Sustainable coated corrugated fiberboard container
A packaging container having sustainable repulpable/recyclable capability specifically sized to maintain the integrity of the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE™) rations used by the U.S. Army and military services. A coated corrugated fiberboard using a C-flute configuration is utilized in a novel packaging design that incorporates a liner or a vertical container divider.
There are no related applications.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot applicable.
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIXNone.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to packaging, and in particular, coated corrugated fiberboard secondary packaging for the United States Army rations known as Meal(s), Ready-to-Eat (MRE™).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCorrugated fiberboard is a well-known structural material commonly used for manufacturing storage boxes. The relatively inexpensive cost of the material, its structural qualities, and the ease with which corrugated fiberboard can be fabricated has resulted in an ever growing number of items manufactured from it. The use and development of this material in the manufacturing of containers is well known.
Moreover, recent concerns regarding the environmental impact of waste materials has led to greater demand for systems that promote sustainability and offer additional recycling options. Manufacturers of consumer goods now place a high priority on sustainable systems that incorporate recyclable and repulpable packaging designs in order to reduce environmental impacts. Additionally, recent regulations regarding the disposal of wax coated or impregnated packaging materials have increased the demand for recyclable and repulpable packaging systems that perform in wet and/or humid environments.
For example, in 2006, the Wal-Mart® Corporation initiated an ambitious packaging initiative to reduce packaging by 5% throughout its global supply chain before 2013. This effort centers around a packaging scorecard that rates suppliers and their products based on packaging innovations, environmental standards, energy-efficiencies and use of materials. The packaging scorecard utilizes packaging metrics that assess new consumer goods products and its packaging. Each packaging metric has potential economic and environmental benefits throughout the supply chain and therefore drives product design and innovation towards more eco-friendly product solutions. The rating system provides Wal-Mart® with a powerful measuring tool used to identify a superior product or design and also helps suppliers continuously improve their products and operations towards a more sustainable position.
Most recently, corrugated fiberboard structures have been investigated as replacements for the “Solid Fiberboard”, SF-grade, military only, fiberboard secondary packaging (ASTM4727) in the Meal(s), Ready-to-Eat (MRE™) packaging system used by the U.S. Army. What is needed is a high-performance, lightweight and recyclable material for secondary packaging systems for military rations. This new generation of containerboard structures offers numerous benefits over current packaging. Sustainable packaging technologies such as biodegradable additives, repulpable fiberboard coatings, effective design solutions and enhanced end-of-life disposal capabilities assist in reducing negative environmental impacts and further reduce the logistical footprint of military rations. Incorporating these solutions into ration systems additionally decreases overall packaging waste, enhances recyclability and creates a viable means of disposal for military rations. In addition, these corrugated board structures can offer excellent protection during transport, storage and operational use.
Numerous Executive Orders for “Greening the Government” have been issued to help conserve the environment and its natural resources through, for example, waste prevention, energy management, recycling and acquisition of bio-based products. Government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, United States Forestry Service, and Department of Defense (DOD) operate extensive research programs that are focused on preserving natural resources through scientific research and effective resource management.
In this regard, the aforementioned SF-grade solid fiberboard material currently used in the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™)) ration system is costly to produce and is more expensive than common commercial grades of fiberboard. This fiberboard material utilizes cellulose and harmful chemicals, thereby depleting natural resources in the environment and creating harmful waste. The additives enhance the durability of the packaging and adequately protect its contents but limit recyclability. Moreover, the current MRE™ container design must incorporate multiple manufacturing processes adding to the overall cost. Current research indicates that coating commercial grade corrugated fiberboard eliminates the need for the solid fiberboard, SF-grade material currently in use for ration containers and enhances recyclability by incorporating repulpable coated structures that may be used anew in the manufacture of fiberboard. Additionally, these containers may be manufactured in the same facility, thereby reducing their manufacturing and transportation cost and minimizing their carbon footprint.
