FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an open mouthed container (eg. tray, cup or the like) having a profiled periphery outwardly of the mouth, there being a return of the edge in the under part of the profiled periphery.

BACKGROUND

Such an arrangement, if a tray, lends itself to the content of the tray being wrapped by a plastics film and with the wrap path or wrap locus unlikely to encounter die peripheral edge of the profiled periphery because it is placed in out of the way of the direct pathway the wrap will assume from the profiled periphery (eg. as if a tangent) down to the wall to base transition (eg. as if a tangent).

In the past open top containers such as trays, cups or the like have involved either multiple thermoforming steps or a thermoforming step followed by a reforming or crimping step in order to conceal or render harmless the peripheral edge.

An example of a multiple thermoforming step to provide a thermoformed tray is that disclosed in Australian patent 701551 of Drypac Pry Ltd.

The present invention does not thermoform the container to its final form. Rather it relies upon a thermoformed precursor or preform that is then subjected to a tiimming procedure.

We propose a trimming procedure whereby the trimmed product has as its profiled periphery the essentially same form as moulded save for material having been removed to define the peripheral edge.

The trimming procedure we propose as capable of achieving this outcome will cut the material about the container to leave a "concealed-from-above" in-turned edge.

The procedure is considered as providing the prospect of a faster online handling of the output of the mermoforming station with a follow on trim tooling station that can operate at least as fast and preferably in synchrony with the output of the mermoforrning tooling.

Preferably, but not necessarily, the mermoforming is vacuum thermoforming of a sheet material of any of the kinds typified by examples given hereinafter.

The present invention also relates to a procedure that has a wider application than just the open mouthed containers previously mentioned. The wider application is the prospect of providing a preform or precursor of a final product that has a zone which will have the peripheral edge disposed under a flange, bead, rim or like profile (eg. simulating the rolled edge). The advance is the prospect of that zone being subjected to a cutting procedure (guillotining, laser, water jet, or other) despite that zone (and the resultant cut edge) being underneath in that profiled periphery of the plan silhouette of the item in question when resiliendy stretched, blown or otherwise deformed from its, as moulded, relaxed condition to enable a cut locus is to be provided outwardly of where the cut edge will revert to.

The advance is a recognition that with appropriate forming of a preform or precursor in an appropriate resilient material, it is possible (when still warm and/ or when cold) to deform the profiled periphery resiliently sufficient to enable a cutting locus (by guillotining, punching, etc) to occur outside of what will be the relaxed locus of the resultant cut edge, when viewed in plan silhouette of the resultant product at which cutting would be more difficult.

It is an object of the present invention to provide procedures, methods, tooling and the like capable of performing any such operation or to at least provide the public with a useful choice or a container as a useful choice.

It is a further or alternative object to provide a precursor or preform for such procedures which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

It is a further or alternative object of the present invention to provide an open mouth container of a thermoformed sheet material with an under turned peripheral region that has reverted after a trimming procedure of a preform or moulded precursor essentially to its "as moulded" (eg. vacuum thermoforming) relaxed disposition.

It is a further or alternative object to provide a trimming procedure coupled to a momentary distortion of a preform or trimmable precursor that makes a cutting locus possible reliant to opposing shear elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In another aspect the invention is an open top container (eg tray, cup or the like) formed by trimming a thermoformed precursor or preform to provide an outwardly extending peripheral profile with the trimming cut locus directly under part of the peripheral profile only after reverting to a more relaxed condition than that at which the trimming cut was made.

In an aspect the invention is an open mouthed container (eg. tray, cup or the like) having a profiled periphery about the mouth;

wherein the container has been teimmed from a thermoformed preform or precursor that includes said profiled periphery but not its peripheral edge.

Preferably the trimming removes a surround of what will be the container. Preferably the trimming (with respect to the tray) provides a trimming cut locus directly under peripheral profile, that locus only being assumed by reverting to a more relaxed (eg. as thermoformed in the preform or precursor) condition than that at which the trimming cut was made.

Preferably said surround has been removed by a single cutting (eg. a guillotine cutting).

Preferably said removal is "on line" (eg. part of a single continuous process at contiguous zones).

Preferably the cutting occurs when that material to provide the edge is resiliently positioned outwardly of its at rest and as moulded position.

