EP0340093A1 - Tearing device for opening a package containing a viscous product - Google Patents

Abstract

Tearing device for opening a package (10) containing a viscous product and having a parallepipedic shape, this device being disposed between this package and this viscous product, and comprising a means of grasping accessible from the exterior and an active portion (22) whose outer longitudinal parallel edges are disposed substantially along the sides of at least one face (12) to be torn, whose active portion (22) is a single strip whose width is substantially equal to that of the said face (12), this strip having at one of its ends a tab (20) of reduced width and integral with the active portion (22) and forming the grasping means and, at its other end, a central cut-out (24) whose profile is complementary to that of the tab. <IMAGE>

Description

The subject of the present invention is a member allowing the opening of a packaging envelope for a pasty product by tearing.

Packages of the opening type are known by tearing a tearable sheet using a fork-shaped member composed of at least one cut strip.

This type of packaging comprises a first sheet which, by folding, makes it possible to package a pasty product. In the example described in French patent application No. 2,362,765, the packaging is of the parallelepiped type and the sheet allows the packaging of the pasty product, itself of rectangular shape, on five of its faces. On the sixth side is attached a sheet of dimensions corresponding to those of the side on which it is to be arranged while the parts of the first sheet protruding above the faces adjacent to this sixth side are folded so as to form a sealed package .

In this same French patent application it is provided that the fork-shaped member is composed of two strips cut into an S shape and of small width. These strips are arranged parallel to the edges of the same face and their free ends are welded to constitute a gripping means.

These two cut strips are arranged between the pasty product and the envelope, they extend along three consecutive faces in the example which is described in this patent application. On the other hand, the welded ends remain accessible outside the packaging.

Thus, the user by pulling on the welded ends initiates the rupture of the packaging envelope on a first face, the envelope tearing along the edges of the parallelepiped and therefore along the edge of the faces which compose it on three faces. consecutive.

Such packaging therefore solves a first problem posed by this type of packaging, namely an integral opening avoiding that a certain part of the pasty product remains in the corners of the packaging, after opening, thus causing a loss of product.

However, such a technical solution only partially solves the problems posed. Indeed, the user will have to operate in a relatively delicate way so that the two S-shaped bands do not separate at their ends, which would cause traction on only one of these two bands and therefore an incorrect opening. In addition, when the user exerts traction on the end of these two bands, they tend to approach each other because the envelope constituting the packaging does not have sufficient rigidity to maintain the gap between these two strips, which can also lead to an incorrect opening of this packaging.

This packaging also has major drawbacks from the manufacturing point of view. On the one hand, the installation of the S-shaped bands once cut out of the envelope which must constitute the packaging is a delicate operation taking into account the size of these bands and their particular shapes. On the other hand, the positioning of these same bands on the packaging must be very precise so that the two bands can simultaneously play their role of tearing organ.

Finally, the free ends of the two strips of the packaging are heat sealed so as to constitute a gripping means. Such an operation is also delicate and it is added to the multiple prior operations.

Such packaging is intended for the packaging of pasty products, in particular processed cheeses so as to constitute light weight portions. It is therefore necessary that the cost of such packaging is reduced so as not to represent too high a part of the final cost price. It should also be noted that, given the very large quantities of product produced, reliability is a very important factor, hence the search by manufacturers for packaging that is easy to process and that can be produced by machines. simple.

The object of the invention is therefore to propose a member for opening, by tearing, a packaging envelope for a pasty product which overcomes the drawbacks of known packaging while being economical to manufacture, easy to implement by the manufacturer and easy to use.

The member for opening, by tearing, a packaging envelope for a pasty product of parallelepipedal shape, disposed between this envelope and this pasty product, comprising a gripping means accessible from the outside and an active portion whose edges parallel longitudinal exteriors are arranged substantially along the sides of at least one face to be torn, is essentially characterized in that the active portion is a single strip whose width is substantially equal to that of said face, this strip having, at one of its ends, a tongue of reduced width, integrally formed with the active portion and forming the gripping means, and at its other end, a central cut whose profile is complementary that of the tongue.