Secondary packaging serves a vital role in protecting military rations during transportation, long-term storage and use. Ration shipping containers play an integral role in maintaining a high level of food quality and must perform in even the most severe climate conditions. Research and development in secondary packaging has led to the advancement of lightweight fiberboard and recyclable structures that have shown performance capabilities similar to current MRE™) containers. An innovative coated corrugated fiberboard container is described in this application utilizing environmentally friendly water resistant coatings that support composting, and recycling as viable means of disposal and recovery. The structural design of the ration containers offers a unique construction that reduces fiberboard material and eliminates the need for additional interior packaging.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention incorporates high-performance, lightweight and recyclable coated corrugated fiberboard material into secondary packaging for military rations wherein a polymeric coated wax alternative medium (WAM) corrugated structure is utilized in lieu of the previous SF-grade fiberboard design. This new generation of fiberboard containers offers numerous benefits over current materials and is environmentally sustainable, utilizing repulpable coatings, and its effective design and enhanced end-of-life disposal capabilities reduce negative environmental impacts. Logistically, the packaging is lighter yet capable of performing in adverse environments and will further reduce the environmental footprint of military rations. Packaging waste is reduced, recyclability is enhanced, and disposal options are increased. In addition, this fiberboard design offers comparable protection during transport, storage and operational use.
The container of the present invention is sized for the secondary packaging, storage, and transportation of a standard twelve-count case currently used in the Meal, Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system (ACR-M-030 Section D) as defined by the United States Department of Defense and the U.S. Army. It is compostable, recyclable, and repulpable with equal compression strength and less weight in comparison to the existing military packaging. In one embodiment, a two-piece container is provided, including a regular slotted container (RSC) with a separate corrugated insert or liner around its interior perimeter to provide additional support under load and to increase puncture resistance along the vertical walls of the container. In another embodiment, a one-piece RSC design is provided, including a built-in or integral divider across the width of the container subdividing it into two compartments of generally equal size, thereby increasing the structural rigidity of the container. The packaging is delivered in a generally flat, partially assembled state to the end-user, whereby it need only be expanded into its three-dimensional conformation in a standard manner, and in the case of the two-piece container, its liner inserted therein, in order to make the device ready for use after packaging it with twelve MRE™ rations.
It is an object of the invention to provide a coated corrugated fiberboard container sized for the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system;
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a corrugated fiberboard container that is lighter, less expensive to manufacture, yet equal in durability to the currently used solid fiberboard containers used for the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system;
It is still another object of this invention to provide a corrugated fiberboard container for the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system which is easier to transport;
It is another object of this invention to provide a corrugated fiberboard container for the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system which is environmentally friendly;
It is an object of this invention to provide a corrugated fiberboard container for the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system that is recyclable and repulpable;
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a corrugated fiberboard container for the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system that is recoverable; and,
It is an object of this invention to provide a corrugated fiberboard container for the Meal(s), Ready-To-Eat (MRE™) ration system that is simple to manufacture, and with minimum waste.
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein.
While the invention is described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to said embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalent arrangements as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
This invention may be constructed from any corrugated board-like material that is amenable to precision cutting and is easily foldable. In preferred embodiments, the invention is manufactured from coated corrugated fiberboard.
The preferred embodiments of the apparatus and best mode are rendered in
The containers are preferably constructed from corrugated fiberboard consisting of 55 pound or 69 pound linerboard facings with a 30 pound corrugating medium material forming a balanced single wall C-flute structure. A water-resistant coating is applied to the linerboard facing material, for example, coatings manufactured under the Spectra-Guard™ name by the Spectra-Kote™ Corporation, in particular its sg48m™ coating. Additionally, WAM is applied to the 30 pound fiberboard forming the C-flute structure of the preferred fiberboard material in order to improve its water resistance. In the first embodiment disclosed infra., an additional corrugated insert having a B-flute structure forms the interior liner.
