A CONTAINER FOR A FLOWABLE PRODUCT
The invention concerns a container for a flowable product, comprising a hollow body the interior of which communicates with an opening zone of the container which is openable to exit the product and bounded by preferably a pair of concave shells, joined together by a peripheral seal. WO-A-94/08852 and O-A-96/01212 describe similar kinds of containers; O-A-96/01212 a plug is obtained by drawing part of the sealing fin, which implies relatively high costs for its manufacture.
A further similar kind of container is disclosed in US-A- 3,278,085 in which a top part of the fin is torn off along a predetermined fracture line to reveal the opening and, after part of the product has been squeezed out, a portion of the opening zone and adjacent portions of the fm are folded over and the fm portions are latched behind two tabs partially cut from the f and spaced inwardly from the outer periphery of the fin. Especially in the case of a small container latching of the fin portions behind the tabs is a very fiddly task.
FR-A-2666565 describes a container integral with a plug obtained by injection of plastic material and removable from the body of the container m order to close an opening of the same.
DE-A-2714917 describes a plug which remains connected to the body of the container m use.
Both m FR-A-2666565 and in DE-A-2714917 it is necessary to employ a considerable amount of material to form the plug. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a container for a flowable product, comprising a hollow body the interior of which communicates with an opening zone of the container which is openable to exit the product, said interior being bounded by at least one concave shell provided with a peripheral sealing fm, a closing part m a zone of said fm being fittable inside the opening zone, characterized in that said closing part is in the form of a substantially non-deformed portion of said fin. This allows the closing part to be obtained very simply by suitable cutting, or punching, of the fin so saving time and material.
The production of the closing parts according to this aspect of the invention is particularly advantageous for containers of small capacity which are reclosed a limited number of times.
Advantageously, the opening zone of the container has substantially the same dimensions, particularly thickness and width, as the portion of the fin used as the closing part. Therefore, the opening zone and the closing part can be obtained during the forming of the container, substantially at the same time as the production of the seal, with reduction of manufacturing costs.
The closing part is preferably wedge-shaped, i.e. it has a pair of inclined edges converging towards each other and suitable for fitting with low force into the opening. Thus a reliable closing of the container is achieved. Desirably, interconnecting means interconnect the closing part and another portion of the container, preferably of the peripheral fin, said interconnecting means preferably comprising parts of said fin.
The interconnecting means may be bounded by discontinuities, such as holes or cuts, extending along the fin, in such a way that relatively narrow sections are generated in said fin so that the interconnecting means can be bent and serve as elastic hinges.
It is to be noted that, in the case of containers obtained by thermoforming of a pair of strips of thermoformable material, which can be respective webs or a single web folded lengthwise, the possibility of obtaining the closing part from the peripheral fin allows an optimal utilization of the thermoformable material. It is thereby possible to simplify manufacture of the closing parts, to decrease the amount of material used for the production of the closing parts, to achieve better exploitation of the material forming the peripheral fin, and to increase the productivity in manufacturing this kind of container.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a container for a flowable product, comprising a hollow body the interior of which communicates with an opening zone of the container which is openable to exit the product, said interior being bounded by at least one concave shell provided with a sealing fm, said opening zone being foldable over to latch behind at least one tab to close said opening zone, characterized m that a free edge portion of the, or each, tab is constituted by a portion of the outer periphery of said fin.
Owing to this aspect of the invention, it is possible to make closing of the container after opening less fiddly and more reliable.
It is possible to carry out the invention by blow- thermoformmg of the container from a pair of strips of thermoformable plastic material sealed together around a container outline.
The thermoformable material is preferably deformable to allow the discharge of the product, for example sauces or creams, by squashing of the walls of the container.
Some examples of the invention are shown in the attached drawings, wherein:
Figures 1, 2 and 3 show respectively a front view, a side view and a top view of a container, having a closing part included in a peripheral sealing fin of the container and directed towards the bottom of the container; Figures 4 and 5 are views similar to Figure 1, but fragmentary, and show respectively the container shown in Figures 1 to 3 when it is opened and re-closed; Figure 6 is an enlarged top view of the container of Figure 5; Figure 7 shows a view similar to Figure 1, but fragmentary, of an embodiment of the container with a closing part bilaterally connected to the rest of the fin; Figure 8 shows a view similar to Figure 7 of a further embodiment of the container having a closing part laterally projecting from the rest of the fin and directed outwardly; Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 7 of the container having a closing part projecting longitudinally away from the the body of the container;
Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 1 of a yet further embodiment of the invention;
Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 10 of the yet further embodiment, but showing the container closed after opening; Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 10 of a still further embodiment of the invention;
Figure 13 is a view similar to Figure 11 of that still further embodiment;
Figure 14 is a view similar to Figure 10 of a yet still further embodiment of the invention; and
Figure 15 is a side elevation of that yet still further embodiment closed after opening.
