DE20208624U1 - Packaging and transport unit for fondant blocks - Google Patents

Description

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Patent Attorneys Lawyers

Dr. jur. Alf-Olav Gleiss, Dipl.-Ing. PA Rainer Grolle, Dipl.-Ing. PA Dr. Andreas Schrell, Dipl.-Biol. PA Torsten Armin Krüger, RA Nils Heide, RA

Armin Eugen Stockinger, Attorney Georg Brisch, Dipl.-Ing. PA Erik Graf v. Baudissin, RA

PA: Patent Attorney European Patent Attorney European Trademark Attorney

RA: Attorney-at-law D-70469 STUTTGART MAYBACHSTRASSE 6A Telephone: +49(0)7118145 Fax: +49(0)7118130 E-Mail: office@gleissgrosse.com

Homepage: www.gleissgrosse.com

In cooperation with Shanghai ZHI XIN Patent Agent Ltd. Shanghai, China Utility model application Packaging and transport unit for fondant blocks SÜDZUCKER AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT Mannheim/Ochsenfurt Maximilianstrasse 10

68165 MANNHEIM

17559t doc SC-ne
3 June 2002

Tracks & Large

Patent Attorneys Lawyers

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging and transport unit for highly viscous, thixotropic sugar products, in particular fondant.

Fondants are soft, easily melting confectionery that can be molded into shapes, such as pralines, candied or coated with sugar. Fondants are creamy dispersions of tiny sucrose crystals in saturated sucrose and glucose syrup.

Fondants are made by heating sucrose and glucose syrups and mixing them together. While still hot, this viscous syrup is filled into plastic bags, which are then placed in cardboard boxes. As it cools, the fondant essentially takes on the shape of the container, i.e. the cardboard box, and is then also known as a fondant block.

The disadvantage is that a considerable amount of waste is generated, particularly when large quantities of individually packaged fondant blocks are involved. However, taking into account the perishability of this food and the desired flexibility with regard to the amount of fondant used by the end consumer, packaging fondants 0 in larger containers is generally not an option.

17559b.doc SC-ne ... ·* &Idigr; J * ······ ·····

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The technical problem underlying the present invention is therefore to provide an improved packaging and transport unit for highly viscous thixotropic sugar products, which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages, in particular burdens the end consumer with less waste material while maintaining a high level of flexibility in consumption behavior.

The present invention solves this technical problem by providing a packaging and transport unit for highly viscous thixotropic sugar products, comprising a large load carrier made of plastic or metal and a plurality of product blocks arranged one above the other in at least two layers, each layer having a plurality of product blocks arranged next to one another, each comprising the thixotropic highly viscous product introduced into a plastic bag or sack.

The invention therefore provides for the highly viscous thi-0 xotropic sugar product of the present invention to be placed in a plastic bag or plastic sack, this to be closed and a large number of products packaged in this way to be arranged in at least two layers arranged one above the other in a large load carrier. Each of these layers comprises at least two, preferably three to nine, in particular five to eight, preferably seven product blocks arranged next to one another, i.e. products placed in a plastic bag or sack. At least two layers are arranged one above the other per large load carrier, preferably three to nine, in particular four to

eight. Different quantities of product blocks can be present per layer.

In connection with the present invention, a highly viscous thixotropic sugar product is understood to mean a sugar product that exhibits thixotropy, i.e. a product that liquefies under the influence of mechanical forces, for example pressure, and solidifies again after the mechanical stress has ended. In connection with the present invention, such a product is in particular a fondant or a bee food made on the basis of fondant, which can contain sucrose, dextrose, fructose, maltose and higher sugars as well as invertase.

In connection with the present invention, a product block is understood to mean a sugar product placed in a plastic bag or sack, for example in the form of a product block having a mass of 15 kg. The plastic sack or sack preferably consists of a film which has a water vapor permeability of less than 1.5 g/m ² during the day, in accordance with the test method DIN 753122, according to which the test is carried out at 23 ⁰ C and a relative humidity of 85%.

In connection with the present invention, the term large load carrier is understood to mean a container which is able to accommodate at least two layers arranged one above the other, each of several product blocks arranged next to one another, and to transport, in particular distribute

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accessible. This container can have a square or rectangular basic shape and, for example, four side walls arranged vertically on a base. The container can be open at the top or can be closed with a hinged lid.

The present invention is advantageous in that it allows a large number of product blocks to be distributed simultaneously without generating an amount of waste material that is difficult to handle. The present packaging and transport unit is advantageous in that the large load carrier used is a reusable large load carrier and is therefore reusable.

The present packaging and transport unit takes particular account of the thixotropy characteristic which makes the distribution of the present sugar products particularly difficult.

