Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A HYGIENIC BARRIER FOR DRINKS CANS
DESCRIPTION
Drinks cans opened by a simple lever device which
is attached to the can top and can be used to detach a
tongue-like portion of the can top defined by a preincision
are very common. On opening, this tongue-like portion is
bent in or otherwise manipulated to enable the liquid to be
emptied out. The removal of the drink is an unhygienic
process because the liquid touches surfaces of the can top
that are exposed during the various handling operations and
during storage; these conditions become worse when the
drink is sipped directly by placing the lips on the top of
the can.
US Pat. N. 4.708257 discloses a hygienic barrier
for drinks cans, which consists of a film applied to the
annular rim and able to be removed or torn so that the
opening device can be operated.
The invention relates to a multiple pack of drinks
cans, each of said cans being provided with a hygienic
barrier as defined above, and the said cans being arranged
side by side in a geometrical arrangement.
According to the invention, said multiple pack
comprises a film that is applied to the annular rims of the
tops of the cans and that can be torn to separate the
portion of film belonging to each can, when the cans are
separated from each other; the individual portion of film
applied to the annular rim of each can can in turn be
removed or torn so sthat the opening device can be
operated.
Other characteristics of the invention are defined
in the enclosed claims.
The invention will be understood more fully by
following the description and examining the attached
drawing, which latter shows a practical, nonrestrictive
example of the invention. In the drawing
Fig. 1 shows a drinks can provided with its own
hygienic barrier, partly in section;
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Fig. 2 is a view from the plane II-II in Fig. 1,
with the barrier partly removed;
Fig. 3 shows part of a plurality of cans in side by
side formation with a film applied uniformly to all the
cans, the film being separable into individual portions
forming the individual hygienic barriers for the cans;
Figs 4 and 5 show views on the plane IV-V in Fig. 3
for two alternative embodiments;
Figs 6 and 7 are perspective views of two packs
that can be prepared with a hygienic barrier film according
to the invention and with optional reinforcement of board;
Fig. 8 is a cross section on VIII-VIII in Fig. 7;
and
Figs 9, 10 and 11 are schematics showing successive
stages in a process for forming the hygienic barriers.
As is illustrated in the drawing, 1 denotes
individual typical drinks cans. These have a bottom lA, a
top 1B surrounded by an annular rim 1C of limited upward
projection, and a typical opening device 3 which is
attached to the outer upper surface of the top 1B; the
device 3 can be manipulated so as to tear a preincised line
1D around a portion of the metal sheet of the top 1H so as
to create an access opening in the can through which the
drink can be removed; this opening is usually created by
deforming a tongue lE, which is bounded by the preincision
1D in the material of the top 1B and is bent in, or torn
off altogether or otherwise deformed. When the drink is
sipped directly and also when the drink is poured out
through the opening produced by the tearing of the top 1H,
there is a danger of contamination of the drink (and also
of the lips, when drinking directly from the can) and hence
a lack of hygiene for the user.
To prevent this problem, which is generated by the
possible and frequent accumulation of dirt (dust, splashes
of liquid and so forth) that can form on the outer surface
of the top 1B after the article has been produced in the
factory, not only before the cans are made up into packs of
several cans (if this is done) but also after such a pack
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is opened for subsequent use of the individual cans, the
top 18 is covered and protected with an easily removable or
tearable film 5 which is applied to the annular rim 1C that
surrounds said top 1H and which typically forms part of the
structure of the can 1.
According to the invention, this film 5 is applied
in the manufacturing or packaging factory, and therefore
under the hygiene conditions used in the preparation for
canning purposes of the drinks that are contained in such
cans. When the can reaches the final consumer, he or she
can tear away the film 5 to get at the opening device 3 and
detach the tongue lE from the preincision 1D in the
material of the top 1B by which this tongue is defined. The
user therefore can sip the drink directly through the
resulting opening because of the complete hygiene of the
surfaces that may come into contact with both the drink and
the lips, when said drink is sipped or poured out.
