FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a tube made from flexible film or multilayer laminated film with registered / unregistered hot foil stamping and a squeezed tube made by said tube. Hot foil stamping / printing on flexible packaging film or multiple layer laminate web is used to incorporate decorative patterns, text, pictures or holographic images for aesthetics of a tubular product and to avoid counterfeiting or for any technical purpose, in any metallic shade or color. The hot foil stamped / printed subject may be raised, same level as web surface or depressed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Decorative packaging, currency bills, labels, plastic or coated board containers, Tee shirts, leather garments, wallet, key chains and many other objects used in different applications often display patterns, images or text in shining metal look or in specific color on their surfaces. These applications include a colored or metallic hot stamping foil in place of ink for printing onto a substrate. Surface of a metallic hot foil stamping / printing plate is cast or engraved to provide raised or depressed or same level text, pattern or image and held by a heated fixture.

The flexible packaging tubes made from extrusion process as available in prior art are produced by surface printings or pasting preprinted stickers for explaining the product specification or with decorative images. The method of manufacturing tubes by direct overlap sealing of the outer and inner layers of the web ends across it's width also exists in the prior art, but this method is applicable only when outer and inner layers materials are suitable for joining together by heat or other means. The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior arts by facilitating a flexible packaging tube made from flexible film/laminated film, with hot foil stamping / printing registered / unregistered already done on the web surface besides other printing.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As per the present disclosure flexible packaging tubes are made from single layer or multi layer laminated flexible, printed or unprinted, is hot foil stamped / printed with or without Hologram. The hot foil stamping / printing on the web is registered or un-registered with respect to pre-printed text, images or holograms.

The invention describes making flexible tubes with hot foil stamped web with subject raised, same level or depressed surface on the web.

The substrate with registered / unregistered hot foil stamping / printing is in the form of continuous flexible film web in rolls, either of single layer or made of multiple layer laminate. The film layer(s) are made from polymeric materials, woven or non-woven materials.

In one embodiment, the tube is manufactured by joining the edges of the film/laminate. This process explains the joining process of inner surface/layer with outer surface/ layer by applying at least one of a hot-melt or hot-extrusion lamination layer in between the outer and inner surfaces/layers. Subsequently, after any of such lamination, protective strips may be provided on the outer side, the inner side or on both inner and outer sides for covering the sealing area and providing additional strength to the tube structure.

In another embodiment, the tube is manufactured by joining inner surface/layer with the outer surface/layer of the film/laminate directly by at least one of the method of heat sealing, ultrasonic sealing, radio frequency welding and laser welding. This embodiment is possible when the outer and inner surface materials are suitable for said processes. Subsequently after any of such sealing, protective strips may be provided on the outer side, the inner side or on both inner and outer sides of the sealing area for covering the sealing area and providing additional strength to the tube structure.

The hot foil printing can be registered with respect to any print already existing on the film or laminate web.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The aforementioned aspects and other features of the present disclosure will be explained in the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURES 1A, IB and 1C respectively illustrate a single layer flexible packaging film and a multi-layer laminated flexible packaging film, and registration of imprint as substrate for making the tubular product, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 2A illustrates joining of the edges of the film/multi layer laminated film where the joining of inner surface/layer with outer surface/ layer is done by applying a hot melt or hot extrusion lamination layer in between the outer and inner surface/layer, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 2B illustrates tubular packaging structure of FIGURE 2A with protective strip(s), according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 3A illustrates joining of the edges of the single layer film multi layer laminated film, whereby joining process of inner surface/layer with the outer surface/layer of the film/laminate is performed by the method of heat sealing/ultrasonic welding/RF/laser welding, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 3B illustrates tubular packaging structure of FIGURE 3A with protective strip(s), according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments which are only provided to explain more clearly the present disclosure to the ordinarily skilled in the art of the present disclosure. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals are used to indicate like components.

