A PACKAGE

EMBALLAGE

English Abstract

A package is made of a cardboard blank with crease lines and has wall panels
(1), bottom flaps (2) forming a bottom of the package and top flaps (3),
namely short-side flaps (3A) and long-side flaps (3B), folded and heat sealed
together to form the top of the package. One of the long-side flaps has at its
free end a seal tab (4), which is provided with a heat seal adhesive and is
sealed against the opposite long-side flap. The seal tab has a smaller length
than the width of the package for enabling it to be brought down into the top
of the package for reclosing thereof.

French Abstract

Cet emballage, qui est produit à partir d'une découpe en carton comportant des plis, est constitué de panneaux latéraux (1), de rabats inférieurs (2) formant le fond de l'emballage et de rabats supérieurs (3), en l'occurrence des rabats en largeur (3A) et des rabats en longueur (3B), repliés et thermoscellés afin de former le dessus de l'emballage. L'extrémité libre de l'un des rabats en longueur est pourvue d'un volet d'étanchéité (4) muni d'un adhésif thermoscellable venant se placer contre l'autre rabat. La longueur du volet d'étanchéité est inférieure à la largeur de l'emballage afin qu'il soit possible de le rabattre sur le dessus de l'emballage et ce, afin de refermer ledit emballage.

Claims

5



CLAIMS:


1. A package formed from a cardboard blank having
crease lines and wall panels, said package comprising:

(a) a plurality of bottom flaps forming a bottom
of said package;

(b) a plurality of top flaps comprising first and
second long-side flaps extending unbroken over the width of
the package and first and second short-side flaps, said

first and second long-side flaps extending longitudinally
above the height of first and second short-side flaps, said
top flaps capable of being folded and heat sealed together
to form a top of said package,

(c) a seal tab having a first and second end, said
first end of said seal tab extending from an end of said
first long-side flap, said seal tab being provided at an
inside surface with heat seal adhesive for initial sealing
against one of said second long-side flap and an opposite
wall panel of said package,

(d) a lift tab extending from said second end of
said seal tab, said seal tab and said lift tab having a
smaller length than the width of said package enabling said
seal tab and said lift tab to be tucked down between said
first and second long-side flaps and said folded short-side
flaps and into said top of said package for re-closing
thereof.


2. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said top
flaps are capable of being folded and heat sealed together
to form a gable top package.




6



3. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said top
flaps are capable of being folded and heat sealed together
to form a parallelepiped package.

Description

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A PACKAGE

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a package, which is
made of a cardboard blank with crease lines and has wall
panels, bottom flaps forming a bottom of the package, and
top flaps, namely two long-side flaps extending unbroken
over the width of the package and two short-side flaps,
said top flaps being folded and heat sealed together to
form a top of the package, which may be of the gable top
type or the parallelepipedical type.
Background of the Invention
Dry foodstuffs, like cereals, meal, and gruel, are
most often packed in cardboard boxes or packages of the
gable top type or the parallelepipedical type. For
different reasons, it is customary to make the cardboard of
waste fibres and to pack the foodstuff in an inner bag of
for example plastic, which preserves the foodstuff in a
good condition, until the bag is opened, and prevents the
foodstuff from getting in contact with the waste fibre
cardboard.
Coated cardboard materials of virgin fibres are now
at hand, which are lighter than conventional materials, per
se are completely tight for dry materials, and do not give
any taste or smell to the packed product. In this way the
dry foodstuff can be packed directly in the package without
any inner bag, provided that the package can be sealed in a
tight manner.
The Invention
A problem with a tightly sealed package is that it
may be difficult to open and - after use - reclose.
This problem may according to the invention be solved
in that one of the long-side flaps at its free end is
provided with a seal tab, which is provided with heat seal
adhesive for sealing against the opposite long-side flap or


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the opposite wall panel and which has a smaller length than
the width of the package for enabling it to be brought down
into the top of the package for reclosing thereof.

In order to give easy access to this seal tab it
may according to the invention be provided with a lift tab
at its free end.

The design according to the invention makes it
possible to use the seal tab inserted between one of the
long-side flaps and the short-side flaps as a closure means.
Hereby moisture and noxious animals can be kept out also
after initial opening of the package.

