GB2544322A

GB2544322A - Packaged comestible product

Info

Publication number: GB2544322A
Application number: GB1520009.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stimpson Harry; Geeves Noah
Original assignee: LIC Inc Ltd
Current assignee: LIC Inc Ltd
Priority date: 2015-11-12
Filing date: 2015-11-12
Publication date: 2017-05-17
Also published as: GB201520009D0

Abstract

A comestible product packaged within a flexible walled liquid impermeable moulded tubular body 10 of which a major proportion is composed of low density polyethylene, having a mouth 12 at a first end, through which the product is dispensed, and sealed by a lid. The thickness of the walls may be between 0.3mm and 1mm or 0.4mm and 0.7mm. The body may be curved radially inwards to define a lip 16 around the mouth. The material of the body may comprise a minor proportion of high density polyethylene in the ratio to low density polyethylene between 2:8 and 4:6 or at 3:7. The comestible product may contain ethyl alcohol and may be a liquid capable of being frozen while retained in the package for consumption in the frozen state. The body may be formed by blow moulding of an extruded tube during which the second end 14 is flattened. The body may have a tapering cross section and the lid affixed by heat sealing.

Description

PACKAGED COMESTIBLE PRODUCT

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a packaged comestible product.

Background of the invention

It is known to sell frozen comestible products, such as lolly ices and alcoholic cocktails, in a conical package made of a plastics coated card. In certain stores, it is preferred, not to sell alcoholic cocktails, such as pina colada, from a freezer and they need instead to be placed alongside other liquid alcoholic beverages. However, the packaging that is conventionally used for storing liquids, such as bottles and cartons, is not conducive to consuming the contents in a frozen state directly from the same packaging.

Object of the invention

The invention seeks therefore to provide a packaged comestible product that can be stored and sold with the product in either a liquid state or a frozen state while allowing the product to be consumed directly from the same package while in a frozen state.

Summary of the invention

According to the present invention, there is provided a comestible product packaged within a flexible walled liquid-impermeable tubular body having a mouth at a first end through which the product may be consumed and sealed at a second end, wherein the mouth of the tubular body is sealed by means of a lid in order to prevent leakage of the product and wherein the tubular body is moulded of a plastics material of which a major proportion is low density polyethylene .

In the invention, polyethylene is used for the tubular body because of its ability to act as an effective barrier to ethyl alcohol, even if vaporised by the ambient temperature. Furthermore, as the body is moulded, the risk of leakage from a seam is avoided.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is side view of the packaging of a product of the invention, and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the packaging in Figure 1.

Detailed description of the drawings

Figures 1 and 2 show packaging for use in storage and consumption of a product such as an alcoholic cocktail. The aim is for the product to be consumed in a frozen state, in the manner of a lolly ice, but it may be stored and sold either in a liquid or in a frozen state. In the former case, the intention is for the end user to store the packaged product in a freezer before it is consumed.

The packaging shown in the drawings comprises a tubular body 10 that has a first, open end 12 and a closed end 14. The open end 12 acts as the mouth of the packaging and the wall of the tubular body 10 is curved at the open end to define a lip 16 surrounding the mouth. The tubular body 10 serves as a container for the comestible product and typically has an interior volume of around 120 ml.

The lip 16 serves two purposes. First, when the tubular body acts as a drinking vessel, it avoids the risk of the lips of the user coming into contact with a sharp edge, hence making the packaging more convenient and comfortable to use. Second, it provides an increased surface area for attachment of a lid 18 to the mouth. Such a lid 18 is required to seal the contents of the tubular body 10, allowing the body contain a liquid that is later to be consumed.

It is appreciated that packaging having a similar appearance to that shown in the drawings is known but hitherto the packaging has been formed of a plastics coated card. In the known packaging, a flat blank is bent into a cylinder or cone and the overlapping lateral edges are heat sealed to one another. The edge of the cylinder formed in this manner is curled at one end to form the lip that defines and surrounds the mouth of the packaging and the opposite end of the tube is flattened by a clamp and heated to create the required seal. While such packaging is suitable for a frozen product, if it is used to store an alcoholic liquid, it may leak or otherwise allow alcohol to escape .

To mitigate this problem, the tubular body 10 in the present invention is moulded from a plastics material containing a major proportion of low density polyethylene (LDPE). By virtue of the body being moulded, the presence of a seam can be avoided.

Polyethylene is available in different densities that are commonly referred to by the abbreviations LDPE and HDPE. The term low density polyethylene, or LDPE, is used herein to refer to a material having a density in the range of about 0.91 to 0.93 gm/cm3. HDPE typically has a density in the range of 0.94 to 0.97 mg.cm3.

