Pouched product for oral use, sealing method, sealing device, method and apparatus for manufacturing a pouched product for oral use

Abstract

Described is a pouched product for oral use with a filling material and a saliva-permeable pouch. The pouch is made of a saliva-permeable packaging material that includes fibres and enclosing the filling material. The pouch has a first seal joining at least two plies of the packaging material. The at least two plies are interconnected in the first seal by inter-ply fibres, the inter-ply fibres being fibres which are present in at least two plies of the at least two plies.

Claims

1. A pouched product for oral use, said pouched product for oral use comprising a filling material and a saliva-permeable pouch, said pouch being made of a saliva-permeable packaging material comprising fibres and enclosing said filling material, said pouch comprising a first seal joining at least two plies of said packaging material, characterized in that said at least two plies are interconnected in said first seal by inter-ply fibres, each of said inter-ply fibres being present in at least two plies of said at least two plies.

2. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 1, wherein said fibres of said packaging material constitute at least 60% of a weight of said packaging material.

3. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 1, wherein said packaging material comprises or is constituted by a nonwoven material.

4. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 1, wherein at least 70% of said fibres of said packaging material, are biodegradable fibres.

5. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 4, wherein said biodegradable fibres are fibres of one or more of the following kinds: cellulose-based fibres, plant-based fibres, PLA, PHA and PBS.

6. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 1, wherein said pouch comprises a first side edge and said first seal is located at or adjacent to said first side edge of said pouch thereby sealing said first side edge.

7. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 6, wherein said pouch comprises a second side edge being opposite to said first side edge, said pouch comprising a second seal located at or adjacent to said second side edge of said pouch, wherein said at least two plies are interconnected in said second seal by inter-ply fibres, said inter-ply fibres being fibres which each are present in at least two plies of said at least two plies, said second seal sealing said second side edge.

8. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 7, wherein said pouch comprises a third seal extending from said first seal to said second seal, said inter-ply fibres being fibres which each are present in at least two plies of said at least two plies.

9. The pouched product for oral use according to claim 1, wherein said filling material comprises fibres, which are entangled with said fibres of said packaging material.

10. A sealing method for sealing a saliva-permeable packaging material in order to form a pouched product for oral use, said packaging material comprising fibres, characterized in that said method comprises: forming a seal by joining at least two plies of said packaging material by forming inter-ply fibres, which each are present in at least two plies of said at least two plies.

11. The sealing method according to claim 10, wherein said forming of inter-ply fibres is performed by means of needle-punching, hydro-entangling or air-entangling.

12. The sealing method according to claim 10, wherein said seal is formed at or adjacent to a side edge of said packaging material.

13. The sealing method according to claim 10, wherein said seal is formed to retain said packaging material in a tubular shape.

14. The sealing method according to claim 10 further comprising: flattening protruding fibres and/or fibre ends of said packaging material along a surface of said packaging material, and/or bringing back protruding fibres or fibre ends of said packaging material into said packaging material.

15. A method for manufacturing a pouched product for oral use, said method comprising: a) providing a web of saliva-permeable packaging material, b) forming a tubular web of said web of saliva-permeable packaging material by making a longitudinal seal, c) providing said piece of tubular web with a first transverse seal, d) supplying a filling material to be enclosed by said tubular web, e) providing said piece of tubular web with a second transverse seal thereby forming a pouched product, f) separating said pouched product from a subsequent pouched product in or at said second transverse seal, characterized in that at least one of said longitudinal seal, said first transverse seal or said second transverse seal is provided by means of the sealing method according to claim 10.

16. A sealing device for sealing a saliva-permeable packaging material in order to form a pouched product for oral use, said packaging material comprising fibres, characterized in that said sealing device comprises an entangling unit, configured to form a seal by joining at least two plies of said packaging material by forming inter-ply fibres, each of said inter-ply fibres being present in at least two plies of said at least two plies.

