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A PACKAGING CONTAINER, A METHOD AND AN ASSEMBLY FOR
F~LLING SAME
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a packaging container of foldable
material which is disposed to be reforrned between a substantially flat-laid
state and a raised state, and including a filling arrangement with a contents
supply channel. The present invention also relates to a method of filling a
packaging container with pumpable contents during the simultaneous
reforming of the container from a substantially flat-laid state to a raised state
via a filling arrangement with a contents supply channel which, in the flat-
laid state of the packaging container, is sealed in liquid-tight fashion. The
present invention finally relates to an assembly for filling packaging
containers with pumpable contents during the simultaneous reforrning of
the packaging container from the flat-laid and sealed state to a raised state,
the assembly including a filler pipe and a filling arrangement carried by the
packaging container and provided with a contents supply channel.
BACKGROIJND ART
It is known in the art to pack, for example, foods of liquid or
pumpable type in single use disposable packages of flexible packaging
material, e.g. plastic film or packaging laminate comprising layers of paper
and plastic. Packaging containers of this type are ready made and sealed and
are transported in, for instance, the flat-laid state to a point where they are to
be filled with the intended contents. At, for instance, a dairy or a juice
producing plant, the flat-laid packaging containers are fed to a filling
machine which fills the packaging containers with, for example, rnilk or juice
and reseals them for further transport to the consumer. When the content
which are to be packed have been sterilized beforehand in order to obtain
long shelf life, packaging containers of aseptic type are employed. Sealed,
flat-laid packaging containers may, for example, be sterilized by radiation at
the producers, which makes it sirnple to transport the packaging containers
in a securely aseptic manner to the filling machine where they are filled
t under aseptic conditions.
A packaging system of this type is described in European Patent
Application EP95101194.9, to which reference is now made. This packaging
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system produces aseptic consumer packages of the single use disposable
type which are finished and sterilized centrally, whereafter they are
transported to a filling machine where they are filled and given the desired
final form. Filling takes place by means of a filler pipe which, after a
5 supplementary sterilization, penetrates a wall in a fi~ling arrangement so that
the desired quantity of contents may be pumped into the packaging
container under aseptic conditions. The filler pipe is removed and the filling
arrangement is sealed in a sterile chamber and, after final forrning, the
packaging container is ready fo~ delivery.
A further prior art packaging container is described in European
Patent EP 263.101, to which reference is now made. This packaging container
is a big bag produced from flexible plastic material, and the package is
provided with a filling arrangement and a closure arrangement which
together ensure that the prefabricated packaging container may be filled and
15 resealed in a satisfactory manner from the viewpoint of steri~ity. The filling
arrangement comprises a tubular portion which is sealed in liquid-tight
fashion over an aperture provided in one wall surface of the packaging
container. A closure arrangement is connected to an opposing, interior wall
surface in the packaging container and is employed to provide an interior
20 closure o~ the filling arrangement. With the aid of individually movable
operating devices, the closure arrangement is temporarily removed from the
filling arrangement in connection with the filling operation cycle.
While the above mentioned type of packaging container displays a
filling and closure arrangement which functions satisfactorily, it is only
25 suitable for use in bag packs o~ large volume in which the opposing walls arelocated adjacent one another. The arrangement requires double hole making
and liquid-tight sealing between the filling arrangement and the closure
arrangement and the material of the packaging container, respectively, and
is moreover relatively expensive and complex in its design and construction.
OBJECTS OF THE INV~NTION - THE CONTAINER
There is thus a wish in the art to provide a packaging container of
consumer size which may made ready beforehand and which includes a
filling arrangement also suitable for aseptic filling, and being of simple and
35 economical design and construction.
One object of the present invention is to realise such a pacl<aging
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container with a filling arrangement which, from the aseptic viewpoint, has a
"pure" construction which obviates the above-outlined difficulties and which
does not suffer from t}~e drawbacks inherent in prior art packaging
r containers.
A further object of the present invention is to realise a packaging
container with a filling arrangement which is simple to mount on a flat-laid
packaging container without complicated hole making, positioning or
sealing.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to realise a packaging
container with a filling arrangement whose construction prevents the
occu~L~llce of traps, cavities or other risk sources for bacterial accumulation.Still a further object of the present invention is to realise a packaging
container with a filling arrangement which includes a wall intended for
penetration, the wall being designed and arranged in such a manner that the
penetration may take place in a controlled manner and without causing
contamination in the packaging container.
