A PACKAGING UNIT FOR HYGIENE ARTICLES AND A METHOD OF FORMING A PACKAGING UNIT

Abstract

A packaging unit for hygiene articles, the unit being formed from a sheet of material having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction. The sheet has an inner surface and an outer surface. The inner surface includes an edge portion being provided with a resealable adhesive for closure of the packaging unit. Furthermore, the sheet has at least one transversely extending folding axis dividing said sheet into a first region and a second region. The sheet is provided with at least one sync mark for indication of a positioning of the sheet of material during manufacturing of the packaging unit, the sync mark being provided on the outer surface. A blank and a method for forming the packaging unit are also provided.

Claims

1. A packaging unit for hygiene articles, the packaging unit being formed from a sheet of material having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction, said sheet having an inner surface and an outer surface, said inner surface comprising an edge zone that comprises an edge portion being provided with a resealable adhesive for closure of the packaging unit, said sheet having at least one transversely extending folding axis, said at least one folding axis dividing said sheet into a first region and a second region, wherein said sheet is provided with at least one sync mark for indication of a positioning of the sheet during manufacturing of the packaging unit, said sync mark being provided on the outer surface.

2. The packaging unit unit according to claim 1, wherein the sync mark is a printed mark.

3. The packaging unit unit according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the inner surface is pre-treated with a surface treatment for changing a surface energy.

4. The packaging unit unit according to claim 3, wherein the surface treatment is a plasma treatment.

5. The packaging unit unit according to claim 3 4, wherein a portion of said resealable adhesive is in contact with a portion of the inner surface that has been pre-treated with surface treatment.

6. The packaging unit to claim 1, wherein said sheet is folded along said at least one folding axis with said first region and said second region in an overlapping configuration, thereby providing a packaging unit of overlapping sheet layers.

7. The packaging unit unit according to claim 1, wherein said sheet is of substantially rectangular shape and comprises longitudinal edges and transverse edges.

8. The packaging unit unit according to claim 7, wherein the sync mark is provided at at least one of a longitudinal edge portion and a transversal edge portion.

9. The packaging unit according to claim 7, wherein said sheet has two folding axes, dividing said sheet into said first region, said second region and a third region.

10. The packaging unit according to claim 9, wherein said sheet is folded along said two folding axes with said first region, said second region and said third region in an overlapping configuration of three layers.

11. The packaging unit according to claim 9, wherein the first region forms an outer layer of the folded packaging unit and the third region forms an inner layer, and wherein the at least one sync mark is provided on one of the first region, the second region and the third region.

12. The packaging unit unit unit according to claim 1, comprising two or more sync marks.

13. The packaging unit according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is a single-ply material.

14. The packaging unit according to claim 13, wherein the single-ply material is of polyolefin.

15. The packaging unit according to claim 1, wherein a chessboard pattern of the resealable adhesive and non-adhesive portions is formed along the edge zone for complementary attachment between the resealable adhesive and the non-adhesive portions in a folded packaging unit.

16. The packaging unit according to claim 1, wherein said sheet is at least one of: opaque, and/or comprises print, and comprises tactile indications other than the sync mark.

17. The packaging unit according to claim 1, wherein said resealable adhesive is a pressure-sensitive hot melt adhesive.

18. The packaging unit according to claim 1, wherein said packaging unit is reclosable.

19. The packaging unit according to claim 1, wherein the inner surface comprises a center zone that comprises a portion provided with one of a release agent and a release liner.

20. The packaging unit according to claim 1, wherein the packaging unit comprises a hygiene article.

21. A blank for manufacturing at least two packaging units, each packaging unit being defined as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blank is an elongated sheet of material having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface comprising the inner surface of each packaging unit and the second surface comprising the outer surface of each packaging unit, wherein said inner surface comprises a portion with the resealable adhesive for closure of tho each packaging unit formed from the blank and wherein said outer surface comprises one or more sync marks.

22. The blank according to claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the inner surface is pre-treated with a surface treatment for increasing a surface energy.