17. An apparatus for manufacturing a pouched product for oral use, said apparatus comprising a first feeding unit for supplying an advancing web of packaging material, a second feeding unit for supplying a filling material to said advancing web, a forming unit for arranging said web of packaging material to enclose said filling material, said forming unit being located before or after said second feeding unit, at least one sealing device according to claim 16 arranged for sealing said packaging material, thereby making at least one seal of said pouched product for oral use.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

(2) FIG. 1a-b illustrate a pouched product for oral use according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a needling operation being made,

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed view of a seal of the pouched product of FIG. 1a,

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a detailed view of a seal of another pouched product according to the invention,

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates an apparatus for manufacturing a pouched product for oral use,

(7) FIG. 6 illustrates a sealing device according to the invention, and

(8) FIG. 7 illustrates a method for manufacturing a pouched product for oral use.

(9) It should be noted that the appended drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that the dimensions of some features of the present invention may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) The invention will in the following be exemplified by embodiments. It should however be realized that the embodiments are included in order to explain principles of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention, defined by the appended claims. Details from two or more of the embodiments may be combined with each other.

(11) FIGS. 1a and 1b schematically illustrate a pouched product for oral use 101 according to the invention. The pouched product 101 has a rectangular shape with a maximum length L extending in a length direction and a maximum width W extending in a width direction, whereby the maximum length L typically is greater than the maximum width W. The pouched product 101 comprises a filling material 102 and a saliva-permeable pouch 104 enclosing the filling material 102. The pouched product 101 comprises two long side edges 103a, 103b and two short side edges 105a, 105b. The pouched product 101 also has an extension in a height direction, being perpendicular to the length direction and to the width direction, as seen in FIG. 1b. When seen in three dimensions, not illustrated, the pouched product 101 typically has a pillow-like shape.

(12) The pouched product 101 comprises at least one seal 107 extending in the length direction. Typically, and as illustrated in FIG. 1a, there is a single seal 107 extending centrally between the long side edges 103a, 103b in the length direction. This seal is often called a longitudinal seal, since, when manufacturing the pouched product 101, this seal is made along the direction of travel of the web forming the pouch. The longitudinal seal is often positioned spaced apart from the long side edges 103a, 103b. Thereby it is often preferred to position it at or close to the longitudinal centre-line, as is illustrated in FIG. 1a. However, other locations of the longitudinal seal may be used, such as along one of the long side edges 103a, 103b. The longitudinal seal 107 may be made by the sealing method described herein or by any method known to the skilled person, e.g. heat-sealing or ultrasonic welding. Commonly, the longitudinal seal 107 is formed as a fin seal, which is folded down upon the packaging material, such that the pouch locally comprises three plies of packaging material on top of the filling material. See the schematic cross-sectional view in FIG. 1b.

(13) Further, the pouched product 101 comprises two seals 109a, 109b extending in the width direction. The two seals 109a, 109b seal the two short side edges 105a, 105b and thus form edge seals. These seals 109a, 109b are often called transverse edge seals, since, when manufacturing the pouched product 101, these edge seals are made transverse to the direction of travel of the web forming the pouch 104. In the transverse edge seals, the packaging material forming the saliva-permeable pouch is double, i.e. it contains two plies of the packaging material. The transverse edge seals 109a, 109b may be made by the sealing method described herein or by any method known to the skilled person, e.g. heat-sealing and/or ultrasonic welding.

(14) Since the transverse edge seals 109a, 109b typically are made after the longitudinal seal 107, i.e. downstream in the manufacturing apparatus, the longitudinal seal 107 is included in the transverse edge seals 109a, 109b, i.e. the longitudinal seal 107 forms part of the transverse edge seals 109a, 109b. Hence, at those locations, the packaging material forming the saliva-permeable pouch 104 consists of four plies on top of each other.

(15) In the pouched product according to the invention, at least one of the above-mentioned seals, i.e. at least one longitudinal seal or at least one transverse edge seal, is made with the sealing method as described herein. Purely as an example, both transverse edge seals may be made with the sealing method as described herein. As an alternative or a complement, the at least one longitudinal seal may be made with the sealing method as described herein. In a preferred embodiment, all seals or at least the transverse edge seals are made with the sealing method as described herein.