SOLI~TION
These and other objects have been attained according to the present
invention ir that a packaging container of the type described by way of
introduction has been given the characterizing feature that the contents
supply channel in the flat-laid state of the packaging container is sealed in
liquid-tight fashion by means of a covering membrane which is integral with
the filLling alrrangement and which is permanently connected to an opposing,
inner wall surface in the packaging container, the covering membrane being,
in the raised state of the packaging container, mechanically separated from
the filling arrangement and located at such a distance therefrom that the
contents supply channel is exposed.
Preferred embodiments of the packaging container according to the
present invention have further been given the characterizing features as set
forth in appended subclaims 2 to 6.
By manufacturing the filling arrangement in one piece, i.e. with
integral covering membrane, there will be obtained an extremely "pure"
construction which facilitates aseptic handling. By permanently connecting
the covering membrane to an opposing, inner wall surface in the packaging
container, it will be ensured that, on penetration, material pieces deriving
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from the filling arrangement and/ or the packaging container proper do not
fall loose inside the packaging container or irnpede the contents during
filling and emptying. Furthermore, the conditions will be created for a
rational opening and filling cycle which is also extremely well-suited for
aseptic conditions.
OBJECI S OF THE INVENTION - THE METHOD
One object of the present invention is also to realise a method of filling
a packaging container of the above-outlined type, this method being
10 eminently well suited for aseptic filling and being capable of execution
rapidly and rationally in a high capacity filling machine.
A further object of the present invention is to realise a method of
filling a packaging container which makes it possible, without complicated
positioning o~ the packaging container and/or the filling arrangement and
15 without mechanical handling by several independent parts, to execute the
fiUing cycle in a satisfactory manner from the aseptic viewpoint.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to realise a method of
filling a packaging container which does not suffer from the drawbacks as
outlined above in a consideration of the prior art.
SOLI lTION
The above and other objects have been attained according to the
present invention in that a method of the type described by way of
introduction has been given the characterizing feature that the filling
25 arrangement is connected to a filler pipe which breaks the liquid tight seal of
the contents supply channel by mechanically separating a covering
membrane integral with the filling arrangement therefrom. One preferred
embodiment of the method according to the present invention has further
been given the characterizing features as set forth in appended subclaim 8.
The method according to the invention makes for a rapid and reliable
filling cycle which is eminently suited for aseptic filling in a surrounding
sterile chamber.
OBTECTS OF THE INVENTION - THE ASSEMBLY
One object of the present invention is finally also to realise an
assembly for filling a packaging container with pumpable contents, the
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assembly being simple and uncomplicated and not displaying those
drawbacks from which similar prior art assemblies suffer.
A further object of the present invention is to realise an assembly for
filling a packaging container which includes few moving parts and is
designed, in one work operation, reliably and hygienically to open and fill a
prefabricated packaging container.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to realise an assembly
for filling a packaging container, the assembly including means for fixing
and handl;ng a packaging container during filling.
SOLUTION
The above and other obJects have been attained according to the
present invention in that an assembly of the type described by way of
introduction has been given the characterizing feature that the contents
15 supply channel has a liquid-tight covering membrane integral with the
fil3ing arrangement and connected to an opposing, inner wall surface in the
packaging container, the filler pipe having a portion which is connectable in
liquid-tight fashion with the filling arrangement and whose free end
displays means for penetrating the covering membrane and separation
20 thereof from the filling arrangement.
Preferred embodiments of the assembly according to the present
invention have further been given the characterizing features as set forth in
appended subclairns 10 to 12.
Since the assembly according to the invention displays a filler pipe
25 with an integral penetration device, a simple construction will be obtained
which is well suited for aseptic filling of packaging containers which have
been rendered aseptic beforehand.
BRIEF DESCRIPrION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
One preferred embodiment of the packaging container, the method
and the assembly according to the present invention will now be described
in greater detail hereinbelow, with particular reference to the accompanying,
schematic Drawings which show only those details indispensable for an
understanding of the present invention. In the accompanying Drawings:
Fig. 1 shows, in the flat-laid state, a packaging container of the type
which is intended to be handled using the method according to the
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invention;
Fig. 2 shows the packaging container of Fig. 1 after filling and final
forming;
Fig. 3 shows, on a larger scale and in section, a filling arrangement
according to the invention mounted on a packaging container in the flat-laid
state; and
Fig. 4 shows, on a larger scale and in section, the filling arrangement
according to Fig. 3 during the final phase of the fflling cycle.