An aspect of the invention is directed to a
package formed from a cardboard blank having crease lines
and wall panels, said package comprising: (a) a plurality of
bottom flaps forming a bottom of said package; (b) a
plurality of top flaps comprising first and second long-side
flaps extending unbroken over the width of the package and
first and second short-side flaps, said first and second
long-side flaps extending longitudinally above the height of
first and second short-side flaps, said top flaps capable of
being folded and heat sealed together to form a top of said
package, (c) a seal tab having a first and second end, said
first end of said seal tab extending from an end of said
first long-side flap, said seal tab being provided at an
inside surface with heat seal adhesive for initial sealing
against one of said second long-side flap and an opposite
wall panel of said package, (d) a lift tab extending from
said second end of said seal tab, said seal tab and said
lift tab having a smaller length than the width of said
package enabling said seal tab and said lift tab to be


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2a
tucked down between said first and second long-side flaps
and said folded short-side flaps and into said top of said
package for re-closing thereof.

The Drawings

The invention will be described in further detail
below reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in
which

Figs 1 and 2 are perspective views of a first
embodiment of a package according to the invention in a
semi-finished form and a finished form, respectively, and

Figs 3 and 4 are similar views of a second
embodiment.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

A package according to the invention is typically
made of coated cardboard, preferably manufactured of virgin
fibres, which is a prerequisite for allowing foodstuffs to
be contained in the package without any inner bag or the
like. The cardboard material may contain different layers,
for example a barrier layer of EVOH. The coating may for
example be polyethylene. The cardboard material is
preferably completely tight for dry materials.

A cardboard blank is first cut and creased and is
sealed along a side edge in a conventional way to form a
semi-finished package, open in both ends, as shown in Fig 1.

It appears that this package has wall panels 1, bottom flaps
2, and top flaps 3 (flaps 3A and 33 to be described).


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The bottom flaps 2 are then conventionally folded and
for example heat-sealed to form a tight bottom, as is
illustrated in the lower part of Fig 2.
The package is now ready for filling, preferably with
a dry foodstuff, such as cereals, meal, or gruel.
Hereafter the top of the package is to be sealed. In
a conventional way the two short-side flaps 3A are folded
in along their crease lines, and the two long-side flaps 3B
are brought in contact with each other and are heat sealed
to form a tight top.
One of the long-side flaps 3B - the rear one in Fig 1
- has integrally therewith but preferably separated by
crease lines a seal tab 4 and a lift tab 5. Hot melt
adhesive is applied to the seal tab 4, whereupon the two
tabs 4 and 5 are folded down over the formed top of the
package and the seal tab 4 is sealed by heat to the
opposite long-side flap 3B, so that a so called gable top
package as shown in Fig 2 is formed.
For initially opening the package, the seal tab 4 may
be lifted by the lift tab 5, so that the seal provided by
the hot melt adhesive is broken and the long-side flaps 3B
may be pulled apart to the extent necessary for allowing
pouring out of the contents of the package.
An important aspect of the design is that the package
may be reclosed after each opening by pushing down the tabs
4 and 5 between the opposite long-side flap 3B and the
folded short-side flaps 3A.
Figs 3 and 4 show a parallelepipedical package
instead of the gable top package of Figs 1 and 2. Also this
package has wall panels 11, bottom flaps 12 and top flaps
13. From the stage shown in Fig 3, the bottom flaps 12 are
conventionally folded and for example heat-sealed to form a
tight bottom, as is illustrated in the lower part of Fig 4.
After filling, the top of the package is to be
sealed. In a conventional way the two short-side flaps 13A


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are folded in along their crease lines, and the upper
portions of the long-side flaps 13B (which here are
separated from the remainder of the flaps by crease lines)
are brought in contact with each other and are heat sealed
to form a tight top.
The seal tab 14 formed on the rear long-side flap 13B
is provided with hot melt adhesive. The top is folded down,
and the seal tab 14 is sealed by heat to the upper portion
of the front wall panel 11, so that a parallelepipedical
package as shown in Fig 4 is formed.
This package can be opened by lifting the lift tab 15
and then reclosed after opening as described above with
reference to Figs 1 and 2.

Representative Drawing