WO1993016925A1

WO1993016925A1 - A method of packaging compressible absorbent articles, and a package produced in accordance with the method

Info

Publication number: WO1993016925A1
Application number: PCT/SE1993/000119
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roy Hansson; Urban Widlund
Original assignee: Mölnlycke AB
Priority date: 1992-02-21
Filing date: 1993-02-16
Publication date: 1993-09-02
Also published as: GB2264278A; SE9200529D0; AU3580593A; SE9200529L; GB9302746D0; ZA93864B; MX9300811A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a package which contains at least one stack of mutually stacked articles which are compressed in the stacking direction and each of which includes two major surfaces which extend perpendicularly to the stacking direction. According to the invention, a first sheet (3) of essentially non-elastic material extends over the outwardly directed main surface of the first article in the stack and over at least a part of a first and a second side of the stack, these sides being opposite to one another. A second sheet (4) of essentially non-elastic material extends over the outwardly facing major surface of the last article in the stack and over at least a part of the first and the second sides of the stack. The first and the second sheets (3, 4) are fastened together on the first and the second sides of the stack, either directly or indirectly, so as to form a tubular package. The invention also relates to a method of packaging absorbent disposable articles.

Description

A METHOD OF PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE ABSORBENT ARTICLES, AND A PACKAGE PRODUCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE METHOD

The present invention relates to a method of packaging absorbent disposable articles of the kind which include a compressible absorbent pad. The invention also relates to a package produced in accordance with the method.

Absorbent disposable articles are often packed in a compressed state, in order to reduce the necessary packaging space. According to one packaging method, this is effected by introducing a stack of compressed articles into a bag while holding the articles com- pressed with the aid of gripping means. The gripping means are then removed and the bag is sealed and placed together with other bags in a cardboard box for transportation to a storage location, to a wholesaler or to shops and stores. This known method, however, does not allow the compressibility of the articles to be utilized to the full, since when the gripping means are removed, the articles present in the bag will relax and fill the space that was earlier occupied by the gripping means.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method which will enable disposable articles to be packaged simply and quickly and which will also enable the articles to be packaged in a state of maximum compression.

According to the present invention, this is achieved with a method of the kind defined in the introduction which is characterized by the steps of placing at least one stack comprising a plurality of stacked articles between two essentially non-elastic sheets of material which extend beyond at least two opposing side edges of the first and the last article in the stack at right angles to the stacking direction; by drawing the two sheets towards one another while compressing the stack at the same time; folding those parts of the two sheets located externally of the stack inwardly over said stack; and mutually fastening the-≤nwardly folded parts, either directly or indirectly. Because the stack of articles is compressed on site from the very beginning with the aid of the sheets of essentially non-elastic material in which the articles are packaged, the articles will remain compressed after completion of the packaging process.

According to one advantageous embodiment of the inven- tion, several stacks are placed side-by-side between the two sheets of essentially non-elastic material. The sheets are also arranged so that they can be divided between mutually adjacent stacks. This enables a package corresponding to a box with bags according to the aforesaid known method to be produced in one single packaging operation, wherein the essentially non- elastic sheets can be divided in a manner such that each of the part-packages formed by such division will correspond to a bag in the aforesaid box. The inventive method thus enables the articles to be packed much more simply and much more quickly than the aforesaid known method.

The invention also relates to a package produced in accordance with the inventive method and containing at least one stack of mutually stacked articles which are compressed in the stacking direction and each of which includes two major surfaces which extend perpendicu¬ larly to the stacking direction, said package being characterized in that the first sheet of essentially non-elastic material extends over the outwardly facing major surface of the first article in the stack and over at least a part of a first and a second side of the stack, said sides being located opposite one another; in that a second sheet of essentially non- elastic material extends over the outwardly facing major surface of the last article in the stack and over at least a part of the first and the second sides of the stack; and in that the first and the second sheets are mutually joined, either directly or indirectly, on the first and the second sides of the stack, therewith to form a tubular package.

