Package and Method for Producing Said Package

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for mechanically closing, in particular beading, a package for, in particular, food products, which package is made up of at least two foil half-shells which are mechanically closed at their encircling edge sections in contact with one another by means of a closing unit, wherein the closing unit comprises: a package carrier with an outer ring and a package receiving ring, and also at least two closing tools, specifically: a positioning tool for positioning the edge sections, which bear against one another, of the foil half-shells to be closed, and also an attachment tool for attaching the edge sections, wherein the method comprises the following steps: inserting the foil half-shells into the packaging receiving ring, wherein the foil half-shells bear against one another by way of their encircling edge sections, positioning the edge sections, which bear against one another, by means of the positioning tool, attaching the edge sections by means of the attachment tool, characterized in that the package carrier carries the package to be closed during the entire process.

1 - 11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . A package for in particular food products, which is assembled from at least two preformed foil half shells, which are preformed in such a way that they each have a receiving space for a product to be received and a flange at least partially surrounding the receiving space, wherein the flanges are designed to be attached to one another, at least partially, to connect the foil half shells,
 wherein a first flange of a first foil half shell has a first radial extent, based on the receiving space, which is greater by a projection than the second radial extent of the second flange of the second foil half shell, in such a way that, when connected, the first flange is bent over in the region of its projection in the direction of the receiving space in such a way that it at least partially encompasses the second flange with its projection and the second flange is at least partially encompassed on both sides by the first flange.   
     
     
         13 . The package as claimed in  claim 12 , characterized in that at least one of the foil half shells, for example the first foil half shell, has a sealing coating or adhesive coating, at least on one side, at least partially in the region of its flange. 
     
     
         14 . The package as claimed in  claim 12 , characterized in that at least the second foil half shell has a sealing coating on both sides, at least partially in the region of the second flange. 
     
     
         15 . The package as claimed in  claim 12 , characterized in that at least one of the foil half shells has at least two sections, which are produced from different materials. 
     
     
         16 . The package as claimed in  claim 15 , characterized in that a first section of the least first foil half shell is produced from a plastically deformable, in particular metal-containing, material for example in the region of the first flange and in that, optionally, a second section, for example in the region of the receiving region, is produced from a biodegradable and/or transparent material. 
     
     
         17 . The package as claimed in  claim 15 , characterized in that a section of the at least one foil half shell has a plurality of metal layers, for example a first layer of a plastically deformable, in particular metal-containing, material and a second layer of a biodegradable and/or transparent material. 
     
     
         18 . A method for mechanically closing, in particular beading, a package for in particular food products, which is assembled from at least two foil half shells having the features of  claim 12 , which are connected to one another in the region of the flange by means of a clamping unit,
 the method comprising the following steps:
 inserting the foil half shells into a package carrier of the closing unit, the foil half shells resting at least partially on one another with their flanges, 
   raising the first flange in the region of its projection,
 attaching the projection of the first flange to the second flange in such a way that the second flange is at least partially encompassed on both sides by the first flange. 
   
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 , characterized in that the package carrier carries the package to be closed during the entire method. 
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 characterized in that during the respective method step of raising and attachment, the package is contacted by the processing tools of the closing unit only in the region of their flanges, so that the remainder of the package simultaneously remains accessible to further processing steps by means of further processing tools.   
     
     
         21 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 characterized in that the package carrier is arranged on a continuously moving conveying system, and in that the processing tools of the closing unit move together with the moving package carrier with the aid of a further drive shaft, so that no stoppage is required to carry out the method steps as claimed in  claim 26 .   
     
     
         22 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 characterized in that in a method step following the attachment of the projection of the first flange to the second flange, the section of the projection of the first flange which is attached to the second flange is additionally compressed by an additional processing tool.   
     
     
         23 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 characterized in that in a method step following the attachment of the projection of the first flange to the second flange, the foil half shells are sealed or adhesively bonded in the region of their flanges resting on one another, wherein at least one of the foil half shells ( 12 ,  14 ) has a sealing coating or adhesive coating, at least on one side, at least partially in the region of the flange, for this purpose.   
     
     
         24 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 characterized in that in a further method step, the attached projection of the first flange and the second flange which is at least partially encompassed on both sides by the first flange, are attached jointly in the direction of one of the receiving regions.   
     
     
         25 . The method as claimed  claim 18 , characterized in that at least one of the foil half shells has at least two sections, which are produced from different materials. 
     
     
         26 . The package as claimed in  claim 12 , characterized in that the second flange remains unbeaded in the closed state of the package with the connected foil half shells and at least partially is encompassed by the first flange on its upper and lower side.