Claims
- 1. A shaped, generally rigid synthetic plastic sealed package of bacon, including a set of bacon pieces, the package being reclosable and comprising:
- a shaped, generally rigid bubble tray member having a bottom panel, side panels defining a generally upstanding sidewall and an open mouth generally opposite to said bottom panel, said open mouth being defined between said generally upstanding sidewall and a tray member peripheral flange, said bubble tray member having transparency properties to permit inspection therethrough of an order set of bacon pieces within the tray member;
- a shaped, generally rigid pedestal cover member secured onto said tray member, said pedestal cover member having a cover pedestal panel, a cover member peripheral flange, and a peripheral inset portion joining said cover pedestal panel and said cover member peripheral flange, said peripheral inset portion being substantially parallel to the generally upstanding sidewall of the tray member, and said pedestal cover panel being spaced from said cover member peripheral flange;
- said bottom panel of the bubble tray member, said sidewall of the bubble tray member, and said cover pedestal panel of said pedestal cover member are sized and shaped for enclosing therewithin said ordered set of bacon pieces;
- said ordered set of bacon pieces engages inside walls of both of said bubble tray member and of said pedestal cover member, and each one of said bacon pieces is supported by said inside surfaces directly or indirectly through others of said bacon pieces to thereby substantially maintain said ordered set of bacon pieces in a configuration which had been determined at the time the package was filled and sealed;
- means for releasably hermetically sealing together said tray member peripheral flange to said cover member peripheral flange to provide a sealed package containing said ordered set of bacon pieces; and
- said sealed package having said ordered set of bacon pieces is gas flushed.
- 2. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said ordered set of bacon pieces comprises at least two separate arrays of bacon strips generally stacked one upon another.
- 3. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 2, each said array has its bacon pieces arranged in longitudinal side-by-side relationship with each other, and a flexible sheeting is positioned between adjacent ones of said arrays, said sheeting having a surface area at least equal to that of said array of bacon pieces.
- 4. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said generally upstanding sidewall of the bubble tray member includes a peripheral ledge portion and a peripheral end portion which further define said bubble tray member mouth, said peripheral end portion being sized and shaped so as to receive therewithin said peripheral inset portion of the pedestal cover member.
- 5. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, further including ribs within said generally upstanding sidewall of the bubble tray member.
- 6. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bottom panel of the bubble tray member has a planar pedestal portion which is indented with respect to the rest of said bottom panel, and said set of bacon pieces has a total height which is equal to or greater than the vertical distance between said cover panel and said indented planar pedestal portion when said package is closed and before any outward movement of either said indented planar pedestal portion or said bottom panel caused by said set of bacon pieces.
- 7. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 5, wherein said bottom panel of the bubble tray member a planar pedestal portion which is indented with respect to the rest of said bottom panel, and said set of bacon pieces has a total height which is equal to or greater than the vertical distance between said cover pedestal panel and said indented planar pedestal portion when said package is closed and before any outward movement of either said indented planar pedestal portion or said bottom panel caused by said set of bacon pieces.
- 8. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said pedestal cover member is substantially non-transparent and includes a header area.
- 9. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 8, wherein said header area includes a member for suspending said package at a display location.
- 10. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 8, wherein said header area has a width less than that of said pedestal cover member.
- 11. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 8, wherein said bubble tray member also includes a header area.
- 12. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bacon pieces are at least partially cooked.
- 13. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bacon pieces are uncooked.
- 14. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least a portion of one of said bubble tray member peripheral flange or pedestal cover member peripheral flange extends beyond a corresponding portion of the other of said peripheral flanges.
- 15. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means for releasably hermetically sealing together said tray member peripheral flange to said cover member peripheral flange includes a pull strip by which a portion of one of said peripheral flanges is peeled from the other peripheral flange and removed for unsealing said package.
- 16. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means for releasably hermetically sealing together said tray member peripheral flange to said cover member peripheral flange includes releasable adhesive at said flanges.
- 17. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means for releasably hermetically sealing together said tray member peripheral flange to said cover member peripheral flange includes a permanent hermetic seal and a grasping member for breaking said permanent hermetic seal in order to open said package.