• - à la figure 1, l'enveloppe de l'emballage avec son organe pour l'ouverture par déchirement, avant pliage ;
• - à la figure 2, l'enveloppe de la figure 1, une fois pliée et contenant le produit pâteux avant mise en place de l'enveloppe complémentaire ;
• - à la figure 3, l'enveloppe pliée avec l'enveloppe complémentaire en place, avant rabat de la languette;
• - à la figure 4, l'enveloppe de conditionne­ment totalement fermée et son organe pour l'ouverture par déchirement ;
• - à la figure 5, la première étape de l'ou­verture par déchirement à l'aide de l'organe selon l'invention ;
• - à la figure 6, l'ouverture complète par déchirement de l'enveloppe de conditionnement à l'aide de l'organe selon l'invention ;
• - à la figure 7, les organes pour l'ouvertu­re par déchirement selon l'invention tels qu'ils se présentent lors de leur fabrication ;
• - à la figure 8, un dispositif de découpe permettant la fabrication des organes pour l'ouverture par déchirement d'une enveloppe de conditionnnement selon l'invention ; et
• - à la figure 9, un dispositif de découpe permettant la fabrication des organes pour l'ouverture par déchirement d'une enveloppe de conditionnement selon l'invention.

The present invention will be better understood on reading a particular embodiment which will be described with reference to the appended figures which represent:

• - In Figure 1, the envelope of the package with its member for opening by tearing, before folding;
• - In Figure 2, the envelope of Figure 1, once folded and containing the pasty product before placement of the additional envelope;
• - In Figure 3, the folded envelope with the additional envelope in place, before the tongue flap;
• - In Figure 4, the completely closed packaging envelope and its member for opening by tearing;
• - In Figure 5, the first step of opening by tearing using the member according to the invention;
• - In Figure 6, the complete opening by tearing of the packaging envelope using the member according to the invention;
• - In Figure 7, the members for opening by tearing according to the invention as they occur during their manufacture;
• - In Figure 8, a cutting device for the manufacture of organs for opening by tearing a packaging envelope according to the invention; and
• - In Figure 9, a cutting device for manufacturing the organs for opening by tearing a packaging envelope according to the invention.

In Figure 1, there is shown the packaging envelope 10 of octagonal shape in which there are provided five faces 12, flaps 14 and foldable parts 16 ensuring the sealing of the packaging. Furthermore, a member 18 has been placed for the opening by tearing of this packaging envelope which comprises a gripping means in the form of a tongue 20, an active portion 22 consisting of a single strip whose width l is substantially equal to the width L of a face 12 and a cut-out portion 24 at the opposite end from that carrying the tongue and whose profile is complementary to that of this same tongue.

The tongue 20 is linked to the packaging envelope by any known means and in particular by heat sealing.

In the embodiment shown, the faces 12 are squares so as to generate, once folded, a cube open at its upper face. The pasty product is then poured directly into this packaging envelope until the cube is filled; a complementary envelope 26 is then placed on the open face of the product so that the sides of this complementary envelope 26 make an angle of 45 ° C with the angles of the upper face of the cube.

In Figure 4 there is shown the penultimate step during which the flap carrying the tongue is folded, the end of the latter 20 being superimposed on the opposite flap.

In Figure 5 there is shown the last step during which the last flaps are folded.

The pasty product is therefore packaged in a completely closed envelope with interposition between this envelope and this pasty product of the tearing member 18 while leaving the gripping tab accessible to the outside.

The pasty product is therefore packaged in a completely closed envelope with interposition between this envelope and this pasty product of the tearing member 18 while leaving the gripping tab accessible from the outside.

In Figure 6, there is shown the opening by tearing of the packaging envelope using the member according to the invention.