A first preferred embodiment is depicted in
As shown in
In a second embodiment depicted in
As shown in
The benefit of the inventive coated corrugated MRE™ container is that it is compostable, recyclable, repulpable with equal compression strength and has less weight in comparison to the existing MRE™ military rations packaging system. This is presented in Table 1 below. One common specification for paperboard is the calculation of basis weight or grammage which is the mass of paper per unit area. Paper is bought, sold and often defined in accordance with its mass per unit area, and therefore the basis weight has significance both in defining price and performance. The values of many physical properties such as thickness and bulk are interpreted and specified with regard to the particular grammage involved.
In Table 1, the letters MRE SF represent the presently used solid fiberboard (SF grade) military container while the letters RSC IN define the regular slotted container (RSC) of the two piece container (
As shown in
The principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. However, the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular embodiments which have been described above. Instead, the embodiments described should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by others without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims:
Claims
1. A container for food rations comprising:
- coated corrugated fiberboard material forming generally rectangular opposing sidewalls;
- coated corrugated fiberboard material forming generally rectangular opposing end walls positioned adjacent said opposing sidewalls;
- coated fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming bottom flaps adjacent a side edge of said opposing sidewalls and said opposing end walls, said bottom flaps being inwardly folded;
- said opposing sidewalls and said opposing end walls and said bottom flaps defining a chamber therein;
- a one piece liner of coated fluted corrugated fiberboard material is seated adjacent the interior perimeter of said chamber defined by said opposing sidewalls and said opposing end walls and said bottom flaps, said one piece liner comprising a long side section, equal width end sections connected to and positioned adjacent each end of said long side section and a smaller side section connected to the distal end of each of said end sections, each smaller side section being of equal width; and,
- coated fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming top flaps connected to positioned adjacent the top edge of said opposing sidewalls and opposing end walls, said top flaps being inwardly foldable to seal the container.
2. A container for rations as claimed in claim 1 wherein said container is about 9¼ inches in height, about 17 3/16 inches in length, and about 10 11/16 in width when sealed.
3. A container for rations as claimed in claim 1 wherein said flaps, end walls and sidewalls are a C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material.
4. A container for rations as claimed in claim 1 wherein said flaps, end walls and sidewalls are a C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material and said liner is a B-fluted corrugated fiberboard material.
5. A container for rations as claimed in claim 1 wherein said container may be selectively collapsed into a generally flat conformation.
6. A container for rations as claimed in claim 1 wherein said coated corrugated fiberboard material further comprises linerboard facings selected from the group consisting of 55 lb. linerboard and 69 lb. linerboard sandwiching 30 lb. linerboard material forming a standard C-flute structure.
7. A container for rations as claimed in claim 1 wherein a water-resistant coating is applied to said flaps and sidewalls facings.
8. A container for rations as claimed in claim 7 wherein a water-resistant coating is applied to said flaps, end walls and sidewalls facings to coat the same and wax alternative media coating is applied to said one piece liner.
9. A container for military rations comprising:
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming generally rectangular opposing sidewalls;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming generally rectangular opposing end walls positioned adjacent said opposing sidewalls;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming bottom flaps connected to and positioned adjacent an end of said opposing end walls and said opposing sidewalls, said bottom flaps being inwardly folded;
- said opposing end walls and said opposing sidewalls and said bottom flaps defining a chamber therein;
- a coated B-fluted corrugated fiberboard material liner insert is positioned adjacent the interior perimeter of said chamber defined by said opposing end walls, said opposing sidewalls and said bottom flaps, said one piece liner insert comprising a long side section, equal width end sections connected to and adjacent each end of said long side section and a half sized side section connected to the distal ends of each of said end sections;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming top flaps adjacent the top edge of said opposing end walls and said opposing sidewalls, said top flaps being inwardly foldable to seal the container;
- said coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material further comprising linerboard facings selected from the group consisting of 55 lb. linerboard and 69 lb. linerboard sandwiching a 30 lb. linerboard material which is formed into a standard C-flute structure; and,
- said coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material further comprising a water-resistant coating applied to said linerboard facings.
