System for packaging perishable liquids in gable top cartons
AssigneeFBI Brands Ltd.
InventorDonald A. Poole
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for the shelf stable packaging of perishable liquid food products in hermetically sealed easy-to-open gable top cartons comprising the steps of cold filling liquid food products free from pathogenic and thermophilic organisms into gable top cartons, sealing the cartons over certain critical areas of the seal flaps while reducing or relieving sealing pressure over certain other specified areas, heating the sealed carton up to and holding the contents at a pasteurization hold temperature for a predetermined time and then cooling the contents of the carton.
Claims24
A sealed gable top carton and a perishable liquid food product contained therein, the gable top carton having a gable closure which includes opposed side panels with side flaps extending therefrom and opposed end panels with end flaps extending therefrom to a lower height than the height of the flaps of the side panels, both said side flaps and said end flaps each having upper portions and lower portions, said side panels and end panels having fold lines to facilitate closing and opening, the opposed side flaps being adhered to each other and the end flaps being adhered to the lower portions of the side flaps, the carton being sealed by applying varied pressure across the flaps so that different regions of the flaps are sealed with different amounts of pressure to provide a strongly sealed area which includes at least a centrally disposed portion of the side flaps, and a first lightly sealed area at the center of and at the upper portion of an end flap to facilitate opening of the carton by a consumer;
- the perishable liquid food product being filled into the carton at about room temperature before the carton is sealed, heated to a pasteurization hold temperature after sealing and maintained at the pasteurization hold temperature for a time sufficient to pasteurize the product and sterilize the interior of the carton.
A shelf stable system for storing perishable liquid product comprising:
- a thermoplastic coated gable top carton, the carton having a gable top closure which includes closure sealing flaps that can be sealed to one another by applying heat and pressure to the flaps;
- and,
- a perishable liquid food product, wherein the product is cold filled into the carton before the carton is sealed and the carton is then sealed by applying different amount of pressure to different regions of the flaps so as to provide a hermetic easy to open seal;
- and,
- wherein the sealed carton and perishable product are then heated to a pasteurization hold temperature, maintained at the pasteurization hold temperature for a time sufficient to kill essentially all microorganisms remaining in the carton and then cooled such that the product is shelf stable within the sealed carton.
A sealed gable top carton and a perishable product contained therein;
- the gable top carton comprising a bottom panel, opposed side panels and opposed end panels and a gable top, the gable top being formed by folding and sealing the side and end panels to one another, the gable top carton having a thermoplastic surface layer which softens at a predetermined temperature, the gable top carton including a top sealing portion for sealing the interior of the carton, the top portion having a plurality of regions, each region being sealed with a different amount of pressure so as to provide a hermetic seal which is easy to open;
- the product being cold filled into the carton before sealing of the carton to avoid the creation of a vacuum within the carton, and the product being heated and maintained at a pasteurization hold temperature after the carton is sealed, the pasteurization temperature being sufficient to kill essentially all microorganisms remaining in the carton but below the predetermined temperature at which the carton's surface layer softens;
- the carton being sufficiently sealed to ensure that the product is shelf stable.
A shelf stable package comprising a gable top carton containing a food product, the carton having a surface layer which softens at a predetermined softening temperature and including opposed side panels with side flaps extending therefrom and opposed end panels with end flaps extending therefrom to a lower height than the flaps of the side panels, said side flaps having lower portions and said end flaps having an upper portion, the package being made by a process comprising the steps of:
- a) cold filling the gable top carton with the product;
- b) hermetically sealing the carton by applying heat and a first amount of pressure to predetermined critical areas of the opposed side flaps to soften the surface layer such that these critical areas adhere to each other and the end flaps adhere to the lower portions of the side flaps and applying a second amount of pressure, which is less than the first amount of pressure, to other, non-critical, areas of the flaps so as to leave areas which are lightly sealed at the center of the upper portion of the end flaps to facilitate opening of the carton by a consumer;
- c) heating the product in the sealed carton to a pasteurization hold temperature equal to or greater than the pasteurization temperature of the product but below the softening temperature of the surface layer of the gable top carton material;
- d) maintaining the food product at the pasteurization hold temperature for sufficient time to provide an kill of microorganisms in the food product that is sufficient for storing said food product for later consumption;
- and
- e) cooling the product within the carton so that by filling the carton with product and then sealing the carton before the product is heated, no significant vacuum is created in the course of cooling the product.
