CN104395201A - A unique dispensing carton - Google Patents

Abstract

A parallelepiped dispensing carton (21) for stacked and/or interfolded sheet materials is disclosed. The carton (21) has a top wall, a bottom wall, and at least one side wall. The carton (21) is formed from a fibrous structure (12) having an opacity ranging from about 5.0 to about 45.0.

Description

Unique dispensing carton

technical field

The present disclosure relates to dispensing packages and dispensing cartons for stacked and/or interfolded sheet material, such as facial tissues. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to packages and cartons having an eco-friendly environmental footprint and improved tactile feel configured for dispensing stacked and interfolded sheets.

Background technique

Packages for containing and dispensing stacked and/or interfolded sheets are typically formed from cardboard cartons and other rigid materials. These cartons are used on a daily basis and are found in various bathrooms and other rooms in the home. These paperboard or cardboard constructions are generally rigid parallel tube constructions with graphics printed on their outer surfaces. Most consumers would say these cartons are hard, smooth, have fixed graphics, and are frankly uninteresting.

Typically, the carton is provided and formed from a blank board, the blank board shown being made of foldable cardboard or similar sheet material. These containers typically have a top surface, a bottom surface, and opposing side panels. All panels are hinged along parallel horizontal fold lines. Blank boards are generally adapted to be folded into a rectangular tubular configuration and thus comprise typical end-loading cartons.

The top surface of a conventional carton has a panel formed therein defined by an annular line of separation and adapted to be removed by breaking the frangible separation line in a conventional manner. The end closures of the carton are formed by inwardly foldable closure flaps. This may include secondary flaps connected to the side panels of the carton at opposite ends of the side panels. Each of these end flaps or secondary flaps may have a cutout to allow exposure of a portion of the primary flap hingedly attached to the opposite end of the top surface along a hinge line. These main flaps are foldable down over the ends of the carton and completely cover the ends of the carton. The carton blanks can be assembled in any conventional manner. An adhesive tab may be provided along one side edge and attached to the bottom surface along a hinge line for use as a manufacturer's adhesive tab.

The cartons can generally be divided into two main types. The first type enables "popping" of stacked and interfolded sheets for dispensing through an opening in the top wall of the carton. The pop-up dispenser provides partial withdrawal of the next continuous tissue as sheets are pulled from the carton one sheet at a time. The second type of carton facilitates dispensing stacks of sheets that are generally not interfolded by providing an opening in at least one carton wall to allow a user to reach into the carton and remove one or more sheets at a time. The latter type of cartons are often referred to as "pull-in" cartons. Typically, a drop-in carton does not facilitate "pop-up" dispensing of continuous sheets. Such containers are provided in US Patent Nos. 3,144,961 and 3,272,385.

Frankly speaking, innovation in the carton space has been rather stagnant so far.

Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that it would be clearly beneficial to provide a carton for dispensing stacked and/or interfolded sheets, such as facial tissue, that would not provide the same benefits from existing consumer dispensing of materials disposed therein. The drawbacks of the method are to manufacture the carton from a limited amount of resources, thereby reducing the environmental footprint of the carton. Eliminating such non-decomposable packaging materials actually requires fewer manufacturing steps and is eco-friendly since no additional naturally-sourced materials are required.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that it would be clearly beneficial to provide a carton for dispensing stacked and/or interfolded sheets, such as facial tissue, that provides the consumer with a more ergonomic container having Better tactile feel than existing commercially available cardboard containers. Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate the obvious benefit of providing a carton for dispensing stacked and/or interfolded sheets, such as facial tissue, that reduces the environmental footprint by reducing the environmental footprint upon disposal.

Contents of the invention

The present disclosure provides a parallelepipedal dispensing carton for dispensing stacked and/or interfolded sheets. The carton has a top wall, a bottom wall and at least one side wall. The container is formed from a fibrous structure having an opacity ranging from about 5.0 to about 45.0.

The present disclosure also provides a container having a top wall, a bottom wall, and at least one side wall. The container is formed from a fibrous structure. Both side walls have a flexural stiffness in the range of about 1.4 N*mm to about 200 N*/mm, and at least one wall has an opacity in the range of about 5.0 to about 45.0.

The present disclosure also provides a container having a top wall, a bottom wall, and at least one side wall. The container is formed from a material comprising a fibrous structure bonded to a membrane material. The material has an opacity/thickness value ranging from about 3.8 to about 16.0.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the carton of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of packaging material suitable for forming the carton of Figure 1 taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the carton of Fig. 1 taken along line 3-3;

Figure 4 is a graphical representation of the mathematical expression for exemplary laminated and non-laminated structures, where x = compression pressure and y = normalized compression thickness; and

Figure 5 is a graphical representation of the mathematical expression for exemplary laminated and non-laminated structures, where x = relaxed pressure and y = normalized relaxed thickness.

Detailed ways

The present disclosure provides materials suitable for forming cartons useful for containing sanitary tissue products. The material generally includes a fibrous structure laminated with a film having a high bulk and loft on the layer of the fibrous structure to form a composite fabric.

As used herein, "basis weight" is the weight per unit area of a sample, reported in units of lbs/ ^3000ft2 or g/ ^m2 (gsm), and determined according to the "Basis Weight Test Method" described herein.

As used herein, "thickness" refers to the macroscopic thickness of a fibrous structure. Thickness is measured according to the Thickness Test Method described herein.