(16) When forming a seal according to the invention as described herein, a plurality of plies, typically two plies of the packaging material, i.e. a first ply 201 and a second ply 203, are joined to each other by entangling fibres from the different plies 201, 203, as is illustrated in FIG. 2. Hence, for a seal joining two plies 201, 203 of the packaging material, parts of fibres from the first ply 201 are pulled into the second ply 203 and are entangled with the fibres of the second ply 20, thereby forming inter-ply fibres as disclosed herein. Movement of parts of fibres from the first ply 201 into the second ply 203 may be performed by needle-punching, as is illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein a needle 205 provided with a hook 207 grips a fibre 209 of the first ply 201 and pulls the fibre 209 through the second ply 203. Thereby an inter-ply fibre 209 is formed, i.e. a fibre being present in both the first ply 201 and the second ply 203. Typically a plurality of needles 205 are used for entangling a plurality of fibres 209 at the same time. Each needle may comprise one or more hooks.

(17) Accordingly, in an optional process which is not illustrated in FIG. 2, also fibres from the second ply 203 can be pulled into the first ply 201 entangling with the fibres of the first ply 201. This may be obtained by needle-punching in the other direction, i.e. starting from the outer surface of the second ply 203.

(18) By creating a plurality of inter-ply fibres 209 in the seal, e.g. by means of a plurality of needles 205 operating next to each other over the surface of the seal, the two plies 201, 203 are locally joined to each other and the seal is formed. As described herein, a sufficiently strong seal can be obtained without any welding and/or application of an adhesive, even if welding and/or adhesive may be used to further strengthen the seal.

(19) FIG. 3 illustrates a situation after the needle 205 has moved forwards into the packaging material and then backwards out of the packaging material. In this example, the needle 205 has pulled the fibre 209, such that it goes back and forth in a loop between the two plies 201, 203, cf. FIG. 2 showing the needle 205 when it has moved forwards into the packaging material. Another fibre 211 has been pulled from the first ply 201, through the second ply 203 such that its fibre end 211a protrudes from an outer surface 203a of the second ply 203. Also this fibre 211 forms an inter-ply fibre, since it is present in both plies 201, 203 and contribute to forming the seal.

(20) In the FIG. 3 example further fibres 213, 215, 217 have been pulled out from the second ply 203 such that their respective fibre ends 213a, 215a, 217a protrude from the outer surface 203a of the second ply 203. These fibre are not inter-ply fibres, since they originate from the second ply 203 and are not present with any part in the first ply 201. Nevertheless, they contribute to the seal by entangling with the fibres 209, 211 from the first ply 201.

(21) If desirable, the protruding fibres 209 and/or the protruding fibre ends 211a, 213a, 215a, 217a can be flattened along the outer surface 203a of the second ply 203 and/or brought back into the packaging material to create a neater and smoother seal.

(22) In another embodiment, the filling material 102 of the pouched product comprises fibres 219 suitable for entangling, see FIG. 4. In that case, these fibres 219 of the filling material 102 can form inter-ply fibres in the seal. In the illustrated seal, the fibre 219 of the filling material entangles with fibres in both plies 221, 223 of the packaging material, the fibres of the plies 221, 223 not being illustrated individually. This effect may be obtained by needle-punching from both outer surfaces of the plies 221, 223, as is illustrated. In that case, the needles 225, 229 coming from the respective outer surface may be of the same kind having one or more hooks 227, 231 or the needles may be of different kinds. Even if needle-punching from only one of the outer surfaces, cf. FIG. 2, the needles used may be of different kinds.

(23) As an alternative, not illustrated, it is also feasible that the fibre/s 219 of the filling material 102 is/are only entangled with one of the plies 221, 223 of the packaging material, thereby helping to anchor the filling material 102 to the packaging material but not forming inter-ply fibres.

(24) As can be understood from the above, a sealing method for sealing a saliva-permeable packaging material in order to form a pouched product 101 for oral use as described herein comprises: forming a seal 107, 109a, 109b by joining at least two plies 201, 203; 221, 223 of the packaging material by forming inter-ply fibres 209, 211; 219, which are present in at least two plies 201, 203; 221, 223 of the at least two plies.

(25) FIG. 5 illustrates an apparatus 19 according to the invention for manufacturing a pouched product for oral use, e.g. the pouched product illustrated in FIG. 1a-b. The apparatus 19 comprises a first feeding unit 23 for supplying a planar web 25 of the packaging material 7, a second feeding unit 27 for supplying a filling material 29 to the advancing web 25, a forming unit 31 for arranging the web of packaging material to enclose the filling material 29 to form a tubular web 32 of the packaging material, a sealing device 33 for making a longitudinal seal and a sealing device 35 for making a transverse seal. The tubular web 32 moves in a direction of travel DT through the apparatus 19.