The film 5 may be applied with the aid of an
adhesive, such as a food grade wax, glue or mastic or the
like, which is applied to the tip of the rim 1C, so that
said adhesive provides sufficiently secure adhesion for the
film 5, which may be either torn or detached from the rim
1C when the contents of the can are to be consumed. The
film 5 may be applied directly by heat-sealing, being a
thermoplastic resin of stretchable type or of heat-shrink
type or other type, and usually and advantageously of food
grade.
Cans coming from the manufacturing factory are
usually packed in a plurality of adjacent items, to form a
particular geometrical volume, generally of rectangular
form consisting of for example, 24 cans in four rows of six
cans each, or other equivalent packaging. In the multiple
pack system of the aforesaid type, it is provided for an
application of one film to all the cans arranged together
for their packaging. As can be seen in particular in Figs.
3 ff, a film 7 can be laid over the plurality of adjacent
cans and this film 7 is applied to the rims 1C of the
various cans, which are approximately coplanar with each
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other, by an easily devised process of application either
with a mastic or by a system of compression sealing or heat
sealing with the material of the film itself. The film 7
has to be cut to separate the various cans which remain
protected by a film similar to the film 5 taken from a
corresponding portion of the film 7. To facilitate
separation of the various portions of the film 7 that
correspond to the individual adjacent cans, partial
incisions or lines of weakness may be included in the film
7 in the spaces between the rims 1C of the various cans. As
illustrated in Fig. 4, circumferential incisions 9 may be
formed to define portions of the film 7 in essentially
circular forms, which must be kept on the separated cans
until the time of final use. As illustrated in Fig. 5,
partial incisions 10 or lines of weakness where tearing can
be started, which are straight and parallel to the rows of
cans, may be provided. In either case it is easy to
separate the various cans while keeping the various
portions of the film 7 stuck to the rims 1C of the
individual cans.
The film 7 can also be applied after making the
plurality of cans up into a pack inside a box container
(tray) such as 12 shown in Fig. 6, which is made from a
board material such as corrugated board or the like, or on
a trough container as denoted by 14 in Figs. 7 and 8 with a
flat part 14A on which the cans stand and with walls 14B
running along the long sides of the rectangle formed by the
plurality of aligned cans, for purposes of containment and
stiffening. A packaging structure similar to 12 or 14 may
even be limited to one layer of board or equivalent
material such as the portion 14A of the structure 14 shown
in Figs. 7 and 8. The plurality of cans in the
abovementioned geometrical arrangement and with the
optional container 12 or 14, or equivalent, can be enclosed
in a film, for example a heat-shrink film or stretchable
film that completely encloses the abovementioned multiple
pack. This protective wrapping can be formed after the
application of the film 7, which serves for the hygienic
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purposes indicated above, but it is also possible for the
same film used for the overall protective wrapping of the
pack to be used a~ the protective film 7 as well, which
will in this case again be preincised or otherwise prepared
as indicated by 9 or 10 in Figs. 4 and 5 to enable the
individual cans to be separated, each can still having a
protective film such as 5, formed in this case from a
single film such as 7 which actually forms part of the
abovementioned wrapping.
Figs. 9 through 11 illustrate stages in a possible
application procedure for a multiple pack.
In Fig. 9 the numeral 51 indicates an apparatus for
wetting the annular rims 16 of the cans with a glue, a
mastic or the like. In Fig. 10 the numeral 53 indicates a
component which presses the film 7 or equivalent onto said
annular rims (or a component for heat sealing). Fig. 11
shows a component 55 for incising or perforating (9 or 10)
the film 7 after it has been applied.
It will be understood that the drawing shows only
an example given purely as a practical demonstration of the
invention, which invention can be varied in its shapes and
arrangements without thereby departing from the scope of
the concept on which the invention is based. The presence
of any reference numerals in the accompanying claims is for
the purpose of facilitating the reading of the claims with
reference to the description and drawing, and does not
limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.
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