- 18. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 4, wherein said peripheral inset portion of the cover member includes means for interfering with at least a portion of said generally upstanding sidewall of the tray member at a location generally along said peripheral end portion of the tray member.
- 19. A sealed package containing arrays of bacon pieces therewithin, the package being hermetically sealed and reclosable, the package comprising:
- a shaped, generally rigid bubble tray member having a bottom panel, side panels defining a generally upstanding sidewall and an open mouth generally opposite to said bottom panel, said open mouth being defined between said generally upstanding sidewall and a tray member peripheral flange, said tray member having transparency attributes to permit inspection therethrough of bacon within the tray member;
- a shaped, generally rigid pedestal cover member secured onto said tray member, said cover member having a cover panel, a cover member peripheral flange, and a peripheral inset portion joining said cover panel and said cover member peripheral flange, said peripheral inset portion being substantially parallel to the generally upstanding sidewall of the tray member, and said cover panel being spaced from said cover member peripheral flange;
- at least two separate arrays of bacon pieces, said separate arrays of bacon pieces being stacked one upon another and sealed within said package such that substantial portions of said bacon pieces are visible through respective package panels;
- said bottom panel of the bubble tray member, said sidewall of the bubble tray member, and said cover panel of said pedestal cover member are sized and shaped for enclosing therewithin said arrays of bacon pieces;
- said arrays of bacon pieces engage inside surfaces of both of said bubble tray member and of said pedestal cover member, and each of said arrays is supported by said inside surfaces directly or indirectly through others of said arrays to thereby substantially maintain said arrays of bacon pieces in a which had been determined at the time the package configuration which had been determined at the time the package was filled and sealed;
- a flexible sheeting positioned between adjacent ones of said arrays, said sheeting having a surface area at least equal to that of said array of bacon pieces; and
- means for releasably hermetically sealing together said tray member peripheral flange to said cover member peripheral flange.
- 20. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein each of said bubble tray member bottom panel and upstanding sidewalls and pedestal cover member cover panel are substantially transparent.
- 21. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said generally upstanding sidewall of the bubble tray member includes a peripheral ledge portion and a peripheral end portion which further define said tray member mouth, said peripheral end portion being sized and shaped so as to matingly engage said peripheral inset portion of the pedestal cover member.
- 22. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said bacon pieces are at least partially cooked.
- 23. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said bacon pieces are uncooked.
- 24. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said bottom panel of the bubble tray member has a planar pedestal portion which is indented with respect to the rest of said bottom panel, and said arrays and sheeting have a total height which is equal to or greater than the vertical distance between said cover panel and said indented planar pedestal portion when said package is closed and before any outward movement of either said indented planar pedestal portion or said bottom panel caused by said arrays and sheeting.
- 25. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said sealed package is gas flushed.
- 26. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein at least a portion of one of said tray member peripheral flange or cover member peripheral flange extends beyond a corresponding portion of the other of said peripheral flanges.
- 27. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said means for releasably hermetically sealing together said bubble tray member peripheral flange to said pedestal cover member peripheral flange includes a pull strip by which a portion of one of said peripheral flanges is peeled from the other peripheral flange and removed for unsealing said package.
- 28. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said means for releasably hermetically sealing together said bubble tray member peripheral flange to said pedestal cover member peripheral flange includes releasable adhesive at said flanges.
- 29. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 19, wherein said means for releasably hermetically sealing together said bubble tray member peripheral flange to said pedestal cover member peripheral flange includes a permanent hermetic seal and a grasping member for breaking said permanent hermetic seal in order to open said package.
- 30. The packaged bacon in accordance with claim 21, wherein said peripheral inset portion of the pedestal cover member includes means for interfering with at least a portion of said generally upstanding sidewall of the bubble tray member at a location generally on said peripheral end portion of the tray member.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/220,849, filed Mar. 31, 1994, now Patent No. 5,520,939.
US Referenced Citations (24)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
506295 |
Sep 1992 |
EPX |
1131629 |
Oct 1968 |
WOX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
220849 |
Mar 1994 |
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