23. A method of forming a packaging unit for hygiene articles, the packaging unit being formed from a blank of an elongated sheet of material, the method comprising the steps of: providing said elongated sheet of material comprising at least two packaging unit sections, said elongated sheet of material having having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface comprising an inner surface of each packaging unit and the second surface comprising an outer surface of each packaging unit, providing said outer surface with one or more sync marks, applying a resealable adhesive on an edge zone portion of the inner surface of each packaging unit section; detecting the one or more sync marks and their position on the blank, and cutting said elongated sheet of material into two or more single sheets or packaging units.

24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising a step of pre-treating at least a portion of the first surface with a surface treatment for increasing a surface energy before said resealable adhesive is applied on the first surface.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the surface treatment is a plasma treatment.

26. The method according to claim 23, wherein the elongated sheet of material comprises at least one folding axis extending in a machine direction, said at least one folding axis dividing said elongated sheet of material into a first blank region and a second blank region, wherein the method further comprises folding said elongated sheet of material along said at least one folding axis with said first blank region and said second blank region in an overlapping configuration, thereby providing a folded elongated sheet of overlapping sheet layers, wherein said step of cutting the elongated sheet occurs after the folding step.

27. The method according to claim 23, wherein each single sheet formed after said step of cutting comprises at least one transversely extending folding axis, said at least one transversely extending folding axis dividing each single sheet into a first region and a second region, wherein the method further comprises, following the step of cutting the elongated sheet of material, folding said single sheet along said at least one folding axis with said first region and said second region in an overlapping configuration, thereby providing a packaging unit of overlapping sheet layers.

28. The method according to claim 26, wherein the formed packaging unit is for hygiene articles wherein the elongated sheet of material has at least one transversely extending folding axis, said at least one folding axis dividing said elongated sheet of material into a first region and a second region, wherein said one or more sync mark indicate a positioning of the elongated sheet of material during manufacturing of the packaging unit.

29. The method according to claim 26, wherein the method, prior to the folding step, further comprises applying a release agent on said first surface on a portion of each center zone of a packaging unit section, applying an adhesive on the portion with release agent, and applying a hygiene article to said adhesive applied on the release agent.

30. The method according to claim 26, wherein the method, prior to the folding step, further comprises: attaching a release liner on the first surface on a portion of each center zone of a packaging unit section, and connecting a hygiene article to the release liner by the use of fastening means.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0089] FIG. 1 shows a packaging unit according to an embodiment having one folding axis;

[0090] FIG. 2 shows the packaging unit depicted in FIG. 1 in a folded state;

[0091] FIG. 3 shows a packaging unit according to an embodiment having two folding axes;

[0092] FIG. 4 shows the packaging unit depicted in FIG. 3 in a folded state.

[0093] FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an arrangement for forming a packaging unit depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0094] The packaging unit of the present disclosure is in the form of a sheet that may be used as a single wrap that has resealable adhesive for closure of the packaging unit holding an unused hygiene article therein or a used article therein. The closure of the packaging unit may include folding the sheet and enclosing the hygiene article between folded sheet layers that are sealed by the resealable adhesive provided close to the edges of the sheets. Conceivable hygiene articles are sanitary napkins, panty liners and the like.

[0095] In the following, the packaging unit will be exemplified by a packaging unit comprising a rectangular sheet. Other forms such as circular sheet are also within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the exemplified packaging unit comprises resealable adhesive for closure of the packaging unit, wherein a chessboard pattern of resealable adhesive and non-adhesive portions is formed along at least longitudinal edge zones (i.e. along the longitudinal direction (L)) for complementary attachment between resealable adhesive and non-adhesive portions in a folded packaging unit. According to the embodiment, other ways of applying one or more resealable adhesive portions for closure of the packaging unit may also be considered.

