Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02389072 2002-06-05
PACKAGE CONTAINING FOODSTUFFS
Technical field
The invention relates to a package containing foodstuffs.
Packages, which contain foodstuffs, such as confectionary
products or sweets, must fulfil a number of different
requirements. Firstly, the contents of the package needs to
be retained safely within the package. Secondly, the package
must be sealed in a manner to maintain freshness of the
contents and prevent them from spoiling. Furthermore the
package should have sufficient stability so as to prevent the
package from deforming which would also endanger the shape
and outer appearance of the contents. Moreover, it is desired
to provide outer surfaces on a package which can be used to
display product information directed to the customer.
Finally, the company offering the foodstuffs to the customer
is interested in a smart outer appearance of the package and,
at the same time, an inexpensive package design.
Prior art
Various attempts have been made in order to meet some or all
of the above-mentioned requirements. DE-AS 1 246 533
discloses a package for a comparably large egg made of
chocolate, which is placed in a shaped plastic tray such that
it mostly extends beyond the upper rim of the tray. The egg
is retained by msans of a retaining sleeve, and the package
is covered by a lid. The bottom of the package is constituted
by a carton which is retained by means of a folded edge of
the shaped tray.
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DE-U-7122 012 discloses an open tray, which is made of a
shaped plastic part reinforced by a shaped card member
retained in the bottom of the plastic part. In DE-U-1 927 169
a shaped plastic part is disclosed comprising indentations
for accommodating confectionary products, at the lower end of
which a carton is attached by means of gluing or welding.
Finally, DE-AS 1 200 023 discloses a package made of a shaped
plastic part engaging with a flat lid of card, which is
retained by means of a projecting shape of the upper part of
the plastic member.
Sux~unary of the invention
The underlying objective of the invention is to provide a
package adapted to contain foodstuffs, in particular
confectionary products and/or sweets, being of a simple and
at the same time rigid design, in which the contents can be
retained safely and in a manner to securely prevent spoiling
them.
This objective is solved by means of the package according to
claim 1.
The inventive package, on the one hand, comprises a shaped
tray, e.g. made of plastic. The tray is adapted to contain
foodstuffs and could, e.g. comprise plural indentations, in
which confectionary products can be placed. As the shaped
tray itself will not be sufficiently stable, due to the
plastic being comparably thin in order to save material and
costs, the tray of the inventive package is reinforced by
means of a flat card, preferably made of cardboard, carton,
rigid paper or plastic, which is retained at the bottom of
the tray. According to the invention, the engagement between
the shaped tray and the flat card is achieved by means of
engaging portions and/or adhesive. This type of connection
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between the tray and the card can be formed in a simple
manner and will, at the same time, provide a rigid
combination of the mentioned members.
In order to securely retain foodstuffs in the package and
seal these from the environment, a membrane lid is sealed,
preferably hot-sealed to the top of the tray. In other words,
the inventive package as such is essentially constituted by
only three components, i.e. the tray, the base card and the
membrane lid. Additional material can be placed in the
package between the contents and the lid. In a similar
manner as the connection between the tray and the base card,
the bonding between the membrane lid and the tray, in
particular the hot-sealing, can be produced in an inexpensive
manner and can, at the same time, ensure a hermetic seal, so
that spoiling or deterioration of the contents is securely
prevented.
Although the inventive package is of a simple and inexpensive
design, it fulfils the requirements with regard to stability
and retaining of the contents. Furthermore, the inventive
package does advantageously provide outer surfaces, which can
be seen by the consumer, on which product ir_formatior. and
commercial messages can be communicated to the consumer. In
particular, both the membrane lid and the base card can
contain such information. Furthermore, the membrane lid can
both display product or other information and comprise
transparent portions, through which the contents can be seen.
This will advantageously address the consumer and provide an
attractive product presentation.
Preferred embodiments of the inventive package are described
in the dependent claims.
