ETHYLENE-ABSORBING SACHET AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE GRANULATE CONTAINED INSIDE SAME

Abstract

Ethylene-absorbing sachet and method for producing the granulate contained inside same, comprising a packaging formed by two sheets, one anterior (2) and one posterior (3), which are mutually joined along their edges (4) by means of welding, at least one of which, for example, the anterior sheet (2), is manufactured from porous, water-repellent, and breathable material, combined or not with another sheet (3) of impermeable material and with a granulate (5) of ethylene-absorbing material contained inside said packaging, whereby said granulate (5) has a small particle size and lacks fine powder floating in the air and has a high filling density inside the sachet (1); specifically, with a particle size of between approximately 2 and 0.125 mm and a density of between approximately 0.8 and 1.1 g/ml. Said granulate may comprise a substrate impregnated with potassium permanganate or a mixture with activated carbon.

Claims

1. An ethylene-absorbing sachet comprising a packaging formed by two sheets, one anterior (2) and one posterior (3), which are mutually joined along their edges (4) by means of welding, at least one of which, for example, the anterior sheet (2), is manufactured from porous, water-repellent, and breathable material, combined or not with another sheet (3) of impermeable material, and with a granulate (5) of ethylene-absorbing material contained inside said packaging, characterized in that said granulate (5) has a small particle size, lacks fine powder floating in the air, and has a high filling density inside the sachet.

2. The ethylene-absorbing sachet according to claim 1, characterized in that said granulate (5) contained in the sachet (1) has a particle size of between approximately 2 and 0.125 mm and a density of between approximately 1.1 and 0.8 g/ml.

3. The ethylene-absorbing sachet according to claim 1, characterized in that a ratio of a size of the sachet (1) in cm.sup.2 and a weight of the granulate (5) contained in said sachet in grams is such that it contains up to 0.5 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 14.8 cm.sup.2; it contains up to 1.7 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 17.6 cm.sup.2; it contains up to 2.7 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 22 cm.sup.2; it contains up to 5 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 26.4 cm.sup.2; it contains up to 7 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 33 cm.sup.2; and it contains up to 10 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 39.6 cm.sup.2.

4. The ethylene-absorbing sachet according to claim 1, characterized in that a ratio of a size of the sachet (1) in cm.sup.2 and a weight of the granulate (5) contained in said sachet in grams is such that the weight of the granulate (5) contained therein is up to 3 g for a sachet (1) having a size of between only 21 and 27 cm.sup.2; up to 4 grams for a sachet (1) of between 23 and 29 cm.sup.2; up to 5 grams for a sachet of between 26 and 31 cm.sup.2; up to 6 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 28 and 33 cm.sup.2; up to 7 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 31 and 35 cm.sup.2; up to 8 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 34 and 37 cm.sup.2; and up to 9 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 36 and 40 cm.sup.2.

5. The ethylene-absorbing sachet according to claim 1, characterized in that a ratio of a size of the sachet (1) in cm.sup.2 and a weight of the granulate (5) contained in said sachet in grams is such that it contains a weight of up to 0.25 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of at least 14 cm.sup.2; up to 1 gram of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of at least 15 cm.sup.2; up to 2 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of at least 18 cm.sup.2; and up to 2.9 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of at least 20 cm.sup.2

6. The ethylene-absorbing sachet according to claim 1, characterized in that the granulate (5) comprises a substrate impregnated with potassium permanganate.

7. The ethylene-absorbing sachet according to claim 1, characterized in that said ethylene-absorbing sachet includes a substrate impregnated with potassium permanganate mixed with activated carbon having an American Standard Sieve mesh size of 12×40.

8. A method for producing the granulate contained inside the ethylene-absorbing sachet of claim 1, characterized in that it comprises: using a crusher (6), fed by a screw (8), with a system consisting of two levels (9) and a coupled screen with two types of mesh sizes, wherein a crushing speed and a feeding speed are regulated through regulation means to achieve optimal synchronization thereof; and controlling characteristics of each batch of granulate produced.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] To complement the description that is being made and for the purpose of helping to better understand the features of the invention, a set of drawings is attached to the present specification as an integral part thereof in which the following is depicted in a non-limiting, illustrative manner:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section view of an example of an ethylene-absorbing sachet according to the prior art, where the main elements it comprises, particularly the dimension and filling density of the granulate contained inside said sachet, can be seen.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section view of an example of the ethylene-absorbing sachet object of the invention, where the main elements it comprises, particularly the dimension and filling density of the granulate contained inside said sachet which, in comparison with the sachet of the prior art shown in FIG. 1, has a significantly smaller dimension and greater density for one and the same sachet size, can be seen.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the crushing machine used for producing the granulate having a small dimension and lacking powder floating in the air contained inside the sachet.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows a graph of the ratio between the area of the size of the sachet and the amount of ethylene absorbent in grams contained in the sachets object of the invention, as well as the ratio of other manufacturers on the market.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0035] In view of the mentioned figures and according to the numbering used, there can be seen therein, on one hand, a non-limiting embodiment of the existing ethylene-absorbing sachet and of the ethylene-absorbing sachet of the invention, and on the other hand, the machine used for producing the granulate contained inside said sachet of the invention, which sachet and machine comprise what is indicated and described in detail below.