Surprisingly, it was found that only packaging in a large load carrier made of stable plastic or metal used according to the invention is capable of transporting a quantity of product blocks that makes sense from an economic and processing point of view. Packaging a larger number of product blocks arranged one above the other, for example in a large cardboard outer box, would lead to the destruction of the outer box near the bottom due to the lack of dimensional stability of the product blocks under mechanical pressure, in particular the product blocks arranged in the 0 bottom area. Only the inventive combination of

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Large load carriers made of plastic and/or metal and product blocks arranged therein solve the problem according to the invention.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the invention relates to the use of a large load carrier made of a sprayable, easy-to-clean, lightweight and corrosion-resistant plastic, for example hard polyethylene foam. Of course, large load carriers made of other plastics and/or metals, in particular light metals, can also be used. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the large load carriers are designed in such a way that they can be stacked both when filled and when unfilled, for example when folded up.

In a further preferred embodiment, the large load carriers are equipped with at least one side wall which can be opened completely or in parts. In this way, it is possible to remove product blocks from the side.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is provided that the side walls of the large load carrier can be folded down so that it can be folded up to save space. In a preferred embodiment, the folding of the side walls is made possible by using hinges.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the side walls of the large load carrier, in particular in the lower area facing the floor, can have flat, point-like, strip-like or regional material reinforcements, in particular struts. It is therefore particularly desirable that the material reinforcements in the lower area are arranged in such a way that the pressure that develops due to the thixotropic behavior of the stored products, including pressure that acts sideways, can be absorbed without causing deformation of the container side walls.

This can also be achieved by the large load carrier having a greater material thickness and/or material composition in at least one, preferably each, of its side walls in the lower region.

According to the invention, provision can also be made for intermediate floors to be provided in the large load carrier parallel to and above the container floor. These can be fixed to all four side walls, but of course also, for example, to only two, and each can accommodate one or more layers of product blocks arranged next to one another and thus divert the pressure into the side walls.

Further advantageous embodiments emerge from the subclaims.

The invention is explained in more detail using the examples and associated figures.

The figures show:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a packaging and transport unit according to the invention and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a partially exposed top view of a packaging

packing and transport unit of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a packaging and transport unit 100 comprising a large load carrier 1 with a rectangular basic shape and a plurality of product blocks 5. The large load carrier 1 is made of hard polyethylene foam and has four side walls 15, 16, 17, 18 arranged at right angles to one another and enclosing the loading space 2. These stand vertically on a base 20 (not shown). The large load carrier 1 is open at the top and has a side flap 30 in one of its side walls 15 which can be opened via hinges 23 (not shown). In the large load carrier 1, several layers of product blocks 5 arranged directly next to one another and adjacent to one another are arranged one above the other. The uppermost layer 40 shown has seven fondants, i.e. product blocks 5, placed in plastic bags 7.

Figure 2 shows that special material reinforcements 11 are provided in the side walls, including in the lower area 9 of the large load carrier 1, close to the base 20. Also shown are several layers 40, 50, 60 lying directly above one another and adjacent to one another.

The large load carriers can be filled by filling the liquid fondant into plastic bags, for example polyethylene bags, and placing these bags in individual cardboard boxes. After the fondant has cooled and been shaped, the filled fondant bags are removed from the box and placed in the large load carriers 1 in the shape they have been made in. It is also possible to place the filled plastic bags in a plastic matrix, i.e. a molder, instead of in a cardboard box and then, after cooling and shaping, to remove them from the molder and place them in the large load carrier.

Claims (10)

1. Packaging and transport unit for highly viscous, thixotropic sugar products, comprising a large load carrier ( 1 ) made of plastic or metal and a plurality of product blocks ( 5 ) arranged one above the other in at least two layers ( 40 , 50 , 60 ), wherein each layer ( 40 , 50 , 60 ) has a plurality of product blocks ( 5 ) arranged next to one another, each comprising the thixotropic product introduced into a plastic bag or sack ( 7 ). 2. Packaging and transport unit according to claim 1, wherein the large load carrier ( 1 ) has material reinforcements ( 11 ) in its area near the bottom ( 9 ). 3. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the large load carrier ( 1 ) is constructed in its area near the bottom ( 9 ) from a different material than in its upper area ( 13 ). 4. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one layer ( 40 , 50 , 60 ) is arranged on an intermediate floor ( 19 ) fastened to at least two side surfaces (15, 17) of the large load carrier ( 1 ). 5. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein each layer ( 3 ) located above the bottom layer ( 60 ) is arranged on an intermediate floor ( 19 ) fastened to at least two side surfaces ( 15 , 17 ) of the large load carrier ( 1 ). 6. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the highly viscous, thixotropic product is fondant. 7. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the highly viscous, thixotropic product is bee food. 8. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the side surfaces ( 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ) of the large load carrier ( 1 ) can be folded open completely or partially. 9. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the large load carrier ( 1 ) has hinges ( 23 ) which enable folding. 10. Packaging and transport unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the large load carrier ( 1 ) is stackable.