Preferably the positioning outwardly is sufficiently outwardly to be outwardly of the eventual periphery of the tray when considered in plan silhouette.

Preferably said positioning outwardly is by pulling or pushing at least outwardly in a trimming apparatus or station.

Alternatively said positioning outwardly is by holding said surround and deforming by a displacement the zone to have said edge.

In another aspect the invention is a packaging tray of a plastics material suitable for or for supporting contents wrapped in a plastics film extending in a wrap path or locus about the tray and contents, the tray defining:

a base on which the contents can be, or are to be, supported;

a peripheral wall upstanding from the base; and

a profiled rim including region carried outwardly of the wall from the wall;

wherein the profiled rim including region terminates in a peripheral edge of a peripheral edge region extending inwardly so that the peripheral edge remains or will remain out of a or the wrap path or locus about the tray;

wherein the tray has had said peripheral edge defined by a cutting of a thermoformed tray precursor or preform.

Preferably the cutting of the precursor or preform has occurred when what will be the peripheral edge was a part of a zone pulled outwardly of its post cut position (eg. preferably outside of the plan silhouette of the resultant tray to better enable a cutting interaction of tooling components from either side of said zone.

Preferably the peripheral edge and/ or said zone is substantially as herein described with reference to any one or more of the drawings.

In yet another aspect the invention is a packaging tray of a plastics material for supporting contents wrapped in a plastics film extending in a wrap path or locus about the tray and contents, the tray having a peripheral bead as its rim feature ending in a cut edge under the rim provided by the bead so as to be inwardly of and/ or directed inwardly from the wrap path or locus.

Preferably the cut edge has been provided by punching or otherwise freeing a surround from a thermoformed precursor or preform when, what will become the cut edge, has been held as part of a zone more outwardly.

Preferably the freeing is when the precursor or preform, over at least part of said zone, has been stretched or otherwise deformed from its thermoformed disposition.

In another aspect the invention is a process for forming a container as previously mentioned, said process being or involving

providing a thermoformed precursor or preform, and

trimming a surround from the precursor or preform when stretched to better present the trim locus between what will be the cut edge of the container and the cut edge of the surround.

Preferably the better presentation is for cutting on a locus outside of what will become the silhouette plan periphery of the container.

Preferably the process includes any one or more of the steps herein described.

In another aspect the invention is tooling able to perform such a process.

Preferably the tooling has the capabilities herein described.

In still a further aspect the invention is, inline,

a preform or precursor forming station, and

a preform or precursor trimming station, such inline apparatus being able to trim on a trim line outwardly of where the trimmed product will have the trim cut revert to.

Preferably the inline trimming station has capabilities as herein discussed and/ or is able to provide a container as herein described.

In another aspect the invention consists in a tray, cup or other container substantially as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

In still a further aspect the invention consists in a preform or precursor substantially as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

In yet a further aspect the invention consists in tooling substantially as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

In still a further aspect the invention consists in a procedure of forming a product when performed using a preform or precursor and a subsequent trimming procedure, any part of which is substantially as herein described with or without reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

In still a further aspect the invention consists in, inline, apparatus substantially as herein described generally or in particular and/or substantially as shown in any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

In still another aspect the invention is a method of providing an open topped container (eg. a tray) having a rim beaded on its outer periphery, said method comprising or including,

in a first tooling assembly able to be parted on a single separation axis (whether progressive or not), moulding a precursor of the container which has the eventual bead at least substantially as its final configuration but which extends beyond the perimeter of the eventual bead below the eventual bead, and

in a second tooling assembly after parting of the first tooling assembly, and

irrespectively of whether any part of the first tooling assembly is a part of the second tooling assembly, clamping a region of the precursor's extension that is beyond or distal to the eventual bead and stretching at least that part of die precursor's extension that is proximal to the eventual bead sufficiently to provide for an exposure of a zone to provide a peripheral cut locus outside of what will be the perimeter of the eventual bead thereby to allow cutting on that locus using an axis at least parallel to that axis of the precursor that was aligned to the first tooling assembly single separation axis.

In still another aspect the invention is a tray, cup or other container formed by any process or method of the present invention or using any tooling or station of the present invention.

