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TEXT OF THE DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a package for a foodstuff product, for example a confectionery product, comprising :

- an outer wrapper that envelops said product completely so as to define a closed chamber containing said product; and

- a support, set on which is said product, which is housed within said closed chamber together with said product .

Packages of the above type are commonly used in the sector of packaging of confectionery products. Usually, the outer wrapper is constituted by a single wrapping sheet wrapped around the product and sealed according to packaging modalities of a flowpack type.

According to the prior art, the support referred to generally performs the function of providing for the consumer a gripping portion, via which the consumer can hold the product without touching it directly.

Up to the present day various arrangements of the above support have already been proposed.

For instance, according to a variant that is commercially very widespread, this support is constituted by a sheet of cardboard folded so as to form a base and two sides that set themselves in positions opposed to one another with respect to the product .

According to this solution, the consumer can take the product out of the package by gripping the two sides of the support referred to above, and can consume the product continuing to hold it by the aforesaid sides .

On the other hand, the open configuration, at the front and at the rear, of the support enables relative sliding between the latter and the product in a direction parallel to the aforesaid sides so that the consumer can pull out of the support new portions of the product, as this is consumed.

According to another solution, the support in question is instead constituted by small trays for single products, made of paper, cardboard, etc.

A solution of this type is, for example, described in the U.S. patent No. US5452564.

In particular, in the solution described in the above document, the sheet that constitutes the tray is kept in its folded condition by the flowpack that envelops it in such a way that, as soon as the outer package is removed, the sheet opens, rendering the product immediately accessible.

In this context, the present applicant has found that in the sector of packages of the type in question the technical problem of providing a specific protection for the product contained in the package has not yet been solved.

Today, the above need is particularly felt, considering that there is an increasingly widespread use of modalities of display and sale of many foodstuff products in a single format, these products being proposed to the consumer for immediate consumption as snack .

The above products are without outer containers so that they run a greater risk of damage.

The object of the present invention is to solve the aforesaid technical problem.

This object is achieved through a package that presents the characteristics specified in Claim 1. The present invention also regards a system for display or sale according to Claim 10. The claims form an integral part of the technical teaching provided herein in relation to the invention.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge clearly from the ensuing description, with reference to the annexed drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which:

- Figure 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the package described herein, according to an axonometric view;

- Figure 2 illustrates the package of Figure 1 in a condition in which the inner support and the product have been taken out of the outer wrapper;

- Figure 3 illustrates the support of the package of Figure 1 in an open condition; and

- Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of an example of mode of display of the package described herein .

In the ensuing description, various specific details are illustrated aimed at providing an in-depth understanding of the embodiments. The embodiments may be obtained without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, or materials, etc. In other cases, known structures, materials, or operations are not illustrated or described in detail so that various aspects of the embodiment will not be obscured.

The references used herein are provided merely for convenience and hence do not define the sphere of protection or the scope of the embodiments.

As anticipated above, the package described herein - designated as a whole by the reference number 10 in the figures - comprises an outer wrapper 2 containing a product P (illustrated in Figure 2 with a dashed line), and a support 4, set on which is the product P and which is contained together with the latter inside the wrapper 2.

Preferably, the outer wrapper 2 is constituted by a wrapping sheet wrapped around the product and sealed according to packaging modalities of a flowpack type.

In particular, as represented in the figures, the outer wrapper 2 has a tubular portion 2A, which is closed at the opposite ends by two transverse sealing strips 2B, and, along the axis of the portion 2A itself, by a longitudinal sealing strip (not visible) . The aforesaid tubular portion 2A defines inside a closed chamber C, which contains the product P and the support 4.

Incidentally, it should be noted that in this context the terms "transverse" and "longitudinal" refer to the orientations of the aforesaid strips within the flow-pack packaging line, and not to a prevalent dimension of the product or of the package.

Moreover, as will emerge clearly in what follows, the package described herein can be used for products of any shape and/or size so that the elongated shape of the product illustrated in the figures is to be considered merely as provided by way of example.

The support 4 is constituted by a dinked sheet, folded according to a generic tray-like conformation.