A "coformed fibrous structure" provides a fibrous structure comprising a mixture of at least two different materials. At least one material comprises filaments such as polypropylene filaments, and at least one other material different from the first material comprising solid additions such as fibers and/or particles. In one example, the coform fibrous structure contains solid additives, such as fibers, such as wood pulp fibers and filaments, such as polypropylene filaments.

As used herein, "cross direction" or "CD" refers to the direction parallel to the width of the fibrous structure making machine and/or sanitary tissue product making equipment and perpendicular to the machine direction.

As used herein, "density" is calculated as the quotient of the basis weight of the fibrous structure expressed in gsm divided by the thickness of the fibrous structure expressed in microns. The resulting fiber structure density is expressed in g/cm ³ .

As used herein, "fibrous structure" means a structure comprising one or more filaments and/or fibers suitable for making cartons containing sanitary tissue products. In one non-limiting example, a fibrous structure may be an ordered arrangement of filaments and/or fibers that perform some function within the structure. Non-limiting examples of fibrous structures may include paper and/or fabric (including, for example, woven, knitted, and nonwoven structures).

Non-limiting examples for making fibrous structures include wet-laid processes, air-laid processes, spunbond processes, weaving processes, melt-blowing processes, and extrusion processes. Some methods may include the step of preparing the fiber composition in the form of a suspension in a medium, either wet, more specifically an aqueous medium, or dry, more specifically gaseous, i.e. using air as medium. The aqueous medium used in the wet lay-up process is sometimes referred to as fiber slurry. The fiber slurry is then used to deposit the plurality of fibers onto a forming wire or belt such that a green fiber structure is formed, after which the fibers are dried and/or bonded together to form the fiber structure. Further processing of the fiber structure can be carried out such that a finished fiber structure is formed. For example, in a typical papermaking process, the finished fibrous structure is a fibrous structure that is wound up on a reel at the end of papermaking, and can then be converted into a finished product, such as a sanitary tissue product.

The fiber structure can be uniform or can be layered. If layered, the fibrous structure may comprise at least two and/or at least three and/or at least four and/or at least five layers. The fiber structure may also be a coform fiber structure.

"Fiber" and/or "filament" means an elongated particle (eg, an aspect ratio greater than 1) whose apparent length substantially exceeds its apparent width. For purposes of this disclosure, a "fiber" may be an elongated particle exhibiting a length of less than 5.08 cm (2 inches), and a "filament" is an elongated particle exhibiting a length of greater than or equal to 5.08 cm (2 inches).

Fibers are generally considered to be discontinuous in nature. Non-limiting examples of fibers include wood pulp fibers and synthetic staple fibers such as polyester fibers.

Filaments are generally considered to be virtually continuous or substantially continuous. Filaments are relatively longer than fibers. Non-limiting examples of filaments include meltblown and spunbond filaments. Non-limiting examples of materials from which filaments can be spun include natural polymers such as starch, starch derivatives, cellulose and cellulose derivatives, hemicellulose, hemicellulose derivatives, and synthetic polymers (including but not limited to polyethylene alcohol filaments and/or polyvinyl alcohol derivative filaments), and thermoplastic polymer filaments such as polyester, nylon, polyolefins (such as polypropylene filaments, polyethylene filaments), and biodegradable or compostable Thermoplastic fibers such as polylactic acid filaments, polyhydroxyalkanoate filaments and polycaprolactone filaments. The filaments can be monocomponent or multicomponent, such as bicomponent filaments.

In one non-limiting example, "fiber" refers to papermaking fibers. Papermaking fibers useful in the present invention include cellulosic fibers commonly referred to as wood pulp fibers. Applicable wood pulps include chemical wood pulps, such as Kraft, sulfite wood pulp, and sulfate wood pulp, and mechanical wood pulps, including, for example, ground wood pulp, thermodynamic wood pulp, and chemically modified thermodynamic wood pulp. . However, chemical wood pulps may be preferred because they impart an excellent soft feel to facial tissue sheets made therefrom. Wood pulp from deciduous trees (hereinafter also referred to as "hardwood") and coniferous trees (hereinafter also referred to as "softwood") may also be utilized. Hardwood fibers and softwood fibers may be blended, or alternatively may be deposited in layers to provide a layered web, as described in US Patent Nos. 4,300,981 and 3,994,771. Also suitable for use in the present invention are fibers derived from recycled paper, which may contain any or all of the above categories, as well as other non-fibrous materials such as fillers and binders used to facilitate original papermaking .

In addition to various wood pulp fibers, other cellulosic fibers such as cotton linters, rayon, lyocell, and bagasse can also be used in the present invention. Other sources of cellulose in fiber form that can be spun into fibers include herbaceous plant and grain sources.

"Film material" is intended to include foils, polymer sheets, coextrusions, laminates, and combinations thereof. The membrane material is preferably produced from polymers without adhesive properties, which can be produced from homogeneous resins or mixtures thereof. Properties of selected membrane materials may include, but are not limited to, combinations or degrees of the following: porous, non-porous, microporous, gas or liquid permeable, impermeable, hydrophilic, hydrophobic, hygroscopic, lipophilic oleophobic, high critical surface tension, low critical surface tension, surface pretextured, elastically yieldable, plastically yieldable, conductive and nonconductive. Such materials may be homogeneous or combinations of compositions.