10. A container for military rations as claimed in claim 9 wherein said 30 lb. linerboard is coated with a wax medium.
11. A container for military rations comprising:
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming a generally rectangular first sidewall;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming generally rectangular opposing end walls positioned adjacent said first sidewall ends;
- coated C-fluted sidewall sections forming a generally rectangular second sidewall, each sidewall section being connected to and positioned at the distal ends of each opposing end walls;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming bottom flaps adjacent the bottom edge of said first sidewall, said opposing end walls and one of said side wall sections, said bottom flaps being inwardly folded;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming a vertical divider connected to an end of one of said sidewall sections, said vertical divider bisecting said first sidewall;
- said first sidewall, said opposing end walls, sidewall sections, said vertical divider, and said bottom flaps defining a chamber therein; and,
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming top flaps adjacent the top edge of said first sidewall and end walls and one of said sidewall sections, said top flaps being inwardly foldable to seal the container.
12. A container for military rations as claimed in claim 11 wherein said container is about 9¼ inches in height, about 17 3/16 inches in length, and about 10 11/16 in width when sealed.
13. A container for military rations as claimed in claim 11 wherein said vertical divider has a foldable tab at its distal end which is secured to an inner surface of said first sidewall.
14. A container for military rations as claimed in claim 11 wherein said container may be selectively collapsed into a generally flat conformation.
15. A container for military rations as claimed in claim 11 wherein said coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material further comprises linerboard facings selected from the group consisting of 55 lb. linerboard and 69 lb. linerboard sandwiching 30 lb. linerboard material forming a standard C-flute structure.
16. A container for military rations as claimed in claim 15 wherein said coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material further comprises a water-resistant coating applied to said linerboard facings and a wax medium coating applied to said 30 lb. linerboard material.
17. A container for emergency food rations comprising:
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming a generally rectangular first sidewall;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming generally rectangular opposing end walls connected to and positioned adjacent said opposing first sidewall ends;
- coated C-fluted sidewall sections forming a generally rectangular second sidewall, each said sidewall section being connected to and positioned at the distal ends of each opposing end walls;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming bottom flaps adjacent the bottom edge of said first sidewall, said opposing end walls and one of said sidewall sections, said bottom flaps being inwardly folded;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material connected to and positioned on the end of one of said sidewall sections forming a vertical divider bisecting said opposing first sidewalls;
- said first sidewall, said opposing end walls, said sidewall sections, said vertical divider, and said bottom flaps defining a chamber therein;
- coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material forming top flaps adjacent the top edge of said first sidewall and opposing end walls and one of said sidewall sections, said top flaps being inwardly foldable to seal the container;
- said coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material further comprising linerboard facings selected from the group consisting of 55 lb. linerboard and 69 lb. linerboard sandwiching 30 lb. linerboard material forming a standard C-flute structure; and,
- said coated C-fluted corrugated fiberboard material further comprising a water-resistant coating applied to said linerboard facings and a wax media coating applied to said 30 lb. linerboard material.
18. A container for emergency food rations as claimed in claim 17 wherein said vertical divider has a foldable tab at its distal end which is secured to an inner surface of said first sidewall.
19. A container for emergency food rations as claimed in claim 18 wherein said divider tab is beveled.
20. A container for emergency food rations as claimed in claim 17 wherein said container has dimensions of about 9¼ inches in height, about 17 3/16 inches in length, and about 10 11/16 inches in width when sealed.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 30, 2010
Publication Date: Apr 5, 2012
Inventors: Keith J. Gray (Gardner, MA), Lawrence Nykwest (Bernville, PA), Jason Niedzwiecki (Hopkinton, MA), Jo Ann Ross (Nashua, NH)
Application Number: 12/923,644
International Classification: B65D 25/04 (20060101); B65D 5/62 (20060101);