WO1998018688A1

WO1998018688A1 - Compartmented packaging container

Info

Publication number: WO1998018688A1
Application number: PCT/GB1996/002666
Authority: WO
Inventors: James Nelson Dockerty
Original assignee: Anson Packaging Limited
Priority date: 1996-10-31
Filing date: 1996-10-31
Publication date: 1998-05-07
Also published as: AU4789497A; AU7321596A; WO1998018689A1

Abstract

A package of the kind having two opposed compartments (2, 3), the mouths of which are closed and separated by an internal membrane (4), and manually operable means (5) connected to the membrane and extending externally of the package for rupturing or displacing the membrane to allow communication between the compartments, the manually operable means (5) comprising an extension of the membrane (4) which is folded to overlie the membrane so that its free end forms a tab extending from a side of the package opposite to the fold, characterised by a member (16) at the junction between the mouths of the two compartments (2, 3), the member having a face (17) having an opening (23) therethrough for communicating between the compartments, the membrane (4) being sealed to the face of the member (16) to close the opening, the seal (19) defining a narrow endless band extending round the opening and having at least one corner portion and characterised in that a corner portion is arranged at the said fold (21).

Description

Compartmented packagi ng contai ner

DESCRIPTION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to packaging and more particularly to multi-compartment packaging.

BACKGROUND ART

It is known to provide multi-compartment packages for use m containing ingredients which cannot or should not be mixed or contacted together before use for one reason or another, e,g, to prolong shelf life or to prevent a chemical reaction. Thus it is known to provide retail food packages having two compartments, one of which is intended to contain yoghurt and the other fruit and which are intended to be mixed together by the consumer after opening the package. It is also known to provide a flexible package in the form of a two compartment sachet, the compartments of the sachet being separated by a rupturable membrane, whereby a user can manipulate the sachet to rupture the membrane and thus mix together the contents of the two compartments before the sachet is opened. It is known from US 5,213,256 to provide a container assembly comprising a container having a first section having a bottom wall, sidewalls, and end walls and a second section adapted to lie over the open top of said first section and an insert means adapted to separate the contents of said sections, said insert being removable from said container while said container is m a closed position. The container assembly is intended to maintain the hot/cold or moist/dry components of a food product separate until ]ust prior to consumption at which time the insert is removed and the components of the food product are combined. The insert is removable while the container is closed so that the components of the food product can be combined without necessitating handling by the consumer.

It is known from GB-A-2285791 to provide a rigid container assembly having an opposed pair of compartments, an internal partitioning membrane closing and separating the compartments, and a manually operable tab connected to the membrane and extending externally of the container, the tab being pulled to rupture or displace the membrane and allow communication between the compartments without opening the assembly. The two compartments may be defined by two thermoformed plastics trays, the membrane being sealed around the mouth of one tray by adhesive or heat sealing. The membrane may be folded back on itself to form the pull tab, or a cord or tape may be fixed to the membrane. The compartments may contain foods to be mixed together, e.g. cereals, dairy products and fruit or salads and dressing, or chemicals.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved multi-compartment package.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a package of the kind having two opposed compartments the mouths of which are closed and separated by an internal membrane, and manually operable means connected to the membrane and extending externally of the package for displacing the membrane to allow communication between the compartments, the manually operable means comprising an extension of the membrane which is folded to overlie the membrane so that its free end forms a tab extending from a side of the package opposite to the fold, characterised by a member at the junction between the mouths of the two compartments, the member having a face having an opening therethrough for communicating between the compartments, the membrane being sealed to the face of the member to close the opening, the seal defining an endless band extending round the opening and having a corner portion and characterised in that the corner portion is arranged adjacent to the said fold. The corner portion of the seal is a portion which changes direction.

Thus when the free end of the tab is grasped and pulled, it causes the seal between the membrane and the associated compartment of the package to give way so that the membrane can be peeled back from the compartment.

The member may be flat and may be integral with one of the compartments, e.g. to form a flange extending round the rim of the compartment.

Preferably the opening m the member defines the mouth of a cavity forming a compartment in the package. The mouth of the said compartment may also be shaped with a corner portion. The opening defining the cavity mouth may be generally elliptical although alternatively it may be circular. Alternatively again the mouth may be generally diamond shaped, with the fold disposed at one of the acute corners thereof. The seal may closely follow the shape of the said mouth. The object of the corner of the band of seal is to present a relatively small portion of the seal adjacent to the fold, from which position the membrane seal is first broken prior to the opening of the packaging, to reduce the effort required to break the seal. The package may be rigid and may be thermoformed from sheet plastics material such as PVC and the membrane may also be of sheet plastics or plastics film, e.g. "lidding" film.

It is envisaged that for most circumstances where the contents of one of the compartments is solid and the contents of the other compartment is liquid or semi-solid, it will be sufficient that only that compartment containing the liquid or semi-solid contents will be sealed with a membrane. With this arrangement, the compartment containing the solid component may be closed by being clipped to the compartment containing the liquid or semi- solid, e.g. with the aid of peripheral interengaging flanges on the pair of compartments, in a manner generally known per se. One of the interengaging flanges may be formed with a projection or bulged portion extending towards the other flange to improve the seal between the compartments. In some cases, e.g. when the packaging is particularly stiff, as may be the case with circular packaging, it may be desirable to relieve the projection locally to allow air to vent, e.g. when closing the package.