[0096] FIG. 1 depicts a packaging unit 1 for hygiene articles according to the present embodiment. The packaging unit is formed from a sheet of material having a longitudinal direction (L) and a transverse direction (T). The sheet has an inner surface 2 and an outer surface 3, the inner surface comprising an edge zone 4 comprising an inner edge portion 5, 8 and an outer edge portion 6, 7. The packaging unit 1 also comprises transverse edge portions 4 and 4. The sheet has a longitudinal center line (L1) and a folding axis 9, wherein the folding axis divides the sheet into a first region 10 and a second region 11. As shown in FIG. 1, the outer edge portion 6 of the edge zone 4 of the first region 10 is provided with resealable adhesive 12, while the inner edge portion 5 of the edge zone 4 of the first region 10 is adhesive-free. Further, the inner edge portion 8 of the edge zone 4 of the second region 11 is provided with resealable adhesive 12, while the outer edge portion 7 of the edge zone 4 of the second region 11 is adhesive-free. Also, the transverse edge portion 4 of the first region 10 is provided with resealable adhesive 12, while the transverse edge portion 4 of the second region 11 is adhesive-free. Thus, the resealable adhesive pattern in the first region 10 is complementary to the resealable adhesive pattern of the second region 11. This in turn means that, when the sheet is folded about the folding axis 9 as shown in FIG. 2, the edge portions 6 carrying resealable adhesive in the first region 10 are brought in contact with the adhesive-free edge portions 7 in the second region 11, the edge portions 8 carrying resealable adhesive 12 in the second region 11 are brought in contact with the adhesive-free edge portions 5 in the first region 10, and the transverse edge portion 4 carrying resealable adhesive 12 in the first region 10 is brought in contact with the adhesive-free transverse edge portion 4 in the second region 11. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the width of the sealing area corresponds to the sum of the widths of the resealable adhesive portions 6, 8. Such a sealing ensures a tight package for both a new and a disposed article.

[0097] Accordingly, the resealable adhesive (-s) is provided on edge portions such that when the sheet is folded about the folding axis 9, the resealable adhesive aids in the closure of the packaging unit 1 enclosing a hygiene article in a tight and hygienic way. FIG. 2 illustrates the folded sheet along the at least one folding axis with the first and second regions 10, 12 in an overlapping configuration, thereby providing a packaging unit 1 of overlapping sheet layers.

[0098] A set forth in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet is further provided with two sync marks 13 for indication of a positioning of the sheet of material during manufacturing of the packaging unit 1. Each sync mark 13 is provided on the outer surface 3 of the sheet at a corner portion of the first region 10. By providing the sync mark 13 on the outer surface 2 of the sheet, an improved adhesive connection to the inner surface 2 is made possible. This is because adhesive bonds less well to a printed surface. With no sync marks on the inner surface 2, the inner surface 2 can be prepared for pre-treatments, such as corona treatments, for providing an improved adhesive connection to the inner surface 4, as described herein.

[0099] The most common packaging unit for individual packaging of absorbent articles is a rectangular sheet comprising two folding axes, longitudinal edges and transverse edges. Such an embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 3. The packaging unit 301 is a rectangular sheet comprising two folding axes 309, 309 dividing the packaging unit into a first region 310, a second region 311 and a third region 312. Each of the regions comprises an inner edge portion 305, 305, 308 and an outer edge portion 306, 306, 307. As shown in FIG. 3, the outer edge portions 306, 307 of the first and third regions respectively are provided with resealable adhesive 12, while the inner edge portions 305, 308 of the first and third regions respectively are adhesive-free. The resealable adhesive pattern of the second region 311 is complementary to the resealable adhesive pattern of the first and third regions 310, 312, thus forming a chessboard pattern. In other words, the outer edge portion 306 of the second region 311 is adhesive-free, and the inner edge portion 305 of the second region 311 is provided with resealable adhesive. This in turn means that, when the sheet is e-folded about the folding axes 309, 309 as shown in FIG. 4, the outer edge portions 306 of the first region 310 or the outer edge portions 307 of the third region 312 carrying resealable adhesive 12 are brought in contact with the adhesive-free outer edge portions 306 in the second region 311, depending on which of the first and the third regions 310, 312 is brought in contact with the second region 311. Consequently, the inner edge portions 305 carrying resealable adhesive 12 in the second region 311 are brought into contact with the adhesive-free inner edge portions 305 of the first region 310 or the adhesive-free inner edge portions 308 of the third region 312.