Generally, the membrane lid could be of an arbitrary shape,
and could be sealed to the top of the tray at any portion
thereof. However, it is currently preferred that the tray
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comprises a continuous, flange-like upper edge or rim to
which the lid is sealed. As the edge will be in one and the
same plane, the step of sealing the membrane lid to the top
of the tray is remarkably facilitated.
As regards the engaging portion retaining the flat card at
the bottom of the tray, it is preferred that the shaped tray
comprises plural short, inwardly extending engaging
projections, which engage with the edge of the card. The
projections can be of any length and can have the shape of
projecting points or ridges with a length of up to a few
centimetres. Advantageously, such engaging portions can be
formed integrally with sidewalk of the shaped tray at the
lower portion thereof.
As regards the membrane lid, it is currently preferred that
the lid is made of paper, carton, plastic or a composite
thereof. These materials can easily and reliably be sealed to
the top of the tray.
As mentioned, the membrane Iid can be generally of any shape.
However, it is preferred to provide the membrane lid with a
flat shape, which facilitates sealing thereof to the tray.
In particular with regard to the possibility to view the
contents of the inventive package which might be desired by
the customer, it is preferred that the membrane lid comprises
a transparent portion which means that it could also be
entirely transparent.
Generally, the tray, the base card and the membrane lid can
be of any shape. In particular, the shapes of these
components can differ from each other, e.g. the bottom carton
and/or the membrane lid could be shaped such that they cover
only a part of the bottom or the top of the tray. However, it
is preferred, with regard to the general appearance of the
inventive package, that the mentioned members shape are the
CA 02389072 2002-06-05
same shape as for all of the mentioned components. In
particular, the membrane lid will preferably have a shape,
which - in a plane view thereof - is identical to the shape
of the tray in a plane view thereof. Furthermore, the bottom
carton will have an identical shape with the exception that
it could be somewhat smaller since it engages with
projections of the tray, which extend somewhat inwards. As
regards the particular shape of the mentioned components as
well as the resulting package, it is currently preferred that
the shape thereof is a symbol, such as a heart or a drop.
However, any other recognizable shapes, preferably
representing a symbol, are possible.
The aesthetic concept of the inventive package leads to
advantages and it is expected to achieve good consumer
acceptance, as the shape of the contents of the package
responds to the shape of the tray. In other words, if the
contents of the package, e.g. the confectionary products are
heart-shaped, a heart shape for the entire package is
preferred. In another embodiment a drop-shaped package
contains plural drop-shaped confectionary products or sweets.
In order to ensure that the contents of the inventive
package, which have a special shape, will not be damaged, it
is preferred that the tray of the inventive package comprises
plural indentations which have a shape which again
corresponds to the shape of the tray as a whole. In other
words, a heart-shaped tray might comprise plural heart-shaped
indentations for receiving plural heart-shaped confectionary
products.
As mentioned, the inventive package is intended to attract
the consumer's eye. For this purpose, it is advantageous if
the inventive package, in particular the tray and/or the lid
thereof, comprises an opening, which is adapted to receive a
holder of a presentation device. For example, the inventive
package might comprise a so-called euroslot, which is a
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transverse elongated slot comprising a somewhat widened
centre portion. In the preferred embodiment comprising such a
slot, the inventive package can advantageously be presented
on common holders so as to address the customer.
Brief description of the drawings
The invention will now be described with reference to
preferred embodiments thereof as shown in the accompanying
drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a first embodiment of the
inventive package; and
Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of a second embodiment of
the inventive package.
Best mode for carrying out the invention
Fig. 1 shows the method (from top to bottom) how the novel
package 10 is made comprising a membrane lid 12, a shaped
tray 14 and a card 16. As the shaped tray comprises
portions, which are adapted to cooperate with the lid 12 and
the base card 16, the shaped tray 14 will be described first.
The shaped tray 14 is in the depicted embodiment, generally,
as seen in a plan view, heart-shaped. However, it should be
noted that the tray could be of any other desired shape. In
the embodiment as shown the centre portion of the tray 14,
which is adapted to receive a plurality of, in the depicted
case eight, confectionary products, comprises eight
indentations 18, which are also heart-shaped, so that they
are adapted to receive heart-shaped confectionary products.
