Abstract: A precision dispensing system and method of use is disclosed. The system includes a hand-holdable dispensing gun and a flexible pouch for dispensing metered amounts of a flowable material. The pouch is formed of a pair of panels of a flexible sheet material that are sealed together to form a pair of nozzles in communication with the flowable material in the pouch. The panels are cut along lines to form finger grip portions enabling one to tear open the nozzles, while leaving the portion of the pouch that is torn still attached to the pouch. The dispensing gun includes a pair of hinged sections defining an interior chamber. A piston is located at one end of the chamber and an end wall is located at the other end thereof. The end wall has passageway in it and is formed by the hinged sections when they are closed. The pouch is arranged to be disposed within the chamber with its nozzles extending out of the passageway.

Abstract: Disclosed is a single brew beverage cartridge for use in a brewing apparatus. The cartridge includes a lid and a cup shaped filter suspended below the lid and in which a beverage brewing ingredient is held. The lid includes an annular collar to prevent the lid from deforming when a needle of the brewing apparatus pierces it during the brewing process. Preferably the cartridge is formed of materials, e.g., paper/paperboard, so that it is compostable and biodegradable.

Abstract: Disclosed is a single brew beverage cartridge for use in a brewing apparatus. The cartridge includes a lid and a cup shaped filter suspended below the lid and in which a beverage brewing ingredient is held. The lid includes an annular collar to prevent the lid from deforming when a needle of the brewing apparatus pierces it during the brewing process. Preferably the cartridge is formed of materials so that it is compostable and biodegradable.

Abstract: Flexible packages and methods of filling them are disclosed. The package includes front and a rear panels. The front and rear panels each have a pair of side edges, a bottom edge, and a top edge. Respective ones of the side and bottom edges of the panels are secured together. The panels confront each other at the top portion of the package to form an interface through which the package may be filled. The top portion of the package is reinforced with reinforcing layers to form at least one top extension, which includes a handle for supporting the package.

Abstract: A flexible package for a product and method of storing a product in a package is disclosed. The package includes an inner bag and an outer bag. The inner bag is formed of a flexible material, is arranged to hold a product that degasses, e.g., whole bean coffee, and includes a one-way valve. The outer bag is also formed of a flexible material and encloses the inner bag, forming a gas space therebetween. The gas space is in communication with the ambient atmosphere via at least one communicating passageway. Gas may vent through the one-way valve into the gas space and from there through the at least one passageway, with the outer bag providing a smooth aesthetically pleasing appearance notwithstanding changes in pressure and/or temperature to which the package is subjected.

Abstract: A dispensing closure system, a package including the same, a method of making the package on a form-fill-seal machine and a method of dispensing flowable products from the package are disclosed. The package includes an openable port in a wall in communication with the package's interior. The closure system comprises a fitment having a hollow body member, a resilient valve, and retainer assembly. The body member is secured to the package's wall and encircles the openable port. The valve is held in the body member by the retainer assembly, which comprises a retaining ring and a cap integrally connected to each other by a frangible connection. The cap includes a handle which may be pulled to break the frangible connection to remove the cap and thereby expose the valve for a dispensing probe to be extended therethrough to dispense the product.

Abstract: A package, a fitment and method for dispensing a flowable material is disclosed. The package includes a hollow body formed of a flexible material and a fitment secured thereto. The fitment includes an outer gland and a plunger and overlies a frangible penetration zone in the hollow body of the package. The outer gland includes a passageway extending through it. The plunger has a cylindrical wall defining a hollow interior and a free end disposed within the passageway of the gland. The plunger is arranged to be moved along the passageway, so that its free end penetrates through the penetration zone into the interior of the package to provide an exit port for the material. The free end of the plunger also serves to hold portions of the walls of the package away from the exit port to prevent blockage thereof.

Abstract: A packaging system and method of use for packaging coffee in individual valved packages is disclosed. The individual valved packages are disposed within a secondary package formed of a flexible material and including a one-way pressure relief valve. The valve of the secondary package is set to open so that the secondary package internal pressure never drops below the operating pressure of the primary package degassing valves. The secondary package is disposed within a rigid container, e.g., a corrugated carton. The system and method enables shipping of the coffee packages permitting them to degass without vacuumization (bricking) irrespective of changes in atmospheric pressure encountered during the transport of the system.

Abstract: A package system for dispensing a flowable material into a conduit of a dispensing apparatus. The package system includes a package and a connector. The package, e.g., a bag-in-box, comprises a hollow bag and a tap fitment for enabling the contents of the bag to flow out when the fitment is open. The connector includes an automatic shut off valve and is arranged to be fixedly secured to the conduit of the dispensing apparatus and releasably secured to the fitment. The valve is arranged to enable the flow of flowable material from the package into the conduit when the fitment is open, while preventing any of that material from flowing out of the conduit when the connector is disconnected from the fitment.

Abstract: A package for dispensing a flowable material is disclosed. The package includes an interior chamber for holding the flowable material, a coupling insert located within the chamber and a piercing member. The piercing member includes a dispensing tube and is arranged to pierce through the package to communicate with the chamber and thereafter to snap-connect to the coupling insert. The contents of the package can then be dispensed from the package via the dispensing tube. The coupling insert is arranged to be moved to any desired position within the chamber. The package's wall may be constructed, e.g., be transparent and/or include target indicia thereon, to facilitate the positioning of the coupling insert at the desired position.

