portion, can be formed for example of a two-layer laminate, for example solely of PLA. A PLA-PLA laminate, in particular having an intermediate adhesion promoter layer, has increased stiffness compared with a single-layer PLA film of the same thickness.

In addition, three-layer laminates, for example having the structure PLA-PE-PLA, PLA-COC-PLA or PLA-OPA-PLA, have been found to be advantageous, for which reason a packaging body, optionally also a lid portion, comprising a three-layer laminate, in particular of one of the aforementioned material combinations, is regarded as being an advantageous further development of the present invention.

In order to protect the contents of the packaging from solar radiation, a plastics material that is part of the packaging body and/or of the lid portion can additionally be provided with UV protection, for example by mixing additives, for example benzotriazoles, into the plastics composition in question. Such additives are obtainable, for example, from CIBA® under the trade name “Tinuvin”®.

Accordingly, the PLA or for example the cellulose hydrate and/or at least one further layer of a multi-layer structure that is optionally used can be provided with such UV protection.

Preferably, the carrier layer comprises a plastics material, for example the above-mentioned PLA, stretched in a preferential direction. Alternatively or in combination, it is also possible for at least one further layer to comprise a plastics material stretched in a preferential direction. By using a stretched plastics material as the carrier layer and/or as at least one further layer, the operation of tearing open the packaging body can be selectively influenced, in particular as regards the tear path, in such a way that the tearing open of the packaging body takes place along the preferential direction.

In order to optimise the tear-open behaviour of a multi-layer structure having both the carrier layer and at least one further layer of stretched plastics material, and in order to ensure directed tearing open of the packaging body, in particular as regards the tear path, even in a multi-layer structure, the stretched carrier layer and the at least one further stretched layer are preferably arranged in the multi-layer structure in such a way that their preferential directions are oriented substantially identically.

In order to achieve a packaging body which is as tight as possible and which can be formed by rolling a single flat piece of film, it is further proposed that at least a portion of the edge line of the radially outer initial edge region of the generated surface of the conical packaging body extends helically.

In order to ensure a low packaging weight while at the same time providing effective screening, the carrier layer, preferably either of the transparent outer films, can have a thickness of from 6 micrometres to 40 micrometres.

For the same reason, the further layers of the multi-layer structure that are located between the two outer films together have a thickness of preferably from 3 micrometres to 53 micrometres, particularly preferably from 6 micrometres to 40 micrometres.

In order to make it even easier for the consumer to recognize the contents of the packaging from the outside without distortion, destruction or other undesirable manipulation of the packaging, it is proposed that at least part of the lid portion, preferably the whole of the lid portion, is also formed of transparent plastics material, in particular including polylactic acid (PLA) and/or cellulose hydrate, optionally in the form of a multi-layer structure as mentioned above.

The present invention is explained hereinbelow with reference to an exemplary embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the packaging according to the invention

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the embodiment according to FIG. 1

FIG. 3 shows the layered structure of the multi-layer structure of the packaging body of the embodiment according to FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, a packaging according to the invention is denoted as 10. The pointed conical packaging body 12 is transparent, runs along a packaging axis V and tapers from a withdrawal end 12a having a large packaging cross-section to a point 12b at the longitudinal end of the packaging body 12 that is axially opposite the withdrawal end 12a in terms of the packaging axis V. Advantageously, the lid portion 14, which is separate from the packaging body 12, is held at the withdrawal end 12a of the packaging body 12. For this purpose, the withdrawal end 12a of the packaging body can be folded over radially inwards so that it engages around the lid portion 14 in the direction of the packaging axis V. The edge line R of the radially outer edge region of the generated surface of the packaging body 12 is formed preferably helically from a flat piece of film in order to produce a packaging body 12 that is as liquid-tight as possible. The generated surface of the packaging body 12 can be sealed in portions, in which it overlaps itself on account of its helical form, in particular in the region of the edge line R and in the region of the folded-over withdrawal end 12a, by means of the outer films (18, 22) of polylactic acid (PLA) (see also FIG. 3).

FIG. 2, in a sectional view of the first embodiment according to FIG. 1, shows two alternatives for attaching the lid portion 14, 14′ to the packaging body 12. The situation shown in region A corresponds to the attachment method already explained above with reference to FIG. 1. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2 in region B, the lid portion 14′ can be dome-shaped. In this manner, the withdrawal end 12a′ is additionally pressed against the dome-shaped lid portion 14′ by restoring forces which can arise as a result of the folding over of the withdrawal end 12a, but is at least prevented by interlocking from undesired automatic unfolding in an undesired manner, which results in fixing of the entire lid portion 14′ in the region of the withdrawal end 12a′.