Towards the outside of the tray the plastic material, from
which the tray 14 is made, extends downwards to a lower edge
20 of the tray and then again upwards towards the upper edge
of the tray 14. At the very top of the tray the plastic
material is extended outwards for a few millimetres so as to
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form a perimeter flange-like rim 22, to which the membrane
lid 12 is sealed. As the level of the rim 22 is above the top
surface of the confectionary products (which are not shown in
Fig. 1), an entirely flat membrane lid 12 can be sealed to
the rim 22 so as to cover the products contained in the
package as well as seal these from the environment in order
to keep their freshness.
As seen in a cross-sectional view, the edge portion of the
shaped tray is formed, generally U-shaped, in that the rim 22
is formed adjacent to a perimeter sidewall 24, which is
formed in a U-shape at the bottom of the package so as to
define a lower edge. From that edge, generally extending
vertically, a sidewall of the receiving section comprising
the indentations 18 is formed. The bottom of the space, which
is defined underneath the indentations is covered by the base
card 16, which provides the inventive package 10 with
stability and, furthermore, allows product information to be
displayed on the underside of the package. The card 16 can be
glued to the lower edge of the package.
However, as shown in Fig. 2, the card 16 can also be retained
at the bottom of the shaped tray 14 by means of engaging
projections, which extend inwards so as to keep the card 16
from falling out in a downward direction. In this embodiment,
the tray 14 is shaped somewhat differently compared to the
tray 14 of the embodiment of Fig. 1.
Firstly, the tray is of a drop-like shape and so are also the
base card 16 and the membrane lid 12. In order to realise a
complete concept regarding the appearance of the package and
the confectionary products contained therein, these shapes
correspond to each other in that the drop-shaped tray of Fig.
2 is adapted to receive - in the depicted embodiment - six
drop-shaped confectionary products.
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Secondly, unlike the embodiment of Fig. 1, the free outer
edge of the tray 14 is not formed around the top rim 22, but
at the bottom of the tray 14. In particular, a few
millimetres above the free edge of the tray, which defines
the lower end of the tray, the engaging projections 26 are
formed so as to retain the base card 16. In the attached
state, the base card 16 will be located a few millimetres
above the level of the lower edge of the tray 14. In the
embodiment of Fig. 2, the edge of the tray is, as seen in a
cross-sectional view, formed in an inverted U-shape, in that
the plastic material extends - beginning from the free edge -
upwards and sidewards so as to define the upper rim 22.
Inside the tray, a short inner wall is formed extending
vertically downwards from the rim 22 and delimiting the so-
called receiving section, in which the indentations 18 are
formed. Also in this embodiment, the base card 16 can be
attached to the shaped tray 14 so as to retain the card
safely in its place, provide the tray with the required
stability and provide the inventive package with a surface,
on which product or other information can be displayed. This
last mentioned aspect also applies to the membrane lid 12,
which is hot-sealed to the rim 22 so as to safely retain the
confectionary products within the package and ensure their
freshness. The membrane lid 12, can in both embodiments, be
entirely transparent or comprise transparent portions, so as
to allow the consumer to view the contents.
It should additionally be mentioned that the shaped tray
could, e.g. at the narrow end of the drop-shape, i.e.
according to Fig. 2 the front right-hand corner, be extended
to a flat section comprising a slot, by means of which the
inventive package could be put on elongated, horizontally
extending holding members. In particular, such an extended
flat section could lie in a plane parallel to the plane of
the card 16, so that the inventive package can be put onto
the described holding elements, so as to be vertically
oriented. Finally, it should be emphasized that the inventive
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package constitutes a package suitable for foodstuffs, such
as confectionary products, sweets or the like, which is made
of a low number of components and avoids the need of any
outer carton or additional packaging as well as sealable
sleeves in order to keep the freshness of the products.
