Package making – Methods – Forming a cover adjunct or application of a cover adjunct to...
Patent
1986-09-29
1988-02-09
Sipos, John
Package making
Methods
Forming a cover adjunct or application of a cover adjunct to...
53133, B65B 6118
Patent
active
047233915
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to containers for foodstuffs and beverages comprising a container body at least the inner surface of which is of plastics material, especially though not exclusively those in which such products are sold for consumption direct from the container itself; to methods of making such containers and to apparatus for performing such methods.
A method of packaging for foodstuffs and beverages that is becoming increasingly common is that known as aseptic packaging. Conventional canning and bottling processes rely on the application of heat to the product, in its hermetically-sealed can or other container, in order to achieve the degree of sterilization (pasteurisation) needed to ensure the survival of the product, in a usable condition at ambient temperatures, for a sufficient length of time. Aseptic packaging processes are those which, instead of relying on the application of heat, achieve this end result by ensuring that the product is, at the time of being packaged, not contaminated by any undesirable or harmful organisms or spores, and that it is packed in a container of which all the components are sterilised to a commercially-acceptable degree, and remain so until they have been hermetically sealed with the product inside. Aseptic packaging is suitable for any product which is capable of surviving in a usable condition for a satisfactorily long, but predetermined, period of time in a hermetically sealed container (i.e. without deteriorating due to its own inherent characteristics).
While a wide variety of containers can be used for aseptic packaging, including metal cans, the absence of any need for high-temperature sterilisation renders less expensive forms of container, which would not survive the application of heat for sterilisation purposes, more attractive. Plastics pots and other containers of plastics are thus popular for aseptic packaging, particularly since they can readily be sterilised immediately prior to being filled, the commonest method of achieving such sterilisation being by treatment with hydrogen peroxide followed by a suitable brief heat treatment.
Aseptic packaging is normally carried out in a sterile atmosphere at a pressure slightly above the prevailing ambient pressure, and is therefore performed in a suitable enclosed space. The process is accordingly made as nearly fully automatic as possible, including of course the operation of closing each filled container.
Thus, if the container components, such as container body and the end closure member to be applied so as to seal the filled container, are each pre-manufactured, the process of sterilising the components and feeding them to the closing station of the packaging plant need normally present no particular difficulties.
End closure members for plastics pots used in aseptic packaging processes normally comprise a foil or other flexible diaphragm where there is no requirement for eventual opening of the container other than simple removal of the closure. However, often the product is such that the consumer will expect to be able to gain access to the contents of the container without fully removing the end closure member, for example where the contents are to be drunk direct from the container. It is now usual in such cases to use a conventional metal can end of the so-called "easy opening" kind having a weakened portion which is removed by pulling on a metal pull tab or other similar device.
While a filled plastics pot with a metal easy-opening can end constitutes a pack that is both technically satisfactory and attractive in appearance, it remains true that the metal can end is a relatively expensive component, and this must be reflected in the extent to which the use of aseptic packaging systems can be developed. As an alternative, a conventional closure diaphragm can of course be provided, which must be removed fully before use. However, where there is a requirement that the container, filled with a beverage, should be capable of serving as a drinking vessel, such a conventional closure has two serious disa
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Ashley Robert J.
Miller John D.
Ring Maurice F.
Metal Box Public Limited Company
Sipos John
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