FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an intermediate product for producing a preferably sleeve- or bag-shaped packing means at least partially made of film material, comprising a film material extending along a first portion and a second portion of the intermediate product, the film material being provided with a tearing line for separating the first portion and the second portion from each other, wherein the first portion, once separated from the second portion, forms the packing means, and the second portion, while connected to the first portion, forms a part to be attached to a carrier for carrying the intermediate product. "Film material" in this context is meant to comprise any type of thin, flexible material, such as plastic film material or paper sheet material.

The invention further relates to a method for manufacturing an intermediate product as described, a packing means, and a method for packing a product. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flower bunches, potted plants and potted herbs are known to be packed in an automated process, wherein each item to be packed is inserted into a sleeve of plastic film. Each sleeve is supplied as part of an intermediate product made of film material, having a first portion that is to form the sleeve and a second portion forming a lip for mounting the intermediate product on a carrier. The product is provided with a perforation line arranged along what is to become the upper edge of the sleeve, enabling the sleeve portion to be separated from the lip portion by tearing. A stack of the intermediate products is provided mounted on a carrier, and with each item to be packed, a sleeve portion is torn loose from its connected lip portion, so as for the sleeve to be removed together with the packed item and for the lip portion to remain attached to the carrier.

It has been found that with certain types of plastic film, the sleeve portion does not always cleanly separate from the lip portion. A tear initiated along the perforation line may be found to run into either the sleeve portion or the. lip portion, rather than continue along the whole of the perforation line. This can lead to a produced sleeve being torn, as well as an interruption of an automated packing process and undesired down time of a packing machine. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an intermediate product according to the introductory paragraph, having relatively low susceptibility to unclean tearing, and which promotes an automated packing process as described to run with relatively few unplanned interruptions. A further object is to provide an intermediate product as described enabling various types of film material to be used for the produced packing means, in particular various types of plastic film.

The above object is attained by an intermediate product characterised in that the film material is provided with a layer of added material extending along the tearing line.

The layer of added material extending along the tearing line prevents a tear initiated along the tearing line to run into a portion of the intermediate product that is to form the packing means, such as a sleeve or a bag, or into the portion that after the tearing step is to remain attached to a carrier. Hence, with the use of an intermediate product according to the invention, a packing process is less susceptible to unexpected interruptions.

The added material may have a tearing resistance higher than that of the film material. Then, for the packing means, a film material having a relatively low tearing resistance can be used, that despite the low tearing resistance has certain beneficial properties, such as an improved appearance.

The added material may comprise a cast polymer, such as cast polypropylene (CPP). Such a polymer has relatively high tearing resistance, while still providing some degree of transparency, enabling a portion of added material remaining on the packing means after the tearing step to be less noticeable.

The film material may comprise an axially oriented polymer, preferably a bi- axially oriented polymer such as bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). Such polymers, despite having a relatively low tearing resistance, can be relatively shiny, transparent and stiff, and hence have a relatively high-quality appearance.

The layer of added material may have a strip shape, so that it need not cover a larger area of the intermediate product than needed to prevent a tear from running away from the tearing line.

The layer of added material may extend on both sides of the tearing line, or comprise two separate parts extending on either side of the tearing line, so that the layer can prevent a tear from running away towards either of the two sides of the tearing line.

The layer of added material may cover a larger part of the second portion than of the first portion, so as for a layer of a certain width not to cover more of the first portion than needed to prevent a tear from running into that portion, without disturbing the appearance of the produced packing means too much.

The first portion may comprise two layers connected to each other through a seam, the layer of added material at least partially overlapping said seam. The layer of added material then adds to the strength of the seam within the area of overlap.

In a practical embodiment, the tearing line may comprise a perforation line extending through the double layer of film material and added material.

The layer of added material may be laminated, glued, or heat-sealed onto the film material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained by the following description of one or more preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which same reference numerals indicate same or similar parts, and in which:

Figure 1 shows a frontal view of an intermediate product according to the invention,

Figure 2 shows in plan view an assembled web of film for manufacturing an intermediate product according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to Figure 1 , an intermediate product 1 for producing a flower sleeve comprises two trapezoidal shaped pieces 10, 20 of film material, each piece 10, 20 having a top edge 11 , 21 and a bottom edge 12, 22 extending in parallel with each other, and a pair of side edges 13, 14, 23, 24 tapering towards each other from the respective top edge 1 1 , 21 to the respective bottom edge 12, 22.

