Sonoco Development Incorporated

Sonoco Products Company

Michael T Drummond

Alan D Williams

James W Lowry

William C Suski

Calvin G Hill

Rodney W Roberts

Richard M Lowman

W Gerald Gainey

Jeffrey M Schuetz

Glenda J Cahill

Floyd H Boatwright

General Taylor

Kurt Allen Ziegenfelder

Paul Miller

Krishnaraju Varadarajan

Veronique Sins

Rick A Osman

Michael Gentile

Varadarajan Krishnaraj

Robert Michael Schock

A membrane closure for a container is provided. The membrane closure includes an integral tab for removing the membrane closure from the container. The closure includes a lower layer, an adhesive layer, and an upper layer. The lower layer is sealed to the body of a container. The upper layer includes a score pattern that defines a tab area and a fixed area. The adhesive layer includes a first adhesive for releasably attaching the tab area to the lower layer and a second adhesive for permanently bonding the fixed area to the lower layer. The membrane closure is removable from the container by pulling on the tab area.

Membrane closure for container

In insert is provided for use with a container and for positioning in the container opening. The insert includes a body having an outer periphery dimensioned for receipt within container opening. A utensil is frangibly secured to the insert body within an internal open area. A receiving tab is provided that projects from the body into the open area. An engagement structure is formed on the utensil and on the receiving tab. The engagement portions cooperate with one another for removably securing the utensil to the receiving tab after the frangible connection to the body is removed.

Measuring scoop and support for a container

A child proof or child resistant container made primarily from fiber based materials is provided. The container comprises a tubular body, a cap that slides onto the body and a separate locking ring that fits within the cap. The locking ring is provided with diametrically opposed squeeze tabs that extend through openings in the cap and locking detents that fit into openings in the container body wall to lock the cap onto the body. The container body and cap may both be made from fiber based materials such as paper and the locking ring may be made from plastic. To open the container the user simultaneously squeezes the squeeze tabs while lifting and rotating the cap.

Child resistant container having cap and locking ring

A sealed composite container for products is provided having a paperboard body ply with a liner ply adhered on the inner surface thereof. One end of the container is rolled outwardly to form a rim and exposing the inner surface of the liner ply, which comprises a heat sealable composition. A lid for the container, also having a layer of heat sealable composition, is placed adjacent to the exposed heat sealable composition of the container liner and heat sealed thereto. The heat seal has both an inner and an outer bead formed on either side of the heat sealed area, wherein the inner bead comprises a larger amount of the heat seal compositions than the outer bead. A method and apparatus for forming the heat seal is also provided.

Tubular container with a heat seal having non-symmetrical inner and outer beads

A composite container of paperboard has a polymeric film barrier layer on the inner surface thereof. A rolled bead is formed at a top end of the container and a membrane closure is bonded to the bead by a first heat seal material on the bead and a second heat seal material on the membrane. The heat seal materials preferably comprise ethylene acid copolymer such as methacrylic acid or acrylic acid, partially neutralized with zinc or sodium ions. A primer layer is disposed between the heat seal material on the bead and the polymer barrier layer of the container. The primer provides a high z-direction bond strength but is designed to fail in a shear tearing mode when peeling the membrane from the bead, such that the heat seal material on the bead is detached from the bead and remains attached to the membrane. The primer prevents tearing of the polymer barrier layer of the container.

Composite container with membrane and bead closure system

A method of manufacturing multi-ply tubular containers for food products is provided including the steps of applying an aqueous adhesive to a surface of a paperboard body ply and then heating the aqueous adhesive to evaporate part of the water content and render the adhesive substantially tacky. The body ply and a polymeric liner ply having a moisture barrier layer are then passed through a nip to adhere the liner ply to the body ply and are wrapped around a shaping mandrel to create the tubular container. Accordingly, an advantageous tubular container can be manufactured having a body ply formed of paperboard which is wrapped into a tubular shape to define an inner surface. The body ply defines a predetermined circumferential length before being wrapped which corresponds to one revolution of the body ply when wrapped in a tubular shape. A polymeric liner ply is adhered to the inner surface of the body ply and defines a circumferential length equal to that of the body ply prior to being wrapped. Accordingly, the liner ply is circumferentially compressed when the body ply is wrapped into the tubular shape and advantageously has a wrinkled surface finish after being wrapped which is caused by the circumferential compression of the liner ply.

Methods and apparatus for manufacturing tubular containers

A multi-ply tubular container for products is provided having a first ply wrapped into a tubular shape and having an inner surface and a second ply wrapped into a tubular shape and having an outer surface positioned in face-to-face contact with the inner surface of the first ply. At least one of the first and second plies is a body ply formed of fibrous paperboard. A foamed adhesive is placed between the inner surface of the first ply and the outer surface of the second ply. The foamed adhesive reduces moisture contact with the paperboard body ply and results in increased container strength and lower manufacturing costs. The foamed adhesive is preferably a foamed aqueous adhesive. The foamed adhesive may be a substantially pure resin adhesive or a mixture of a resin and at least one filler. The two plies may comprise a paperboard body ply and a liner ply adhered together using a foamed adhesive placed therebetween. Additional layers, such as additional paperboard plies or label plies, may also be added to the tubular container and adhered using a foamed adhesive. An apparatus and method for constructing tubular containers is also provided.