As shown in the Figures 1, 2 and 3, 1 indicates a peripheral sealing fm joining a pair of concave shells forming a hollow body of a container 20 which narrows at an end in a neck 21 in which an opening zone 5 is defined.
The fin 1 has a portion 2 reaching an end of the opening zone 5 and extending outwardly a generally orthogonal direction with respect to a longitudinal axis A of the neck 21 in order to provide a closing part 7 (highlighted by hatching) . The portion 2 is connected to the opening zone 5 and is limited, at its edge bounding the neck 21, by a predetermined fracture line 6, openable by, for example, cutting or tearmg-off, passing across the opening zone 5.
The portion 2 is provided, at its edge between the opening zone 5 and the closing part 7, with a recess 3 generating a narrowed section 4 of the portion 2 to facilitate the turning of the closing part 7 during a re-closing operation, as will be described later.
The portion 2 , at an edge remote from the closing part 7, is linked to the rest of the fin 1 by a linkage portion 10 of narrowed section, a hole 8 bounding on one side the opening line 6, and on the other side the linkage portion 10: this allows a user to turn the portion 2 easily around an axis parallel to the axis A as shown by arrow F in Figure 4. There is also envisaged, for further ease of turning of the portion 2, a cut 9 substantially parallel to the axis A and ending in the hole 8 and thus bounding a further linkage portion 11 constituting an extension of the linkage portion 10. The further linkage portion 11 allows easier movement of the portion 2 relative to the body 14 of the container during opening or closing operations.
As shown in Figure 3, the closing part 7 and the linkage portions 10 and 11 are obtained without substantial deformation of the fin 1. In fact, when the container is sealed they all extend in the plane containing the fin 1. In the embodiment of Figure 8, a closing part 7b is oriented in a substantially orthogonal direction with respect to the axis A, so that in order to fit it in the opening of the container 20, after opening of the zone 5 along the line 6 has taken place, it is necessary, in addition to the above- mentioned turning, to perform also twisting of the portion 2, as schematically shown by arrow FI .
As shown in Figure 7, it is possible that the closing part 7a does not form a free appendix, but, when the container is sealed - that is before the first opening - it is joined not only to the portion 2 at one end of the part 7a, but also directly to the rest of the fin 1 at its opposite end along a predetermined fracture line 16. The fin 1 is extended at la to the closing part 7a and the latter is separated from the opening line 6 by a further through hole 8a. In this embodiment, in order to open the container 20, it is necessary not only to open along the line 6, but also to free, for example by tearing-off, the closing part 7a along the fracture line 16. In this embodiment, the closing part 7a is protected from accidental hooking or interference. As shown in Figure 9, the seal portion 2a is separate from the opening zone 5 and linked at both ends to linkage portions 10a of the seal 1 lying at respective opposite sides of the neck 21. Thus, the seal portion 2a and the linkage portions 10a define a bridge structure extending over the opening zone 5 and defining a through hole 17 of "C"-like shape and facing the neck 21. In this embodiment, the closing part 7c projects from the portion 2a away from the opening zone 5 and for this reason it is turned about an axis orthogonal to the axis A to be inserted in the opening of the container 20, by folding the relatively narrow linkage portions 10a, as shown by the arrow F2.
In order to exit the product from the container 20, the user opens the opening zone 5 along the line 6, for example by means of scissors, and squashes gently the walls of the container. When closing is required, the closing part 7, 7a, 7b, 7c is inserted into the opening obtained as above- mentioned.
Referring to Figures 10 and 11, in this embodiment the opening zone 5, after cutting or tearing-off along the line 6, is folded-over and, as seen in Figure 11, latched behind triangular tabs 30 at respective opposite sides of the container 20. Each tab 30 has a free edge portion 30a constituting a portion of the outer periphery of the fin 1 and another free edge portion 30b extending obliquely to the longitudinal axis A of the container 20 in a direction away from the end of the container 20 opposite to the opening zone 5. Each free edge 30b is produced by a cut 31 formed simultaneously with, or subsequently to, the forming of the fin 1.
The embodiment shown in Figures 12 and 13 differs from that shown in Figures 10 and 11 chiefly in that the edges 30b bound cut-out slots 32 as opposed to the slit-form cuts 31 and in that, at respective opposite sides of the opening zone 5 the fin 1 is formed with apertures 33 which, after the opening zone 5 has been opened along the line 6, form respective recesses in the top edge of the fin 1, whereby those portions 34 of the fin 1 between the respective slots 32 and the respective recesses 33 are able to be latched more deeply, and thus more securely, behind the respective tabs 30, as shown in Figure 13.
The embodiment shown in Figures 14 and 15 differs from that shown in Figures 12 and 13 mainly in that there is only one tab 30 and one slot 32 and in that the opening zone 5 extends unilaterally of the container at the same side of the container as the side 30 and the slot 32. Moreover, in this case, the slot 32 extends substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis A of the opening zone 5 and the opening zone 5 itself is inserted through the slot 32 to retain the free end of the opening zone 5 more securely behind the tab 30 on closing.