Packaging device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device (1) for packaging a product, comprising:a container (2) having joined front and rear walls,an article (3) packaged in a folded state inside the container (2), this article (3) bearing said product, having at least two sections separated by at least one fold line (4), at least one of these two sections being attached to one of the front and rear walls by at least one weld zone (5).

Claims

1. Device for packaging a product, comprising: a container having joined front and rear walls, an article in the form of a mask packaged in a folded state inside the container, this article bearing said product and having one or more cut-outs for eyes, nose and/or mouth, the article having at least two sections separated by at least one fold line, the at least two sections being respectively attached to the front and rear walls by weld zones, so that on opening the container the separation of the front and rear walls automatically leads to the unfolding of the article at least about said at least one fold line, the article being configured to be separated from the walls via a pulling force exerted on the weld zones during use of the article, a surface area of the weld zones by which the article is attached by welding to respective opposite walls of the container being less than or equal to 1 cm.sup.2 per section of the article.

2. Device according to claim 1, the article having been attached to the wall or walls of the container by welding performed from the outside of the container.

3. Device according to claim 1, there being only one fold line, the at least two sections being of symmetrical shape or not symmetrical with respect to the fold line.

4. Device according to claim 1, the article comprising a sheet of a nonwoven material.

5. Device according to claim 1, the product being in the form of a fluid composition, the article being impregnated with said product.

6. Device according to claim 1, the article comprising a hot-melt material.

7. Device according to claim 1, the front and rear walls of the container having, on their inner face, a layer of a hot-melt material.

8. Device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one fold line of the article being located at an edge of the container opposite to the edge where the opening begins.

9. Device according to claim 1, the weld zone(s) being anchorage points.

10. Device according to claim 9, comprising two anchorage points on each wall of the container.

11. Device according to claim 10, the anchorage points being located close to corners or free ends of each section of the article.

12. Device according to claim 6, the article comprising fibers of a hot-melt material.

13. Device according to claim 1, wherein the surface area of the weld zones by which the article is attached by welding to respective opposite walls of the container being between 0.1 mm.sup.2 and 10 mm.sup.2 per section of the article.

Description

(1) The invention may be better understood on reading the following detailed description of non-limiting illustrative embodiments thereof and on examining the appended drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a packaging device according to one embodiment of the invention, the container not being open,

(3) FIG. 2 is a view of the container from FIG. 1 after opening,

(4) FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross section along III-III in FIG. 1,

(5) FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 before the welding of the front and rear walls of the container with the article,

(6) FIG. 5 represents, in cross section, the article and the front and rear walls before welding,

(7) FIGS. 6A and 6B are two front views of embodiment variants of devices according to the invention,

(8) FIG. 7 schematically represents, in perspective, an embodiment variant of a device according to the invention,

(9) FIG. 8 is a transverse cross section along VIII-VIII from FIG. 7,

(10) FIG. 9 represent the article contained in the device from FIGS. 7 and 8 after unfolding,

(11) FIGS. 10 and 11 are block diagrams illustrating various steps of the manufacturing process according to the invention,

(12) FIG. 12 illustrates the opening of the container from FIG. 1, and

(13) FIGS. 13A to 13F illustrate various steps of opening a device according to one embodiment variant of the invention.

(14) The packaging device 1 according to the invention represented in FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIG. 12 comprises a container 2, in sachet form, and an article 3 packaged inside.

(15) The container 2 comprises a front wall 21 and a rear wall 22 joined at their periphery over their four sides so as to define a leaktight inner volume containing the article 3.

(16) In the example illustrated, the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 are made by folding one and the same flexible sheet about one side which defines the bottom 9 of the container 2. It is not outside the scope of the present invention when the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 are constituted of two independent sheets that are joined over their four sides in order to define the leaktight inner volume containing the article 3.

(17) The opening of the container 2 at the edge 10 opposite the bottom 9 may be carried out by any means, for example by simple pulling force exerted on the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 so as to part them from one corner of the container 2, the separation then taking place along join lines 11 of the walls, for example.

(18) As a variant, the opening of the container 2 may be carried out by exerting a pulling force at a location having a tear initiation, for example in the form of a small notch. As a further variant, the user may cut the container 2 with scissors along its upper part following a direction 6 parallel to the edge 10 of the container 2.

(19) In accordance with the invention, the article 3 is present in the container 2 in the folded state, folded about at least one fold line 4 and the two sections 31, 32 of the article are respectively joined to the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 by weld spots 5.

(20) Thus, when the container 2 is opened by separating the front wall 21 and rear wall 22, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 12, the article 3 is opened out at the same time about the fold line 4 in order to accompany the opening of the container 2. The article 3 is thus unfolded, ready for use, and rests on the walls 21, 22 of the container 2 without being contaminated by soiling before use.

(21) The weld spots 5 are, for each of the sections of the article 3, respectively located on the front wall 21 and rear wall 22, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

(22) The attachment force of the article 3 to the walls of the container 2 is weak enough so that the user can, by exerting a pulling force on the article 3, detach it from the container 2. Owing to invention, the user has, after opening of the container 2, an article 3 in the unfolded state, which is itself easier to handle in order to apply it to the zone to be treated.

(23) In the example illustrated, the attachment of the article 3 to the walls of the container 2 is carried out for each section of the article using two weld spots 5 that are for example each located in the vicinity of a corner of the article opposite the fold line 4, as can be seen in FIG. 2.