Abstract: A flexible side-gusseted package and methods of making the same are disclosed. The package has a central longitudinal axis, a front panel, a back panel, and a pair of gusseted side panels. The front panel is secured to the gusseted side panels along a pair of side seal lines. The back panel is secured to the gusseted side panels along a pair of side seal lines. Each of the seal lines includes a pair of end portions and an intermediate portion. The intermediate portion, e.g., a concave recessed portion, of each side seal line is located closer to the central longitudinal axis than the end portions of the side seal lines to provide a package which is somewhat necked-down at its middle, to facilitate grasping of the package by users.

Abstract: A one-way valve and a flexible package including the valve are disclosed. The valve basically comprises a base member, a flexible septum and a stake. The base member is mounted on a wall of the package and includes a valve seat and at least one inlet port. The septum is formed of a resilient material and is connected to the base member by the stake, with a first portion of the septum contiguous with the stake fixed in position with respect to the base member and a second portion of the septum engaging the valve seat and covering and sealing the at least one inlet port. The septum is arranged to flex off of the valve seat to unseal the at least one inlet port when the pressure of gas at the at least one inlet port reaches a threshold.

Abstract: Disclosed is a single brew beverage cartridge for use in a brewing apparatus. The cartridge includes a lid and a cup shaped filter suspended below the lid and in which a beverage brewing ingredient is held. The lid includes an annular collar to prevent the lid from deforming when a needle of the brewing apparatus pierces it during the brewing process. Preferably the cartridge is formed of materials, e.g., paper/paperboard, so that it is compostable and biodegradable.

Abstract: A package including a fitment for holding a liquid therein to dispense the liquid and the fitment itself. The fitment is a metering dispensing valve arranged to be secured to a flexible bag for selectively dispensing a metered quantity of the liquid therefrom. It includes a piercing member for piercing through the bag to provide access to the interior of the bag and a compressible bulb having a reservoir in it. The dispensing valve also includes an inlet valve to the reservoir and an outlet valve from the reservoir. The bulb is arranged to be compressed and then released to enable a metered amount of the liquid to be drawn into a reservoir. The bulb can then be compressed again to dispense the metered amount of liquid from the reservoir through the outlet valve to the outlet.

Abstract: A one-way valve is mounted over a vent hole in a flexible package to enable gases to vent. The valve has a flexible base layer, a flexible cover layer and an interposed layer of oil. Each layer has an opposed pair of side edges. The cover layer is thinner than the base layer and is secured to the base layer along respective contiguous portions of the side edges to form an openable channel. The oil layer is located in the channel between the base layer and the cover layer and over the hole to form a bond holding the cover layer on the base layer until pressure within the package causes the bond to break, whereupon the cover layer to lift ups and opens the hole valve. Methods of making the package and valve are also disclosed.

Abstract: A package for enabling the dispensing (metering of) a flowable material by use of dispensing apparatus is disclosed. The package is a flexible bag or pouch having an internal cavity in which the flowable material is disposed and a fitment through which the flowable material is metered. The fitment is arranged to receive a probe of the dispensing apparatus and includes a first valve to prevent the flowable material from exiting through the fitment until the fitment is connected to the probe. The probe includes a second valve which opens when the probe is connected to the fitment and which closes when the probe is disconnected from the fitment. The disconnection of the probe from the fitment causes the first valve to close. The fitment also includes an anti-blocking member which prevents the walls of the package from collapsing to block the fitment when the flowable material is metered out.

Abstract: A package and method of filling it with flowable materials is disclosed. The package includes first, second and third panels form of flexible materials that are juxtaposed and fixedly secured to one another along a portion of their periphery to form a pair of isolated compartments and a common nozzle. The nozzle is arranged to be torn open and includes a pair of passageways in communication with respective ones of the compartments. Two of the panels include edges which are free (unsecured) to form respective mouths through which the flowable materials can be introduced into the compartments. Then those edges are sealed to hold the flowable materials within the compartments until the nozzle is torn open. At that time the flowable materials can simultaneous flow out of the package.

Abstract: A dispensing closure system, a package including the same, a method of making the package on a form-fill-seal machine and a method of dispensing flowable products from the package are disclosed. The package includes an openable port in a wall in communication with the package's interior. The closure system comprises a fitment having a hollow body member, a resilient valve, and retainer assembly. The body member is secured to the package's wall and encircles the openable port. The valve is held in the body member by the retainer assembly, which comprises a retaining ring and a cap integrally connected to each other by a frangible connection. The cap includes a handle which may be pulled to break the frangible connection to remove the cap and thereby expose the valve for a dispensing probe to be extended therethrough to dispense the product.

Abstract: A thermal pack holding a pair of mixable components, one of which is flowable, to produce a desired exothermic or endothermic reaction is disclosed. The pack is formed of a flexible sheet having two compartments, one for each of the components, separated by a frangible barrier arranged to be broken to enable the components to mix. In one embodiment the pack includes a pair of pull tabs to enable the user to break the frangible barrier. In another embodiment the pack is folded, with the compartments juxtaposed with respect to each other, whereupon the application of pressure to the pack causes the flowable material to apply pressure to the frangible barrier to cause it to rupture.

Abstract: A package formed of a flexible material for holding a product, e.g., whole bean coffee, is disclosed. The package includes a front panel, a rear panel, a first side gusset and a second side gusset. The front panel has a pair of sides as does the rear panel. The first side gusset connects one side of the front and rear panels together. The second side gusset connects the other side of the front and rear panels together. One of the gussets includes plural fold edges forming at least four gusset panels, while the other of the gussets includes plural fold edges forming at least two gusset panels. The panels and the gussets are arranged to be initially secured together, e.g., by a peelable seal line, to form an enlarged mouth to provide ready access to the product in the package.