The first piece of film material 10 covers the second piece 20, the top edge 11 of the first piece 10 being located below the top edge 21 of the second piece 20, and the bottom edge 12 of the first piece 10 being located above the bottom edge 22 of the second piece 20, so as for the second piece 20 of film material to have a lip 25, 26 extending from under the first piece 10 at both the top end and the bottom end of the intermediate product 1.

Each of the side edges 13, 14 of the first, smaller piece of film material 10 is connected to a respective one of the two side edges 23, 24 of the second, larger piece of film material 20 through a respective seam 31 , 32 extending along the whole of the side edges 13, 14 of said first piece 10.

The top and bottom edges 11 , 12 of the first piece of film material 0 respectively run in parallel with the top and bottom edges 21 , 22 of the second piece 20, and leave a slit 33, 34 present between the first piece of film material 10 and the second piece 20 at the top and bottom edges 1 1 , 12 of the first piece 10.

The slits 33, 34 enable the substantially two-layered intermediate product 1 to be expanded from a flat folded position to an expanded position in which a space is formed enclosed by the two pieces of film material 10, 20, for receiving, through the top end slit 33 that by then has been reshaped into a larger opening, an item to be packed, such as a flower bunch, a potted plant or a potted herb. It is noted that the intermediate product 1 is depicted in Figure 1 in a substantially flat-folded position, wherein the top and bottom edges 1 1 , 12 of the first piece of film material 10 are slightly bent together with the material 10 so as to illustrate the presence of the slits 33, 34.

At its top end, the intermediate product 1 comprises a strip 50 of added material arranged on the second piece of film material 20 and covering the whole width thereof. The strip 50 has a top edge 51 positioned on the lip 25 at a distance from the top edge 21 of the second piece of film material 20, extending in parallel with said top edge 21 . The strip 50 has a bottom edge 52 extending in parallel with the top edge 51 , positioned below the top edge 1 1 of the first piece of film material 0, so as for the strip 50 to cover a part of the seams 3 , 32 at the top ends thereof.

The strip 50 of added material is provided with a perforation line 53 extending along the whole length of the strip 50, dividing the strip 50 into a top portion 54 and a bottom portion 55. The perforation line 53 is positioned above the top edge 1 1 of the first piece of film material 10 and extends through both the material of the strip 50 and that of the underlying second piece of film material 20, the perforation line 53 thereby also dividing said second piece 20 into a top portion 20a and a bottom portion 20b.

At its bottom end, the intermediate product 1 comprises a second strip 65 of added material. The second strip 65 is symmetrically arranged with respect to the bottom portion 55 of the top end strip 50, with a top edge 62 located above the bottom edge 12 of the first piece of film material 10, so as for the second strip 65 to cover part of the seams 31 , 32 at the bottom ends thereof, and a bottom edge 63 located below the bottom edge 12 of said first piece 10, so as for the strip 65 to cover the lip 26 at the bottom end of the intermediate product 1 , the bottom edge 63 of the strip 65 being in registration with the bottom edge 22 of the second piece of film material 20.

The top end lip 25 is provided with a pair of holes 70 to be hooked onto the hooks of a carrier.

In a process for packing a number of flower bunches, potted plants or potted herbs, a stack of intermediate products 1 is provided mounted on a carrier. With each item to be packed, the first piece of film material 10 is grabbed with the use of a suction cup or any other suitable means, for expanding a space enclosed by said first piece of film material 10 and the bottom portion 20b of the second piece 20.

After accommodating an item to be packed inside the space, the portion 1 a of the intermediate product 1 comprising the first piece of film material 10 and the bottom portion 20b of the second piece is pulled to tear the portion 1 a loose from the top portion 20a of the second piece of film material 20.

In the tearing step, the top-end strip 50 of added material is torn together with the second piece of film material 20, so as for a packing means to be produced in the form of a sleeve comprising the whole of the first piece of film material 10 and only the bottom portion 20b of the second piece of film material 20, the latter having arranged thereon the bottom portion 55 of said top-end strip 50, and the whole of the bottom-end strip 65.

During tearing, the top and bottom portions 54, 55 of the top-end strip 50 of added material prevent a tear developing along the perforation line 53 from changing course and developing further into either of those portions 20a, 20b, rather than continuing along the perforation line 53. Thereby, a clean separation of the top and bottom portions 20a, 20b of the second piece of film material 20 is assured.