Film materials can be made from homogeneous resins or their blends. Single or multiple layers within the film structure are contemplated, whether coextruded, extrusion-coated, laminated or combined by other known methods. A key attribute of this film material is that it can be shaped to create protrusions and valleys. Available resins include, but are not limited to, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) , latex structure, nylon, etc. Polyolefins are generally preferred due to their low cost and ease of formation, but are not required to practice the invention. High density polyethylene (HDPE) is most preferred for making the membrane. Other suitable materials from which membranes are made include, but are not limited to, aluminum foils, coated (waxed, etc.) and uncoated papers, coated and uncoated wovens, scrims, webs, nonwovens, and perforated or porous films , and their combinations. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the flexible film material is a formed film of about 0.0001 inch to about 0.005 inch, more preferably a film of about 0.001 inch thickness.

As used herein, "machine direction" or "MD" refers to the direction parallel to the flow of a fibrous structure through a fibrous structure making machine and/or sanitary tissue product manufacturing equipment.

As used herein, "ply" means two or more separate unitary fibrous structures arranged in substantially adjoining face-to-face relationship with each other to form a multi-ply fibrous structure and/or a multi-ply sanitary tissue products. It is also contemplated that a single unitary fibrous structure can be effectively formed into a multi-ply fibrous structure, for example by folding it on itself.

As used herein, "ply" refers to a single unitary fibrous structure.

"Sanitary tissue product" means a soft, low density (e.g., less than about 0.15 g/cm ³ ) web that can be used as a wiping implement for cleaning after urinating or defecating (toilet tissue ), ENT discharges (facial tissues) and multipurpose absorbent and cleansing uses (absorbent wipes).

The sanitary tissue product may be segmented into individual sections of the sanitary tissue product having discrete lengths. The individual sections of these sanitary tissue products are then folded upon themselves, and subsequently stacked and/or interwoven. The stacked and/or interfolded sanitary tissue product may then be inserted into a suitable package consistent with the present disclosure. Packaging for containing and dispensing stacked and/or interfolded sheets provided in cardboard cartons generally falls into two main types. The first type enables "popping" of stacked and interfolded sheets for dispensing through an opening in the top wall of the carton. The pop-up dispenser provides partial withdrawal of the next continuous tissue as sheets are pulled from the carton one sheet at a time. The second type of carton facilitates dispensing stacks of sheets that are generally not interfolded by providing an opening in at least one carton wall to allow a user to reach into the carton and remove one or more sheets at a time . The latter type of cartons are often referred to as "pull-in" cartons.

Alternatively, the sanitary tissue product may or may not be convolutedly wound around the core itself to form a sanitary tissue product roll. A line of perforations may be provided within the length of the wound product to facilitate separation of adjacent portions of the convolutedly wound sanitary tissue product.

In one non-limiting example, a sanitary tissue product may exhibit greater than 15 g/m ² (9.2 lbs/3000 ft ² ) to about 120 g/m ² (73.8 lbs/3000 ft ² ) and/or about 15 g/m ² (9.2 lbs/3000ft ² ) to about 110g/m ² (67.7lbs/3000ft ² ) and/or about 20g/m ² (12.3lbs/3000ft ² ) to about 100g/m ² (61.5lbs/3000ft ² ) and/or about 30g/m ² (18.5lbs/3000ft ² ) to 90g/m ² (55.4lbs/3000ft ² ) basis weight. Additionally, the sanitary tissue products and/or fibrous structures of the present invention may exhibit from about 40 g/m ² (24.6 lbs/3000 ft ² ) to about 120 g/m ² (73.8 lbs/3000 ft ² ) and/or about 50 g/m ² (30.8lbs/3000ft ² ) to about 110g/m ² (67.7lbs/3000ft ² ) and/or about 55g/m ² (33.8lbs/3000ft ² ) to about 105g/m ² (64.6lbs/3000ft ² ) and/or Or a basis weight of about 60 g/m ² (36.9 lbs/3000 ft ² ) to 100 g/m ² (61.5 lbs/3000 ft ² ).

In another non-limiting example, the sanitary tissue product may exhibit a range of greater than about 59 g/cm (150 g/in) and/or about 78 g/cm (200 g/in) to about 394 g/cm (1000 g/in) and/or Or a total dry tensile strength of from about 98 g/cm (250 g/in) to about 335 g/cm (850 g/in). In addition, the sanitary tissue products of the present invention may exhibit greater than about 196 g/cm (500 g/in) and/or about 196 g/cm (500 g/in) to about 394 g/cm (1000 g/in) and/or about 216 g/in Total dry tensile strength in cm (550 g/in) to about 335 g/cm (850 g/in) and/or in the range of about 236 g/cm (600 g/in) to about 315 g/cm (800 g/in). In one example, the sanitary tissue product exhibits a total dry tensile strength of less than about 394 g/cm (1000 g/in) and/or less than about 335 g/cm (850 g/in).

In another non-limiting example, sanitary tissue products may exhibit greater than about 196 g/cm (500 g/in) and/or greater than about 236 g/cm (600 g/in) and/or greater than about 276 g/cm (700 g/in). in) and/or greater than about 315g/cm (800g/in) and/or greater than about 354g/cm (900g/in) and/or greater than about 394g/cm (1000g/in) and/or about 315g/cm (800g /in) to about 1968g/cm (5000g/in) and/or about 354g/cm (900g/in) to about 1181g/cm (3000g/in) and/or about 354g/cm (900g/in) to about 984g /cm (2500g/in) and/or a total dry tensile strength of from about 394g/cm (1000g/in) to about 787g/cm (2000g/in).

