Patent Application
20160251135
The present application relates generally to packages for containing various products. More particularly, the present application relates to a package for containing food products, particularly confectionary products, which has a reclosable structure that can be repeatedly opened and closed.
A variety of different types of flexible packaging are known in the art for containing and dispensing products, particularly food products. Often, consumers may desire to use only a portion of the product contained in the package, resulting in a problem with storing the remaining product in the package. This problem is particularly evident in packages haying two sealed ends which initially contain and protect the product. When one of the two sealed ends is opened to dispense a portion of the product, it can be difficult to obtain an effective closure to reseal the opened end. Moreover, it often can be necessary to repeatedly open and close the package to obtain access to the product therein. Although various solutions have been offered to address these problems, many of these solutions are undesirable because they can impair a consumer's ability to access the product within the container or fail to effectively limit propagation of tears when the package is opened.
Thus, there exists a need to provide a simple, cost effective and useful solution for reclosing and reseating the end of a previously sealed package in a manner which will allow for repeated opening and closing of the package to access the products contained therein.
Embodiments of the present description address the above-described needs by providing a reclosable flexible package for containing a product therein, methods for their manufacture, and use. Generally, the package includes a package body formed from a flexible film having a longitudinal seam along a back panel of the package body. A line of weakness extends around a portion of the package body to define a removable portion of the package body, the removable portion beginning on the back panel between the longitudinal seam and a first longitudinal side, extending around the first longitudinal side and across a front panel, sad continuing around a second longitudinal side to the back panel where the removable portion terminates between the second longitudinal side and the longitudinal seam. A flexible scaling label may be disposed over and extend beyond the removable portion of the package body.
The flexible sealing label and removable portion are permanently adhered to one another such that pulling the flexible sealing label in a peeling direction separates the removable portion from the package body at the line of weakness and forms a transverse opening in the package body. The flexible sealing label may also include a resealable adhesive extending beyond the removable portion of the package body for forming a resealable closure.
Also provided is a method of preparing a reclosable flexible package. The method may include providing a flexible film having a flexible sealing label applied over a line of weakness defining a removable portion in the flexible film; folding the flexible film about a product and forming a longitudinal seam by joining opposite longitudinal edges of the flexible film; and forming two transverse sealed seams. During the process, the flexible film may be positioned as it is folded about the product so that the flexible sealing label applied over the removable portion begins on a back panel between the longitudinal seam and a first longitudinal side, extends around the first longitudinal side and across a front panel, and continues around a second longitudinal side to the back panel where it terminates between the second longitudinal side and the longitudinal seam.
Embodiments of the present description include a recloseable flexible package that allows for a portion of the product to be removed and a remaining port ion of the product to be contained in the reseated package. Also provided herein are methods for manufacturing the recloseable flexible packages and methods for using the recloseable flexible packages.
Generally described, the recloseable flexible package includes a package body formed from a flexible film which is folded around the product and sealed to fully enclose the product. Overlapping longitudinal edges of the flexible film are bonded together to form a longitudinal seam (e.g., a tin seal) which extends along a back panel of the package. Opposing ends of the package are bonded together to form transverse sealed seams at the ends of the product. Thus, the recloseable flexible package includes a front panel, a back panel, a longitudinal seam on the back panel, and two transverse sealed seams at opposing ends.
The package body also includes one or more lines of weakness in the flexible film. The line of weakness extends around a portion of the package body to define a removable portion of the flexible material. The line of weakness may be formed from a die cut, score line, or perforated line formed in the flexible film. The line of weakness desirably begins on the back panel between the fin seal and one longitudinal side continues around to and across the front panel, and then continues around to the back panel where it terminates on the opposite side of the fin seal between the second longitudinal side and the fin seal. Thus, the line of weakness defining the removable portion extends substantially, but not entirely, around the package body.
The line of weakness and removable portion are covered by a flexible sealing label. The flexible sealing label may be adhered to the removable portion using a permanent adhesive, such that pulling the flexible sealing label in a peeling direction separates the removable portion from the package body at the line of weakness forms a transverse opening in the package body. Advantageously, the transverse opening extends
across the entire width of the package body, providing access to and enabling ease of removal of the product therein.
After the initial opening, the removable portion of the package body remains adhered to the flexible sealing label and may be either partially or fully separated from the main package body. For example, in embodiments, the removable portion, may remain partially attached to the flexible film of the package body at one of the terminal ends of the removable portion. In such, embodiments the line of weakness may be an open shape, such, as an open oval that is open at a first end and closed at the opposing second end. Thus, the removable portion remains attached, to the package body at the first end. Alternatively, the removable portion may be fully separated from the flexible film of the package body after the initial opening and the line of weakness may be a closed shape, such as a closed oval.
The flexible sealing label desirably extends beyond the line of weakness defining the removable portion into an overlapping region of the main package body. For example, the flexible sealing label may extend beyond all or a portion of the removable portion. A peelable and resealable adhesive may be applied to the portion of the flexible sealing label extending over the overlapping region. In embodiments, a permanent adhesive, also may be applied to a portion of the flexible sealing label, for example, at a first end of the flexible sealing label so that it is suitable attached to the main package body. The flexible sealing label also may include a pull tab at one of the terminal ends of the flexible sealing label, for example, the opposing second end.
After the package has been opened, the consumer may advantageously reclose the package using the flexible sealing label. For example, the flexible sealing label may be wrapped back around the package body in substantially its original position.
Alternatively, if product has been removed from the package, the package may be reclosed by folding over the transverse sealed seam at the end of the package body nearest the opening towards the front panel, wrapping the flexible sealing label across the folded portion and around to the back panel of the package body, and securing the resealable portion of the terminal end of the flexible sealing label to the back panel of the package body or another portion of the package body.
An exemplary embodiment of a recloseable flexible package is illustrated in
The operation of the removable portion 22 and flexible sealing label 24 may be better understood by reference to
The flexible film forming the package body may be made of any foldable material suitable for packaging the product concerned. Where the product is a food product, the material may be substantially moisture and gas impervious so that when it is fully sealed, the packaging provides a hermetically seated container for the food product.
Alternatively, the package may be vented so as to enable the food product to be stored for longer periods. Examples of typical materials that can be used include: paper based materials, one or more polymeric materials, and metallic foils. The flexible film also may be a lamination comprising layers of the same or different materials, which may include any of those mentioned above in any suitable combination. In one embodiment, the material comprises a laminate of a metal foil, which may be an aluminum foil, on one side and a plastics material on the other side. When the material is formed into the package, the metallic foil can be positioned on the inside facing the product and the plastics material can be positioned on the outside. The plastics material may be printed on or otherwise marked with information for the consumer.
The peelable and resealable adhesive disposed on a portion of the flexible sealing label may be of any suitable adhesive. For example, the peelable and resealable adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive or a cold seal adhesive, and may be applied to the free edges of the flexible sealing label or to the overlapping region of the package body, or both. Although the flexible sealing label is referred to as being re-sealable, in practice the peelable seal will not usually be expected to form a hermetic seal when the package is reclosed. However, when the package is re-closed it will hold the remaining contents securely in the package and will provide some protection for the product from the environment. References to the flexible sealing label being “resealed” or “resealable” should be construed accordingly. However, where the package is used to package a food product, such as a chocolate bar, it is expected that the package will be fully sealed when the package is formed prior to the first opening, so that the package initially forms a hermetically sealed package. Thus, the peelable and resealable adhesive may not be applied to the whole, surface area of the free edges of the flexible sealing label.
The reclosable flexible packages provided herein may be used for containing a variety of products, particularly food products. Non-limiting examples of such products include chocolate and sugar confectionary products; cheese and dairy products; biscuits and crackers; tea, ground coffee, and coffee beans; pet food; nut snacks; and shelf stable products, including dried foods (e.g., rice or beans). The packages are particularly suited for use with generally block-shaped products. For example, the package may be used for containing one or more chocolate bars, in packages containing more than one chocolate bar, the bars can be arranged in-line or side-by-side. In any case, the package permits the consumer to slide out and break off portions of the chocolate bar when desired.
The recloseable flexible packages can be produced using any suitable manufacturing method. For example, the packaging can be produced using a flow-wrap method in which a flexible film having a plurality of appropriately positioned flexible sealing labels applied over a respective plurality of lines of weakness and removable portions along its length is supplied in a roll to package products in a substantially continuous process. The material is fed through a machine which folds it about each product in turn so that opposing longitudinal edge regions are brought into contact and bonded together to form the longitudinal seam. The material is crimped or bonded at opposing ends of the product to form the transverse end seams and the material is cut to separate each package from the remainder of the material. The longitudinal seam and transverse end seams may be bonded together by a hot seal or cold seal.
Although the foregoing embodiments describe packaging including a longitudinal seam or which is formed using a flow-wrap process, the description should not be construed as limiting the packages to such structures. For example, the packages could be formed with seals along the longitudinal sides of the package instead of or in addition to the longitudinal back seam.
Moreover, while the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining tin understanding of the foregoing may readily conceive of alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to those embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be assessed as that of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US13/31411 | 3/14/2013 | WO | 00 |
