Packaging material

Description

The present invention concerns an improved packaging material.

It is known that packagings often become prey to vermin such as mice, insects and other animals.

The packaging material is then ripped open or torn to pieces by the animals so as to get access to the packed contents which are often edible for the animals.

Everyone is familiar with the problem of the refuse bag placed on the sidewalk that is opened by cats or dogs in order to reach the leftovers inside.

We are also familiar with vermin such as ants, wasps and the like that are attracted in large numbers by everything that is edible, whether packed or not. No packaging can withstand the voracity of these little animals which can wriggle themselves inside the packaging through the smallest gaps, looking for something to eat.

It is also known that packagings can become prey to animals that are looking for nest material and that turn the packaging and its content into little pieces to that end. Naturally, apart from the economical damage of such devastations by animals, also other dangers are implied for humans by the contact between the animals and the food, such as diseases being carried over.

Of course, the packaging can be made of extra strong or thick material in which the goods are hermetically sealed, but this implies additional costs and an additional environmental impact as the mountain of waste increases.

Moreover, practically no packaging, no matter how strong or thick, can withstand the assiduity of our little “friends”.

Also, the present invention aims to remedy the above-mentioned and other disadvantages.

To this end, the invention concerns an improved packaging material which is made of a plastic that has been treated so as to keep off animals such as dogs and cats, but more in particular to keep off vermin such as mice, insects and the like.

By applying such packaging material according to the invention, the animals are being withheld at source from touching the packaging, or at least, after having been in contact with it, they are urged to leave the packaging, for example due to a bad smell or a bad taste or because it feels unpleasantly or the like.

This can be obtained for example by adding an additive to the plastic of the packaging material which provides a quality to the material which is nasty to the animals.

Further, it is not excluded to treat the packaging material externally with a product having the desired qualities.

The packaging material will usually have the shape of a film, either or not formed into a bag, but it may also have other shapes, such as a plastic box or plastic granules which can be provided in a packaging or which may serve as a base material for manufacturing the packaging or the packaging material, for example for extruding a packaging foil.

The packaging material can be made of several layers, the outer layer of which has been treated for example to keep animals away, whereas the inner layer has not been treated in such a manner and is for example a layer which is suitable to come into contact with comestibles or other foodstuffs.

In order to better explain the characteristics of the invention, the following preferred embodiments of an improved packaging material according to the invention are given as an example only without being limitative in any way, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically represents a pallet board with goods that are packed in a packaging film according to the invention;

FIG. 2 represents another packaging material according to the invention;

FIG. 3, represents a section according to line III-III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 represents a pallet board 1 with goods 2, the stacked goods 2 of which are packed by wrapping them in a packaging material according to the invention in the form of a plastic wrapping film 3 which has been treated to chase off animals such as cats, dogs, rats and mice, insects and other vermin.

To this end, the film 3 is provided for example during its manufacturing with an appropriate additive which is added to the base material for manufacturing the film 3.

This additive may have an impact for example on the smell, the taste, the color or feel of the film 3 which makes sure that the film 3 has a repelling effect and keeps vermin away from the goods or will at least restrain them from approaching the packaging, touching it or damaging it.

It is clear that the treatment may aim a general repelling effect on animals, but it is not excluded to provide a treatment which only has a selective effect on a single species or a group of animals or a restricted number thereof.

In this way, animals are kept at a distance, and the packaging and its content are prevented from being damaged, which is the aim of the invention.

FIG. 2 represents another application of a packaging material according to the invention in the form of a bag 4 for packing food, for example chips 6.

The bag 4 is formed of a film 6 according to the invention which in this case is built of two layers as represented in FIG. 3, namely an outer layer 7 which has been treated for keeping off or repelling animals and an inner layer 8 which is fit to make contact with or to be brought into contact with the content of the bag 4.

Naturally, the packaging material may have other shapes than a film, for example such as a plastic box, a blister or the like, or it may be intended to be packed together with the goods, such as for example in the form of a plastic filling material, for example foam granules, which is used to prevent the goods from being damaged in case of shocks or the like.

The packaging must not necessarily be made entirely of the above-mentioned material either, but it can only be made in part of it, for example alternated with parts of a normal packaging material.

The treatment is not necessarily restricted to providing additives into the base material out of which the packaging is made, but it may for example also consist in applying a product by means of spraying, gasifying, impregnation or the like.

The present invention is by no means restricted to the embodiments given as an example and represented in the accompanying drawings; on the contrary, such an improved packaging material according to the invention can be made in all sorts of shapes and dimensions while still remaining within the scope of the invention.