In another non-limiting example, a sanitary tissue product may exhibit less than about 78 g/cm (200 g/in) and/or less than about 59 g/cm (150 g/in) and/or less than about 39 g/cm (100 g/in). in) and/or an initial total wet tensile strength of less than about 29 g/cm (75 g/in).

In another non-limiting example, a sanitary tissue product may exhibit greater than about 118 g/cm (300 g/in) and/or greater than about 157 g/cm (400 g/in) and/or greater than about 196 g/cm (500 g/in). in) and/or greater than about 236g/cm (600g/in) and/or greater than about 276g/cm (700g/in) and/or greater than about 315g/cm (800g/in) and/or greater than about 354g/cm ( 900g/in) and/or greater than about 394g/cm (1000g/in) and/or about 118g/cm (300g/in) to about 1968g/cm (5000g/in) and/or about 157g/cm (400g/in ) to about 1181g/cm (3000g/in) and/or about 196g/cm (500g/in) to about 984g/cm (2500g/in) and/or about 196g/cm (500g/in) to about 787g/cm (2000 g/in) and/or an initial total wet tensile strength of from about 196 g/cm (500 g/in) to about 591 g/cm (1500 g/in).

In another non-limiting example, the sanitary tissue product may exhibit less than about 0.60 g/ ^{cm and} /or less than about 0.30 g/cm and/or less than about ^0.20 g/cm and/or less than about 0.10 g /cm ³ and/or less than about 0.07g/cm ³ and/or less than about 0.05g/cm ³ and/or about 0.01g/cm ³ to about 0.20g/cm ³ and/or about 0.02g/cm ³ to about Density of 0.10 g/cm ³ (measured at 95 g/in ² ).

The fibrous structures and/or sanitary tissue products of the present invention may include additives such as softeners, temporary wet strength agents, permanent wet strength agents, bulk softeners, lotions, silicones, wetting agents, latexes, especially are surface pattern coated latexes, dry strength agents such as carboxymethyl cellulose and starches, and other types of additives suitable for inclusion in or on sanitary tissue products.

As used herein, "weight average molecular weight" refers to the weight average molecular weight determined by gel permeation chromatography according to the procedures found in Colloids and Surfaces A. Physico Chemical & Engineering Aspects, Vol. 162, 2000, pp. 107-121. 107-121.

As used herein, "wet rupture" is a measure of the absorbent capacity of a fibrous structure and/or a sanitary tissue product incorporating a fibrous structure when wet and applying a deformation normal to the plane of the fibrous structure and/or fibrous structure product, and Measured according to the Wet Burst Test Method described herein.

Packaging Materials

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a packaging material 10 suitable for the container of the present invention provides a fibrous structure 12 that is laminated and/or otherwise bonded (e.g., chemically, physically, electrostatically, bonded permanently, melt-adhesively, etc.) to the film material 14. In a preferred embodiment, the fibrous structure 12 generally provides the surface of the resulting packaging material 10 with high bulk and loft. In a preferred embodiment, the film material 14 provides the resulting packaging material 10 with generally liquid impermeable properties.

It is further believed that providing the film material 14 in contact engagement with the fibrous structure 12 provides the resulting packaging material 10 with enhanced stiffness.

container

As shown in Figures 1-3, an exemplary but non-limiting package 20 of the present disclosure is provided as a container having a parallel tube geometry and a generally rectangular footprint. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that existing containers can be formed into virtually any shape and/or geometry that is expected to provide the desired dispensing of product provided in the closure of package 20 . This may include, for example, oval containers, cylindrical containers, triangular containers, and containers of any polygonal shape or configuration.

The exemplary package 20 generally provides a carton 21 containing bundles 16 of stacked and/or interfolded sheets 22 of facial tissue. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that virtually any product may be contained in the exemplary cartons discussed herein. This could include, by way of non-limiting example, toilet paper, paper towels, feminine care products, baby care products, household care products, and the like. In an exemplary but non-limiting embodiment, the carton 21 is provided with a dispensing opening 24 disposed on one or more sides of a container 21 configured to facilitate dispensing of sheets from the carton 21. 16 complexes of any geometry. In a preferred embodiment, the dispensing opening 24 may be provided as a generally elongated oval slot. The profile 28 enables the tear-off removal of a panel provided in the carton 21 which has been outlined by a line of weakness of construction with the profile 28 . For purposes of convention only, the dispensing opening will be considered to be disposed on the uppermost side or sides of the container 21, since this is where most consumers will place the carton 21 to dispense whatever product is contained in the carton 21. However, one skilled in the art could provide a dispensing opening on any one or more sides of the container 21 and still provide the desired dispensing from the carton 21 for the product contained therein.

As shown, the exemplary parallel tube carton 21 preferably includes a top wall 35, an end wall 36, a front (side) wall 37, a corresponding rear (side) wall (not shown), a corresponding second end wall (not shown) and corresponding bottom wall (not shown). The top front edge of the carton is designated 38.

Those skilled in the art will realize that the number of side, wall, top and bottom markings will reflect the actual geometry of the carton 21 in principle if the carton 21 is provided with an alternative geometry. For example, if the carton 21 is configured as an elliptical cylinder (ie with an elliptical cross-section), then in principle there will be a top wall, a bottom wall and at least one side wall bounding the top and bottom walls. Similarly, if the carton 21 were configured as a vertically oriented wedge, there would be a bottom wall and at least four side walls from above, all of which apexes with a line segment connecting all four sides.