10 DES~RIPTION OF PREFERRED E~BODIMENT
One preferred embodiment of a packaging container according to the
present invention is illustrated in Fig. 1 and is manufactured from a foldable,
flexible packaging materiaI of known type. The packaging material may, for
example, be a laminate which includes a substantially central carrier or core
15 layer of fibre material, for example paper, which is coated on either side with
homogeneous layers of thermoplastic material, e.g. polyethylene. The
packaging laminate may also include further layers, for example of
alurninium foil or other barrier material. In Fig. 1, the packaging container isshown in the compressed or flat-laid state, which makes it suitable as a space
20 saving measure to be capable of being transported, for example from the
point of manufacture to the food producer where the packaging container is
to be finished and filled with the intended contents. The packaging container
1 is produced in that a sheet or a web of packaging material is double folded
along a bottom line 2, whereafter the longitudinal and transverse edges of
25 the sheet are thermosealed inside-to-inside in two mutually parallel,
longitudinal joints 3, and a transverse joint 4. The packaging material is also
provided with a pattern of fold or crease lines 5 which make it possible, in a
per se known manner, to convert the blank into a substantially
parallelepipedic packaging configuration. A packaging container of this type
30 is described in, for example, EP 95101194.9, to which reference is now made
for further information in respect of both the packaging container with its
filling arrangement, as well as the method and the design and construction
of the assembly.
At the upper end of the packaging container 1, the one side of the flat-
35 laid blank displays a, for example, injection moulded filling arrangement
and/or opening arrangement 6, which is covered by a closure device 7, for
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example a screw cap. It will be apparent from Fig. 2 how the packaging
container 1, after filling and closure, has obtained its parallelepipedic
configuration, the fold or crease lines 5 controlling the formation of the
longitudinal and transverse edge lines of the packaging container, and also
5 making possible the forrn;ng of tlhe four flat-laid corner flaps 8 for taking
care of the excess material which, for geometric reasons, occurs on the
reforming of the flat-laid packaging container into its final, parallelepipedic
configuration. Two upper corner flaps 8 are folded down towards and sealed
to the sides of the packaging container while two bottom corner flaps (not
10 visible) are folded in towards and sealed to the bottom of the packaging
container. It will also be apparent from Fig. 2 how the filling
arrangement/opening arrangement 6 is, after reforming of the packaging
container to the raised state, placed at a forward end of the relatively planar,upper top wall 9 of the packaging container, i.e. between one of the edge or
15 crease lines 5 and in front of the centrally running transverse joint 4 over the
top wall 9 of the packaging container. The filling arrangement 6 and
surrounding portion of the packaging container 1 are shown on a larger scale
and in cross section in Figs. 3 and 4, from which it will be apparent how the
filling arrangement 6 is substantially tubular in shape and surrounds an
20 interior contents supply channel 10. The contents supply channel 10 is, at its
lower end, sealed in liquid-tight fashion by means of a wall or covering
membrane 11 which is integral with and thus of one piece manufacture with
the filling arrangement 6, for example by injection moulding. The covering
membrane 11 has a central, planar region and a surrounding, peripheral
25 region which is gently frusto conical and connected to the contents supply
channel 10 a slight distance above the plane in which the central region of
the covering membrane 11 is located. The outside of the filling arrangement
6 displays, a~ its lower end, a projecting flange 12 which, by thermosealing, isconnected in liquid-tight fashion to the inside of the packaging material. The
30 outside of the filling arrangement further has a groove 13 located a slight
distance above the flange, as well as a thread 14 for applying the closure
device 7, for example in the form of a screw cap. When the packaging
container is in the flat-laid state illustrated in Pigs. 1 and 3, the transversesealing joint 4 is located immediately adjacent the filling arrangement 6 (to
35 the left in Fig. 3), while the rear portion of the top wall 9 abuts with its inner
surface against and is t;hermosealed to the central portion of the covering
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membrane 11. The thermosealing between the packaging material and both
the covering membrane 11 and the flange 12 takes place in connection with
the manufacture of the flat-laid packaging containers.
Fig. 4 shows the filling arrangement 6 according to Fig. 3 in a later
stage and, more precisely, during the closing sequence of the filling cycle.
