Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting – deodorizing – preser – Analyzer – structured indicator – or manipulative laboratory... – Calorimeter
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-02
2004-01-13
Alexander, Lyle A. (Department: 1743)
Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting, deodorizing, preser
Analyzer, structured indicator, or manipulative laboratory...
Calorimeter
C422S067000, C436S001000, C436S136000, C436S166000, C436S169000, C073S023200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06676901
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oxygen indicator for indicating the presence or absence of oxygen by changes in color. More particularly, this invention relates to an adhesive oxygen indicator which is in a chip shape having a self-adhesive surface on one side and which is used by attaching the self-adhesive surface to a deoxidizer package or the inside of a packaging container. Moreover, this invention relates to a deoxidizer package with an oxygen indicating function, to which the oxygen indicator has been pasted. Furthermore, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for fixing the oxygen indicator to an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
An oxygen indicator detects changes in oxygen concentration within a packaging container for food or the like. Specifically, the oxygen indicator indicates by changing its color that the oxygen within a package has been removed sufficiently by a deoxidizer. Examples of proposed forms of such oxygen indicator are: products molded into tablets; products obtained by impregnating paper, threads, absorbent cotton, resin moldings, and other porous substances with solutions of oxygen indicator compositions; and products obtained by applying or printing oxygen indicator compositions on the surface of paper or film. Such oxygen indicators are widely used, either in the form as they are or in the state packaged in laminated plastic films, primarily for preserving the quality of foods by using deoxidizers. Moreover, methods or structures for fixing the aforementioned oxygen indicator to a deoxidizer package or to the inside of a packaging container with an adhesive or a double-sided adhesive tape have also been proposed and implemented because such methods or structures have advantageous effects, for example, that the risk of the oxygen indicator being eaten by mistake will be eliminated.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. SHO 64-66561 discloses an oxygen indicator provided with: an oxygen indicator layer on at least one side of synthetic paper; a transparent layer over the oxygen indicator layer; and an adhesive layer on the entire or a part of the front side and;/or back side thereof. Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. HEI 4-3980 proposes a method for making an integrated form of an oxygen indicator by pasting a sheet-shaped oxygen indicating agent to a deoxidizer packaging material with an adhesive or a double-sided adhesive tape. With these pasted oxygen indicators, however, moisture or oil contained in foods or other preserved products sometimes penetrates into the oxygen indicating agent and impairs their color changing function.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. HEI 8-282740 discloses an integrated oxygen indicating agent in which the following layers are laminated in the order as listed as follows: a deoxidizer package, a double-sided adhesive tape, an oxygen indicator sheet, and transparent film. However, since this integrated oxygen indicator uses the double-sided adhesive tape, the following problems take place: the obtained product is expensive; the oxygen indicator becomes thick and inflexible, thereby causing a sense of a cumbersome existence; and the productivity for making the integrated form is low. In addition, since only the peripheral portions of the oxygen indicator sheet are bonded to a transparent film, when the oxygen indicator and the transparent film are cut, there is a possibility that moisture or oil permeates through the cut edges of the indicator sheet and transparent film into the entire oxygen indicator sheet, causing abnormal changes in the color of the sheet.
Furthermore, a study conducted by the inventors of the present invention revealed that when deoxidizers are used in the packaging container of foods or the like, changes in the color of the oxygen indicator often lag behind changes in the oxygen concentration inside the packaging container. This results in a problem that the color changes of the oxygen indicator do not correspond to the changes in oxygen concentration.
A deoxidizer package is manufactured usually by packaging a deoxidizer with a packaging material having heat-sealability by means of heat sealing such as three-side sealing or four-side sealing. The deoxidizer package exhibits a function to absorb oxygen within a container and is used to maintain the freshness of foods packaged and to preserve pharmaceuticals. A deoxidizer package with an oxygen indicating function is also introduced, which is provided with the aforementioned oxygen indicator. This deoxidizer package with the oxygen indicating function is practically used as a product obtained by fixing a label-, sheet-, thread-, or plate-type oxygen indicator tape to the deoxidizer package with an adhesive or a double-sided adhesive tape.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. HEI 8-275760 discloses a deoxidizer package with an oxygen indicating function, concerning which a thread-shaped oxygen indicator covered with a transparent adhesive tape is bonded to peripheral seal portions of the deoxidizer package, thereby it is possible to confirm color changes from any side, either front or back, of the deoxidizer package. However, since the edges of this integrated oxygen indicator are open, there is a problem in that moisture or oil contained in a preserved product such as foods penetrates into the thread-shaped oxygen indicator, thereby impairing the color changing function. Also, there is a problem in that loosen threads attach to the foods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problems of the conventional oxygen indicators such as water/oil resistance and thickness as well as the cost problem, and to develop an adhesive oxygen indicator that has a wide range of uses and exhibits excellent color changing performance. Specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide an adhesive oxygen indicator that changes its color rapidly in response to changes in oxygen concentration, and to provide products in which this oxygen indicator is used. It is a still another object to solve the aforementioned problems and to provide a method and apparatus for fixing the new adhesive oxygen indicator as described above to objects such as deoxidizer packages, packaging pouches, small-pouch packages, packaging boxes, packaging cases, and packaged goods.
Furthermore, it is an object of this invention to develop a deoxidizer package with an oxygen indicating function, which can solve the aforementioned problems, which can be applied for a wide range of practical uses, which has excellent performance and safety, and which enables users to see the color changes of the oxygen indicator from either side of the deoxidizer package.
In order to achieve the above-described objects, this invention provides an oxygen indicator comprising:
an oxygen indicating agent including a substrate and an oxygen indicator composition fixed at the surface of the substrate; and
a single-sided self-adhesive plastic member having a self-adhesive layer on one side thereof,
wherein the oxygen indicating agent is provided over the single-sided self-adhesive plastic member by causing the oxygen indicator composition to closely contact the self-adhesive layer.
The single-sided self-adhesive plastic member is limitedly permeable to gas and moisture, and the single-sided self-adhesive plastic member is at least partly transparent. Furthermore, the width of the single-sided self-adhesive plastic member can be wider than that of the oxygen indicating agent and the oxygen indicating agent can be provided at an approximate center position in the width direction of the single-sided self-adhesive plastic member.
It is possible to employ such structure that the oxygen indicator composition is fixed at the surface of the substrate by means of application, printing, or impregnation.
The substrate and the single-sided self-adhesive plastic member can be formed in a strip shape, and a plural
Hatakeyama Hidetoshi
Iwauchi Shigeharu
Ohsawa Masahiko
Tobari Shigeo
Alexander Lyle A.
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc.
Nixon & Peabody LLP
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