The exemplary embodiment of the package 20 includes a carton 21 sized and configured to contain bundles of stacked and/or interfolded sheets 22 . The carton 21 is preferably constructed from the unique packaging material 10 described herein. However, a person skilled in the art can provide the construction of the carton 21 from a material comprising only the fibrous structure 12 .

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3 , it may be advantageous to provide an insert 18 in the carton 21 to provide further restraint of the folded article or to provide additional structural support of the additional top wall 35 . The insert 18 may comprise a three-sided structure having an end and a top. An exemplary insert 18 may be formed from a paperboard structure having two parallel fold lines forming a "U" shape. Thus, the exemplary insert 18 will provide a bottom wall and two side walls relative to the carton 21 when disposed therein. By assisting in the upright support of the resulting carton 21 sidewalls, the insert 18 may provide a consumer perceived benefit.

When used, the insert 18 effectively reduces the paperboard footprint of conventional paperboard cartons by eliminating the need for additional material required to form the end walls and top of conventional tissue paper containers. This creates synergies by promoting sustainability benefits by using less cardboard to manufacture traditional tissue paper containers, and also provides the necessary extra support if the packaging material 10 is chosen so that it has Bunches of stacked and/or interfolded sheets 22 within the carton 21 can cause physical characteristics that significantly degrade the appearance of the carton 21 .

Test Methods

Unless otherwise specified, all tests described herein (including those described in the Definitions section and the following test methods) are performed at a temperature of 73°F ± 4°F (approximately 23°C ± 2.2°C) and 50% ± 2°C prior to testing. % relative humidity was performed on the samples in a conditioning chamber for 2 hours. All plastic and cardboard packaging materials must be carefully separated from any tissue products contained therein prior to testing. Discard any damaged samples. All tests are performed in this conditioning room.

Thickness Test Method

Fibrous structures and/or toilet tissues were tested at a pressure of 95 g/ ⁱⁿ² using a Progage ThicknessTester Model II (Thwing-Albert Instrument Company, West Berlin, NJ) with a pressure foot diameter of 2.00 inches (3.14 ⁱⁿ² area) The thickness of the product. One (1) sample is prepared by cutting a serviceable unit such that each side of the cut sample is at least 2.5 inches, avoiding wrinkling, folding, and obvious defects. The sample is placed on the anvil with the center of the sample under the pressure foot. The stand was reduced to an application pressure of 95 g/in ² at 0.03 in/s. A reading is taken after 3s and the tripod is raised. The test was repeated for each sample in a similar manner.

Opacity Test Method

Sample Preparation

For this method, a usable unit is described as a finished unit, regardless of the number of plies. Usual laboratory temperature and humidity ranges have a negligible effect on sample color and opacity, thus the samples do not need to be conditioned. Samples and instruments should be kept in an area free of high humidity and corrosive vapors, but contamination of samples by dust, lint, or other foreign materials should be avoided.

Samples that do not include wrinkling, wrinkles, tears, and other obvious defects are selected for testing. Always stack and fold samples in such a way that the product outer or top surface will be the top surface of the sample directly below the instrument sample inlet when switched, unless instructions for a particular material indicate otherwise. In addition, samples were prepared such that the orientation (MD, CD) was the same for each available unit.

A. Color

Cut multi-layer thick, approximately 15" x 15" (381 x 381 mm) samples with the machine direction perpendicular and/or parallel to the cut edge. Form stacks of 8 pieces and fold them once to get 16 thick stacks. For rolls of nonwoven articles, the rolls were tested for color on the outside, center and inside.

b. Opacity

Select an available unit and proceed as described in Part B.

operate

A. Color and Whiteness Index

LabScan XE w/DP9000 Processor or LabScan XE w/Universal Software: Standardize following the procedure described in Method GCAS 58007233 and the manufacturer's instrument manual. It is recommended that the instrument be standardized at least once every 8 hours.

1. Press 2/10 DEG.ALT MODE, C, LAB.

2. Confirm that the title of the screen displays "TWO DEGREE ILLUM.＝C" LAB.

3. Place a suitable clean plate at the inlet.

4. Press program 1 (see GCAS 58007233 method for instructions on writing the program).

5. When the screen displays "CALL PROD STD", key in the number of the registration number of prod.std. for the desired color.

6. Press program (the screen will say "Job").

7. The value for the selected prod.std. will be displayed under the Standard and Sample headings.

The Labscan Spectro is now ready to read the sample. Lower the standard plate from under the instrument inlet. The portion of the sample ready for analysis is placed on top of the standard plate and slowly lifted off the sample stage so that the sample rises below the sample inlet. Do not raise the sample stage as this will cause the sample to protrude into the instrument inlet; allow the sample to slowly lift into place by the sample stage itself. In the case of testing decorative products, the sample is carefully placed on the sample stand so that the color of the desired portion of the sample will be tested. Take and record the L, a, and b readings.

b. Opacity

Set the color scale to XYZ, the observer to 10°, and the illuminant to D65. For instrument standardization, follow the GCAS 58007233 method and the procedure described in the manufacturer's instrument manual. Place a serviceable sample unit on the white, uncalibrated plate (this is sufficient and helps to avoid wear and tear on the white calibration plate). Raise the sample and plate into position under the sample inlet and measure the Y value (only).