Composite container having foamed adhesive

A sealed composite container is provided, the container including a tubular body member comprising at least one paperboard body ply. The container further comprises a liner ply adhered to the inner surface of the tubular body member, the liner ply comprising a barrier layer. At least one end of the body member and liner ply are rolled outwardly to form a rim and expose the liner ply. The rim defines a heat seal surface having a substantially planar portion. A lid is operatively positioned adjacent to the rim and heat sealed thereto, the lid also comprising a barrier layer. At least one of the lid and liner ply further comprise a seal layer comprising a heat sealable composition, the seal layer forming a heat seal between the lid and the liner ply having a substantially planar portion.

Container with heat seal surface having a substantially planar portion

An easy-open composite container has a membrane-type closure and includes a laminated tubular body member of composite materials having a predetermined laminated strength. The body member includes a bodywall portion and a liner portion positioned inside the bodywall portion and forming an inside surface of the body member. An outwardly-rolled rim portion is formed at the upper area of an open upper end of the tubular body member and the liner portion forms a top surface of the body member open upper end and an outside surface of the outwardly rolled rim portion. A cut extends circumferentially around a segment of the outside surface of the rim portion and extends radially-inwardly through at least a part of the liner portion. A membrane closure covers the open upper end of the body member and has an outwardly extending tab portion positioned over the cut in the rim portion of the body member. A bond is formed between the top surface of the body member open upper end and the membrane member for hermetically closing such open upper end. This bond has a predetermined strength greater than the laminated strength of the tubular body member and sufficient to prevent leakage caused by internal pressure within the container. With the above construction, the composite container can be easily opened by pulling the pull tab portion of the membrane closure member which causes radial delamination of a segment of the body member rim portion at the cut in the rim portion to provide an easy start for removing the membrane member with the delaminated rim portion segment from the remainder of the body member rim portion of the container.

Easy-open composite container with a membrane-type closure

A method of manufacturing multi-ply tubular containers for food products is provided including the steps of applying an aqueous adhesive to a surface of a paperboard body ply and then heating the aqueous adhesive to evaporate part of the water content and render the adhesive substantially tacky. The body ply and a polymeric liner ply having a moisture barrier layer are then either fed to a shaping mandrel from opposite sides and bonded together as the container is formed on the mandrel or are first passed through a nip to adhere the liner ply to the body ply and then wrapped around the mandrel as a laminate to create the tubular container. Accordingly, an advantageous tubular container can be manufactured having a body ply formed of paperboard which is wrapped into a tubular shape to define an inner surface. The body ply defines a predetermined circumferential length before being wrapped which corresponds to one revolution of the body ply when wrapped in a tubular shape. A polymeric liner ply is adhered to the inner surface of the body ply and defines a circumferential length equal to that of the body ply prior to being wrapped. Accordingly, the liner ply is circumferentially compressed when the body ply is wrapped into the tubular shape and advantageously has a wrinkled surface finish after being wrapped which is caused by the circumferential compression of the liner ply. Another feature of the invention is a sealed composite container having an end seal formed by a pair of inner and outer beads of a heat flowable polymer forming a part of the liner and membrane-type lid.

Tubular container with a heat seal having an inner and outer bead and

The invention provides spirally wound easy-open containers which comprise a spirally wound body wall having overlapped edges and which have capabilities and benefits associated with conventional butt jointed containers. The overlapped edges of the body wall define an easy-open seam extending helically between the ends of the container. A temporary adhesive between the overlapped edges of the body wall releasably adheres the overlapped edges of the body wall together and allows for opening of the container along the helical, easy-open seam. The easy-open containers provided according to the invention can be readily manufactured with only slight modifications to the conventional manufacturing process. Nevertheless, the easy-open containers of the invention can provide for material savings in container label construction and can allow for vacuum packaging of food products such as dough.

Easy-open container for refrigerated dough products and the like

Tubular container and methods and apparatus for manufacturing same

A method is provided of manufacturing an easy-open container. A bodywall layer strip is positioned on a wider liner layer strip to define first and second edge portions on the side of the wider liner layer which extends transversely beyond the bodywall layer side edges. These layers are fed to a mandrel and the first liner layer edge portion is folded-over onto an outside surface of the bodywall layer and a high strength bond is formed therebetween. The resulting layers are spirally wound on the mandrel to form a continuous tube having a spiral seam with the bodywall layer side edges forming a butt joint and with each of the first and second liner layer edge portions extending through the butt joint and out of the spiral seam. The second liner layer edge portion is positioned on the first folded-over liner layer edge portion and a low strength bond is formed therebetween. A flexible label layer is spirally wound onto the tube on the mandrel with its longitudinal edges in overlapped relationship. The label layer is positioned in superimposed bridging relation to the spiral seam and the liner layer edge portions and in superimposed relation to the remainder of the bodywall layer so that the overlapped label layer edges are adjacent to but not directly superimposed thereon. A low strength bond is formed between the overlapped label layer edges and a high strength bond is formed between the superimposed label layer and the second liner layer edge portion and the superimposed label layer and bodywall layer. The thus wound continuous tube is then cut into individual container lengths.

Growing community of inventors

Laurinburg, NC, United States of America

Michael T Drummond