PACKAGING MADE OF SHEET METAL MATERIAL WITH TEAR-OFF FOIL LID AND MATERIAL SET, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME

Abstract

A package made of sheet material with a tear-off foil cover includes a seamless frame (1) produced by deep drawing, which forms a package wall (6) enclosing the interior space of the package. At a first end (T), the frame (1) forms an extraction opening surrounded by a sealing flange (2), which is closed by a tear-off foil cover (3) sealed onto the sealing flange (2). At its other, second end (B), the frame (1) is connected by flanging to a sheet metal cover (4) which forms the package bottom (7). The package can be produced inexpensively with low energy and material consumption from both steel sheet material and aluminum sheet material, has no weld seams, can be tested for leaks before filling, and enables high filling speeds.

Claims

1. A package made of sheet material with a tear-off foil cover, comprising: a seamless frame produced by deep drawing, which forms a package wall enclosing the interior space of the package and which has a first end (T) and a second end (B), wherein the frame forms at its first end (T) an extraction opening surrounded by a sealing flange, which is closed by a tear-off foil cover glued or sealed onto the sealing flange, and wherein the frame is connected at its second end (B) by flanging to a sheet metal cover which forms the package bottom.

2. The package according to claim 1, wherein the sealing flange extends radially outward from the package wall formed by the frame.

3. The package according to claim 1, wherein the sealing flange comprises a circumferential edge outwardly delimiting its sealing surface.

4. The package according to claim 3, wherein the sealing flange and the package bottom are configured in such a way that the package bottom of a first package can be arranged within the edge, which outwardly delimits the sealing surface, of an identical second package.

5. The package according to claim 1, wherein the package wall defines a substantially cylindrical package interior space.

6. The package according to claim 1, wherein the package wall and the package bottom are made of an identical sheet material, in particular of identical coated steel sheet material or aluminum sheet material.

7. The package according to claim 1, wherein the package bottom is made of a deep-drawn sheet material.

8. A kit of materials for forming packages according to claim 1, comprising a) seamless frames produced by deep drawing to form the package walls of the packages, which each form an extraction opening surrounded by a sealing flange at a first end (T) and a filling opening at a second end (B), and b) sheet metal covers with which the filling openings of the frames can be closed by producing a flanged connection between the respective frame and the respective sheet metal cover.

9. The kit of materials according to claim 8, wherein the sheet metal covers are made of a deep-drawn sheet metal material which is identical to the material of the frames.

10. The kit of materials according to claim 9, wherein the extraction openings of the frames are each closed by a tear-off foil cover glued or sealed onto the sealing flange.

11. A method for manufacturing the kit of materials according to claim 8 comprising the steps of: a) manufacturing of identical deep-drawn cup-like containers each with a cup opening, a closed cup bottom, a circumferential closed cup wall extending between the cup bottom and the cup opening, and a sealing flange surrounding the cup opening; b) separating the cup bottoms from the containers in such a way that first container parts are present which essentially consist of the separated cup bottoms, and second container parts are present which are essentially formed from the respective cup wall and the sealing flange surrounding the respective cup opening; c) formation of the sheet metal covers from the first container parts and formation of the frames from the second container parts.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the separation of the cup bottoms with a part of the cup wall from the respective container takes place in such a way that the co-separated part of the cup wall forms a collar of uniform height around the cup bottom.

13. The method according to claim 11, comprising the step of: sealing or glueing tear-off foil covers onto the sealing flanges of the second container parts each in such a way that the cup opening is completely closed by the tear-off foil cover.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein a leak test of the second container part with the tear-off foil cover is carried out each after the sealing or glueing.

15. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of: re-shaping the collars of the first container parts or the collars of the first container parts and the ends (B) of the cup walls of the second container parts forming the filling opening, each in such a way that these regions can be re-shaped in a further step into a flanged connection between one of the first container parts and one of the second container parts, for closing the filling opening of the second container part with the first container part.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein a putative re-shaping of the end of the cup wall of the second container part forming the filling opening takes place each before the tear-off foil cover is sealed or glued onto the sealing flange.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the sealing flange of the cup-like container is each formed in such a way that it extends radially outward from the cup opening.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the sealing flange of the cup-like container is each formed in such a way that it has a circumferential edge outwardly delimiting the sealing surface.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the deep-drawn cup-like containers each have a substantially cylindrical cup interior space.

