A FOOD CONTAINER OF FIBER PULP

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container of fiber pulp for packaging of food, such as vacuum packaging or modified atmosphere packaging. The container comprises a bottom part and side walls surrounding said bottom part and has at an upper end thereof a circumferential longitudinal rim part having a planer main surface being substantially parallel to the bottom plane and defining an opening of the container. The side walls further comprise a reinforcing element below the longitudinal rim part for generating an increased moment of inertia of the rim part along the longitudinal direction thereof.

Claims

1-20. (canceled)

21. A container for packaging of food, such as vacuum packaging or modified atmosphere packaging, said container comprising a bottom part defining a bottom plane, and upwardly extending side walls surrounding said bottom part, and having inner wall surfaces facing the interior of said container and outer wall surfaces facing the outside of said container, said upwardly extending side walls comprising, at an upper end thereof, a circumferential longitudinal rim part having a planer main surface being substantially parallel to said bottom plane, said container being arranged with a junction between said side walls and said rim part, wherein a least 50% of said junction is non-parallel in relation to a longitudinal direction of said rim part, for generating an increased moment of inertia of said rim part along the longitudinal direction thereof.

22. Container according to claim 21, wherein said container is made from fiber pulp.

23. Container according to 21, wherein said junction comprises a non-straight line.

24. Container according to claim 21, wherein said junction is wave-shaped and comprises a number of waves having a wavelength with a direction being substantially parallel to said rim part.

25. Container according to claim 21, wherein said upwardly extending side walls further comprise a reinforcing element below said longitudinal rim part, said junction being arranged between said reinforcing element and said rim part.

26. Container according to claim 25 wherein said reinforcing element is a longitudinal reinforcing rib extending substantially parallel to and below said rim part.

27. Container according to claim 26, wherein said longitudinal reinforcing rib is wave-shaped and comprises a number of waves having a wavelength with a direction being substantially parallel to said rim part.

28. Container according to claim 26, wherein part of said upwardly extending side walls defines said rib, said rib having a material thickness substantially equal to a thickness of a remaining part of said upwardly extending side walls.

29. Container according to claim 27, wherein said wave-shaped rib comprises a number of crest and through points being raised in respect to the planes of said outer wall surfaces.

30. Container according to 21, wherein said upwardly extending side walls comprise a number of substantially vertical reinforcing ribs extending from said bottom for generating an increased moment of inertia of said upwardly extending side walls along a direction parallel to said longitudinal direction of said longitudinal rim part, respectively.

31. Container according to claim 30, wherein said substantially vertical reinforcing ribs are arranged independently in relation to said junction.

32. Container according to claim 21, said container comprising a barrier for making the container diffusion tight.

33. Container according to claim 32, wherein said barrier is arranged on said inner wall surfaces, an inner surface of said bottom and on said planar main surface of said rim.

34. Container according to claim 32, wherein said barrier has a thickness of between 20-125 ?m, preferably between 20-80 ?m, most preferred between 20-60 ?m.

35. Container according to claim 32, wherein said barrier is peelable from said bottom and wall surfaces.

36. Container according to claim 21, said container comprising a lower main surface of said bottom part, which, when said container is placed on a planar surface, is raised in relation to the remaining lower surface of said bottom part.

37. Container according to claim 36, wherein said lower surface of said container, on the corners thereof, comprises projecting elements for arranging said lower main surface being raised in relation to said planar surface.

38. Container according to claim 21, wherein a lower surface of said bottom part comprises a part having a rough surface structure compared to the remaining part of said lower surface.

39. Container according to claim 21, said container comprising a denester.

Description

[0090] FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of the container.

[0091] FIG. 2 is a lower perspective view of the container.

[0092] FIG. 3 is an upper perspective view of the container without a rib.

[0093] FIG. 4 is a lower perspective view of the container without a rib.

[0094] FIG. 5A is a side view of the container.

[0095] FIG. 5B is a blow-up of a corner part of the container.

[0096] FIG. 5C is a blow-up of a surface of the bottom of the container.

[0097] FIG. 5D is a blow-up of a surface of a corner part of the container.

[0098] FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in FIG. 1.

[0099] FIG. 6B is a blow-up of a cross-sectional view according to FIG. 6A.

[0100] The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[0101] FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of a container 10 for the packaging of food, such as vacuum packaging or modified atmosphere packaging. The container 10 comprises a bottom 12 and upwardly extending side walls 14, which surround the bottom 12 and provides an opening into the container. The side walls 14 comprise, at an upper end thereof, a circumferential planar rim 16, which surrounds the opening and creates a surface onto which a top film/sheet (not shown) can be attached. As described earlier, it is of the most importance that the rim 16 is kept planar such that a correct and tight seal between the container 10 and the top film/sheet can be achieved.

[0102] The side walls 14 comprise a reinforcing element 18 below the rim 16, said reinforcing element 18 being arranged as a longitudinal reinforcing rib having a wave-shaped configuration such that the junction between the walls and the rim are wave-shaped and hereby arranged non-parallel with the walls.

[0103] The reinforcing element 18 is arranged as part of the side walls 14, and the rim 16 extends from the reinforcing element 18, whereby the inner part of the rim 16 defines a boundary of the wave-shaped pattern of the reinforcing element 18. Hereby, the moment of inertia reference line 42, which is the line around which the moment of inertia is directed, and the line around which the rim 16 will rotate 44 due to an external force.

[0104] As can be seen from the figure, the reference line 42 is, due to the wave-shaped configuration of the reinforcing element 18, located through the wave amplitude, i.e. between the wave crests 20 (FIG. 2) and the wave throughs 22 (FIG. 2), whereby the moment of inertia is established through a non-straight construction part, which renders the rim 16 more stable.