[0036] In this sense, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sachet (1) of the invention (FIG. 2), like the sachet (1) of the prior art (FIG. 1), consists of a packaging formed by two sheets, one anterior (2) and one posterior (3), which are mutually joined along their edges (4) by means of welding, at least one of which, for example, the anterior sheet (2), is manufactured from porous, water-repellent, and breathable material, combined or not with another sheet (3) of impermeable material, and the sachet contains therein a granulate (5) of ethylene-absorbing material, which granulate (5) in the sachet (1) of the invention in a characterizing manner has a small particle size or dimension and lacks powder floating in the air during the filling operation and has a high filling density inside the sachet (1), which particle size, as can be seen by comparing said FIGS. 1 and 2, has a significantly smaller dimension and greater density than the particle size of the granulate (5) of the sachet (1) in the prior art.

[0037] More specifically, the granulate (5) contained in the sachet (1) of the invention, which preferably consists of a substrate impregnated with potassium permanganate, extruded or not, or a mixture thereof with activated carbon, has a particle size of between approximately 2 and 0.125 mm and a density of between approximately 1.1 and 0.8 g/ml.

[0038] Furthermore, as seen in the graph of FIG. 4, and as a result of the aforesaid particle size and density of the granulate, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the ratio of the size of any of the two sheets (2, 3) of the sachet (1) in cm.sup.2 and the weight of the granulate (5) contained therein in grams: [0039] is the ratio contained within the area indicated as A′ in the diagram of FIG. 4 for the weight range in grams of granulate (5) comprised between 3 and 10 grams, i.e., the weight of the granulate (5) contained therein is up to 3 g for a sachet (1) having a size of between only 21 and 27 cm.sup.2; up to 4 grams for a sachet (1) of between 23 and 29 cm.sup.2; up to 5 grams for a sachet of between 26 and 31 cm.sup.2; up to 6 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 28 and 33 cm.sup.2; up to 7 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 31 and 35 cm.sup.2; up to 8 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 34 and 37 cm.sup.2; and up to 9 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) of between 36 and 40 cm.sup.2; [0040] and the ratio contained within the area indicated as A″ in the diagram of FIG. 4 for the weight range in grams of granulate (5) comprised between 0.25 and 2.9 grams, i.e., it contains a weight of up to 0.25 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area from 14 to 50 cm.sup.2 or more; up to 1 gram of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) from 15 to 50 cm.sup.2 or more; up to 2 grams of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) from 18 to 50 cm.sup.2 or more; and up to 2.9 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area from 20 to 50 cm.sup.2 or more.

[0041] It should be pointed out that in said graph of FIG. 4, the preferred ratio of the size of the sachet and the weight of the granulate (5) contained in the sachet (1) of the invention is the one represented by means of a dashed line indicated with the reference (a), whereas the regions indicated with references (A′) and (A″) are what said ratio may encompass. In other words, the preferred ratio is such that it contains: [0042] up to 0.5 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of only 14.8 cm.sup.2, [0043] up to 1.7 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 17.6 cm.sup.2, [0044] up to 2.7 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 22 cm.sup.2, [0045] up to 5 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 26.4 cm.sup.2, [0046] up to 7 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of 33 cm.sup.2, and [0047] up to 10 g of granulate (5) for a sachet (1) with an area of only 39.6 cm.sup.2.

[0048] Furthermore, said graph of FIG. 4 also shows the comparison of such ratio in the sachets of other manufacturers existing on the market, indicated with solid, thick lines and dots, with the following references: Bioconservacion (b), Freshpicks (c), Ozeano (d), BioXtend (e), Ethylene Control (f), CJS (g).

[0049] In any case, the granulate (5) contained in the sachet (1) of the invention comprises a substrate impregnated with potassium permanganate, which has gone through an extrusion process or not, or a mixture of said substrate impregnated with activated carbon having a mesh size of 12×40 according to US Sieve STD.

[0050] In turn, FIG. 3 shows, in a highly schematic manner, an example of the crushing machine (6) used for producing said granulate (5) having said particle size and lacking fine powder floating in the air, which machine comprises, in addition to a feed hopper (7), a hammer crusher fed by a screw (8), and a screen system consisting of two levels (9) with two types of mesh sizes. Furthermore, said crusher (6) has regulating means (not depicted) for regulating the crushing speed and the feeding speed to synchronize both parts of the machine, which are controlled, for example, through a PLC.

[0051] Having sufficiently described the nature of the present invention, as well as the manner of putting it into practice, it is not considered necessary to expand on this explanation so that one skilled in the art will understand its scope and the advantages derived from it, hereby stating that within its essential nature, the invention may be carried out to practice in other embodiments which differ in detail from that indicated by way of example and which will likewise attain the protection that is sought provided that its fundamental principle is not altered, changed, or modified.