Method of making packaging container for bulk solids

Abstract

The present invention provides a packaging container for bulk solids. The container comprises a container body having a container wall extending from a container bottom to a container opening in a height direction of the container. The container wall and the container bottom delimit an inner space in the container, and a first peelable or tearable sealing membrane being attached to an inner surface of the container wall forms a roof over a first inner compartment in the inner space. A second peelable or tearable sealing membrane is applied between the first peelable or tearable sealing membrane and an edge of the container opening and is attached to the inner surface of the container wall. The first peelable or tearable sealing membrane forms a floor of a second inner compartment in the inner space and the second peelable or tearable sealing membrane forms a roof over the second inner compartment.

Claims

1. A method of making a packaging container for bulk solids, said method comprising: assembling a container wall to a container bottom to form a container body, the container wall extending from the container bottom to a container opening in a height direction of said container, said container wall having wall portions and curved corner portions, said container wall and said container bottom delimiting an inner space in said container; attaching a first sealing membrane to an inner surface of said container wall so as to form a roof over a first inner compartment in said inner space, said first sealing membrane being peelable or tearable via a gripping member of said first sealing membrane such that at least a portion of said first sealing membrane can be removed from said container body to provide access to said first inner compartment; attaching a second sealing membrane to said inner surface of said container wall between said first sealing membrane and an edge of said container opening, said first sealing membrane forming a floor of a second inner compartment in said inner space and said second sealing membrane forming a roof over said second inner compartment, said second sealing membrane being peelable or tearable via a gripping member of said second sealing membrane such that at least a portion of said second sealing membrane can be removed from said container body to provide access to said second inner compartment; and affixing a rim and a lid to the container body such that the rim is affixed to said container body along said edge of said container opening and the lid is arranged to engage with said rim to form a closure on said packaging container.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising attaching one or more additional sealing membranes to said inner surface so as to divide said inner space into three or more inner compartments, said inner compartments being in addition to said first and second inner compartments being delimited in said height direction of said container by peelable or tearable sealing membranes, and wherein an uppermost one of the one or more additional sealing membranes is located closest to said container opening and forms a roof over a corresponding uppermost inner compartment located closest to said container opening.

3. The method according to claim 2, attaching said sealing membranes is performed such that a distance between said first and second sealing membranes in said height direction of said packaging container is different from a distance between the remaining sealing membranes, thus forming at least two differently sized inner compartments.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein attaching said sealing membranes is performed such that they are arranged equidistantly from each other in said height direction of said packaging container, thus forming equally sized inner compartments.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the container bottom forms a floor of the first compartment and attaching said sealing membranes is performed such that a distance between said first and second sealing membranes in said height direction of said packaging container is different from the distance between the container bottom and first sealing membrane, thus forming differently sized first and second inner inner compartments.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second peelable or tearable sealing membranes are peelable sealing membranes.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said container wall portions consist of a front wall portion, a rear wall portion and two side wall portions, said wall portions being connected at container body edge portions.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said curved corner portions have a radius of curvature of from 15 mm -100 mm.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said rim and said lid are formed together such that they are connected by an integral hinge.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said rim and said lid are formed separately and connected via a hinge.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising attaching a non-removable inner sealing membrane between the first and second peelable or tearable sealing membranes.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising packaging a first bulk solid within said first inner compartment, and a second bulk solid within said second inner compartment, the first bulk solid being different from the second bulk solid.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising packaging tobacco in said first and second inner compartments.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein attaching the first and second sealing membranes to the inner surface of the container wall includes gluing or welding the first and second sealing membranes to the inner surface of the container wall to form respective joints therebetween.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein attaching the first sealing membrane to the inner surface of the container wall includes joining the first sealing membrane to the inner surface via a gastight seal.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first sealing membrane is a gastight membrane.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein attaching the second sealing membrane to the inner surface wall includes joining the second sealing membrane to the inner surface via a gastight seal.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second sealing membrane is a gastight membrane.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the container body is made out of paperboard material.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first and second membranes are each made from aluminium foil, silicon-coated paper, plastic film, or laminates thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will be further explained hereinafter by means of non-limiting examples and with reference to the appended drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a packaging container of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows the cross-section of the packaging container in the height direction along plane II-II;

(4) FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of the packaging container of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 3A illustrates an auxiliary device stored in the additional inner compartment;

(6) FIGS. 4A-4B show different shapes of the container body; and

(7) FIG. 5 depicts a lid and a rim to be used together with the packaging container according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) It is to be understood that the drawings are schematic and that individual components, such as layers of material are not necessarily drawn to scale. The packaging containers shown in the figures are provided as examples only and should not be considered limiting to the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is determined solely by the appended claims.

(9) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a packaging container 1 for pulverulent bulk solids according to the present invention. The packaging container 1 comprises a container body 2 having a container wall 3 extending from a container bottom 4 to a container opening 5 in a height direction of the container 1. The container wall 3 and the container bottom 4 delimit an inner space in the container, and a first peelable or tearable sealing membrane 7 which is attached to an inner surface of the container wall 3 forms a roof over a first inner compartment 6 in the inner space.

(10) A second peelable or tearable sealing membrane 7′ is applied between the first peelable or tearable sealing membrane 7 and an edge of the container opening 5 and is attached to the inner surface of the container wall 3. The first peelable or tearable sealing membrane 7 forms a floor of a second inner compartment 6′ in the inner space of the container 1, while the second peelable or tearable sealing membrane 7′ forms a roof over the second inner compartment 6′.