As used herein the term "(s)" following a noun means one or both of the singular or plural forms.

As used herein the term "and/ or" means "and" or "or". In some circumstances it can mean both.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompany drawings in which

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a typical container/ tray having a profiled periphery in the form of an outwardly extending rim zone and distally therefrom an under turn, Figure 2 shows a typical cross section of the peripheral wall of the container of Figure 1 (whether on a side or in a corner) laterally through the rim and under turn,

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a preform or precursor thermoformed item able to be trimmed to provide a container substantially as shown in Figures 1 and 2,

Figure 4 shows an enlargement of the preform or precursor feature identified as 'A' in

Figure 3, that being able to be trimmed to provide an under turn as shown in Figure 2, and

Figures 5A, 5B and 5C show, as three stages, d e features of Figure 4, the distortion, deforming, stretching, blowing or the like of the form of Figure 5A sufficiently to provide a cut line shown by the broken lines II-II in Figure 5B which is outwardly of the final profile periphery and Figure 5C shows how the resilience allows the under turn of the preform or precursor of Figure 5A to be reassumed after the cut has been made on die broken line as shown in Figure 5B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred form of the present invention a tray will be described.

It should be appreciated however diat the container can be of any form. It can be a cup, a bowl or other.

Whilst reference is made herein to a tray adapted to be encompassed by a wrap of a plastics film, any suitable wrap can be used. Similarly reference hereto to a "wrap" is to a capability of the container. The present invention extends to any such container irrespective of whether or not it is to be used in that way.

Examples of suitable materials from which containers can be formed and which has sufficient resilience to allow the process in accordance with the present invention include typical materials we have hitherto used in our PL1X™ range of containers, trays and the like. Examples of materials include, by way of example, unfoamed PET, PLA, CPET, PP and high impact polystyrene. Foamed materials can be any of the preceding able to be foamed effectively to provide a preform or precursor along the lines envisaged and to have sufficient flexibility to allow a return from a stretch to a to be cut condition.

The process of the present invention in its preferred form is able to provide moulded configuration for the tray defining remnant of the thermoformed preform or precursor.

This means none of the puckering or distortions often encountered with rolling a flanged edge is encountered. Also avoided is the slowness of a double stage thermoforming process such as disclosed in the aforementioned Australian patent. It is envisaged that the preform or precursors of the present invention can be dealt with serially onkne within less than one minute of exiting the mould eg. from 1 second to 1 minute. Given an appropriate choice of material and profiling of the region to be cut of the preform or precursor, the preform or precursor if wanted can be dealt with much later as a batch.

Figure 1 and 2 shows an optional tray as the container. It has a base 1 and a peripheral wall 2. The peripheral wall at its top has a profiled region 3 made up of an outwardly extending flat or curved rim 4 of the open mouth 5 and having a turn under region 6 leading to its peripheral edge 7.

This peripheral edge 7 is preferably to be sufficiency inwardly of the line 1-1 which runs from a tangent of the curvature of the profiled feature 3 down to the transition at 8 between the wall 2 and base 1 such that there is no tendency for the edge 7 to encounter the film and other material used as a sealing wrap or an enclosement of content in the tray.

Accordingly there is no tendency for tearing.

In a rectangular form or similar form to that depicted in Figure 1 of tray, the stresses of any such film wrap is greatest at the corners. A feature of the present invention is the absence of any film damaging distortions of the edge under 6 even at the corner regions. This is because the edge under 6 right around the wall (including along any straight or outwardly curved wall regions and through the intervening curved or truncated corner regions) is as it was exmould in the preform or precursor as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The preform or precursor as shown in Figures 3 and 4 has beyond d e zone 9, which is to provide the peripheral edge 7, sufficient material over the region 11 to allow the

reconformation resiliendy of the region 11 and 9 from the condition shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5A to a condition as shown in Figure 5B which allows cutting (eg. by a peripheral guillotine or punch tooling) on the line Π-Π shown in Figure 5B.

Persons skilled in the art will envisage a variety of ways of dealing with such a preform as envisaged.

Included may be a use of a gaseous pressure or other mechanical or fluid force in suitable tooling to achieve sufficient presentation for trimming.