According to one advantageous embodiment of the inven¬ tion, the package contains a plurality of mutually adjacent stacks and the tubular package formed by the non-elastic sheets is provided with means which facil¬ itate division of the sheets by tearing along a periph¬ eral line which lies in a plane that extends perpen¬ dicularly to the axis of the tubular package, between mutually adjacent stacks in the axial direction of the package. Said means may have the form of tear initia¬ tors or tear threads.

The tubular packages, or part-packages which only contain one stack of articles, are conveniently provid- ed with an openable fold, tear-off pieces or the like so as to be expandable in use and therewith facilitate the removal of a single article from the package. The packages are also conveniently provided with handle means.

These and other features of the invention and advan¬ tages afforded thereby will be evident from the fol¬ lowing description of an exemplifying embodiment of the invention made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figures IA, IB and 1C are schematic front views which illustrate the different steps of one embodiment of the inventive packaging method;

Figures 2A and 2B are perspective views of a package produced by the method illustrated in Figure 1, said views illustrating the package in an undivided and in a partially divided state respectively;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a part-package provided with an openable fold;

Figures 4A and 4B illustrate a part-package provided with a tear-off piece, and show said part-package prior to and subsequent to tearing-off said piece;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a package produced in accordance with a second exemplifying embodiment of an inventive method; and

Figures 6-10 illustrate inventive packages provided with different types of handle.

Figures 1A-1C illustrate schematically the various steps of an inventive packaging method. The first step involves placing a stack 1 of absorbent disposable articles 2, such as disposable diapers for instance, between two sheets 3, 4 of an essentially non-elastic material, preferably paper. By essentially non-elastic material is meant here a material which is so stiff that the package will retain its shape during storage and transportation. The two sheets 3, 4 are then moved towards one another with the aid of some suitable means, for instance with the aid of hydraulically operated pressure plates. These means are symbolized in Figure IA by the arrows F. As will be seen from Figure IA, the sheets 3, 4 extend beyond the stack 1 through a distance d on at least two mutually opposed sides of the stack.

Naturally, the stack can be compressed with the aid of means other than the aforesaid pressure plates. For instance, it may be suitable to adapt the compression process to the continuous manufacture of the articles included in the stack, by causing stacks and material sheets to run between two conveyors that converge towards one another in the movement direction, so as to achieve said compression.

Figure IB illustrates the stack 1 and the sheets 3, 4 in a compressed state, in which the articles 2 are compressed to a maximum. By "compressed to a maximum" or "maximum compression" is meant that the articles are compressed to the greatest possible extent without damaging or destroying the fibre structure of the absorbent pads, i.e. when the articles are allowed to expand from their maximum compressed state, they will return to their original volume. If the articles are compressed to a greater extent than that which is meant by maximum compression in the present application, the fibre structure in the absorption bodies will become damaged and the absorption properties of said pads are liable to be greatly impaired.

Subsequent to having compressed the articles to a maximum compressed state, the upper part of the sheet 3 and the bottom part of the sheet 4, as shown in Figure 1, are folded in over the sides of the stack 1 and a glue bead 5 is applied to the outer surfaces of the inwardly folded parts.

The remaining parts of the sheets 3, 4 extending beyond the stack 1 are then folded in over the sides of the stack and fastened to the earlier inwardly folded parts of said sheets with the aid of the glue beads 5, as illustrated in Figure 1C. This results in a package in which the mutually joined sheets 3, 4 of essentially non-elastic material peripherally embracing the stack 1 retain the articles 2 in their state of maximum com¬ pression. As will be seen from a study of Figures 1A- 1C, the distance d shall be greater than half the length of the stack in the compressed state of the articles, but shorter than the full length of the stack. However, it is not necessary for the sheets 3 and 4 to extend the same distance outwardly of the stack, and it is conceivable to allow the sheets to protrude to different distances beyond the stack, in which case the shorter, outwardly projecting part of the sheet 3 will be located on the same side of the stack as the longer, outwardly protruding part of the sheet 4.