It might be desirable, where both compartments contain a liquid or semi-solid material, for both compartments to be sealed with its own membrane, in which case they will both require means for rupturing or displacing the membranes as aforesaid to allow mixing of the contents of the two compartments . Alternatively the manually operable means may comprise a cord or tape fixed to the membrane and folded to overlie the membrane to rupture and/or peel back the membrane when its face end is grasped and pulled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which: -

Figure 1 is a perspective view of packaging according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the packaging of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional side elevation on the line A-A of Figure 2 ;

Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional side view to an enlarged scale and showing a detail of the cross-section of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the packaging of Figure 1 to an enlarged scale;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional side view generally similar to that of Figure 3 and additionally showing the membrane ;

Figure 7 is a partial cross-sectional side view to an enlarged scale of a detail of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a partial cross-sectional side view to an enlarged scale of a further detail of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a step in the manufacture of the packaging of Figure 1;

Figure 10 is a side view of the package of Figure 1 during use, and Figure 11 is a plan view of part of the packaging of Figure 1.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the drawings there is shown packaging generally of the kind described in GB-A-2285791 consisting a rigid container assembly (1) formed by thermoforming sheet plastics material and having an opposed pair of generally tray-like bodies (6,7) defining opposed compartments (2,3) separated by an internal partitioning membrane (4) having a manually operable tab (5) extending externally of the bodies (6,7), the tab (5) being adapted to be pulled to displace the membrane (4) and allow communication between the compartments (2,3) before the container assembly is opened.

In the present invention, the container assembly (1) comprises a first generally rectangular dished body (6) defining a compartment (2) and having a mouth (22) defined by a peripheral rim (8) defined by an integral inverted generally U-shaped flange (9), the inwardly facing wall (10) of which flange is bulged inwards to form a sealing surface (11) .

The container assembly also comprises a second generally rectangular dished body (7) formed as a lid for closing the first body (6) and having a peripheral rim (13) terminated by a flange (12) adapted to engage with the corresponding flange (9) of the first body (6) to seal the first and second bodies together to form a closed vessel. The second body (7) comprises a generally centrally disposed dished portion (14) which defines the compartment (3) and which, in plan view, is shaped as a regular six- sided body having opposed pointed end portions (15), the dished portion (14) of the body (7) being spaced from the peripheral flange (12) by a substantially flat plate-like member (16) defining a downwardly directed face (17) surrounding the mouth (23) of the compartment (3).

The peripheral rim (13) of the second body (7) is arranged for sealing engagement with the bulged sealing surface (11) of the peripheral flange (9) of the first said body (6), with the bulge (11) acting to increase the sealing effect between the respective rims (8,13) of the two bodies (6,7) . As shown m Figure 5, the bulge (11) in the wall (10) of the peripheral flange (9) of the first body (6) may be locally relieved at (18) to form a vent for releasing trapped air to facilitate assembly together of the two bodies (6,7) of the container assembly. Figures 6 to 10 illustrate the positioning of the membrane (4) which consists of plastics film, e.g. so- called lidding film, between the compartments (2,3) defined by the respective first and second bodies (6,7) in the manner generally described in GB-A-2285791. In the present case the membrane (4) is shaped to be substantially coextensive with the second body (7) defining the lid. The membrane (4) is sealed to the planar face (17) of the plate-like portion (16) of the lid in a narrow endless line or band (19) closely circumscribing the compartment (3) in the body (7) by heat sealing or by means of adhesive or the like so that the line or band of seal has a shape corresponding to that of the compartment (3). The membrane (4) is then folded back on itself as indicated by arrow X in Figure 9 so that its free end (20) forms the tab (5) as shown in Figure 11. The fold (21) in the membrane (4) is thus disposed on a side of the body (7) opposite to the side from which the tabs extends. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY Due to the generally pointed shape of the portion of the line of seal (19) adjacent to the fold (21), relatively low resistance is required to break the seal (19) when the tab (5) is pulled in the direction of arrow B in Figure 10 as compared to a case in which the seal (19) presents a straight line extending parallel to the fold. By this arrangement the seal can be made to be secure in operation and yet easily broken when required.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A package of the kind comprising a container assembly having two opposed compartments the mouths of which are closed and separated by an internal membrane sealed around the mouth of one of the compartments, and manually operable means connected to the membrane and extending externally of the package for displacing the membrane to allow communication between the compartments, the manually operable means comprising an extension of the membrane which is folded to overlie the membrane so that its free end forms a tab extending from a side of the package opposite to the fold, characterised by a member at the junction between the mouths of the two compartments, the member having a face having an opening therethrough for communicating between the compartments, in that the membrane is sealed to the face of the member to close the opening, the seal defining an endless band extending round the opening and having a corner portion and in that the corner portion is arranged adjacent to the said fold.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein the member is substantially flat.

3. A package according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the member is integral with one of the compartments.

4. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the member defines a flange extending round the mouth of one of the compartments .

5. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein the opening in the member defines the mouth of a compartment.

6. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein the opening is generally elliptical in shape.

7. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein the compartments are rigid.

8. A package according to any preceding claim wherein the container assembly is thermoformed from sheet plastics material .

9. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein the membrane is of plastics sheet or film.

10. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein the extension is integral with the membrane.