(26) At least one of the sealing devices 33, 35 is a sealing device according to the invention, which schematically is shown as the sealing device 35 for transverse sealing in FIG. 6. Such a sealing device is configured for sealing a saliva-permeable packaging material in order to form a pouched product for oral use, the packaging material comprising fibres. The sealing device according to the invention comprises an entangling unit, such as a unit for needle-punching, hydro-entangling or air-entangling, configured to form a mechanical seal as disclosed herein by joining at least two plies of the packaging material by forming inter-ply fibres, which each are present in at least two plies of the at least two plies, illustrated as a unit for needle-punching in FIG. 6.

(27) The illustrated unit 35 for needle-punching comprises a first part 37 having a plurality of needles and a second part 39 adapted to receive the needles and forming an anvil for the needle-punching. The two parts 37, 39 are located at opposite sides of the tubular web 32. The needles may be arranged in a matrix, with the rows being seen in the direction of travel DT, also called the machine direction, and the columns being in the cross-machine direction. In the illustrated example, there is only a single row of needles and 11 columns of needles. However, there may also be a plurality of rows, such as e.g. 2-10 or 2-5. The number of columns may be in the range of 3-25, such as 5-20 or 10-15. The number of rows may be adapted to the desired width of the seal. Alternative, the unit 35 may operate a number of times in the same seal. The number of columns is preferably adapted to the width of the tubular web and the desired width of the seal. Please see the description above in conjunction with FIGS. 2-4 for details of the operation of the sealing device, e.g. the movement of the needles 205; 225, 229.

(28) The second feeding unit 27 may be located downstream or upstream of the forming unit 31. If located downstream, the web 25 is first formed to a tubular web 32 and thereafter the filling material 29 is placed in the tubular web 32 as a portion, as for the apparatus 19 illustrated in FIG. 5, wherein a lower end of the second feeding unit 27 ends within the tubular web 32.

(29) Alternatively, but not illustrated, the filling material may be placed on the planar web as a portion before the planar web is formed to a tubular web, such that the packaging material is arranged around the portion of the filling material to form the tubular web, thereby enclosing the portion of the filling material. A portion of filling material comprising fibres may be fixated on the planar web by entangling, such as by needle-punching as described herein.

(30) FIG. 7 shows a schematic outline of a method for manufacturing a pouched product oral use. The method comprises: a) providing a web of saliva-permeable packaging material, b) forming a tubular web of the web of saliva-permeable packaging material by making a longitudinal seal, c) providing the piece of tubular web with a first transverse seal, d) supplying a filling material to be enclosed by the tubular web, e) providing the piece of tubular web with a second transverse seal thereby forming a pouched product, f) separating the pouched product from a subsequent pouched product in or at the second transverse seal, wherein at least one of the longitudinal seal, the first transverse seal or the second transverse seal is provided by means of the sealing method described herein.

(31) Preferably both the first transverse seal and the second transverse seal are provided by the sealing method described herein. Typically, the second transverse seal of a first pouched product in a production line of pouched products is made at the same time and in the same operation step as the first transverse seal of the subsequent pouched product in the production line, i.e. the transverse seal is made as a combined transverse seal with step e) for the first pouched product being performed at the same time as step c) for the subsequent pouched product. The combined transverse seal then forms a common seal having a width being the sum of the width of the second transverse seal of the pouched product and the width of the first transverse seal of the subsequent pouched product. Step f) is thereafter performed by cutting in this combined transverse seal, typically at or close to its centre as seen in the machine direction to divide the formed combined transverse seal in two transverse seals of equal widths with one transverse seal belonging to a first pouched product forming a transverse edge seal and the other transverse seal belonging to a second pouched product forming a transverse edge seal.

(32) The above order of the method steps b)-d) may be applicable for a manufacturing method corresponding to the method described in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,765. If instead performing a method corresponding to the method described in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,120, step d) may be performed before steps b) and c).

(33) Further modifications of the invention within the scope of the appended claims are feasible. As such, the present invention should not be considered as limited by the embodiments and figures described herein. Rather, the full scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims, with reference to the description and drawings.