Figure 2A illustrates one such package which contains four sequential stacks 1 of absorbent, disposable articles. This package is also closed at the ends, as will be seen by the end facing towards the viewer in Figure 2A. Because the articles contained in the package have been compressed to a maximum, the bearing capacity of one such package is sufficiently great to enable a plurality of packages to be stacked one upon the other without risk of damaging the articles in the lowermost package. The inventive package is therewith able to replace the aforesaid known packaging of articles in bags and cardboard boxes, which naturally implies important advantages with regard to simplicity and the saving of materials. The inventive method is also well suited for automatization.

Naturally, the inventive method can also be applied to produce a tubular package for a single stack of arti¬ cles whose ends may be sealed or not, as desired. It is more rational, however, to package a plurality of stacks at one and the same time, since a multi-stack package is more advantageous from a transportation and handling aspect, and consequently this application of the inventive method is preferred.

The tubular package illustrated in Figure 2A is pro¬ vided with perforation lines 6-8 between the mutually adjacent stacks of articles, these lines extending peripherally around the package. Thus, the package can be readily divided into four part-packages, each of which contains a stack of articles. Figure 2B illus¬ trates the package shown in Figure 2A subsequent to having torn the sheets 3, 4 along the perforated line 6. Naturally, other means than perforated lines are conceivable for enabling the multi-stack package to be readily opened or torn, for instance such means as tear threads or other weakening lines in the sheets 3, 4.

It may difficult to remove an article 2 from a part- package, due to the fact that the articles are pressed hard against one another. For this reason, the part- packages may advantageously be made expandable. Figure 3 illustrates one example of how a package can be readily made expandable. The part-package illustrated in this Figure includes a fold 9 in the sheet 3, said fold being fastened to the remainder of the sheet by means of a tear-off adhesive tab 10. When the tab is peeled or pulled away from the sheet, the pressure exerted by the compressed articles embraced by the sheets 3, 4 will develop the fold 9 while allowing the articles 2 to expand at the same time. This will reduce the pressure exerted by the articles on one another and therewith facilitate removal of a single article from the part-package. It is also ensured, at the same time, that when an article is gripped for removal from the part-package, the article will not be compressed beyond its maximum compression. Figures 4A and 4B illustrate another example of how a part-package can be made expandable. The part-package illustrated in these Figures include tear-off pieces 11, of which only one can be seen in Figure 4A, which are provided on both of the sides formed by folding inwardly those parts of the sheets 3, 4 which lie outwardly of the stack subsequent to having compressed said stack, i.e. the short sides in Figure 4A. These tear-off pieces 11 extend from the peripheral edge of the tubular part-package, formed by the sheets 3, 4, slightly inwards on said package. When these pieces -are removed, the upper parts of the articles 2 present in the package will expand, such expansion being permitted by the increase in peripheral length occasioned by the removal of the pieces. Thus, the articles in the upper part of the package will press less hard against one another, therewith facili¬ tating removal of an article 2 from the package. As before mentioned, in order to be effective, it is necessary to form the pieces 11 in the short sides of the package. This condition does not apply to the fold 9 in the Figure 3 embodiment, even though such a fold should solely extend over a part of the length of the tubular package, and the fold is effective on any side of the rectangular tube or band formed by the sheets 3, 4. Although only one fold 9 is shown in the Figure 3, it will be understood that several folds may be provided so as to increase the ability of the packaging tube to expand.

Figure 5 illustrates a package that has been produced in accordance with a second embodiment of an inventive method. In this embodiment, those parts of the sheets 3, 4 which are folded in on opposing sides of the stack of articles 2 are mutually joined with the aid of a third sheet 17 which extends between the inwardly folded parts of the sheets 3, 4 and which overlaps the end parts of said sheets. The method of producing the package illustrated in Figure 5 differs from the method described with reference to Figures lA-lC by the appli¬ cation of the third sheet, but enables the tear means, tear-off pieces, expansion folds and fastener means to be applied to the third sheet, which may be an advanta¬ geous in some cases. As illustrated in Figure 5, the sheets 17 of the Figure 5 embodiment may include a tear-off piece 18 for facilitating removal of articles 2 from the package.