(11) Both the first sealing membrane 7, and the second sealing membrane 7′ is provided with a gripping member 12, 12′ shown as a pull tab which is placed at a corner portion of each sealing membrane 7, 7′. The gripping member 12, 12′ is arranged to facilitate removal of the peelable or tearable sealing membrane 7, 7′ when accessing the compartment 6, 6′ beneath the respective sealing membrane 7, 7′. As set out herein, the provision of a gripping member on the peelable or tearable sealing membranes in the packaging containers disclosed herein is a preferred but optional feature of the invention. The gripping member may take other forms than the pull tab illustrated in FIG. 1, such as a pull ring, a loop, a knob, etc. Furthermore, the gripping member may be formed integral with the sealing membrane or may be a separate component which has been attached to the sealing membrane. The placement of the gripping member may be different from that shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly the gripping member may be placed at another corner portion, and/or at a distance from the container wall. In a tearable sealing membrane, the gripping member may be arranged to initiate controlled tearing along a tear indication in the sealing membrane.

(12) As shown in FIG. 2, the height of the first inner compartment, i.e. the distance d.sub.1 between the container bottom 4 and the first sealing membrane 7 in the height direction of the packaging container 1 is slightly greater than the height of the second inner compartment 6′, i.e. the distance d.sub.2 between the first sealing membrane 7 and the second sealing membrane 7′ in the height direction of the packaging container 1. As the container body 2 has the same cross-section all the way from the container bottom 4 to the container opening 5, the first inner compartment 6 is larger than the second inner compartment 6′.

(13) The packaging container 1 according to the present invention thus keeps the bulk solids arranged in different inner compartments 6 and 6′ separated from each other by the first sealing membrane 7. Therefore, the packaging container 1 has the advantage of providing a prolonged preserving of the bulk solids stored therein. The user will access the uppermost compartment, which in FIGS. 1 and 2 is the second inner compartment 6′ by peeling or tearing the uppermost sealing membrane, which in FIGS. 1 and 2 is the second sealing membrane 7′. The first sealing membrane 7 may remain intact until the second inner compartment 6′ has been completely emptied, thus protecting the contents of the first inner compartment 6 from exposure to the environment outside the first inner compartment 6 until a user decides to remove also the first sealing membrane 7.

(14) The packaging container 101 depicted in FIG. 3 comprises three sealing membranes 107, 107′ and 107″, thus forming three sealed inner compartments 106, 106′ and 106″. The uppermost peelable or tearable sealing membrane 107″ which is the sealing membrane located closest to the container opening 105 forms a roof over a corresponding uppermost inner compartment 106″ being located closest to the container opening 105. As shown in FIG. 3, the size of all the inner compartments 106, 106′ and 106″ in the packaging container 101 is the same. It is to be understood that equally sized compartments is not a necessary requirement of the invention and that differently sized compartments may be used instead, as disclosed herein.

(15) Furthermore, although the container body 2, 102 of the packaging containers 1, 101 in FIGS. 1 and 3 are shown to have a cuboid shape, any other shape suitable for the purpose may be used, as disclosed herein. Some examples of useful container body shapes are shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

(16) A rim 108 such as a plastic rim or a metal rim may be applied to the edge of the container opening. A rim 108 is shown in FIG. 5, together with a hinged lid 109. The rim 108 is applied to the container opening 105 such that it extends around the full periphery of the container opening 105 and is affixed to the container body 102 along the opening edge. The container lid 109 is arranged to engage with the rim 108 or with the edge of the opening 105 to form a closure on the container 101. The closure between the container lid 109 and the rim 108 is accomplished by mating contours on the lid 109 and on the rim 108.

(17) The container lid 109 is attached to the upper plastic rim 108 by means of a hinge 110. In the shown embodiment, the hinge 110 is a live hinge, i.e. a bendable connection between the lid 109 and the upper plastic rim 108. A live hinge 110 is formed integral with the lid 109 and the upper plastic rim 108. The live hinge may be substituted by a two-part hinge, as disclosed herein.

(18) When the uppermost sealing membrane 107″ is arranged at a distance from the container opening 105, as shown in FIG. 3, an additional inner compartment 106* is formed between the lid 109 on the container opening 105 and the uppermost sealing membrane 107″. Thus, the floor of such an additional inner compartment 106* is formed by the uppermost sealing membrane 107″, while the roof of the additional inner compartment 106* is formed by the lid 109. Such an additional compartment 106* may be used for containing an auxiliary device to be used with the bulk solids stored in the container, such as a dosing device 111 depicted in FIG. 3A.

(19) FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate different shapes of the container body 2. In FIG. 4A, the front wall portion and the rear wall portion of the container body have an outwardly curved shape with a radius of curvature of 150 mm, while the side wall portions are substantially planar. The corner portions of the container body shown in FIG. 4A have a radius of curvature of 20 mm.

(20) In FIG. 4B the container body having a generally D-shaped cross-section is depicted. The front wall portion has an outwardly curved shape with a radius of curvature of 120 mm, while the side wall portions and the rear wall portion are substantially planar. The corner portions adjacent to the front wall portion have a radius of curvature of 25 mm, while the other two corner portions have a radius of curvature of 20 mm. The advantages of a packaging container having a container body with a D-shaped cross-section have been mentioned above.

(21) Although the present invention has been described with reference to various embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognise that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It is intended that the detailed description be regarded as illustrative and that the appended claims including all the equivalents are intended to define the scope of the invention.