20. The method according to claim 11, wherein the deep-drawn cup-like containers are each produced from a sheet metal blank which is at the manufacturing site of the cup-like container punched out of an in particular coated sheet metal web, in particular of steel sheet material or aluminum sheet material.

21. The method according to claim 11, wherein the tear-off foil covers are each punched out of a foil web at the manufacturing location of the cup-like container.

22. The method for manufacturing filled packages according to claim 1, in particular food packages, comprising the steps: a) manufacturing of identical deep-drawn cup-like containers with a cup opening, a closed cup bottom, a circumferential closed cup wall extending between the cup bottom and the cup opening, and a sealing flange surrounding the cup opening; b) separating the cup bottoms with a part of the cup wall from the respective container each in such a way that a first container part for forming a sheet metal cover is present, which is formed from the separated cup bottom with the co-separated part of the cup wall, wherein the co-separated part of the cup wall forms a collar of uniform height around the cup bottom, and that a second container part for forming a frame is present, which is formed from the remaining cup wall and the sealing flange surrounding the cup opening; c) sealing or glueing tear-off foil covers onto the sealing flanges of the second container parts each in such a way that the cup opening is completely closed by the tear-off foil cover; d) re-shaping the collars of the first container parts or the collars of the first container parts and the ends (B) forming the filling opening of the cup walls of the second container parts each in such a way that, in a further step, these regions can each be re-shaped into a flanged connection between one of the first container parts and one of the second container parts, such that the first container part closes the filling opening of the second container part; e) filling the second container parts with a filling material each after the tear-off foil cover has been sealed or glued via the filling opening; f) closing the filling openings of the filled second container parts each with one of the first container parts by adjoining the first container part to the second container part and producing the flanged connection between the first and the second container part.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the filling opening of the respective filled second container part is each closed with a first container part which has previously been separated from this second container part.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the filling opening of the respective filled second container part is each closed with a first container part which has been separated from another of the second container parts.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the re-shaping of the collar of the respective first container part which is used for closing the filling opening of the respective second container part takes place in the period of time in which the putative re-shaping of the end (B) of the cup wall of the second container part forming the filling opening, the sealing or glueing of the tear-off foil cover onto the sealing flange of the second container part and/or the filling of the second container part takes place.

26. The method according to claim 22, wherein a putative re-shaping of the end (B) of the cup wall of the respective second container part forming the filling opening takes place before the tear-off foil cover is sealed or glued onto the sealing flange.

27. The method according to claim 22, wherein the sealing flange of the cup-like container is each formed in such a way that it extends radially outward from the cup opening.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the sealing flange of the cup-like container is each formed in such a way that it has a circumferential edge outwardly delimiting the sealing surface.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the sealing flange and the flanged connection between the first container part and the second container part are each formed in such a way that the bottom of a first finished package can be arranged within the edge outwardly delimiting the sealing surface of a second finished package.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein the deep-drawn cup-like containers are each formed in such a way that they have a substantially cylindrical cup interior space.

31. The method according to claim 22, wherein the deep-drawn cup-like containers are each produced from a sheet metal blank which is punched out at the manufacturing site of the package from an in particular coated metal sheet material web, in particular of coated steel sheet material or aluminum sheet material.

32. The method according to claim 22, wherein the tear-off foil covers are each punched out of a foil web at the manufacturing site of the packages.

33. The method according to claim 22, wherein a leak test of the respective second container part with the tear-off foil cover is carried out each before the second container parts are filled.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0066] Further embodiments, advantages and applications of the invention are apparent from the dependent claims and from the now following description with reference to the figures. Thereby show:

[0067] FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a tuna can with a tear-off foil cover according to the invention;

[0068] FIG. 2 is schematically the production of a kit of materials according to the invention to form the tuna can of FIG. 1; and

[0069] FIG. 3 is schematically the production of the tuna can from FIG. 1 starting from the kit of materials from FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0070] FIG. 1 shows a top perspective view of a package according to the invention in the form of a three-piece can filled with tuna and with a tear-off foil cover.

[0071] The can comprises a seamless frame 1 of coated steel sheet material produced by deep drawing, which forms a can wall 6 enclosing the circular cylindrical interior space of the can.

[0072] At its upper end T (first end according to the claims), the frame 1 forms an extraction opening surrounded by a sealing flange 2 which is closed by a tear-off foil cover 3 sealed onto the sealing flange 2 and which is therefore not visible. The tear-off foil cover 3 comprises a tear-off tab 14 by means of which it can be pulled off the sealing surface of the sealing flange 2 in order to open the can.

