Food packaging system for puree and / or liquid types

Abstract

The invention relates to a packaging system (1) for pureed and / or liquid foods. According to the invention, the system (1) comprises: A system for continuously supplying (2) a heat-sealable film (21); A device for sequentially forming containers (10) from the heat-sealable film (21); A food pasteurization system (4), equipped with a hot-filling device (5) for each container (10) formed by the forming device (3) with a given quantity of pasteurized food, the hot-filling device (5) being arranged to dispense said given quantity of pasteurized food at a temperature above 80°C; and A heat-sealing closure system (6) for each container (10) filled with said given quantity. Figure to be published with the abstract: Fig. 1

Description

Title of the invention: System for packaging puree and / or liquid type food

[0001] Technical field.

[0002] The invention relates to the technical field of food packaging devices, more particularly to devices for packaging banana puree, in particular in opaque containers.

[0003] State of the art.

[0004] The banana has become a commodity on the raw materials market, making it a major consumer good found in many food products, for example in compote pouches.

[0005] It is known to package bananas in the form of puree at room temperature, known as "cold" packaging, in order to preserve the organoleptic and / or nutritional characteristics of the food, in particular the yellow color of the banana.

[0006] However, such a method of packaging banana puree requires increased hygiene control to avoid the proliferation of germs and bacteria, which makes packaging problematic.

[0007] Thus, the use of a so-called "cold" banana puree packaging system requires the use of a sanitized installation. The use of such an installation results in a very high fixed cost.

[0008] In fact, the cold packaging of banana puree requires the use of empty, sanitized bags equipped with a specific stopper, itself sterile.

[0009] In addition, this specific cap can only be used with the associated empty bag, again increasing the cost of packaging the banana puree. In fact, the cap is sterilized upstream and is packaged in such a way as to remain sterile until its use.

[0010] The use of these sanitized bags and their caps is not necessarily justified depending on the application for which these elements are intended. Indeed, the use of specific caps for each bag requires the changing of said cap for each filling of the bags.

[0011] Generally, and in order to reduce the cost of filling the bags, the latter must have a large container capacity of more than 200 kilograms.

[0012] These bags of a 200 kilogram container require a significant thickness of material and the use of a metal container for transport.

[0013] Consequently, the use of a bag, a sanitized cap, but also metal cans generate expensive packaging and a carbon footprint more important. Indeed, these different elements imply the use of a larger quantity of raw materials, or even sterilizing products.

[0014] The invention therefore falls within this context and seeks to resolve all of the aforementioned drawbacks.

[0015] Thus, the invention seeks to make the use of a banana puree packaging system less expensive, easier and having a lower carbon footprint.

[0016] Presentation of the invention.

[0017] The subject of the invention is a system for packaging puree and / or liquid type food which is easy to use, reliable, has a low ecological impact and is affordable.

[0018] To this end, a system for packaging food of the puree and / or liquid type has been developed which, according to the invention, comprises: - A system for the continuous supply of heat-sealable film; - A device for sequential formation of containers from heat-sealable film; - A food pasteurization system, equipped with a device for hot filling each container, formed by the forming device, with a given quantity of pasteurized food, the hot filling device being arranged to distribute said given quantity of pasteurized food at a temperature above 80°C; and; - A heat-sealing system for closing each container filled with the given quantity.

[0019] Advantageously, such a system, through continuous hot packaging, makes it possible to significantly reduce its cost of use. Indeed, the use of such a system makes it possible to dispense with the steps of continuous control of the hygiene of the system or even of the container.

[0020] In addition, the use of hot packaging of food in puree and / or liquid form makes it possible to eliminate the use of an aseptic cap specific to empty aseptic pouches, again reducing the cost of using the system.

[0021] In addition, the continuous automation of the formation and filling of the container makes it possible to improve the productivity of the system according to the invention.

[0022] In this way, limiting the number of parts to be used to package puree or liquid type foods makes it possible to reduce the ecological impact of the system.

[0023] Finally, reducing the number of operations to be carried out by the operator on the system, in particular changing the cap for each container, makes it easier to use.

[0024] In a preferred embodiment, the forming device and the hot filling device are arranged so that the forming and filling of the container be carried out concomitantly.

[0025] Thus, the packaging of food is carried out more quickly and allows for a gain in productivity.

[0026] In a particular embodiment, the forming device comprises a hollow cylindrical sleeve, around which the container is formed from the heat-sealable film.