Lower the sample and plate. Without rotating the sample itself, remove the white plate and replace it with a black plate. Again, raise the sample and plate, and determine the Y value (only). When running a series of samples, the Y value can be determined on the white plate for all samples before changing to a black plate (when using the opacity calculation function on a machine with this capability, it must be in the Each sample was read on both white and black panels). But it is important that the sample should not be rotated between the white plate and black plate readings.

Note: For stacked wetlaid nonwoven products, test opacity for the top, middle, and bottom of the stack. For nonwoven products in rolls, the opacity is tested for the outside, center and inside of the roll.

calculate

A. Color

Measured values are reported, read to the nearest tenth (0.1) of a unit for L, a, and b.

B. Whiteness Index – WI E313

Report the measured value, read to the nearest tenth (0.1) of a unit for WI E313. Calculated by instrument according to ASTM E313.

c. Opacity

Some colorimeter models have the ability to do this automatically, check the manufacturer's operator's manual. To calculate % opacity value: Y reading of black panel/Y reading of white panel x 100 = Opacity %.

report results

Report to 0.1 units for color and whiteness index and to 0.1% for opacity.

Package Height Reduction Test Method

Place the wrapped stack of tissue paper on a flat surface in such a way that the opening of the package is facing upwards. In this way, product is removed from the top panel of the wrapped package.

If the package has a rectangular parallelepiped geometry, before opening the package and dispensing the tissue, measure the height from the flat surface to the top panel at the midpoint of the longer parallel (side) panel. If the package has a cubic parallelepiped geometry, measure the height from the flat surface to the top panel at the midpoint of any side panels before opening the package and dispensing the tissue paper. This is a test point for all data generated with this method.

Then, turn on the dispensing feature, and remove the tissue paper. The height test is made at any midpoint when any desired amount of tissue is dispensed. The height test is preferably performed after removing 10 sheets, and thereafter removing 10 sheets at a time until 100% of the sheets provided in the package have been dispensed.

Board Hardness Test Method

As used herein, the "plate hardness" test is a measure of the hardness of a flat sample when it is deformed downwardly to form a hole beneath the sample. For this test, the sample is modeled as an infinite plate of thickness "t" sitting on a flat surface with its center on a hole of radius "R". A central force "F" is applied to the sample directly above the center of the hole, causing it to deflect downward into the hole by a distance "w". For linear elastic materials, the deflection can be predicted by:

Where "E" is the effective linear modulus of elasticity, "v" is Poisson's ratio, "R" is the radius of the hole, and "t" is the thickness of the sample, taken at a load of about 0.29 psi for Thickness in millimeters measured on a stack of 5 samples. Taking Poisson's ratio as 0.1 (Poisson is not highly sensitive to this parameter, so the imprecision caused by the assumed value may be small), the above formula can be rewritten for "w" to estimate the effective Modulus:

Test results were obtained using an MTS Alliance RT/1 tester (MTS Systems Corp., Eden Prairie, Minn.) with a 100 N load cell. A blunt probe with a radius of 3.15 mm is lowered at a rate of 20 mm/min when a sheet formed from a stack of five samples of at least 2.5 inches square is positioned over the center of the hole (radius 15.75 mm) in the support plate. The test ends when the probe tip drops 1 mm below the plane of the support plate. The maximum gradient (expressed in grams force/mm) over any span of 0.5 mm is recorded during the test (this maximum gradient generally occurs at the end of the test). A load cell monitors the applied force and also monitors the position of the probe tip relative to the plane of the support plate. Record the peak load and estimate "E" using the formula above.

The plate stiffness "S" per unit width can then be calculated as:

$\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; S</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; =</span>\frac{{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; Et</span>}}^{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 3</span>}}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 12</span>}}$

And expressed in units of Newton millimeters. The Testworks program uses the following formula to calculate hardness:

S=(F/w)[(3+v)R ² /16π]

where "F/w" is the maximum gradient (force divided by deflection), "v" is Poisson's ratio taken at 0.1, and "R" is the ring radius.

In one non-limiting example, materials suitable for forming the carton 21 may preferably exhibit from about 1.4 N/mm to about 200 N/mm, or from about 1.4 N/mm to about 50 N/mm, or from about 1.4 N/mm Plate stiffness values in the range of about 25N/mmIn.

Altitude test method

The rise of the surface pattern or part of the surface pattern on the structure can be tested using the GFM Mikrocad Optical Profiler instrument available from GFMesstechnik GmbH, Warthestra βe 21, D14513 Teltow/Berlin, Germany. The GFM Mikrocad optical profiler consists of a small optical measurement sensor based on digital micromirror projection, which consists of the following main components: a) DMD projector with 1024×768 directly digitally controlled micromirrors; b) CCD camera with high resolution (1300 x 1000 pixels); c) projection optics suitable for a measurement area of at least 44 mm x 33 mm; and d) matching resolution recording optics; table tripod based on a small hard slate; cold light source; Control and evaluation computer; measurement, control and evaluation software ODSCAD 4.0, English version; and adjustment probes for lateral (x-y) and vertical (z) calibration.

The GFM Mikrocad Optical Profiler system uses digital micromirror pattern projection technology to test the surface height of product samples. The result of the analysis is a plot of surface height (z) versus xy displacement. The system has a field of view of 140 x 105 mm with a resolution of 29 microns. The height resolution should be set between 0.10 microns and 1.00 microns. The height range is 64,000 times the resolution.

The relative heights of the different parts of the surface pattern can be determined visually from the topography images, which were obtained for each product sample as described below. Measure at least three samples. The actual height value can be obtained as follows.

