Microwave Popcorn Packaging with a Clear Bag and an Interior Anti-Scorch Surface

Abstract

A microwave popcorn package includes a clear plastic bag having a sheet of a microwavable anti-scorch material fixed to an inside surface. The clear bag allows a user to view the progress of the corn popping. The bag is preferably made of a microwavable polypropylene/polyester plastic and the sheet of microwavable anti-scorch material is fused using a compression sealer to the plastic around the perimeter of the anti-scorch material. The package is placed in a microwave oven with the microwavable anti-scorch material under the popcorn. The plastic bag becomes very hot in the microwave. When the popcorn is popped, the microwavable anti-scorch material prevents hot popped popcorn from coming to rest on the plastic and become scorched from direct contact with the hot plastic. The plastic bag may additionally include a zip lock along one edge to allow the bag to be resealed after opening.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is microwave cooking and in particular a clear popcorn cooking bag with an anti-scorch surface.

Microwave popcorn has been a popular snack for many years. Typically, a paper package is sold which contains the popcorn and is directly microwavable. Unfortunately, the popcorn cannot be viewed through the paper and it is difficult to determine when the package should be removed from the microwave oven. If the bag is removed too soon, a large amount of the popcorn will not be popped. If the bag is removed too late, some or all of the popcorn may be burned.

Various solutions have been proposed including a clear plastic bag or a paper bag with windows. Unfortunately, the windows are generally too small to allow a user to clearly see when the popcorn is ready to be removed from the microwave oven. A clear plastic bag would allow viewing the popcorn, but the plastic becomes very hot and often scorches the popcorn.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a microwave popcorn package which includes a clear plastic bag having a sheet of a microwavable anti-scorch material fixed to an inside surface. The clear bag allows a user to view the progress of the corn popping. The bag is preferably made of a microwavable polypropylene/polyester plastic and the sheet of microwavable anti-scorch material is fused using a compression sealer to the plastic around the perimeter of the anti-scorch material. The package is placed in a microwave oven with the microwavable anti-scorch material under the popcorn. The plastic bag becomes very hot in the microwave. When the popcorn is popped, the microwavable anti-scorch material prevents hot popped popcorn from coming to rest on the plastic and become scorched from direct contact with the hot plastic. The plastic bag may additionally include a zip lock along one edge to allow the bag to be resealed after opening.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a microwave popcorn package which protects the popped popcorn from scorching. The package includes a layer of microwavable anti-scorch material providing an interior surface under the popcorn. The package in positioned in the microwave oven with the microwavable anti-scorch material under the popcorn. The microwavable anti-scorch material is selected to be a material which is not heated by microwaves. The popped popcorn may come in contact with the microwavable anti-scorch material without scorching.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a clear microwave popcorn package. The package includes a layer of microwavable anti-scorch material providing an interior surface positioned under the popcorn and not blocking a view of the popcorn during popping. As a result, the user can clearly see when the popcorn is done.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1A is a top perspective view of microwave popcorn packaging according to the present invention.

FIG. 1B is an edge view of the microwave popcorn packaging according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an edge view of the microwave popcorn packaging according to the present invention after popping the popcorn.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the popcorn packaging according to the present invention taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.

A top perspective view of microwave popcorn packaging 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1A and an edge view of the microwave popcorn packaging 10 is shown in FIG. 1B. The microwave popcorn packaging 10 includes a plastic bag 12 containing popcorn 14. The plastic bag 12 may simply comprise two overlapping flat sheets of plastic, or may be shaped sheets of plastic. A resealing feature 16 (for example, the sealing feature sold under the trademark ZIPLOK) is preferably along one edge to allow resealing the packaging 10 when partially consumed. The plastic material used to make the microwave popcorn packaging 10 is preferably a clear microwavable polypropylene/polyester plastic. Using a clear material allows a user to see the progress of popping and remove the popcorn from the microwave oven before it becomes burned.