[0027] Preferably, the forming device comprises a hollow sleeve of suitable geometric shape. For example, the sleeve may be in a rectangular or triangular shape.

[0028] According to a preferred embodiment, the filling device comprises a bagging machine comprising a guide for filling the container, previously formed, passing through the sleeve of the sequential container forming device.

[0029] Thus, the formation of the container can be carried out as a function of the filling of the latter previously formed. Such an arrangement allows an acceleration of the filling of the container.

[0030] In fact, the container begins to fill as soon as the bottom of the container is made, which allows a gain in productivity and consequently a reduction in the cost of packaging the food.

[0031] Preferably, the heat-sealable film comprises an outer skin and an inner skin, each skin being composed of at least two layers.

[0032] More specifically, the outer skin comprises an upper layer of metal, more particularly a polyester metal layer with a thickness of 12 micrometers, an intermediate layer of nylon with a thickness of 15 micrometers and a lower layer of linear low density polyethylene, LLDPE with a thickness of 50 micrometers.

[0033] The inner skin comprises an upper and lower layer composed of a mixture of LLDPE, each with a thickness of 50 micrometers.

[0034] Thus, the container allows better preservation of the food, while limiting the quantity of material to be used.

[0035] In a preferred embodiment, and in order to reduce the quantity of material used for forming the bag but also to facilitate the transport and storage of the latter, the device for sequentially forming containers from the heat-sealable film is arranged to form bags with a capacity of 20 kilograms.

[0036] In a particular embodiment, the packaging system comprises a system for cooling the container previously filled with the given quantity of food, said device comprises a set of water vaporizers or any type of cooling system, for example a cold room.

[0037] Thus, cooling the hot-packaged food allows for better

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[0051] preservation of the organoleptic properties of food. In another embodiment, the packaging system comprises means for injecting inert gas into the container. Thus, the addition of a container inerting step makes it possible to "drive out" the oxygen present in the container in order to reduce the oxidation of the product once the container is closed, which leads to better conservation of the packaged food. In a particular embodiment, the inerting step can be carried out upstream or concomitantly with the filling of the container. The invention also relates to a method for hot and continuous packaging of a puree and / or liquid type food using the packaging system. According to the invention, the method comprises the following steps: - Continuous supply of heat-sealable film; - Sequential formation of container from the heat-sealable film by the sequential container forming device; - Pasteurization of food; - Inerting the container; - Filling of a determined quantity of hot material from the container, previously formed; - Closing the container; and - Cooling of the container by water vaporization. Brief description of the figures. Other advantages and characteristics of the present invention are now described with the aid of examples which are purely illustrative and in no way limitative of the scope of the invention, and from the appended drawings, drawings in which the various figures represent: [Fig.l] is a schematic representation of the packaging system according to the invention. [Fig.2] is a perspective view of the packaging system showing the formation of the container. [Fig.3] represents the outer skin of the container. [Fig.4] represents the inner skin of the container. In the following description, elements which are identical, by structure or by function, appearing in different figures retain, unless otherwise specified, the same references. Description of the embodiments. With reference to [Fig.l] to [Fig.4], the present invention relates to an easily usable puree and / or liquid type food packaging system (1), having a low ecological impact and reduced cost of use.

[0052] The present invention is a packaging system (1) of the puree and / or liquid type, for example banana puree intended for opaque containers such as individual compote sachets.

[0053] According to the invention, and as illustrated in [Fig.l], the packaging system (1) comprises a system (2) for continuously supplying a heat-sealable film (21), a device (3) for sequentially forming containers (10) from the heat-sealable film (21), a food pasteurization system (4), equipped with a device (5) for hot filling each container (10), formed by the forming device (3), with a given quantity of pasteurized food, the hot filling device (5) being arranged to distribute said given quantity of pasteurized food at a temperature above 80°C and a system (6) for closing by heat-sealing each container (10) filled with said given quantity.

[0054] Thus, hot filling, i.e. at a temperature above 80°C, makes it possible to avoid the use of an aseptic packaging system, necessary in a cold packaging system, i.e. at a temperature of 25°C or lower, which increases the economic and ecological cost.

[0055] In a preferred embodiment, and as shown in [Fig.3] and [Fig.4], the heat-sealable film (21) comprises an outer skin (210) and an inner skin (211), each skin (210, 211) being composed of at least two layers.

[0056] Thus, the outer skin (210) comprises an upper layer (2100) of metal, more particularly a polyester metal layer with a thickness of 12 micrometers, an intermediate layer (2101) of nylon with a thickness of 15 micrometers and a lower layer (2102) of linear low density polyethylene, LLDPE with a thickness of 50 micrometers.