A gable top carton with an easy open gable top, the carton comprising a carton body and a gable top closure which can be opened to form a pouring spout having a tip, the closure including opposed side panels with side flaps extending therefrom and opposed end panels with end flaps extending therefrom to a lower height than the height of the flaps of the side panels, said end flaps having upper portions which terminate in upper edges, the side panels and end panels having fold lines, including a horizontal fold line, to facilitate closing and opening, the fold lines on at least one end panel intersecting at a point corresponding to the tip of the pouring spout from which the end panels extend, the closure being sealed by forming a seal across the flaps including a center stake located above a point midway between the upper edge of the end flaps and the horizontal fold line such that the carton is hermetically sealed and so that an area of the flaps immediately adjacent the intersection of the fold lines is lightly sealed so that during opening, this area will pop out to facilitate opening of the carton.
A sealed gable top container with a pop out closure, the container comprising a container body and a gable top closure, the gable top closure including two opposed side panels with side flaps extending therefrom and two opposed end panels with end flaps extending therefrom, said end flaps having a lower portion and an upper portion terminating in an upper edge, the side flaps and the end flaps each having an inner surface and an outer surface, the end flaps being folded along a fold line such that a first portion of the outer surface of each end flap is in planar contact with another portion of the outer surface of that flap and the inner surfaces of each of said end flaps being sealed to the inner surfaces of the side flaps and the fold lines of each of the opposed end flaps being adjacent and separated from one another by a vertically extending gap bounded by the central portions of the end flaps, the gap being sealed from approximately the center of its vertical extent to at least the upper edges of the end flaps, and the gap being substantially unsealed below the center of its vertical extent.
A shelf stable gable top carton comprising an internal thermoplastic coating, sealing flaps comprising two opposed side panels terminating in upper side flaps and two opposed end panels terminating in inwardly foldable upper end flaps, said side flaps and said end flaps terminating in upper edges and a lower edge of each of said side flaps and end flaps being defined by a horizontal fold line where the side panels splay to form the top of the carton, each end flap having a central vertical fold line to permit inward folding of the end flap so that the inner faces of the end flaps contact adjacent inner faces of the side flaps when the gable top is closed, and each of the flaps having an upper edge, the upper edges of the side flaps extending beyond the upper edges of the end flaps, one of the end flaps being outwardly foldable to form a spout;
- a first level of sealing along a horizontal stake line above and closely adjacent to the upper edges of the end flaps, along at least one vertical stake line extending from the lower edges of the side flaps to intersect the horizontal stake line near one end of the horizontal stake line, and over a first central region covering a portion of the vertical fold lines of both end flaps extending downwards from the upper edges of the end flaps but not so far as to include the area at which the vertical fold lines and the horizontal fold lines intersect;
- lesser levels of sealing at a second central region covering a portion of the vertical fold lines of both end flaps not covered by the first central region and to any remaining portions of the side flaps wherein the seals provided by the first level of sealing and the lesser levels of sealing are together sufficient to prevent bacteria and air from entering the carton through the sealing flaps, but which said lesser levels of sealing applied across the end flaps would not themselves provide seals sufficient to prevent bacteria and air from entering the carton through the sealing flaps if applied across the entire sealing flaps, and wherein the carton so sealed by the first level of sealing and the lesser levels of sealing is easier to open than a carton in which all of the sealed portions have been sealed with the first level of sealing.
A gable top carton comprising:
- sealing flaps which comprise side flaps and inwardly folded end flaps, said side flaps and said end flaps having upper and lower edges the lower edge of each of said flaps being defined by a horizontal fold line where the flaps splay to form the top of the carton, each of the flaps having an upper edge, the upper edges of the side flaps extending beyond the upper edges of the end flaps, said end flaps being inwardly folded towards each other to most closely face one another in the area of the center of the lateral extend of the side flaps, one set of said end flaps being outwardly foldable to form a spout;
- a first set of seals that are located at predetermined portions of the sealing flaps, said sealed predetermined portions including:
- i) a horizontal stake line extending the full length of the side flaps at a level just above the upper edges of the end flaps;
- ii) at least one vertical stake line located inwardly of at least one end of the flaps extending downward from the horizontal stake line to the horizontal fold line;
- iii.) a center stake located at the central portion of the side flaps in the area where the inwardly folded end flaps face each other, said center stake being of a size and shape sufficient to cover portions of both the end flaps and being located above the horizontal fold lines,
- said stake lines and center stake being configured and positioned and said first set of seals at said stake lines and said center stake being sufficient to create hermetic seals at these portions of said sealing flaps;
- and
- a second set of lighter seals at other portions of the sealing flaps, said second set of lighter seals being sufficient to provide a seal at these other portions that in combination with the sealing provided at the stake lines and at the center stake results in an overall hermetic seal which prevents bacteria and air from entering the carton through the sealing flaps, but which said second set of seals, if applied alone across both said predetermined portions and said other portions of the sealing flaps would not provide a seal sufficient to prevent bacteria and air from entering the carton through the sealing flaps,
- thereby providing a carton that is easier to open than a carton in which all of the sealed portions of the sealing flaps have been closed with seals that are as strong as those of the first set of seals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.