In particular, the sheet in question is folded so as to define a base 41, and lateral walls 411, 4III, 4IV, 4V that are set around the base 41 and are connected together. As will be seen in what follows, preferably the lateral walls in question are prearranged for a mutual slotting or engagement. This solution is preferable to the use of glue in so far as it avoids risks of contamination of the packaged product and hence enables better conservation of the quality of the product. The tray 4 is configured for housing inside it the product P, preferably according to a configuration such that the lateral walls 411, 4III, 4IV and 4V are located up against the corresponding parts of the product .

For this purpose, the base 41 has a contour that strictly circumscribes the contour in plan view of the product P.

According to an important characteristic of the package described herein, at least two lateral walls of the tray 4 that are positioned opposed to one another with respect to the product P have a height such as to project above the product P set on the base 41.

In the example illustrated, the two walls in question are the lateral walls 411 and 4IV, which lie at the opposite ends of the product P.

The two walls in question define, through the respective top edges, two resting points for a further package that will be positioned directly above the package 10, and to all effects perform a function of support of this further package.

The above function of support afforded by the tray 4 has been envisaged for any mode of display or sale of the products in which the products are arranged in a number of layers or levels within one and the same container, display stand, or showcase. In this connection, this mode of display is exemplified in Figure 4.

As is known, the products are arranged on a number of layers on account of a need to reduce the overall dimensions of the packaging, but this can evidently damage the products, above all in the case of products that have a particularly soft or brittle consistency.

In the light of what has been seen above, according to the solution described herein, the package 10 may, instead, support any possible package set thereon thanks to the lateral walls referred to above, preventing the weight of the overlying package from weighing on the product.

Preferably, with reference to the example illustrated in the figures, the top edges 42 of the two walls 411 and 4IV are set at a distance apart that is less than or equal to the dimension of the base 41 in the corresponding direction (along which this distance is measured) .

In this way, with reference to two packages 10 set on top of one another (Figure 4), the top package may stably rest, with the base 41 of its tray 4, on the top edges of the two walls 411 and 4IV of the tray 4 of the bottom package.

Apart from the function referred to above in the case of the mode of display described, the lateral walls 411, 4IV perform, more in general, a function of protection of the product in regard to any weight that may come to press against their top edges.

For instance, the product is also protected from being squashed in the cases where the consumer carries it along with himself, inside a back pack or a bag, as snack to be consumed during the day.

In various preferred embodiments, as in the one represented, the other two lateral walls of the tray - in the example illustrated the walls 4III and 4V - have a height such that their respective top edges 43 are positioned lower down than the top edges 42 and, possibly, the top surface of the product.

At the same time, preferably, the two walls 4III and 4V are adherent to the parts of the product P corresponding thereto.

Thanks to the configuration referred to, the aesthetic appearance of the wrapped product is not substantially modified by the presence of the tray 4.

Moreover, once again according to a preferred embodiment, the top edges 43 of these two walls are curved partially over the product P so that they are able to withhold the product within the tray.

Figure 3 represents an example of sheet for forming the tray 4, in its splayed-out configuration.

The above sheet - designated as a whole by the reference number 100 - has a pre-set outline 101 and pre-defined folding lines 103 to enable formation of the tray 4 simply through an operation of folding of the sheet. Figure 3 also shows, designated by the same reference numbers, the various portions that come to constitute the base 41 and the lateral walls 411, 4III, 4IV, and 4V, respectively.

The portions that are to define the lateral walls 411, 4III, 4IV, and 4V have, on the respective opposite lateral edges, projecting appendages 44 provided for engaging by slotting, or hooking, homologous appendages obtained on the adjacent lateral walls. In this way, the four lateral walls support one another in the raised position and, on the other hand, can be easily knocked down to access the product.

The above configuration facilitates, on the other hand, the operations of packaging machines that form the package according to the invention.

With reference once again to the example illustrated, it may be noted that the two longitudinal walls 4III, 4V each have a folding line 105, which is parallel to the corresponding folding line that connects the lateral wall to the base 41, and passes along the wall at a certain distance from the base 41.

The aforesaid folding line enables the corresponding wall to follow the curvature of the product and hence remain adherent thereto, covering the product P to a greater extent and preventing, as has been seen above, the tray 4 from modifying the appearance of the wrapped product.

Finally, with reference to Figure 2, it will be noted how the lateral walls 4III and 4V cover the product for a major extent thereof, hence also these performing a function of protection, in particular when the consumer gets hold of the product from its side.

Of course, without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary, even significantly, with respect to what has been illustrated herein purely by way of non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the annexed claims.