Unfortunately, a microwave popcorn packaging consisting solely of a plastic bag would scorch the popped popcorn because the plastic material may become very hot during popping. To address such scorching, a sheet 18 of anti-scorch material is attached to one inside surface of the microwave popcorn packaging 10. Unlike the plastic 12, the sheet 18 does not become overly hot and does not scorch the popped popcorn. A preferred anti-scorch material is a dry wax paper, for example, Kabnet Wax (SKU# 7873160003) heavyweight premium dry wax paper made by Dixie, a Georgia Pacific Corporation.

FIG. 2 is an edge view of the microwave popcorn packaging 10 after popping the popcorn 14. The microwave popcorn packaging 10 is resting with the sheet 18 under the popcorn 14 and the popped popcorn 14 has come to rest on the sheet 18 and is not scorched as it would be if it came to rest on the hot plastic.

A cross-sectional view of the popcorn packaging 10 taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 3. The sheet 18 covers nearly the entire lower half of the plastic bag 12. The sheet 18 is preferably attached to the inside surfaces of opposing sides of the plastic bag 12 by using heat to fuse the sheet 18 to the plastic bag 12. The attaching is preferably performed using a compression sealer, for example, the Impulse bag sealer sold by Uline in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. The sheet 18 is preferably attached solely by melting the plastic bag 12 along the parameter of the sheet 18 with no adhesives used.

The popcorn packaging 10 has a width W1 and length L. The width W1 is preferably approximately eight inches and the length L is preferably approximately ten inches. The popcorn packaging 10 is preferably vented with at least one vent, and preferably two vents, a distance D from the top of the popcorn packaging 10 with a vent width W2. The distance D is preferably approximately 3 inches and the width W2 is preferably approximately ¼ inches.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A popcorn packaging comprising:

a clear plastic bag;

an anti-scorch sheet attached to one inside surface of the plastic bag; and

popcorn residing inside the plastic bag.

2. The popcorn packaging of claim 1, wherein the plastic bag comprises two sides and the anti-scorch sheet is attached to the inside surface of at least one of the sides.

3. The popcorn packaging of claim 2, wherein the anti-scorch sheet is attached to at least one inside surface of one of the sides by fusing the anti-scorch sheet to the inside surface of one of the sides, around the edge of the anti-scorch sheet.

4. The popcorn packaging of claim 3, wherein the anti-scorch sheet is attached to two opposing inside surfaces of the sides by fusing.

5. The popcorn packaging of claim 4, wherein the anti-scorch sheet is attached to two opposing inside surfaces using a compression sealer.

6. The popcorn packaging of claim 5, wherein the anti-scorch sheet is attached to two opposing inside surfaces of the sides solely by melting the plastic along the parameter of the anti-scorch sheet with no adhesives used.

7. The popcorn packaging of claim 6, wherein the anti-scorch sheet is a dry wax paper.

8. The popcorn packaging of claim 3, wherein sides of the plastic bag are rectangular.

9. The popcorn packaging of claim 3, wherein the plastic bag is made from microwavable polypropylene/polyester plastic.

10. The popcorn packaging of claim 3, wherein the plastic bag lays flat before popping the popcorn.

11. The popcorn packaging of claim 1, further including a resealing feature along one side.

12. A popcorn packaging comprising:

a clear plastic bag comprising two flat rectangular sides meeting around a rectangular edge;

a rectangular anti-scorch sheet comprising dry wax paper attached to at least one inside surface of the plastic bag by fusing the rectangular anti-scorch sheet to inside surface of the side of the plastic around the perimeter of the rectangular anti-scorch sheet; and

popcorn residing inside the plastic bag.

13. A popcorn packaging comprising:

a clear plastic bag comprising two flat rectangular sides meeting around a rectangular edge;

a rectangular anti-scorch sheet comprising dry wax paper having nearly the same width and length as the clear plastic bag, the anti-scorch sheet attached to both inside surfaces of the plastic bag by fusing the rectangular anti-scorch sheet to opposing sides of the plastic around the perimeter of the rectangular anti-scorch sheet, the dry wax paper attached to the inside surfaces of the plastic bag solely by melting the plastic bag; and

popcorn residing inside the plastic bag.