Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
10 NOV. '95 16:25 ~.KERR ~G +41 61 7017925 P.2~10
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PAT~NT
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,~
~ ~U~ FOR O~ ~ PACXU~GES
This is a Continuation-In-Part Applicat~on of
U.S. Serial No. 08/339,065, filed November 1~, 1995.
Field of the In~ention
The invention relates to package clos~re foils
with means for the opening thereof.
Bac~o~l~d of the Invention
Package closure foils are used in packaging
technology for many different products when tightness
against the leakage of liquid contents or againQt the
penetration of harmful pathogens, or optionally both,
is desired. A typical example is the aluminum
closure foil of yogurt beakers or si~ilar pac~ages
for dairy products. Closure foils of this type are
also known for othcr foodstu~fs. Other products for
which they are used are cosmetics, mineral oll
productQ and medicaments.
~nown closure foils generally consist of
aluminum, plastic, paper or paperlike materials.
They are bonded or welded to the pac~age rim when the
package is sealed after filling.
To simplify the opening of a foil-sealed
package, a thread has been proposed that lead~ around
under the ~oil along the connecting rim of the foil
with the package, one end of which leads-outwards at
a point of the circumference and projects by a length
long enough ;o ~e ~ripped while its other end close -
to the stated point leads inside the package and to
the opposite rim of the foil where it is secured to
the foil. The thread can be of natural fibre,
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plastic or metal as described in Swi3~ patent 682
142.
The closure fo~l is indeed, removed ~ery
precisely by mean9 of the thread. The drawing to one
side of the ~ev~L-d foil does not, however, always
occur without difficulties. Depending on where the
foil accidentally bends or is able to fold, it can
dip into thc contents of the package before being
completely Le.~.Jved. Thi~ is undesirable.
It is an object of the invention to solve this
problem.
This is achie~ed in accordance with the
invention by means of a package closure foil having
the features defined in the claims.
Brief De~cri~tion of the Drawin~s
Fig. l is a pe~.~ecLive vicw of a package
utilizi~g one embodiment of a package clo~uxe
according to the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a packa~e
utilizing an alternative c- ~o~'m~nt of a pac~age
closure according to the prcsent invention.
Detailed DescriDtion
An emho~;ment of the invention will now be
described with reference to Fig. 1 of thc ~p~n~ed
drawing. A typical package, such as con~entionally
used for yogurt and the like, is taken as an example.
An alternative embodiment of the invention is ~hown
in F~g. 2.
A package l of plastic is covered with a closure
foil 2 which is hnn~ with the packa~e alcng an
outwardly projecting rim 3 thcreo~.
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PATENT
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A thread 4 of pla~tic is secured around the
inside of the foil along the bonded connection. One
end 5 of the thread is guided to the outside and
hangs on the outQide of thc closed package. The end
S is long enough to be ea~ily gripped by the fingers
of one hand. The other end 6 of the thread leads
inside the package 1 close to the exit point of the
fi~st end 5 at a penetration point 7 in the bonded
connection between package 1 and closure foil ~ and
is secured, e.g. bonded there to a point 8 o~ the
underside of the foil opposite the opening 7.
A bending line 11 i5 provided at right angles to
the course of the end of the thread 6 in about the
middle of the foil which consists of a specific,
lS substantially linear we~k n;ng 0~ the foil. The
wcakening i9 for example achieved by an embossed
line. Because of the b~n~;ng line, the foil falls
downwards along this line after its separation and
consequently does not dip into the contents of the
pac~age. To ~nh~nce this effect still more, or as an
altcrnaeive, stiffeners 10 are provided on koth sides
of the bend line along the end of the thread 6.
These prevent the foil from folding at any o~ther site
than at the bend lina The stiffeners can, for
2S example, be pro~llce~ by coating or also emboasing.
The package described is opened as follow~. The
package 1 is held with one hand, the end o~ the ~~
thread 5 is gripped with the other hand and the
thread is pulled upwards in the direction of the
arrow 9. In so doing, the thread cuts the foil along
the pac~age rim up to the point at which the thread 4
extends through the opening 7 in the inside of the
package. A small bridge of foil ~e~i n.c attached to
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the package rim. With further pullin~, the foi1 cut
cff from the package rim i9 completely pulled over to
the side of the penetration point 7 so that the
package i9 ultimately not orly opened cleanly, but
S the foil is also pulled to the ~ide. In so doing,
the foil can thus be li,ted upwards cleanly a.~ a
result of the bending line 11 and the stiffening lO.
As an alternative to the version described, the
end of the thread 6 can lead through an opening-in
the package wall (see opening 7A of ~ig. 2).
According to another ~ersion, the thread 4 can
lead a full 360 around the package opening 90 tha~
the two ends of the thread touch each other before
the one end 5 is dirccted outwards and the second end
6 is directed towards the securing point a. In this
version, the foil is fully cut off from ~he package
on opening and, since the thread is secured at the
point 8, totally Le~"ov~d therewith.
As already mentioned, the package closure foil 2
can consist of the conventional materials plastic,
metal (notably aln~jnllm) or paper.
The pac~age closure foil according to the
invention is suitable for all types of liqui~s, but
also for semi-solid or solid substances, such as
crea~s, pastes, powders, etc.
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