PACKAGING FOR STORING AND/OR COOKING A FOOD PRODUCT AND COVER THEREFOR

Abstract

The present invention relates to a packaging for storing and/or cooking a food product, the packaging comprising a container for holding the food product, and a cover removably fastened to an upper rim of the container characterized in that the cover comprises a weakening line forming a spiral. Further aspects of the invention are the cover as well as the packaged food product.

Claims

1. Packaging for storing and/or cooking a food product, the packaging comprising: a container for holding the food product; a cover removably fastened to an upper rim of the container; the cover comprises a weakening line forming a spiral, the spiral starting in a central part of the cover and running towards the rim of the cover; and the spiral winds at least one-and-a-half times around a central axis of the spiral.

2. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the spiral winds at least two times around a central axis of the spiral.

3. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the spiral winds at least two-and-a-half time around a central axis of the spiral.

4. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the cover comprises only one single weakening line.

5. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the weakening line is a score.

6. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the cover comprises a depression zone having at least the size of a fingertip and where the depression zone overlaps with the central axis of the spiral.

7. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the cover and the upper rim of the container are round.

8. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the central axis of the spiral is in the center of the cover.

9. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the cover does not comprise a separate peel tab.

10. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the cover is made of an aluminium containing laminate or a plastic containing laminate.

11. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the container is made of a plastic or glass material.

12. A packaged food product comprising a packaging for storing and/or cooking a food product, the packaging comprising: a container for holding the food product; a cover removably fastened to an upper rim of the container; the cover comprises a weakening line forming a spiral, the spiral starting in a central part of the cover and running towards the rim of the cover; and the spiral winds at least one-and-a-half times around a central axis of the spiral; and a food product comprised in the container.

13. The packaged food product according to claim 12, wherein the food product is selected from the group consisting of a dried soup, an instant noodle, a dried coffee milk drink, and a dried chocolate drink.

14. A cover for use on a container for storage and/or cooking a food product, the cover comprises a weakening line forming a spiral, the spiral starting in a central part of the cover and running towards the rim of the cover, and wherein the spiral winds at least one-and-a-half times around a central axis of the spiral.

15. The cover according to claim 14, comprising only one single weakening line.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG. 1: Covers with different weakening line design

[0022] FIG. 2: Cover with a preferred weakening line design

[0023] FIG. 3: Way of opening the packaging of the present invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] The present invention pertains to a packaging for storing and/or cooking a food product, the packaging comprising: [0025] a container for holding the food product, and [0026] a cover removably fastened to an upper rim of the container; characterized in that the cover comprises a weakening line forming a spiral, the spiral starting in a central part of the cover and running towards the rim of the cover, and wherein the spiral winds at least one-and-a-half times around a central axis of said spiral. Preferably, the spiral winds at least two times around a central axis of said spiral. More preferably, the spiral winds at least two-and-a-half times around a central axis of said spiral. To properly and completely open and remove the cover from the container a minimal complete 360° turn of the spiral around its own axis is necessary. However, in order to provide a solution where the cover can be opened at least partly in such a way that at least about ¼ of the cover surface can be opened without removing any parts of the ultimate last ring of the spiral attached to the upper rim of the food container all along its circumference, at least a one-and-a-half times turn (i.e.) 540° of the spiral around its own axis is required. This last spiral ring of the cover still attached to the upper rim of the container forms the barrier rim which prevents any liquid or hot food to spill over the container rim upon heating or cooking of said food product. Preferably and for an easier handling, the spiral winds at least two times around its own axis. The most practical and convenient application has been found where the spiral winds around the axis for about 2.5 to 3.5 times (i.e. about 900°-1260°). Preferably, the spiral does not wind around its own axis more than about 10 times, or more than about 5 times.

[0027] A “cover” of the present invention is a means to removably cover a container suitable for holding a food product. Such a “cover” can be a lid, a film, a laminated sheet, a membrane or a cap.

[0028] “Removably fastened” of the present invention means that the cover is sealed, glued or otherwise fixed to the upper rim of a container in such a way that the cover can be removed again from said container by a consumer.

[0029] In a preferred embodiment, the cover of the present invention comprises only one single weakening line.

[0030] A “single line” is defined and understood herein as one single continuous line having two ends. The line can be curved, straight, in spiral form, or in any combination thereof. The single line is not the combined product of two lines crossing each other, nor is it a line which is branched into two lines.

[0031] The advantage of having only one single weakening line within the cover is that any tear or force to tear, e.g. when poking into the cover with a finger, only and inevitably results in the tearing of this one only single weakening line. Tearing of this single weakening line will always be limited to just this one only existing weakening line and tearing of that line will be complete. This has the advantage that it always results in a proper tearing of the weakening line even when torn across by e.g. a clumsy consumer.

[0032] In an embodiment, the weakening line of the present invention is a score. The score in the cover material can be made by mechanical scoring, by edging, die cutting and/or laser cutting. A preferred solution is by laser cutting.

[0033] In a preferred embodiment, the weakening line of the present invention is continuously winding around the central axis of the spiral, with having no straight or liner inter-sections. It has been found by the inventors that a peeling action of such a continuous spiral is smoother and more consistent than when straight or liner stretches are present in the spiral form.

[0034] The cover of the present invention comprises a depression zone having at least the size of a fingertip. Preferably, this depression zone overlaps with the central axis of the spiral formed by the weakening line. This allows optimal and straight forward opening of the packaging of the present invention.