The filling arrangement 6 is surrounded by a guide member 15, which
includes an imrnobile fixing device 16 in the form of a fixed or flexible part
and a radially movable fixing device 17 which includes one or more radially
movable segments for engagement with the groove 13 of the filling
arrangement ~. A filler pipe 18 is inserted in the contents supply channel 10
of the filling arrangement 6. The outer diameter of the cylindrical filler pipe
18 is equal to or slightly less than the inner diameter of the contents supply
channel 10, and the lower portion of the filler pipe 18 is surrounded by a
sealing ring or projecting bead 19 for sealing abutment against the inner
surface of the contents supply channel 10. At its lower end, the filler pipe 18
displays a circular cutting edge 20 which, in the illustrated position, has
penetrated and separated the covering membrane 11 from the filling
arrangement 6 along an annular incision. The covering membrane 11 is, as
has been mentioned previously, sealed to the inner surface of the packaging
material at the rear portion of the top wall 9, which, in connection with the
filling and reforming of the flat-laid packaging container 1 to the raised state,
pivots aside about the transverse joint 4 until the front and rear portions,
respectively, of the top wall are located substantially in the same plane. The
covering membrane 11 will hereby be removed ~rom the contents supply
channel 10 and expose the channel so that contents may be pumped
unimpeded into the packaging container. In a per se known manner (not
shown), the filler pipe 18 is connected to a pump and a contents source of
conventional type. Manoeuvring of the filler pipe 18 in the axial direction, as
well as operation of the movable fixing device 17 of the guide member 15
take place mechanically, pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically with the
aid of know drive means (not shown). On filling of aseptic packages, the
entire filling assembly is surrounded in a per se known manner by a sterile
chamber provided with sluice or curtain arrangements, the chamber being
fed with sterile air at excess pressure.
When a packaging container according to the invention is to be filled
with its contents, it is fed to the filling machine in the flat-laid, closed and
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previously sterilized form. The packaging container is here provided with
the filling arrangement 6 whose flange 12'is therrnosealed in liquid- and
bacteria-tight fashion to a surrounding portion of the packaging material and
the central portion of the covering membrane 11 is permanently connected to
5 an opposing, inner wall surface, i.e. the inside of the top wall 9. The
packaging container has undergone sterilization treatment, for example by
being subjected in the flat-laid state to a radiation sterilization until such
time as its inner space has reached a level o~ sterility which is satisfactory for
the intended purpose.
After infeed into the filling machine and possible supplementary
sterilization using, for example, ~y~rogen peroxide or steam by the filling
arrangement (in sterile space), this is inserted in the guide member 15 of the
machine by an axial rellative movement between the filling arrangement 6
and the guide member 15 until such time as the fi~ang devices 16 come into
15 abutment against the upper edge region of the hlling arrangement 6. In this
position, lthe radially movable fixing devices 17 are activated so that they are
brought i~to engagement with the groove 13 in the lower, external portion of
the filling arrangement. The filling arrangement 6 is hereby fixed in the
desired position in relation to the guide member 15 so that the filler pipe 18
20 may, with the desired precision, be axially displaced downwards through
the contents supply channel lQ. In such instance, the cutting edge 20 located
at the front end of the filler pipe 18 will come into contact with the periphery
of the covering membrane 11 which is punctured up to the surface of the
channel 10 so that the communication between the covering membrane 11
25 and the filling arrangement 6 ceases and the interior of the packaging
container becomes accessible for the infeed of contents via the filler pipe 18.
With the aid of, for example, a metering pump of known type, contents are
now passed via the fiIler pipe 18 into the flat-laid packaging container which
is hereby forced to expand and progressively change into more or less
30 parallelepipedic configuration (apart from the corner flaps ~), controlled by
external, mechanical forming parts (described in greater detail in European
Patent Application EP ~5101194.9, to which reference is now made for
further information.) During the transition from flat-laid to parallelepipedic
configuration, the rear and front portions, respectively, of the top wall 9 will
35 be pivoted away from one another with the transverse sealing joint 4 acting
as pivot, for which reason the top wall 9 will, after a completed filling cycle,
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have assumed the position illustrated in Fig. 4 with the covering membrane
11 located a distance from the inlet of the filling arrangement 6. The covering
membrane 11 (which thus remains in the packaging container) will hereby
become invisible to the consumer via the contents supply channel 10. This
5 makes it possible to provide the non-sealed surface of the covering
membrane with a marking or a number which can be made visible to the
consumer only if the packaging container is once again flat-laid after
emptying of its contents. The marking may, for example, consist of some
form of lottery number or act as a marking for some other type of
10 competition described on the outside of the package, which acts as an
incentive for the consumer to flatten the empty package, as is desirable in
order to reduce the volume of litter and refuse.
After completed filling and forming of the packaging container, the
filler pipe 18 is removed and the outer end of the filling arrangement ~ is
15 sealed in li~uid- and bacteria-tight fashion, e.g. by means of a thermosealable
pull tab and / or a screw cap 7. The filling arrangement will, in the illustrated
embodiment, thus also serve as an opening arrangement on the finished
packaging container.
The packaging container with the above-described filling
20 arrangement thus makes it possible, in a controlled and hygienic manner, to
handle and fill previously sterilized, flat-laid packaging containers. The
arrangement is simple and convenient to handle and makes for rational,
rapid filling with retained security and dependability.