(24) Of course, the invention is not limited to the attachment illustrated between the article 3 and the container 2, and the attachment between the two can be carried out by spot welds positioned otherwise, or even by one or more weld lines that extend for example over all or part of the width of the article 3.

(25) The attachment between the article 3 and the container 2 may be achieved by local melting of material, owing for example to an inner layer 210 of thermoplastic material present on the front wall 21 and rear wall 22, for example of polyethylene, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

(26) The welding is preferably carried out from the outside of the container 2 by transmitting thermal energy to the weld zone, for example via ultrasounds, or via conduction or convection.

(27) The weld spots 5 may be slightly offset relative to one another when the article 3 is seen from the front in the container 2 before opening, which may be advantageous when the welds are produced simultaneously, in order to reduce the risk of attachment between the two walls 21 and 22, linked for example to a spread of the molten thermoplastic material through the entire thickness of the article 3.

(28) The step of supplying energy via ultrasounds is illustrated in FIG. 4, where sonotrodes 8 have been represented slightly offset with respect to the bottom 9 of the container 2.

(29) Although the attachment of the article 3 to the front or rear walls is preferably carried out owing to the presence of at least one layer 210 of thermoplastic material on the inner faces of the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 as illustrated in FIG. 5, it is also possible, without departing from the scope of the present invention, to produce the welds owing to the presence of at least one thermoplastic material on the article 3 itself. In this case, the article may comprise fibres that locally melt and are attached to the front wall 21 or rear wall 22. As a variant, the article locally comprises a hot-melt material which has been added to the fibrous substrate and which melts when energy is supplied from the outside of the container 2, in order to enable attachment of the article 3 to the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 of the container. As a further variant, both the article 3 and the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 comprise at least one hot-melt material that melts when energy is supplied in order to produce the welds 5.

(30) The invention is not limited to a device having, when seen from the front, a rectangular contour, such as illustrated in FIG. 1.

(31) In particular it is possible to give the container 2 any shape suitable for the nature and shape of the article 3 contained inside. For example, it is possible to produce the device 1 with a container 2 of semicircular shape, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, with for example one or more gripping tabs 23 in the continuation of the front wall 21 and rear wall 22, opposite the bottom 9 of the container 2.

(32) It is also possible, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, to give the packaging device 1 a contour shape that is polygonal when seen from the front, for example trapezoidal. Also illustrated in this FIG. 6B is the possibility of folding up the article 3 in a dissymetrical manner, for example in the form of two sections 31 and 32 that are unequal with respect to the fold line 4 and which do not superpose exactly.

(33) In FIG. 6B, the sections 31 and 32 are attached to the front and rear walls by weld lines 5. The weld may also be peripheral about the article contained, where appropriate.

(34) The article 3 may be positioned inside the container 2 by being folded up on itself along more than one fold line. By way of example, illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9 is a device in which the article 3 comprises several fold lines 4, being for example accordion-folded on itself.

(35) The container 2 may for example be in the form of a tray comprising a hollow body that constitutes the rear wall 22. The latter is sealed by a cover in the upper part, which constitutes the front wall 21. The hollow body may be thermoformed.

(36) One of the end sections 31 of the article 3 is attached by welding to the cover 21 whilst the other end section 32 is attached by welding to the body 22 of the container 2, especially to the bottom thereof.

(37) Thus, when the user separates the cover 21 from the body 22, the end sections 31, 32 remain attached respectively to the cover 21 and to the body 22, which makes it possible to open out the article 3 without having to grasp it directly. Next, the user can detach, by pulling, each end section 31, 32 from the corresponding wall of the container 2 and use the article 3.

(38) FIGS. 10 and 11 are two block diagrams illustrating two variants of manufacturing processes.

(39) In the example from FIG. 10, the welding of the article to the container takes place before the impregnation of the article with the product and the closure of the container.

(40) In the variant from FIG. 11, the article is impregnated before the closure of the container and the welding takes place once the container is sealed, with, on the inside, the article impregnated by the product.

(41) Illustrated in FIGS. 13A to 13F is a variant of the device 1 according to the invention, in which the article 3 is in the form of a mask folded up on itself about a fold line 4.

(42) The article 3 comprises cut-outs 131 for the eyes, nose and mouth, as illustrated.

(43) Two weld spots 5 ensure the attachment of each of the sections of the article to the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 of the container 2, respectively.

(44) In order to use the article, the user begins by grasping, after having cut, where appropriate, one side, the front wall 21 and rear wall 22 and separates them. During this separation, the two sections of the mask remain respectively attached to the front wall 21 and rear wall 22, as can be seen in FIGS. 13B to 13D.

(45) Once the container 2 is completely open, or practically open, the mask is opened out, as illustrated in FIG. 13E. The user can then grasp it and, by exerting a slight pulling force in order to break the weld spots 5, detach it from the container 2 in order to use it.

(46) Preferably, the article remains attached via the welds to the front and rear walls of the container when the latter is open; as a variant, the article is attached to the container so that the article is unfolded before the container is completely open, the remainder of the opening of the container causing the breakage of at least some of the welds of the article with the front or rear walls.

(47) Needless to say, the invention is not limited to the examples that have just been described.

(48) In particular, the invention finds application in fields other than that of cosmetics and the packaging device is, for example, used for packaging a household cleaning wipe, which may be fastened, where appropriate, to a broom or any other suitable support.

(49) The container 2 may also be produced in the form of a case comprising two parts, for example rigid parts, which can pivot relative to one another owing to a hinge, the article being attached respectively to each of the parts by welding.

(50) The expression comprising a is synonymous with comprising at least one, unless specified to the contrary.