While the material of the tubular body may be comprised only of LPDE, it may alternatively additionally include, in some embodiments, a minor proportion of high density polyethylene. In this case, the ratio of high density polyethylene to low density polyethylene may be between 2:8 and 4:6, more preferably around 3:7. LDPE is used both because it is easier to mould and results in a more flexible package, which in the present invention is desirable. If the product is a frozen alcoholic cocktail, it is meant to be consumed by squeezing the tubular body to urge the frozen product toward the open mouth and for this it is desirable to maximise the flexibility of the packaging. The wall thickness of the tubular body is also important in this respect and, in some embodiments, the wall thickness of the tubular body is between 0.3mm and 1mm, or more preferably between 0.4mm and 0.7mm.

During manufacture, the end of the tubular 10 body is curved inwards to form the lip 16. In this way, the sharp edge of the tubular body 10 lies radially inwards of the outer circumference of the lip 16, away from the mouth of the user.

The lid 18 may be affixed to the tubular body by heat sealing, or welding (e.g. ultrasonic welding). The lid 18 may alternatively be secured to the tubular body 10 by means of a suitable adhesive.

The preferred method of manufacture of the illustrated packaging will now be described.

At first, a plastics tube is extruded in a conventional manner through an extrusion die. Two blow moulding dies are disposed on opposite sides of the freshly extruded tube and define a mould cavity between them. Once the extruded tube reaches a desired length, the two dies are moved towards one another to close the mould cavity. The closing of the mould cavity serves to clamp the end of the extruded tube remote from the extrusion die between the two blow moulding dies, thereby closing and sealing the bottom of the packaging.

After the length of extruded tube trapped in the blow moulding dies has been severed, for example by means of a hot wire, the blow moulding dies are moved away from the path of extrusion die so as not to interfere with the extrusion of tubing for the next production cycle. A tool is next inserted into the blow moulding dies to inflate the tube into contact with the mould cavity and to shape the lip 16.

The formed tubular body 10 is removed from the mould cavity by separating the dies but at this time it may still have some flashing. Such flashing is trimmed off separately and the trimming at the mouth of the tubular body 10 takes place at the radially inner side of the lip 16 to avoid any sharp edges on the outer surface of the packaging.

Though the drawings appear to shown a seam, the tubular body is seamless. The longitudinally extending lines 20 in the drawings are only the join line of the two dies at which some flashing may occurred and been removed.

After the tubular body 10 has been filled with the comestible product, the lid 18 is attached using a heated piston. The lids are circular aluminium foil blanks that are coated on the side facing the interior of the tubular body 10 with a polyethylene film. By application of a temperature of between 180°C and 220°C and a pressure of, for example, 3 to 5 bar, the polyethylene film is welded to the mouth of the tubular body to effect a liquid-tight seal.

In some embodiments, the tubular body has a tapering cross section. When consuming the product from the tubular body in a frozen state, this facilitates pushing the product towards the open mouth by sgueezing the packaging.

It is possible to adhere a label to the tubular body after it has been moulded but it is preferred to use the known technique of in-mould labelling.

In this case, product information may be printed on a label that is used to line the walls of the mould cavity prior to commencement of the blow moulding process. To print around the entire circumference of the tubular body 10, two labels are retained in the mould cavity, one on each die.

The label may be made of the same plastics material as the extruded tube, so that the label and the tube merge with one another during the moulding. It is however alternatively possible to use a different plastics material for the labels, for example polypropylene.

Claims

1. A comestible product packaged within a flexible walled liquid-impermeable tubular body having a mouth at a first end through which the product may be consumed and sealed at a second end, wherein the mouth of the tubular body is sealed by means of a lid in order to prevent leakage of the product and wherein the tubular body is moulded of a plastics material of which a major proportion is low density polyethylene .

2. A comestible product according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the wall of the tubular body is between 0.3mm and 1mm.

3. A comestible product according to claim 2, wherein the thickness of the wall of the tubular body is between 0.4mm and 0.7mm.

4. A comestible product according to any preceding claim, wherein the tubular body is curved at the first end to define a lip surrounding the mouth.

5. A comestible product according to Claim 4, wherein the tubular body end is curved inwards at the first end to form the lip, whereby the edge of the tubular body lies radially inwards of the outer circumference of the lip.

6. A comestible product according to any preceding claim, wherein the material of the tubular body comprises a minor proportion of high density polyethylene.

7. A comestible product according to claim 6, wherein the ratio of high density polyethylene to low density polyethylene is between 2:8 and 4:6.

8. A comestible product according to claim 7, wherein the ratio of high density polyethylene to low density polyethylene is 3:7.

9. A comestible product according to any preceding claim, wherein the comestible product contains ethyl alcohol.

10. A comestible product according to Claim 9, wherein the product is a liquid and is capable of being frozen while retained within the package for consumption while in a frozen state.

11. A comestible product according any preceding claim, wherein the lid is affixed to the tubular body by heat sealing.

12. A comestible product according to any preceding claim, wherein the tubular body is formed by blow moulding of an extruded tube.

13. A comestible product as claimed in claim 12, wherein the tubular body has a tapering cross section.

14. A comestible product as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein the second end of the tubular body is sealed by the end of the extruded tube being flattened during the blow moulding.