[0073] At its bottom end B (second end according to the claims), the frame 1 is connected by a flange 12 to a sheet metal cover 4 which forms the can bottom 7. The sheet metal cover 4 is made of the same material as the frame 1.

[0074] As can be seen, the sealing flange 2 extends radially outward from the can wall 6 formed by the frame 1 such that it protrudes outwardly beyond the can wall 6 in the plane of the tear-off foil cover 3.

[0075] Thereby, the sealing flange 2 and the package bottom 7 are designed in such a way that the package bottom 7 of a first can be arranged within the edge 5 which delimits the sealing surface to the outside of an identical second can.

[0076] This results in a good stackability of the cans with an at the same time positive centering of the stacked cans on one another by the edge 5 of the sealing flange 2 of the respective lower can.

[0077] FIG. 2 schematically shows the production of a kit of materials according to the second aspect of the invention for forming the tuna can of FIG. 1. For the sake of simplicity, only the production of a frame 1 and a cover 4 is shown, respectively.

[0078] As can be seen, it is started from is a deep-drawn cup 9 (cup-like container according to the claims) made of coated steel sheet material, which has a cup opening, a closed cup bottom, a circumferential closed cup wall 6 extending between the cup bottom and the cup opening, and a sealing flange 2 surrounding the cup opening. The sealing surface of the sealing flange 2 of the cup 9 is delimited towards the outside by an upwardly projecting edge 5.

[0079] In a first processing step, the deep-drawn cup 9 is divided into a first cup part 10 (first container part according to the claims) and a second cup part 11 (second container part according to the claims) by separating the cup bottom with a part of the cup wall 6a. The first cup part 10 consists of the separated cup bottom with the co-separated part of the cup wall 6a, wherein the co-separated part of the cup wall 6a forms a collar of uniform height around the cup bottom. The second cup part 11 consists of the remaining cup wall 6b and the sealing flange 2 surrounding the cup opening.

[0080] In another step, the separated first and second cup parts 10, 11 are re-shaped into a frame 1 and a sheet metal cover 4 of the kit of materials 1, 4. For this, the collar 6a of the first cup part 10 and the end B of the cup wall 6b of the second cup part 11 which later forms the filling opening are re-shaped in such a way that these areas can be re-shaped in a further step into a flanged connection 12 between the sheet metal cover 4 formed from the first cup part 10 and the frame 1 formed from the second cup part 11, for a tight closure of the filling opening of the frame 1 with the sheet metal cover 4.

[0081] FIG. 3 schematically shows the production of tuna cans according to FIG. 1, starting from frames 1 and from sheet metal covers 4 according to FIG. 2. Also here, for the sake of simplicity, only the production of a tuna can is shown and described.

[0082] As can be seen, a frame 1 and a sheet metal cover 4 according to FIG. 2 as well as a tear-off foil cover 3 are provided and the tear-off foil cover 3 is sealed onto the sealing flange 2 of the frame 1 in such a way that the original cup opening is completely and tightly closed by the tear-off foil cover 3. The tear-off tab 14 of the tear-off foil cover 3 is thereby folded towards the can center.

[0083] After sealing of the tear-off foil cover 3, the frame 1 is turned over such that the tear-off foil cover 3 points downwards and that the filling opening formed by the bottom end B of the frame 1 points upwards. In this orientation, the tuna filling 13 in the form of a dimensionally stable pressed cake is introduced via the filling opening into the can interior space 8 enclosed by the can wall 6 of the frame 1. This has a cylindrical shape complementary to the shape of the press cake, such that the interior space 8 is virtually completely filled with the tuna filling.

[0084] Advantageously, a leak test of the frame 1 with the tear-off foil cover 3 is first carried out before the frame 1 is filled, but this is not shown here.

[0085] After the filling, the sheet metal cover 4 is placed on the bottom end B of the frame 1 and a flanged connection 12 is then made between the sheet metal cover 4 and the frame 1, thereby closing the frame 1 tightly at its bottom end.

[0086] After the closing of the filling opening with the sheet metal cover 4, the now finished tuna can is turned upside down such that the tear-off foil cover 3 faces upwards and such that the sheet metal cover 4 forms the can bottom 7.

[0087] While in the present application there are described preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be clearly noted that the invention is not limited to these and that it can be carried out in other ways within the scope of the following claims.