Referring to FIGURES 1A and IB, a single layer packaging films (1) and multi-layer flexible packaging laminate (5) made of film materials (2), (3), (4) are illustrated according to an embodiment of the present invention. The single layer flexible film (1) is used in packaging application. Such film is made of one or more polymer or combinations of suitable polymers having only one layer. A multi layer laminate structure is shown as (5) where the flexible packaging film / material has one or more layers laminated made of materialized surface together to form a single identity. Here (2), (3) & (4) are shown as three single layer films laminated together. Each layer is made of suitable polymer or combination of polymers depending upon the properties desired from the laminate like moisture barrier, opacity, strength, puncture resistance, impact strength, seal ability, printability, UV protection etc. Further, in FIGURE 1C, registration of imprint on laminate (5) or on the film (1) is illustrated according to an embodiment of the present invention. The laminate (5) or the film (1) includes a hot foil stamping/ printing (8) provided thereon. For providing the hot foil stamping/ printing (8) at the accurate location on the film (1) or the laminate (5), one or more reference element (7) is already printed thereon. The reference element (7) act as a reference for scaling and enabling the hot foil stamping/printing (8) at accurate location with respect to an eye mark or any other pre-print on the film (1) or the laminate (5).

Referring now to FIGURE 2 A, where a tubular packaging structure (100) is shown according to an embodiment of the present invention. The tubular packaging structure (100) may be made by anyone of the film (1) or the laminate (5), as shown in FIGURES 1A and IB. As shown in FIGURE 2A, the tubular packaging structure (100) is made by joining an outer surface/layer (10) and an inner surface/layer (11) of the film (1) or laminate (5) at a sealing/welding zone (12) by applying a hot-melt or hot-extrusion lamination layer (13) in between the outer surface (10) and the inner surface (11). The hot-melt or hot-extrusion lamination layer (13) utilized for joining such an outer and inner layers of a laminate or a film, where both the layers are non-sealable to each other, and the user find it difficult to directly join the layer by heat/ultrasonic/RF/Laser or any other means.

Subsequently after such sealing, protective strip(s) (14) may be provided longitudinally at the sealing welding zone (12) for covering thereto and providing additional strength to the tubular packaging structure (100) and smooth transition for improved touch feeling on the outer side (10) thereof, as shown in FIGURE 2B. In FIGURE 2B, the protective strips (14) are on both of the outer side (10) and on the inner side (1 1) for providing additional strength to the tubular packaging structure (100). However, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the protective strip (14) may be provided only on the outer side (10) or on the inner side (1 1) as per requirement. The protective strip(s) (14) may be a single or multiple layer polymeric film, suitable to seal with the laminate or film surfaces. For example, the protective strip(s) (14) may be single layer film of polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Casted polypropylene (CPP), Ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), polyamide etc., or may be multi layer film with the combination of two or more of any of the said films depending upon requirement. The protective strip (14) is a metalized or non-metalized layer in case of multi-layer film laminate.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 A, where a tubular packaging structure (100) is illustrated according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the tubular packaging structure (100) is made by joining the outer surface (10) and the inner surface (11) surfaces of the film (l)/laminate (5) at the sealing welding zone (12) by at least one of the method of heat sealing, ultrasonic sealing, radio frequency welding and laser welding. This embodiment is possible when the outer surface (10) and the inner surface (1 1) materials are suitable for sealing with each other.

Subsequently after such sealing, protective strip(s) (14) may be also be provided longitudinally at the sealing/welding zone (12) for covering thereto and providing additional strength to the tubular packaging structure (100) and smooth transition for improved touch feeling on the outer side (10) thereof, as provided in the FIGURE 2B. Similar to the embodiment of FIGURE 2B, the protective strips (14) of FIGURE 3B may also be provided on both of the outer side (10) and on the inner side (1 1) for providing additional strength to the tubular packaging structure (100). However, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the protective strip (14) may be provided only on the outer side (10) or on the inner side (1 1) as per requirement. The protective strip(s) (14) of FIGURE 2B is similar to FIGURE 3B and therefore not explained herein again for the sake of brevity.

Furthermore in an additional embodiment, where the outer side (10) and the inner side (1 1) of the laminate (5) or the film (1) are not sealable to each other, such at least one of the method of heat sealing, ultrasonic sealing, radio frequency welding and laser welding may be provided for temporarily holding the tubular packaging structure (100) at the sealing/welding zone (12) and subsequently providing protective strip(s) (14) longitudinally at the sealing welding zone (12) for covering thereto and providing strength to the tubular packaging structure (100).

Although the disclosure of a flexible packaging and its manufacturing method has been described in connection with the embodiment of the present disclosure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various substitutions, modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure.