Patent Application
20140001250
Packages for food products are described herein, and in particular, reclosable flexible packages for food products.
Flexible packages are commonly used to store food products such as crackers, cookies, candy, and the like. Consumers frequently dispense some of the food product from the package and attempt to reclose the package so that the food product remaining in the package is preserved in fresh form. Many packages are not provided with a reclose feature, causing the consumers to twist and/or fold the package in an attempt to reclose it. However, the flexible material from which the package is made tends to untwist and/or unfold and causes the package to open.
A reclosable package containing a food product is provided. The package comprises a flexible film side wall, a closed first end, a closed second end portion configured to be separable from the side wall to provide an access opening for removal of the food product, and a longitudinal axis passing through the first and second ends. The side wall is configured to form, a collar proximate the opening. The collar is more rigid than adjacent portions of the side wall and configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis and twist at least a portion of the side wall to block the access opening after removal of the second end portion.
A method of dispensing the food product from the foregoing package is also provided. The method comprises separating the second end portion from the side wall of the package; moving the collar in a direction toward the first end of the bag to expose the food product; removing a portion of the food product from the package through the opening; moving the collar in a direction away from the first end of the bag to a position above a top surface of the food product remaining in the bag; rotating the collar about the longitudinal axis to twist a portion of the side wall and block the access opening; and sliding the collar in a direction toward the first end of the bag over the side wall with the opening being blocked by the twisted portion of the side wall.
A method of manufacturing the recloseable flexible package described herein is also provided. The method comprises providing a continuous film of packaging material in the form of a tube; sealing portions of the film to form the first and second ends of the package; and forming the collar in the film between the first and second ends. The collar is more rigid than adjacent portions of the film and more proximate to the second end than to the first end.
Another flexible reclosable package containing a food product is provided. The package comprises a flexible film bag having a side wall, a closed first end, a closed second end portion configured to be separable from the side wall to provide an access opening, a longitudinal axis passing through the first and second ends, and a collar attached to the side wall between the second end portion and the first end. The second end portion extends above the collar. The collar is more rigid than the side wall and is configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis to twist at least a portion of the side wall and block the access opening after removal of the second end portion.
The side wall of the package can include one or more score lines above the collar configured to permit the second end portion to be separated from the side wall along the one or more score lines. The collar can be dimensioned to slide over the side wall in a direction toward the first end of the bag after the rotation of the collar about the longitudinal axis and with a portion of the side wall being twisted. The collar can be formed in an exterior surface or an interior surface of the side wall. The collar and the side wall can be configured such that the collar can be rotated at least one full revolution about the longitudinal axis to reduce a maximum height of the package. The collar can include a threaded portion and a sealing cap can be engaged to the collar via the threaded portion. The collar may have a complete or incomplete perimeter. The package can include a fin seal extending along the longitudinal axis, and the collar can have first and second ends spaced apart from the fin seal and being on opposite sides of the fin seal.
The method may further comprise moving the first and second ends of the film toward each other to form at least one portion of film having an accordion shape. The method may further comprise using sealing jaws to compress at least one of the accordion-shaped portions of the film.
The flexible packages may be opened without undermining the structural integrity of the side wall, are reclosable so that the food product may be preserved in fresh form until it is fully consumed, and may include a tamper-evident, indicator. These reclosable packages can be entirely made of one material and provide an inexpensive, easy to manufacture alternative to the packages presently available.
the package of
With reference to
As shown in
The package 10 may further include a removable top end portion 24 formed in the side wall 12 above the collar 20. The top end portion 24 may be separated from the package 10 along one or more score lines 26 formed in the side wall 12. A score line will be understood to be any line of weakness formed in the side wall 12 of the package 10. The score line in the side wall 12 can be formed by ablation with a laser, but may be formed by other suitable techniques, for example, die-cutting or micro-abrasion. It will be appreciated that although the score lines 26 are shown as being formed in the exterior surface 15 of the package 10, the score lines 26 may be formed in the interior surface 14 of the package 10.
With reference to
The fin seal 21 may include a tear notch 22 as shown in
In order to open the package 10, a user can grasp the fin seal 21 proximate the notch 22 and tear the fin seal 21 in a direction along the notch 22. The tear leads through the fin seal 21 and follows along the score lines 26, separating the top end portion 24 and the second seal 18 from the rest of the package 10 to provide an access opening 19 and expose the food, product 30 to the user, as shown in
In order to provide the user with access to the food product 30 in the package 10, the collar 20 can be moved by the user downwardly in a direction toward the bottom end 11 of the package 10. This downward or “peel back” sliding movement of the collar 20 and the side wall 12 further exposes the food, product 30 to the user as shown in
After the user has removed some but not all of the food product 30 from the package 10, the user may move the collar 20 by sliding it over the side wall 12 upwardly in the direction away from the bottom end 11 of the package 10 to a position above the top surface of the food product 30 remaining in the package 10, as shown in
With continuing reference to
With reference to
Depending on the amount of the food product 30 removed from, the package 10 by the user, the collar 20 may be rotated by an appropriate number of revolutions such that collar 20 can travel downward toward the bottom end 11 of the package 10 and into close proximity with the top surface of the remaining food product 30. As more and more of the food product 30 is removed by the user from the package 10, the user can reclose the package 10 by rotating the collar 20 by more and more revolutions about the longitudinal axis. For example, the collar 20 may be rotated by one quarter revolution, by one half revolution, from one half to one full revolution, from one to two full revolutions, from two to three full revolutions, or more full revolutions about the longitudinal axis.
After the rotation of the collar 20 and the formation of the twisted configuration 25 that substantially closes the opening 19, the collar 20 may be again moved in a downward direction toward the first end 11 of the package 10 into a closed position, shown in
When the collar 20 is in the closed position, the frictional engagement of the collar 20 with the exterior surface 15 of the side wall 12 and the frictional engagement of the interior surface 14 of the side wall 12 with the food product 30 remaining in the package can restrict the collar 20 from disengaging the side wall 12 and moving in a direction away from the bottom end 11, which would have lead to the counter-rotation of the collar 20, untwisting of the twisted configuration 25, and the inadvertent opening of the opening 19.
It is to be appreciated that a maximum height of the package 10 in the closed position depends on the amount of the food product 30 removed by the user. In particular, as the height of the stack or the volume of the food product 30 decreases, the collar 20 can be moved further down along the side wall 12 toward the bottom end 11 of the package 10, progressively decreasing the maximum height of the package 10. For example, after approximately one third of the food product 30 has been removed by the user, as shown in
In order to reopen the package 10 after it has been reclosed, the collar 20 can be moved by sliding over the side wall 12 in an upward direction away from the bottom end 11 of the package 10 and counter-rotated to untwist the twisted configuration 25 such that the opening 19 becomes substantially open. The collar 20 can be then moved by sliding over the side wall 12 in a direction toward the bottom end 11 of the package 10 to “peel back” the side wall 12 of the package 10 and make the food product 30 accessible to the user. After the user removes the desired portion of the food product 30 from the package 10, the food product 30 remaining in the package 10 can be again reclosed as discussed above.
The package 10 may be made from a polymeric, flexible film. The flexible film may be made from various materials, including, but not limited to, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, foil laminates, and the like. The flexible film may also be laminated and optionally include a metalized layer. The package 10 can have a length as measured, from the top end 13 to the bottom end 11 of about 4 inches (100 millimeters) to about 12 inches (300 millimeters), and a width of about 2 inches (50 millimeters) to about 6 inches (150 millimeters). The side wall 12 of the package 10 may have one or more layers and may have a thickness of about 0.004 inches (0.1 millimeters) to about 0.12 inches (3 millimeters). It is to be appreciated that, the dimensions of the package 10 have been provided for illustration purposes only, and that the principles of this disclosure can be utilized in connection with flexible film packages of any size.
While the package 10 and the collar 20 have been shown as being circular, both the package 10 and the collar 20 may be of various other shapes, for example, triangular, rectangular, square, oval, etc. Further, it is to be appreciated that while the side wall 12 of the package 10 OF
The collar 20 of the package 10 can be formed in the exterior surface 15 of the side wall 12 of the package 10, as shown in
As shown in
Optionally, instead of being formed in the side wall 12 from the same material as the side wall 12, the collar 20 may be in the form of a rigid ring 220 attached to a side wall 212 of the package 200, as shown in
Referring to
After the formation of the accordion regions 42 and 44, sealing jaws 43 and 45 and sealing jaws 46 and 48 can be moved toward one another to press together the accordion regions 42 and 44, respectively, as shown in
While the collar 20 is shown as being formed by folding the film 40, the collar may be formed by rolling the film 40 over several times during the manufacturing process. It will be appreciated that since the collar 20 is formed in the film 40 via the creation of multiple folds of film 40, the collar 20 has a greater thickness and thus greater rigidity than adjacent portions of the film 40 which will comprise the side wall 12 of the package 10. Further, while the collar 20 can be formed in the exterior surface of the film 40, as shown in
With reference to
It is to be appreciated that the collar 320 can reclose the package 300 the same way as the collars 20 and 220 reclose the packages 10 and 200, respectively. In order to reclose the package 300, the user can rotate the collar 320 in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction about the longitudinal axis to turn a portion of the flexible side wall 312 and form a twisted configuration that substantially closes the package 300 like the twisted configuration 25 shown in
With reference to
As the flexible film 60 is being fed over a forming tube 72 of the vertical-form-fill-and-seal device 70, the film 60 is folded around the forming tube 72 and the areas of the film 60 that include the gaps 62 and 64 are sealed to each other along a vertical direction by a pair of longitudinal sealing jaws 74 and 76 to form the fin seal 321. The film 60 is then sealed in a horizontal direction by a pair of transverse sealing jaws 77 and 78 to form the top and bottom cross seals 317 and 318. The jaws 87 and 88 can also be used to either cut or pull away the film 60 to singulate the package 300 having a collar 320 configured as discussed above in reference to
These teachings describe cost-effective and easy to manufacture reclosable flexible packages for food products. The flexible packages have a removable tamper-evident feature and a reclose feature that is more rigid than adjacent portions of the side wall of the package. These reclosable flexible packages can be made entirely from the same material to increase manufacturing efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that, a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the concept.