To facilitate handling of multi-stack packages accord¬ ing to the invention, the packages are conveniently provided with a handle on each part-package. These handles are also arranged so that the handles of pairs of sequential part-packages can be gripped with one hand. This is preferably achieved by placing the handles close together. Figures 6-10 illustrate the positioning of handles for multi-stack packages which is favourable to the consumer. The handles of the illustrated part-packages are all placed within the upper quadrant which faces towards an adjacent or neighbouring part-package on opposite sides of said part-package, said quadrant being shown in chain lines in Figures 6A, 6B. Figure 6B illustrates the left-hand part-package of the part-packages shown in Figure 6A removed from the package illustrated in Figure 6A and in the position taken by the part-package when sup¬ ported by the handle 12. As will be seen from Figure 6B, the part-package is inclined at an angle α to the horizontal, which means that the handle will not obstruct a person wishing to remove an article from the part-package. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 6B, the handle 12 swings relatively heavily around its attachment points, which places high demands on the handle attachment. Figure 7 illustrates a handle attachment in which the handle 13 is initially attached so as to be inclined relative to the edges of the attachment side of the par -package, which reduces the strain on the handle attachment in comparison with the embodiment illustrated in Figures 6A, B.

In order to enable the handles of mutually adjacent part-packages of an unbroken package to be gripped readily by the user with one hand, the handles are gathered together in the embodiments illustrated in Figures 8-10. This has been achieved with the package illustrated in Figure 8 by detachably securing the gripping parts of the handles in a suitable fashion, for instance with the aid of a fastener tab or the like provided with a tear line, or by initially forming these parts from the same piece of material and providing the same with tear lines. Figure 9 illus¬ trates a variant in which the handles 15, 16, including attachments, are formed as a one-piece structure which can be divided with the aid of tear lines. Similar to the handle shown in Figure 7, the handles 13 illustrated in Figure 10 are inclined relative to the edges of the package such that their gripping parts will meet naturally in the boundary plane between the part-packages of the package. It is not therefore necessary to join the gripping parts of the handles 13. These features prevent a multi-stack package being lifted solely by one handle and therewith reduce the risk of gravity-induced bending forces becoming so great as to involuntarily tear the package along the tear lines.

It will be understood that the illustrated embodiments can be modified in several respects within the scope of the invention. For instance, the glue beads 5 described with reference to the method illustrated in Figures 1A- 1C may be pre-applied to the sheets 3, 4. Furthermore, several rows of mutually sequential stacks can be enclosed by the same tubular package without departing from the scope of the invention. Neither is the inventive method only applicable to rectangular articles. The invention is therefore solely restricted by the scope of the following Claims.

Claims

1. A method for packaging absorbent, disposable articles (2) of the kind which include a compressible absorbent pad, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by placing at least one stack (1) of a plurality of stacked articles (2) between two sheets (3, 4) of essentially non-elastic material, said sheets extending beyond at least two mutually opposing side edges of the first and the last article in the stack, at right angles to the stacking direction; moving the two sheets of essentially non-elastic material towards one another while compressing the stack at the same time; folding inwardly over the stack those parts of the two sheets which are located outside the stack; and mutually joining the inwardly folded parts, either directly or indirectly.

2. A method according to Claim 1, c a r a c - t e r i z e d by folding the two sheets (3, 4) in¬ wardly over the stack, so that mutually opposing parts will overlap one another; and by mutually fastening the overlapping portions of the inwardly folded parts of the two sheets.

3. A method according to Claim 2, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d by applying a fastener means (5) to that part of the essentially non-elastic sheets (3, 4) which is folded in over the stack prior to folding the opposing and overlapping part of the sheets in over the stack (1) .