[0035] In a preferred embodiment, the cover and the upper rim of the container of the present invention are round. Round is obviously the optimal form for an opening system based on a spiral system. Furthermore, most single serve food products such as instant soups, instant noodles or beverage products are typically offered for sale packaged in round cups. Hence, advantageously, the cover and the upper rim of the container are round. Thereby, preferably, the central axis of the spiral is in the center of the cover.

[0036] In one embodiment, the cover of the present invention does not comprise a separate peel tab. As the cover now comprises a new and different opening system, a separate peel tab for removing the cover from the upper rim of the container is not necessary anymore. An extra separate peel tab may only be confusing to a consumer; it may add up to additional production costs and it may be encumbering in the packing and stacking of the packagings and/or packaged food products of the present invention.

[0037] In a preferred embodiment, the cover of the present invention is made of a multi-layer laminate, preferably of an aluminium containing or a plastic containing laminate. More preferably, the multi-layer laminate comprises: a base layer selected from the group consisting of aluminium, paper, polyester (PET), oriented polypropylene (OPP) and oriented polyamide (OPA); and a sealing layer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and a homo- or co-polymer of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). Alternatively, the cover comprises an intermediate layer having barrier properties, for example an aluminium foil or a metalized polymer layer.

[0038] The aluminium containing laminates have the advantage that they provide a best smooth peeling and tearing for opening the cover along the scored weakening line. Furthermore, they result typically in a nice continuous cut after the tearing with clean and smooth edges. Plastic containing laminates have a similar effect as aluminium containing laminates and furthermore have the advantage that they can also be used for cooking of a food product in the packaging of the present invention e.g. in a micro-wave oven.

[0039] The container of the present invention is preferably made of a plastic material. Preferably, the container of the present invention is rigid and in particular freestanding so that it retains its form whether or not it is filled with a food product. The container is for example consisting of a plastic outer support layer material, for example polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), or a complex of amorphous polyester (APET)/polyethylene (PE). Alternatively, the container is a paper container of heat-sealable coated surface-protected cardboard which includes a wound container wall and a container bottom connected therewith.

[0040] Alternatively, the container of the present invention can be made of a glass material.

[0041] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a packaged food product comprising the packaging of the present invention and a food product comprised in the container. In a preferred embodiment, the food product is a dried soup, an instant noodle product, a dried coffee and/or milk drink, or a dried chocolate drink.

[0042] A still further aspect of the present invention pertains to a cover for use on a container for storage and/or cooking a food product, the cover characterized in that it comprises a weakening line forming a spiral, the spiral starting in a central part of the cover and running towards the rim of the cover, and wherein the spiral winds at least one-and-a-half times around a central axis of said spiral. Preferably, the cover comprises only one single weakening line.

[0043] Those skilled in the art will understand that they can freely combine all features of the present invention disclosed herein. In particular, features described for the packaging for storing and/or cooking a food product of the present invention may be combined with the packaged food product as well as the cover of the present invention, and vice versa.

[0044] Further advantages and features of the present invention are apparent from the figures and examples.

EXAMPLE 1

[0045] Several packaging film designs have been produced and tested, as described in FIG. 1. A Graphtec cutting plotter (FC2250) with a versatile moving head secured with a cutting blade in a holder was used to cut the spiral weakening line into several different substrates and to compare the performance of half-cutting. Illustration files containing the spiral designs according to FIG. 1 were sent to the plotter software to initiate the scoring operations. The cover materials selected for testing were an aluminium-containing laminate (polyester (PET)/aluminium/polyester (PET)/polyethylene (PE))(Daibochi Plastic & Packaging Ind. Bhd.), a paper-containing laminate (Paper/polyester (PET)/polyethylene (PE))(Amcor Flexibles Sarrebourg), and a plastic laminate as indicated in table 1.

[0046] “Axis setting” is the movement direction (X horizontal, Y vertical) of the cutting blade. The higher the axis setting, the higher is the pressure of the cutting force.

[0047] The following results were observed. The aluminium-based material enabled smooth peeling effect and an easier tearing, peeling action in one continuous motion compared with paper-based material. Paper-containing film resulted in a discontinuous cut, leading to multiple gaps and difficulty in poking through the tearing hole. The peeling of the packaging film also caused uneven edges compared with aluminium-containing film. However, this issue can be resolved through the use of laser scoring.

[0048] The plastic-containing film enabled a smooth peeling effect and easier tearing, peeling action in one continuous motion. However, this film requires more strength to poke through the film compared to both paper-containing film and aluminium-containing film. The gestures performed by a consumer result in a clear sound during poking and peeling action along the adjacent of film towards the brim of container.

[0049] The plastic laminate cover as of Table 1 was further tested on a plastic container comprising some liquid food for microwave heating. Before placing the packaging inside a standard household microwave oven, the center of the cover was poked open and the cover opened about half-way through the spiral, in order to allow the addition of some water to the container. Thereafter, the opened packaging was heated for 2 minutes in the microwave oven. It was noticed that the opening tab was further released by the steam generated by the microwave cooking in the container, and thereby further facilitating the peeling and complete removal of the cover along the weakening line after the cooking step.

EXAMPLE 2

[0050] A good working example and preferred embodiment of the present invention has the spiral design and dimensions as shown in FIG. 2.

EXAMPLE 3

[0051] The packaging of the present invention can be opened in the following way as shown in FIG. 3:

Step 3.1—Poke at centre of the cover to break initial opening
Step 3.2—Pull released tab to peel open
Step 3.3—Pull tab higher to reveal product
Step 3.4—Pull tab along the brim of packaging for complete opening.