To test the height or elevation of a surface pattern or portion of a surface pattern, the following can be done: (1) Turn on the cold light source. The settings on the cold light source should be 4 and C which should give a reading of 3000K on the display. (2) Turn on the computer, monitor and printer, and open the Mikrocad software of ODSCAD 4.0 or later; (3) select the "measurement" icon from the Mikrocad taskbar, and then click the "real-time picture material"button; ( 4) Place a product sample of at least 5cm by 5cm size under the projection head without any mechanical clamping, and adjust the distance for optimal focus; (5) Repeatedly click the "Pattern" button to project several focusing modes One of them to help get the best focus (the software reticle should align with the projected reticle when the best focus is obtained). Position the projection head perpendicular to the tissue product sample surface; (6) Adjust image brightness by changing the aperture of the camera lens and/or changing the "gain" setting of the camera on the screen. Set the gain to the lowest practical level while maintaining optimum brightness to limit the amount of electrical noise. When the lighting is optimal, the red circle marked "IO" at the bottom of the screen will turn green; (7) Select the standard measurement type; (8) Click the "Measurement" button. This will freeze the live image on the screen and, simultaneously, the surface capture process will begin. It is important to keep the sample still during this time to avoid blurring of the captured image. The fully digitized surface dataset will be captured in approximately 20 seconds; (9) save the data to a computer file with the extension ".omc". This will also save the camera image file ".kam"; (10) export said file to FD3 v1.0 format; 11) measure and record at least three regions from each sample; 12) import each file into the software Package SPIP (Image Metrology, A/S, Denmark); 13) Use the average contour tool to make a contour line perpendicular to the height or elevation (such as embossing) transition area. Stretch the averaging box to include as much of the height or rise (embossing) as practicable to generate and average the profile of the transition area (from top surface to surface pattern or part of surface pattern (such as embossing) bottom and rise back to the top surface). In the Average Line Profile window, select a pair of cursor points.

To move the surface data into the analysis part of the software, click on the clipboard/figure icon; (11) Now, click on the icon "draw line". A line is drawn through the center of the feature region defining the texture of interest. Click the Show cutline icon. In a cross section, click on any two points of interest, such as a peak and a baseline, and click the vertical distance tool to measure height in microns, or click adjacent peaks and use the horizontal distance tool to determine in-plane directional separation and (12) For height measurements, use 3 lines with at least 5 measurements per line, discard the high and low values for each line, and determine the average of the remaining 9 values. And record the standard deviation, maximum and minimum values. For x- and/or y-direction measurements, an average of 7 measurements is determined. And record the standard deviation, maximum and minimum values. Criteria that can be used to characterize and distinguish textures include, but are not limited to, closed area (ie, structure area), open area (area where structure is absent), pitch, in-plane size, and height. Textures may be considered different from each other if the probability of accidentally causing a difference between these two texture characterization methods is less than 10%.

Compression/relaxation test method

The compression value of the sample product is tested by the following. Thickness versus load data were obtained using a Thwing-Albert Model EJA materials tester equipped with a 2500 g load cell and a compression fixture including a compression table (compression platen). Compression fixture consists of: load cell adapter/foot mount, 1.128" diameter presser foot, #89-14 anvil, 89-157 leveling plate, anvil mount, and clamp pin, all Available from the Thwing-Albert Instrument Company. The compression foot has an area of 1in ² . The instrument was run under the control of Thwing-Albert Motion Analysis Presentation Software (MAP V3.0.5.7). Cut 4-inch by 4-inch test specimens from the material to be tested. Care should be taken to avoid damage to the central portion of the test specimen to be tested. Scissors or other suitable cutting tools may be used. For testing purposes, the test specimen is centered on the compression table under the compression foot. A compression-relaxation step is performed on each test sample. Compression and relaxation data were obtained using a crosshead speed of 0.10 in/min, a data acquisition rate of 50/s, and an arrival speed of 0.3 in/min. When the load reaches ≥3g, the arrival speed drops to 0.10in/min. The deflection of the load cell was obtained by running the test without the test sample on the compression table. This is steel-on-steel data generally known to those skilled in the art. Steel-on-steel data were obtained at a crosshead speed of 0.10 in/min. Collet positioning and load cell data were recorded between a load cell range of 25 g to 1250 g for both the compression and slack portions of the test. Since the area of the compressed foot is 1in ² , this corresponds to a range of 25g/in ² to 1250g/in ² . The maximum pressure applied to the sample was 300 g/in ² . At 300 g/in ² the collet reverses its direction of travel. Values for the grip position are collected during the test at selected load values. For the compression and relaxation directions respectively, these correspond to 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 750, 1000, 1250, 1250, 1000, 750, 600, 500, 400 , 300, 200, 150, 125, 100, 75, 50 and 25g/in ² pressure values. During the compression portion of the test, the collet position values were passed through the MAP software by identifying the 14 traps (Trap 1 to Trap 14) at 25 (C25), 50 (C50), 75 (C75) , 100(C100), 125(C125), 150(C150), 200(C200), 300(C300), 400(C400), 500(C500), 600(C600), 750(C750), 1000(C1000) And 1250 (C1250) g/in ² of the load set to collect. The test equipment and procedure compress the test sample between 1500g/ ⁱⁿ² and 1600g/ ⁱⁿ² before recovery. In the slack (recovery) part of the test, the chuck values are passed through the MAP software by determining the 14 return catchers (return catcher 1 to return catcher 14) at 1250 (R1250), 1000 (R1000), 750 (R750), 600(R600), 500(R500), 400(R400), 300(R300), 200(R200), 150(R150), 125(R125), 100(R100), 75(R75), 50 (R50) and 25 (R25) g/in ² load settings were collected. This cycle of compression to 1250 g/in ² and return to 25 g/in ² was performed on the same test sample without removing the test sample. This compression-relaxation test is repeated 5 times on a given sample, each time using a fresh sample of the material. The result (thickness of the test sample) is recorded as the mean of 5 repetitions for a given load. Thickness values were obtained for both steel-on-steel and test specimens. Steel-on-steel values were obtained for each test batch. If multiple days are involved in the test, the value is checked daily. Steel-on-steel and test sample values are the average of 5 replicates at a given load.