FIG. 3 shows a preferred layer-like structure of a multi-layer structure 16 of the packaging body 12. The multi-layer structure 16 can comprise an outer film of polylactic acid (PLA) which forms a carrier layer 18 and forms a laminate with a further layer 20, preferably of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and with a further outer film 22, preferably of polylactic acid (PLA). The further layer 20 can be vapour coated with a barrier layer of Al₂O₃. The layer thickness of the carrier layer 18 can be from 6 to 40 micrometres, preferably 30 micrometres. The layer thickness of the further layer (preferably PET layer) can likewise be approximately from 6 to 40 micrometres, preferably 10 micrometres. The layer thickness of the further outer film can, like that of the carrier layer 18, preferably be approximately 30 micrometres.

Both the carrier layer 18 and the further layer 20, as well as the further outer film 22, can each be stretched in a preferential direction. In particular, the carrier layer 18, the further layer 20 and the further outer film 22 can be arranged in the multi-layer structure 16 in such a way that the preferential directions are each oriented substantially identically. In this manner, the tear-open behaviour of the packaging body can be optimised in particular as regards the tear path.

Claims

1. Packaging, in particular foodstuffs packaging, comprising:

a lid portion (14; 14′) and a packaging body (12);

wherein the packaging body (12) is conical, in particular pointed conical, and

wherein the lid portion (14; 14′) is held on the packaging body (12) when the packaging is closed, characterised in that at least part of the packaging body (12), preferably the whole of the packaging body (12), is transparent.

2. Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the lid portion (14; 14′) is integral with the packaging body (12) to form a unit.

3. Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the lid portion (14; 14′) is separate from the packaging body (12).

4. Packaging according to claim 3, characterised in that the lid portion (14; 14′) is connected in a form-fitting manner to the packaging body (12).

5. Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the packaging body (12) comprises a transparent film of a first plastics material, in particular a thermoplastic plastics material.

6. Packaging according to claim 5, characterised in that the first plastics material is polylactic acid (PLA).

7. Packaging according to claim 5, characterised in that the first plastics material is a polyether, in particular cellulose hydrate.

8. Packaging according to claim 5, characterised in that the transparent film forms a carrier layer (18) for at least one further layer (20, 21, 22), in particular for at least one further film.

9. Packaging according to claim 8, characterised in that the carrier layer (18) and the at least one further layer (20, 21, 22) are laminated to form a multi-layer structure (16).

10. Packaging according to claim 9, characterised in that the multi-layer structure (16) comprises as at least one further layer (20) at least one of the following materials:

polylactic acid (PLA) and/or polyethylene terephthalate (PET),

polypropylene, in particular biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP),

polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC),

polyethylene (PE),

cycloolefin copolymers (COC),

oriented polyamide (OPA).

11. Packaging according to claim 9, characterised in that the multi-layer structure (16) comprises as at least one further layer a barrier layer (21) of at least one of the following materials:

metal oxide, for example AlXOY, in particular Al2O3, and/or for example SiXOY, in particular SiO2, and/or generally an oxide of a metal of the second main group of the periodic system of the elements,

ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH),

polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH).

12. Packaging according to claim 11, characterised in that the barrier layer (21) is vapour deposited on one of the further layers of the multi-layer structure (16).

13. Packaging according to claim 9, characterised in that the multi-layer structure (16) comprises on each of its two outer sides a transparent outer film (18, 22) of at least one of the following materials:

polylactic acid (PLA) and/or polyethylene terephthalate (PET),

polypropylene, in particular biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP),

polyvinyl chloride (PVC),

polyether, in particular cellulose hydrate.

14. Packaging according to claim 8, characterised in that the carrier layer comprises a plastics material stretched in a preferential direction.

15. Packaging according to claim 8, characterised in that at least one further layer comprises a plastics material stretched in a preferential direction.

16. Packaging according to claim 15, characterised in that the preferential directions of the carrier layer and of the at least one further layer in the multi-layer structure are oriented substantially identically.

17. Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the packaging is provided with UV protection, which absorbs and/or reflects light in the UV wavelength range at least in portions.

18. Packaging according to claim 17, characterised in that a plastic transparent film and/or at least one further layer is provided with UV protection, for example by mixing an additive, for example from the group of the benzotriazoles, into the corresponding plastics composition.

19. Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that the edge line (R) of the radially outer edge region of the generated surface of the packaging body (12) is helical at least in portions.

20. Packaging according to claim 8, characterised in that the carrier layer (18), preferably each of the two transparent outer films (18, 22), has a thickness of from 6 micrometres to 40 micrometres.

21. Packaging according to claim 13, characterised in that the further layers (20, 21) of the multi-layer structure (16) that are located between the two outer films (18, 22) together have a thickness of from 3 micrometres to 53 micrometres, preferably from 6 micrometres to 40 micrometres.

22. Packaging according to claim 1, characterised in that at least part of the lid portion (14; 14′), preferably the whole of the lid portion (14; 14′), is made of transparent plastics material, in particular of polylactic acid (PLA) and/or cellulose hydrate.