Claims
- 1. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch comprising:
(a) a first sheet of polymeric film; (b) a second sheet of polymeric film superimposed on said first sheet of polymeric film wherein said first and second sheets of polymeric film are sealed to each other directly or indirectly through a third intervening polymeric film thus defining a sealed perimeter forming a closed pouch; (c) at least one frangible seal internal to the perimeter of said closed pouch wherein said frangible seal divides said closed pouch into separated compartments; (d) a liquid beverage confined to one of said separated compartments; (e) another ingredient confined to a second separated compartment; and (f) a fitment.
- 2. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said another ingredient confined to said second separated compartment is a liquid flavoring concentrate.
- 3. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said frangible seal delaminates upon sustained manual compression producing a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said liquid beverage of up to 12 psig.
- 4. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said frangible seal delaminates upon sustained manual compression producing a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said liquid beverage of from 0.5 psig to 2.0 psig.
- 5. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said frangible seal has a seal strength of from 130 grams per inch to 5,000 grams per inch.
- 6. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said frangible seal has a seal strength of from 400 grams per inch to 2,500 grams per inch.
- 7. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said frangible seal has a seal strength of from 1,000 grams per inch to 2,000 grams per inch.
- 8. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said frangible seal experiences a seal breaking force of between 400 grams per inch and 6,000 grams per inch upon sustained manual compression producing a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said liquid beverage of from 0.5 psig to 5.0 psig.
- 9. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch of claim 1 wherein said frangible seal contains at least one force concentrating means for selectively exceeding seal strength of said frangible seal by experiencing a seal breaking force of from 1,500 grams per inch up to 10,000 grams per inch at a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said liquid beverage of from 0.5 psig to 10 psig.
- 10. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch as in any one of claims 1-9 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing said first sheet of polymeric film to said second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films comprises a blend of (a) 80 to 93 weight percent of an ethylene/acid ionomer wherein at least 50 weight percent of said ethylene/acid ionomer is derived from ethylene comonomer and wherein the degree of neutralization of acid is from 5 to 45 percent and (b) 20 to 7 weight percent of a propylene/α-olefin copolymer wherein the α-olefin comonomer comprises 1 to 12 weight percent of said copolymer.
- 11. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch as in any one of claims 1-9 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing said first sheet of polymeric film to said second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films at the frangible heat seal is a blend comprising (a) an acid modified ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer or acid modified ethylene methyl acrylate (EMA) copolymer as the major component and (b) a partially neutralized ethylene acid ionomer as the minor component.
- 12. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch as in any one of claims 1-9 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing said first sheet of polymeric film to said second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films comprises a blend of (a) a partially neutralized ethylene acid ionomer as the major component and (b) polybutene-1 homopolymer or copolymers as the minor component.
- 13. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch as in any one of claims 1-9 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing said first sheet of polymeric film to said second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films comprises a blend of (a) a metallocene polyethylene as the major component and (b) polypropylene or polybutene-1 homopolymer or copolymers as the minor component.
- 14. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch as in any one of claims 1-9 wherein said perimeter forming a closed pouch is as shown in FIG. 9 of the drawing.
- 15. A flexible multiple-compartment beverage pouch as in any one of claims 1-9 wherein said perimeter forming a closed pouch is as shown in FIG. 10 of the drawing.
- 16. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch comprising:
(a) a first sheet of polymeric film; (b) a second sheet of polymeric film superimposed on said first sheet of polymeric film wherein said first and second sheets of polymeric film are sealed to each other directly or indirectly through a third intervening polymeric film thus defining a sealed perimeter forming a closed pouch; (c) at least one frangible seal internal to the perimeter of said closed pouch wherein said frangible seal divides said closed pouch into separated compartments; and (d) a fluid confined to at least one of said separated compartments wherein the seal strength of said sealed perimeter of said closed pouch is sufficient to withstand manual compression of the fluid confined to at least one of said separated compartments and wherein the seal strength of said frangible seal is insufficient to withstand manual compression of the fluid confined to at least one of said separated compartments thus allowing said fluid after sufficient sustained manual compression to commingle with the contents of at least one other separated compartment.
- 17. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claim 16 wherein said frangible seal delaminates upon sustained manual compression producing a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said fluid of up to 10 psig.