[0057] The inner skin (211), for its part, comprises an upper (2110) and lower (2111) layer composed of a mixture of LLDPE, each with a thickness of 50 micrometers.

[0058] According to a particular embodiment, the device (3) for sequentially forming containers (10) from the heat-sealable film (21) is arranged to form bags with a capacity of 20 kilograms.

[0059] In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in [Fig.2] and in order to accelerate the filling (5) of the container (10), the forming device (3) and the hot filling device (5) are arranged so that the forming and filling of the container (10) are carried out concomitantly.

[0060] According to a particular embodiment, the forming device (3) comprises a hollow cylindrical sleeve (31), around which the container (10) is formed from the heat-sealable film (21) and the filling device (5) comprises an en- bagging machine (51) comprising a filling guide (510) for the container (10), previously formed, passing through the sleeve (31) of the sequential forming device (3) for containers (10).

[0061] In a particular embodiment, and as illustrated in [Fig.l], the packaging system (1) comprises a cooling system (7) for the container (10) previously filled with the given quantity of food, said system (7) comprises a set of water vaporizers (71).

[0062] According to a particular embodiment, the packaging system (1) comprises means (8) for injecting inert gas into the container (10), the injection means (8) are of any suitable type, particularly in the form of an injector.

[0063] The inert gas is of any suitable type, more particularly nitrogen in order to saturate the container (10) and to avoid the presence of oxygen in the container (10) during its filling and thus allow better conservation of the banana puree.

[0064] The invention also relates to a method for hot and continuous packaging of a puree and / or liquid type food using the packaging system (1) comprising at least the following steps: - Continuous supply of a heat-sealable film (21); - Sequential formation of container (10) from the heat-sealable film (21) by the sequential formation device (3) of containers (10); - Pasteurization of food; - Filling of a determined quantity of the container (10), formed beforehand, while hot; and - Closing the container (10).

[0065] The preceding description clearly explains how the invention makes it possible to achieve the objectives it has set itself, namely reducing the cost of using a food packaging system of the puree and / or liquid type, but also facilitating its use while reducing its ecological impact, by proposing continuous and hot packaging.

[0066] In any event, the invention cannot be limited to the embodiments specifically described in this document, and extends in particular to all equivalent means and to any technically effective combination of these means.

Claims

Claims

1. Packaging system (1) for puree and / or liquid type food, characterized in that it comprises: - A system (2) for continuously supplying a heat-sealable film (21); - A device (3) for sequentially forming containers (10) from the heat-sealable film (21); - A food pasteurization system (4), equipped with a device (5) for hot filling each container (10), formed by the forming device (3), with a given quantity of pasteurized food, the hot filling device (5) being arranged to distribute said given quantity of pasteurized food at a temperature above 80°C; and - A system (6) for closing by heat-sealing each container (10) filled with said given quantity.

2. System (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the forming device (3) and the hot filling device (5) are arranged so that the forming and filling of the container (10) are carried out concomitantly.

3. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the forming device (3) comprises a hollow cylindrical sleeve (31), around which the container (10) is formed from the heat-sealable film (21).

4. System (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the filling device (5) comprises a bagging machine (51) comprising a filling guide (510) for the container (10), previously formed, passing through the sleeve (31) of the sequential forming device (3) for containers (10).

5. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the heat-sealable film (21) comprises an outer skin (210) and an inner skin (211), each skin (210, 211) is composed of at least two layers.

6. System (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the outer skin (210) comprises an upper layer (2100) of metal, an intermediate layer (2101) of nylon and a lower layer (2102) of LLDPE and the inner skin (211) comprises an upper (2110) and lower (2111) layer composed of a mixture of LLDPE.

7. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the device (3) for sequentially forming containers (10) from the heat-sealable film (21) is arranged to form bags with a capacity of 20 kilograms.

8. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a cooling system (7) for the container (10) previously filled with the given quantity of food, said system (7) comprises a set of water vaporizers (71).

9. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (8) for injecting inert gas into the container (10).

10. Method for hot and continuous packaging of a puree and / or liquid type food using the packaging system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises at least the following steps: - Continuous supply of a heat-sealable film (21); - Sequential formation of a container from the heat-sealable film (21) by the device (3) for sequentially forming containers (10); - Pasteurization of the food; - Filling of a pre-formed container (10) with a determined quantity while hot; and - Closing of the container (10).

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