[0100] As can be seen from FIG. 4, the width of the sealing area corresponds to the sum of the widths of the resealable adhesive portions 306, 305. It should be noted that the order in which the packaging unit is folded is irrelevant. For example, the packaging unit may be folded around the second folding axis 309, bringing the third region 312 in contact with the second region 311, sealing the outer edge portions 307, 306 and the inner edge portions 308, 305. The packaging unit is subsequently folded around the first folding axis 309, bringing the first region 310 in contact with the outer surface of the third region 312, thus sealing the packaging unit (FIG. 4). The folding order may also be reversed. This is a great advantage, since when the packaging unit of the present embodiment is used for disposal; the user does not have to fold the packaging unit in any particular order to be able to obtain a tightly sealed package. Thus, the packaging unit will provide a tight and hygienic package regardless of the folding order.

[0101] In order to obtain a tight package, the transverse edge portions 304 and 304 of the packaging unit 301 are provided with resealable adhesive 12. When both transverse edges 304 and 304 are provided with resealable adhesive, the folding order is irrelevant, as described above. It is also conceivable to provide only one of the transverse edges with resealable adhesive. In this case, the folding should be initiated around the folding axis being positioned closest to the adhesive-free transverse edge, such that the region comprising the adhesive-covered transverse edge portion forms a lid and the resealable adhesive positioned at the transverse edge portion seals the packaging unit.

[0102] The sheet as set forth in FIGS. 3 and 4 is also provided with two sync marks 313 for indication of a positioning of the sheet of material during manufacturing of the packaging unit. Each sync mark 313 is provided on the outer surface 303 of the sheet at a corner portion of the first region 310. As for the single-axis sheet, the provision of the sync mark 313, such as a printed sync mark, on the outer surface 303 means that an improved adhesive connection to the inner surface 302 is made possible as further described herein.

[0103] The use of marks for indicating, for example, cutting positions of a product is known from, for example, WO 03030796 A1.

[0104] It should be noted that when the packaging unit according to the present embodiment is used for disposal, the user may choose to roll up the packaging unit 1, 301 with the soiled article positioned on it rather than folding it.

[0105] The packaging unit is intended to include a hygiene article. The hygiene article may be arranged on the inner surface, in the center zone thereof, wherein the hygiene article may be attached to the release agent via an adhesive or to a release liner(not shown), as now will be further elaborated on in the described example of a method of forming the packaging unit.

[0106] The packaging units may be formed from a blank. FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an arrangement of using a blank 316 for forming a packaging unit 301 with two folding axes 309, 309 in accordance with the packaging unit 301 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The blank 316 is an elongated sheet of material having first and second surfaces 317, 318, wherein the first surface comprises the inner surface 302 of each packaging unit 301 and the second surface 318 comprises the outer surface 303 of each packaging unit 301. The inner surface is provided with resealable adhesive 12 for closure of the packaging unit 301 formed from the blank 316, and the outer surface 303 is provided with one or more sync marks 313. As mentioned above, such a sync mark 313 may be used for guiding a cutting tool 319 to cut the blank 316 into individual sheets of material and forming the packaging units 301.

[0107] A release agent 320 or a release liner may be applied on the first surface 317 and inner surface 302, and a hygiene article 321 may be arranged on the release agent 320 via an adhesive 322 or on the release liner via fastening means.

[0108] At least a portion of the first surface 317 and the inner surface 302 may be pre-treated with a surface treatment for increasing the surface energy before any adhesive has been applied on the first surface so as to improve adhesive connection to the pre-treated portion of the first surface 317 and the inner surface 302. The surface treatment may be a plasma treatment, such as a corona treatment as is described in more detail herein above.

[0109] The method used in the arrangement as illustrated in FIG. 5 then comprises the steps of: [0110] providing a blank 316 of an elongated sheet of material comprising at least two packaging unit sections 323, the sheet having first and second surfaces 317, 318, the first surface 317 comprising an inner surface 302 of each packaging unit 301 and the second surface 318 comprising an outer surface 303 of each packaging unit 301, [0111] providing the outer surface 303 with one or more sync marks 313, e.g. one or more printed marks; [0112] applying a resealable adhesive 12 on an edge zone portion of the inner surface 302 of each packaging unit section 323; [0113] detecting the sync mark 313 and its position on the blank 316, and [0114] cutting the elongated sheet along a cutting line 324 into two or more packaging units 301.