4. A method according to Claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d by folding the two sheets (3, 4) in over the stack without mutually opposing parts overlapping one another and mutually fastening the two mutually opposing and inwardly folded sheet parts through the medium of a third sheet (17) which overlaps the mutu¬ ally opposing and inwardly folded parts of the two sheets (3, 4) of essentially non-elastic material.

5. A method according to any one of Claims 1-4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by placing several stacks

(1) in side-by-side relationship between the two sheets (3, 4) of essentially non-elastic material.

6. A method according to Claim 5, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d by enabling the sheets (3, 4) of essen¬ tially non-elastic material to be divided between mutually adjacent stacks.

7. A method according to any one of Claims 1-6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by compressing the articles

(2) to an extent such that the bearing capacity of the package will enable several packages to be stacked one upon the other.

8. A package containing at least one stack (1) of a plurality of mutually stacked articles (2) which are compressed in the stacking direction and each of which includes two major surfaces which extend perpendicular- ly to the stacking direction, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that a first sheet (3) of essentially non- elastic material extends over the outwardly directed main surface of the first article (2) in the stack (1) and over at least a part of a first and a second side of the stack, said sides being located opposite one another; in that a second sheet (4) of essentially non- elastic material extends over the outwardly facing major surface of the last article (2) in the stack (1) and over at least a part of the first and the second sides of the stack; and in that the first and the second sheets (3, 4) are fastened together on the first and the second sides of the stack, either directly or indirectly, so as to form a tubular package.

9. A package according to Claim 8, c h a r a c - t e r i z e d in that the first and the second sheets (3, 4) at least partially overlap one another on the first and the second sides of the stack and are there fastened to one another.

10. A package according to Claim 8, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the first and the second sheets (3, 4) are mutually fastened on the first and the second sides of the stack through the medium of a third sheet (17) of essentially non-elastic material which partially overlaps the first and the second sheets on the first and the second sides of the stack.

11. A package according to any one of Claims 8-10, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the package includes a plurality of stacks (1) in side-by-side relationship; and in that the tubular package formed by the sheets (3, 4) of essentially non-elastic material is provided with means (6-8) which facilitates tearing of the sheets along a peripheral line which lies in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tubular package between stacks lying mutually adjacent in the axial direction of the package.

12. A package according to Claim 11, c h a r a c - t e r i z e d in that the tearing means consist of tear threads.

13. A package according to Claim 11, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the tearing means consist of tear initiators (6-8).

14. A package according to any one of Claims 8-13, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by an openable fold which extends axially along the tubular package.

15. A package according to any one of Claims 8-14, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the tubular package or each part-package formed by tearing the tubular package between stacks mutually adjacent in the axial direction of the package, includes one or more tear-off pieces (11, 18) which taper axially inwards from one of the peripheral edges of the part-package, over a part of the axial length of said part-package.

16. A package according to any one of Claims 8-15, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the package includes a handle (12, 13, 15, 16).

17. A package according to any one of Claims 11-16, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a handle (12, 13, 15, 16) is provided on each part-package that is formed by tearing the tubular package between stacks mutually adjacent in the axial direction of the package, said handles being arranged in a manner such that the handles of each pair of axially sequential part-pack¬ ages in an untorn tubular package can be gripped simultaneously and with one hand.

18. A package according to Claim 17, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the handles (12, 15, 16) of each pair of axially sequential part-packages in an untorn tubular package are joined together; and in that the join between said handles is a tearable join.

19. A package according to Claim 17, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the handles (13) of each pair of axially sequential part-packages in an untorn tubular package are fastened so that they will be inclined relative to the edges of the package and towards each other when the handles are free from load.

20. A package according to Claim 18, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the handles (15, 16) of each pair of axially sequential part-packages in an untorn tubular package have the form of a one-piece structure and can be separated from one another with the aid of tear lines (14) .

21. A package according to any one of Claims 16-20, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the attachment means of each pair of sequential part-packages in an untorn tubular package are placed in mutually facing upper quadrants of the sides of said part-packages.