The thickness value of the sample is obtained by subtracting the mean value of the steel-on-steel collet traps for the given load from the collet trapping value of the test sample for a given load (eg, at each trapping point). For example, the thickness values from 5 individual repetitions at a given load for each test sample are averaged and used to obtain the compression at a given load. Compression values are in millimeters (mils).

result

Pack height reduction

Table 1: Results of package height reduction and calculated percent reduction for 4 exemplary packages .

Table 2: Overall package height reduction for 4 exemplary packages

Packaging Materials total drop 1.5-mil PE film only 89.50% 18-gsm NW only 22.70% 18gsm NW+1.8-mil PE ME film 2.20% 30gsm NW+1.8-mil PE ME film 6.80%

Board Stiffness Test

Table 3: Overall plate stiffness results for 7 exemplary packages (4 replicates)

elevated test

Table 4: Overall surface elevation of 3 exemplary packages .

Table 7: Mathematical expressions for exemplary laminated and non-laminated structures, where x = compression pressure and y = normalized compression thickness .

Table 8: Mathematical expressions for exemplary laminated and non-laminated structures, where x = relaxed pressure and y = normalized relaxed thickness .

Table 9: Results of thickness and opacity data for exemplary laminated and non-laminated structures

A preferred container-suitable wrapper 10 of the present invention has an opacity value in the range of about 5.0 to about 45.0 or about 6.0 to about 40.0 or about 7.0 to about 35.0 or about 8.0 to about 34.0 or about 10.0 to about 30.0. A preferred container-suitable wrapper 10 of the present invention has an opacity/thickness value ranging from about 3.8 to about 16.0, or from about 3.9 to about 15.0, or from about 4.0 to about 13.0, or from about 4.2 to about 12.0.

It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the packaging material 10 of the present disclosure may be creatively decorated with indicia that coordinate the outer surface of the package 20 and the carton 21 . Thus, it is believed that the bundle 16 of stacked and/or interfolded sheets 22 of facial tissue contained in the exemplary package 20 can provide additional context and allow the outer surface of the package 20 to be fully coordinated with the carton 21. way to contribute to the overall design. Thus, it is conceivable that the overall decoration provided on the carton 21 may provide a differential opacity as the individual sheets of the bundle 16 of sheets 22 are sequentially withdrawn from the carton 21 . That is, the total opacity of the carton 21 changes from a first opacity when the carton has all of the sheets 22 contained therein to at least a second opacity when any portion of the sheet 22 has been removed therefrom. transparency.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not intended to be understood as being strictly limited to the precise numerical dimensions and/or values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension and/or value is intended to mean both the recited dimension and/or value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that dimension and/or value. For example, a disclosed dimension of "40mm" is intended to mean "about 40mm".

Every document cited herein, including any cross-referenced or related patent or application, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not to be considered as prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein, either alone or in any combination with any other reference, or to refer to, propose, suggest or disclose any such Recognition of Class Inventions. Furthermore, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of that term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.

Claims (12)

CLAIMS 1. A parallelepipedic container characterized by a top wall, a bottom wall and at least one side wall, said container being formed from a fibrous structure, at least one wall of said fibrous structure having an opacity ranging from about 5.0 to about 45.0. 2. The container of any one of the preceding claims, further characterized in that said at least one wall of said fibrous structure has an opacity in the range of about 6.0 to about 40.0. 3. The container of any one of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the container has an overall package height reduction of less than 22.7%. 4. The container according to any one of the preceding claims, further characterized in that said at least one wall of said fibrous structure has a plate stiffness value in the range of about 1.4 N*mm to about 200 N*mm. 5. The container of any one of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the container is formed from a fibrous structure bonded to a membrane material, the bonding material having a compression pressure value greater than 2.61. 6. The container of any one of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the fibrous structure has a compression pressure versus normalized compression thickness relationship represented by the formula: y=-0.068ln(x)+ 1.2219. 7. A container characterized by a top wall, a bottom wall and at least one side wall, said container being formed from a material comprising a fibrous structure bonded to a film material, said material having an opacity ranging from about 3.8 to about 16.0 /thickness value. 8. The container of claim 7, further characterized in that the plate stiffness value ranges from about 1.4 N*mm to about 50 N*mm. 9. The container of any one of claims 7-8, further characterized in that the plate stiffness value ranges from about 1.4 N*mm to about 25 N*mm. 10. The container of any one of claims 7-9, further characterized in that the top wall has a plate stiffness value in the range of about 1.4 N*mm to about 200 N*mm. 11. The container of any one of claims 7-10, further characterized in that the container has an overall package height reduction of less than 22.7%. 12. The container of any one of claims 7-11, further characterized in that the container has an overall package height reduction of less than 6.8%.