[0105] The side walls 14 and the bottom 12 comprise a pattern of supporting ribs 24, 26, which provides stability to the sidewalls 14 and bottom 12 in general. As can be seen from the figure, the vertical reinforcing ribs 24 of the side walls 14 extend from below the bottom 12 and in continuation with the bottom ribs 26, which feature provides stability of the container 10 at the junction between the bottom 12 and the side walls 14.

[0106] The bottom 12 of the container 10 is arranged with a planar center part, also referred to as suction part 30, which provides the possibility of lifting the container by suction via a suction cup during the production line.

[0107] FIG. 2 is a lower perspective view of the container 10. The wave-shaped reinforcing element 18 is more clearly shown in FIG. 2, where it is evident that the reinforcing element 18 is arranged towards the outside of the container 10, such that the wave crests 20 raise from the outer surface of the side walls 14, with a distance 34.

[0108] In a basic embodiment, the wave throughs 22 are planar with the outer surface of the side walls 14, but in a preferred embodiment, also the wave throughs raise from the outer surface of the side walls 14, which increases the effect of the reinforcing element 18.

[0109] The vertical reinforcing ribs 24 are shown arranged independently in relation to the reinforcing element 18.

[0110] The bottom 12 of the container 10 is provided with a pattern of bottom supporting ribs 26, hereby dividing the bottom surface into a number of bottom elements, which in the illustrated embodiment include four corner elements 28 and a number of main surface elements 36. The main surface elements 36 include all the bottom elements except the corner elements 28.

[0111] In order for the containers to be stacked when being empty, and subsequently easily separated, the container comprises a number of denesters 32. The denesters 32 arranges the containers 10, when being stacked, with a distance between the stacked containers.

[0112] In the shown embodiment, the denesters are arranged below and in contact with the reinforcing element 18 at the side wall 14 corners, which besides the denester effect, also provides an additional stability to the corner part of the rim 16.

[0113] The denesters 32 may in an alternative embodiment be provided on the bottom surface of the corner posts 28. Besides the denester function, this embodiment establishes a distance between the main surface elements 36 and a support surface, upon which the container 10 is placed. This has the technical effect, as previously disclosed, that the stability of the container 10 on a production line is maintained and the containers are prevented from rotating.

[0114] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are upper and lower perspective views, respectively, of a container 10 without the reinforcing element 18. Instead of the wave-shaped reinforcing element 18, the walls 14 are at the junction between the walls 14 and the rim 16 arranged with a wave-shaped configuration, such that the junction is arranged non-parallel in relation to the longitudinal direction of said rim part 16.

[0115] FIG. 5A is a side view of the container 10, showing the same technical features as described in relation to FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0116] FIG. 5B is a blow-up of a corner part of the container 10. The figure illustrates a corner post 28 and a main surface element 36 next to the corner post 28. The corner post 28 projects downwards in relation to a plane defined by the main surface element with a predefined distance, also called the bottom height 38. The arranging of the main part of the bottom 12 at a bottom height 38 has det above-defined technical effect that the stability of the container 10 on the production line is maintained and the containers 10 are prevented from rotating.

[0117] The bottom height 38 should be sufficient to arrange the main part of the bottom 12 at a distance from a support surface and at the same time not contribute to an unnecessary increase of the overall height of the container, which as previously disclosed, is undesirable. Keeping the raised main surface at a minimum arranges the container with a minimum height and has the further advantage that, when filling the container with the desired content, the weight of such content will force the central part of the bottom (the belly) in contact with the below surface, hereby increasing the contact surface of the container, which generates increased friction therewith.

[0118] FIG. 5C-5D are blow-ups of a surface of the bottom 12 of the container 10. The figures illustrate a corner post 28 and a main surface element 36 next to the corner post 28. As can be seen from the figures, the corner post 28 comprises a surface having greater roughness compared to the surface of the main surface element 36. This feature can be used in combination with the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 3B or in an embodiment where corner posts 28 and main surface elements 36 have substantially the same height.

[0119] Arranging the corner posts 28 and/or a number of main surface elements 36 with a surface having increased roughness, increases the bottom friction of the container and avoids unintentional rotation on the production line.

[0120] FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of the container 10 along the line A-A in FIG. 1. The container 10 comprises the same features as disclosed in relation to FIGS. 1-2 and 4-5D.

[0121] FIG. 6B is a blow-up of the cross-sectional view according to FIG. 6A. The figure shows a side wall 14 where a barrier film 40 is arranged on the inner surface of the wall. The container 10, made from permeable and moist-sensitive pulp, is not suitable to be used in combination with wet foods such as fresh meat, and for that reason it is preferred to use a barrier film 40 arranged on the inner side walls 14 and the inner surface of the bottom 12, in order to render the container moist-resistant and gas tight/diffusion tight, so that it can be used to contain fresh meat and further to allow a hermetic sealing of the content by use of a top film (not shown) for the purpose of food preservation.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0122] 10, 10 Container [0123] 12 Bottom [0124] 14 Side wall [0125] 16 Rim [0126] 18 Reinforcing element [0127] Wave crest [0128] 22 Wave through [0129] 24 Vertical reinforcing rib [0130] 26 Bottom rib [0131] 28 Corner element [0132] Suction part [0133] 32 Denester [0134] 34 Crest distance [0135] 36 Main surface element [0136] 38 Bottom height [0137] Barrier film [0138] 42 Moment of inertia reference line [0139] 44 Rotation direction