Traction on the tongue 20 in fact makes it possible to tear the envelope substantially along its edges because the active part is sufficiently rigid to cause the envelope to be torn substantially along the parallel edges of a first face, this tearing continuing on a second consecutive face once the initiation of rupture of the envelope has been correctly carried out to be extended on a third face as shown in FIG. 7. In this figure, the additional steps have also been shown allowing the total release of the pasty product which consists in spreading the two remaining faces after they have been cut, the pasty product then resting on the flaps alone as well as on the complementary envelope 26. The pasty product is then immediately accessible.

In Figure 8, there is shown the member 18 for the opening by tearing during manufacture from a strip 30. We find the tongue 20, the active part 22 and the end part 24. It can be seen that 'There is therefore no loss during the manufacture of these organs and moreover they can be easily handled. In addition, its rigidity is improved by the presence of the active part 22. The adaptation of the shape of the members as a function of the packaging is easy since it suffices to modify the width of the strip and the shape of the cutting punch.

To this end, the invention also provides a device for cutting the strips 30 so as to form tearing members 18.

Such a device comprises a matrix 32 comprising a through slot 34 having the profile adapted to simultaneously cut the rear part of a first tearing member and the front part of the consecutive member.

In the present case, the shape is substantially that of the tongue 20 and of the front part of the active part 22.

A sidewall clamp 36 holds the strip 30 pressed against the die 32 during the cutting operation. This sidewall clamp comprises two parts 38 and 40 between which the cutting blade 41 can slide. The two pieces 38 and 40 constituting the sidewall clamp are also provided with pads made of elastomeric material 42 making it possible to apply the strip to the matrix 32 The cutting blade 41 is of the flexible type and is shaped, to correspond to the profile of the slot 34, by three clamping blocks 44, 46, 48 themselves held by a support 50.

The sidewall clamp 36 is mounted movable relative to these same blocks 44 to 48 and relative to the frame 50 by means of screws 52 around which compression springs 54 are arranged.

The operation of such a device is as follows: the strip is moved by any known means between the matrix 32 and the sidewall 36, the sidewall is then pressed against the strip which itself is found pressed against the matrix as soon as the movement in translation of this same strip stops, the frame 50 is moved so that the cutting blade 40 passes through the side clamp 36 and through the slot 34 of the die 32 then cutting the strip to the profile exact tearing organ. So that the film is perfectly pressed against the matrix, one can provide bores 56 for communication between the two faces of the matrix 32. Once the frame 50 moved in the opposite direction, the blade moves back inside the sidewalls and, after loosening the latter with the matrix, the strip is free and can be again moved in translation. In order to facilitate this last movement, a cutting is also provided such that it leaves a connection between the two parts which have just been cut by the blade.

Claims (6)

1.- Organ for the opening by tearing of a packaging envelope (10) of a pasty product of parallelepiped shape, this organ being disposed between this envelope and this pasty product, and comprising a gripping means accessible from the exterior and an active portion (22) whose parallel longitudinal outer edges are disposed substantially along the sides of at least one face (12) to be torn, characterized in that the active portion (22) is a single strip whose width is substantially equal to that of said face (12), this strip having, at one of its ends, a tongue (20) of reduced width, integrally formed with the active portion (22) and forming the gripping means, and at its other end, a central cutout (24) whose profile is complementary to that of the tongue. 2.- Body according to claim 1, characterized in that the length of the active part (22) is such that it extends over three consecutive faces. 3.- Body according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it is heat sealed on the packaging envelope. 4.- Body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is obtained by cutting a continuous strip. 5. Packaging of the tear-open type for packaging a pasty product of parallelepiped shape, comprising a packaging envelope and a member for tear-open according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. A device for cutting an organ according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a matrix (32) provided with a through slot (34) whose profile is complementary to that of the tongue (20) and one of the ends of the active part (22), a flank clamp (36) for pressing the strip, a frame (50) provided with a blade (41) shaped according to a profile identical to that of the through slot, the sidewall (36) being movable relative to the matrix (32) and the frame (50) and its blade (41) being movable relative to the sidewall, so as to cut a strip of a width substantially equal to the width of a face.

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