After tearing, a portion 1 b of the intermediate product 1 comprising the top portion 20a of the second piece of film material 20, having arranged thereon the top portion 54 of the top-end strip 50 of added material, remains on the carrier.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, an intermediate product 1 according to the invention can be manufactured by aligning two continuous webs of film material 1 10, 120 to form an assembled continuous web 1 10, 120, the first web 1 10 having a width corresponding with the height of the first piece of film material 10, the second web 120 having a width corresponding with the height of the second piece of film material 20. The narrow first web 1 10 is preferably centred with respect to the wider second web 120.

The assembled web 10, 120 can be provided with cuts 131 at acute, alternating angles at various longitudinal positions, so as for each time a trapezoidal shaped assembly 130 to be formed comprising a first piece of film material 10 formed from the first web 1 0 and a second piece of film material 20 formed from the second web 120. The two pieces 10, 20 can be heat-sealed together so as to form the seams 31 , 32, preferably by means of and due to the cutting.

The wider web 120 can be provided with a continuous band 140 of added material arranged along each of the two edges of the web 120, wherein each band 140 can be located at a short distance away from the local edge. The narrow web 1 0 can have such a width as to partially overlap each of the continuous bands 140.

At some point in the process, either the assembled web 1 10, 120 or the various trapezoidal shaped assemblies 130 may pass a device arranged to provide respectively the wider web 120 or the second pieces of film material 20 with a tearing line 150, such as a line of perforations extending through the material of either the wider web 120 or the second pieces of film material 20 as well as that of the continuous bands 140 or the strips 50, 60 of added material formed by the bands 140 being cut in the cutting step.

By tearing a tearing line 150 provided at the more narrow end of a trapezoidal shaped assembly 130, a superfluous portion 20c of the wider web 120, connected to the bottom portion 20b of the second piece of film material 20 through the bottom edge 22 thereof, can be removed. Thereby, the only portions of the wider web 120 comprised by the second piece of film material 20 are left to be the top portion 20a and bottom portion 20b as described, wherein, at the bottom edge 22, a portion 65 of a strip 60 of added material that is torn in removing the superfluous wider web portion 20c remains arranged on the second piece of film material 20 in the form of the second strip 65 of added material. It is noted that this second strip 65 of added material can reinforce the seam between the first portion of film material 10 and the bottom portion 20b of the second piece of film material 20 at the area of overlap between said second strip 65 of added material and said seam.

The invention has been described in the context of producing a packing means for wrapping flower bunches, potted plants or potted herbs. The invention may also be applicable however in other fields, for packing other types of products. Also, the described first portion of the intermediate product, which is to form the packing means, need not necessarily be shaped to form a sleeve, having an opening at the bottom. It may for instance also be shaped to form a bag, having a closed bottom, wherein the two layers of film material of the first portion may be connected by a seam extending along the bottom edge of the first portion.

The tearing line need not necessarily be a perforation line. It is noted that the problem solved by the invention predominantly occurs with perforation lines, but one may also benefit from the invention with other types of tearing lines. For instance, a tearing line could be embodied in a portion of film material weakened by any type of means for the purpose of the film material to tear along that weak portion. This may also be a larger area, rather than be concentrated to a narrow line. The film material need not be weakened itself, as long neighbouring portions having arranged theretm a layer of added material have a larger resistance to tearing than the original material. Lastly, for sake of completeness, it is noted that the tearing resistance of a material is meant to be the capability of a material to withstand propagation of an already initiated tear or crack through the material. It is noted that tougher materials, showing a relatively large amount of stretch before failure, are better suited to prevent crack propagation, and therefore to perform well as an added material, than less tough materials. Also, film materials of non-oriented polymers are better suited than film materials of oriented polymers, as the latter promote tears to propagate in certain specific directions having relatively low resistance as compared to other directions.

It will be clear that the advantages of the invention can be reached with the film material being in the form of plastic film, the added material itself preferably comprising a film material, the latter film material itself preferably being in the form of plastic film, the latter plastic film preferably being of a plastic type different than that of the first-mentioned plastic film. In principle, any of the mentioned film materials however may also be in a form different than that of plastic film, and either or both may for instance be formed as a paper sheet.

It is furthermore noted that the invention can provide advantages not only in an automated packing process, but also in a manual packing process, in which the first portion and the second portion of the intermediate product are separated by means of tearing by hand.