- 18. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claim 16 wherein said frangible seal delaminates upon sustained manual compression producing a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said fluid of from 0.5 psig to 2.0 psig
- 19. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claim 16 wherein said frangible seal has a seal strength of from 130 grams per inch to 5,000 grams per inch.
- 20. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claim 16 wherein said frangible seal has a seal strength of from 1,000 grams per inch to 2,000 grams per inch.
- 21. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claim 16 wherein said frangible seal experiences a seal breaking force of between 400 grams per inch and 6,000 grams per inch upon sustained manual compression producing a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said liquid beverage of from 0.5 psig to 5 psig.
- 22. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claim 16 wherein said frangible seal contains at least one force concentrating means for selectively exceeding seal strength of said frangible seal by experiencing a seal breaking force of from 1,500 grams per inch up to 10,000 grams per inch at a pressure increase within said separated compartment confining said liquid beverage of from 0.5 psig to 10 psig.
- 23. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch as in any one of claims 16-22 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing said first sheet of polymeric film to said second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films comprises a blend of (a) 80 to 93 weight percent of an ethylene/acid ionomer wherein at least 50 weight percent of said ethylene/acid ionomer is derived from ethylene comonomer and wherein the degree of neutralization of acid is from 5 to 45 percent and (b) 20 to 7 weight percent of a propylene/α-olefin copolymer wherein the α-olefin comonomer comprises 1 to 12 weight percent of said copolymer.
- 24. A flexible multiple-compartment pouch as in any one of claims 16-22 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing said first sheet of polymeric film to said second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films at the frangible heat seal is a blend comprising (a) an acid modified ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer or acid modified ethylene methyl acrylate (EMA) copolymer as the major component and (b) a partially neutralized ethylene acid ionomer as the minor component.
- 25. In a flexible multiple-compartment pouch comprising heat sealed polymeric film with at least one frangible seal internal to the perimeter of said pouch wherein said frangible seal divides said pouch into separated compartments the specific improvement comprising: said frangible seal experiences seal breaking force of from 400 grams per inch up to 6,000 grams per inch at a pressure increase within at least one of said separated compartments of from 0.5 psig to 5 psig.
- 26. In a flexible multiple-compartment pouch comprising heat sealed polymeric film with at least one frangible seal internal to the perimeter of said pouch wherein said frangible seal divides said pouch into separated compartments the specific improvement comprising: said frangible seal further comprises at least one force concentrating means for selectively exceeding seal strength of said frangible seal by experiencing a seal breaking force of from 1,500 grams per inch up to 10,000 grams per inch at a pressure increase within at least one of said separated compartments of from 0.5 psig to 10 psig.
- 27. In a flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claims 25 or 26 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing a first sheet of polymeric film to a second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films comprises a blend of (a) 80 to 93 weight percent of an ethylene/acid ionomer wherein at least 50 weight percent of said ethylene/acid ionomer is derived from ethylene comonomer and wherein the degree of neutralization of acid is from 5 to 45 percent and (b) 20 to 7 weight percent of a propylene/α-olefin copolymer wherein the α-olefin comonomer comprises 1 to 12 weight percent of said copolymer.
- 28. In a flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claims 25 or 26 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing a first sheet of polymeric film to a second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films at the frangible heat seal is a blend comprising (a) an acid modified ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer or acid modified ethylene methyl acrylate (EMA) copolymer as the major component and (b) a partially neutralized ethylene acid ionomer as the minor component.
- 29. In a flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claims 25 or 26 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing a first sheet of polymeric film to a second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films at the frangible heat seal is a blend comprising (a) a partially neutralized ethylene acid ionomer as the major component and (b) polybutene-1 homopolymer or copolymers as the minor component.
- 30. In a flexible multiple-compartment pouch of claims 25 or 26 wherein said frangible seal is produced by heat-sealing a first sheet of polymeric film to a second sheet of polymeric film and wherein the inner surface of at least one of said polymeric films at the frangible heat seal is a blend comprising (a) a metallocene polyethylene as the major component and (b) polypropylene or polybutene-1 homopolymer or copolymers as the minor component.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Applicants claim the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional application 60/434,975 filed Dec. 20, 2002.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60434975 |
Dec 2002 |
US |