Packing unit, shipping unit and a method of manufacturing a packing unit

Abstract

A packing unit having a group of packages filled with a liquid product which have a bottom wall and two opposite side walls. The packages in their upright position have an upwardly tapering shape, and are so arranged that each package has a side wall facing a bottom of the packing unit. The packages are stacked one over another in a plurality of layers with a plurality of packages in each layer, have an alternative orientation in a first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction of the packages of an individual layer having a uniform orientation in the first or the second direction, and have a plastic film cover made of a web of plastic film material which has been joined together along four or fewer elongate sealing portions for forming the plastic film cover. A shipping unit and a method of manufacturing are also provided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to a packing unit comprising a group of packages filled with a liquid product which are of the collapsible type and comprise a bottom wall and two opposite side walls, which packages in their upright position have an upwardly tapering shape.[0002]The invention further relates to a method of manufacturing the packing unit and a shipping unit comprising packing units of the kind stated by way of introduction.BACKGROUND ART[0003]In the food industry it is common for packages that hold liquid foodstuffs to be packed in boxes for further distribution or storage.[0004]Traditional packages used in the food industry are made of rigid packing materials such as paperboard. Packages of this kind can be manufactured with a shape such that they are stackable, for example, and capable of carrying a load. This means that they can be easily packed in larger units by arranging them side-by-side and on top of each other, for example on a pallet or in...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0043]The shipping unit according to the invention can comprise a plurality of packing units. It may be advantageous when transporting the packing units to handle several packing units as one shipping unit. Lifting, or other handling operations, can be minimized, for example, if several packing units are handled as one unit. A shipping unit can also comprise, for instance, a suitable number of packing units for distribution to and storage at shops.

[0044]The packing units of the shipping unit can be stacked on a load carrier. A load carrier that carries the shipping unit can, for example, facilitate the handling and transport of the shipping unit and the packing units. The load carrier can for example be arranged for lifting and loading or for transport by means of a truck, such as a fork-lift truck or a hand-driven truck.

Problems solved by technology

Such packages are made of a flexible plastic film material, which means that the packages do not have the same rigid quality as the package type discussed above.

It is a problem that collapsible packages cannot be stacked one over another, for example prior to transport.

When transporting such boxes vibrations and forces acting on the packages during transport can cause wear to the packages.

In some cases such wear, especially in combination with the formation of folds in the packaging material, can cause leakage of the package contents.

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