[0115] The position of cutting and thus the cutting line may be determined based on the detected position of the sync mark (-s) 313.

[0116] In FIG. 5, each sync mark 313 is provided on the outer surface 303 of the sheet at a corner portion of the first region 310. Each sync mark 313 is applied on the blank as a combined sync mark overlapping the cutting line 324, and thus the combined sync mark forms two sync marks 313 after the blank 326 has been cutted, wherein a sync mark 313 is formed on each packaging unit.

[0117] Each portion with resealable adhesive 12 may be arranged in a zone close to and along the cutting line 324 of a packaging unit section 323, wherein the resealable adhesive 12 in some portions may be applied as one adhesive string (not shown) along and overlapping the cutting line 323 so that the applied string forms a portion with resealable adhesive 12 on each one of two packaging units 301 after cutting has taken place (not shown). The resealable adhesive 12 may also be separately applied to each packaging unit section 323 at a distance from the cutting line 324.

[0118] One or more sync mark detectors may be arranged to detect sync marks on the outer surfaces 303 during the manufacturing, wherein detection of the sync marks is used for indicating a position of a blank 316 sheet of material so as to determine, for example, a cutting position of the blank sheet of material for providing single packaging unit such as a wrap. FIG. 5 illustrates one detector 325.

[0119] As mentioned herein above, at least a portion of the first surface 317 may be pre-treated with a surface treatment for increasing the surface energy The surface treatment may be a plasma treatment. The treatment may be a corona treatment.

[0120] The elongated sheet may comprise at least one folding axis 326, 327 extending in the machine direction (MD). In FIG. 5, the elongated sheet has two folding axes 326, 327 dividing the elongated sheet into a first blank region 328, a second blank region 329 and a third blank region 330. The method illustrated in FIG. 5 further comprises folding the elongated sheet along the folding axes 326, 327 with the blank regions in an overlapping configuration, thereby providing a folded elongated sheet of overlapping sheet layers, wherein the step of cutting the elongated sheet occurs after the folding step. The transversely extending folding axes 326, 327 extend along the machine direction (MD) and the cutting occurs along the cross machine direction (CD). The folding is provided by any folding tool as is well known in the art (not shown).

[0121] The cutting may also occur prior to the folding step (not shown). Nonetheless, the transversely extending folding axis may still extend along the machine direction (MD) and the cutting may occur along the cross machine direction (CD).

[0122] Prior to the folding step, the method as illustrated in FIG. 5 further comprises: [0123] applying a release agent 320 on the first surface 317 on a portion of each center zone 331 of a packaging unit section 323 (and corresponding packaging unit 301), [0124] applying an adhesive 322 on the portion with release agent 320, and [0125] applying a hygiene article 321 to the adhesive 322 applied on the release agent 320.

[0126] The sync mark (-s) 313 may also aid in positioning of the applied agents and articles.

[0127] As an alternative to use a release agent 320 and on the first surface 317 as illustrated in FIG. 5, the method may, prior to the folding step, further comprise: [0128] attaching a release liner on the first surface 317 on a portion of each center zone 331 of a packaging unit section 323 and [0129] connecting a hygiene article 321 to the release liner by the use of fastening means.

[0130] As the skilled person will appreciate, it is intended that the detailed description be regarded as illustrative and that many embodiments and alternatives are possible within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the packaging unit may adopt other shapes than the rectangular ones shown in the drawings. Furthermore, the present disclosure has been exemplified with packaging units comprising resealable adhesive for closure of the packaging unit, wherein a chessboard pattern of resealable adhesive and non-adhesive portions is formed along at least longitudinal edge zones (i.e. along the longitudinal direction (L)) for complementary attachments between resealable adhesive and non-adhesive portions in a folded packaging unit. Other ways of applying one or more resealable adhesive portions for closure of the packaging unit may also be considered.