FULL MOUTH OPENING FLOW WRAPPER PACKAGE
The disclosure pertains to method for manufacturing reclosable packages, bags or pouches using a flow wrapper machine wherein, typically, a self-mating reclosure or zipper sealed inside of the package. In a first embodiment, self-mating reclosures are placed transversely on the web and a flow wrapping machine wraps the web around the food product thereby forming a machine direction fin seal. Transverse direction end seals are likewise formed. In a second embodiment, the web includes quad seals formed by a drag sealer at positions which will become corners of the package. Similar to the method of the first embodiment, the flow wrapping machine wraps the web around the food product thereby forming a fin seal.
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This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/036,378 filed on Feb. 28, 2011 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application 61/329,400, filed on Apr. 29, 2010. This application is further a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/193,030 filed on Jul. 28, 2011 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/368,496 filed Jul. 28, 2010, the disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure pertains to zippered reclosable packages, such as, but not limited to, flow wrapper packages with a wide mouth opening feature and/or easy open and/or easy close features.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wide mouth gusseted packages are disclosed by U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2007/0258665 entitled “Wide Mouth Gusseted Packages”, published on Nov. 8, 2007 on behalf of Greco. While the Greco reference is well-adapted for its intended purposes, further improvements are sought with respect to simplifying the manufacturing process, particularly in transverse direction (TD) applications.
In the prior art, many food items are packed using flow wrapper technology. For example, chunk cheese may be packaged using flow wrapper technology. Typically, the film fits tightly around the product leaving little or no room for a reclosure. In the past, webless zipper has been used in the machine direction, but due to the size and shape of the product, the zipper closure was frequently not satisfactorily effective and not user friendly. These deficiencies were further exacerbated by the way consumers typically consume the chunk cheese. That is, typically, the user slices the cheese from an end of the chunk, meaning that the portion returned to the package still does not fit well.
Similarly, one of the notable pouch styles available to the industry is the box pouch, a flexible pouch formed in such a way that it holds a box shape. Pouches of this style are typically produced on a Totani-type pouch machine in a complicated process requiring multiple film webs. A reclosure can be added, but this has been limited to a standard transverse direction zipper in the past, resulting in a package with an opening of a reduced size. The process is typically complex and the machinery used to produce the box pouch is expensive.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREIt is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide improvements in wide mouth reclosable flow wrapper packages or bags.
It is therefore a further object of the present disclosure to provide improvements in the manufacture of wide mouth reclosable flow wrapper packages.
These and other objects are attained in a first embodiment of the disclosure by placing a full mouth opening reclosure in the cross section of the package. As a result, the end user can move the product into and out of the package more efficiently as well as achieving a positive reclosure of the package.
These and other objects are attained in a second embodiment of the disclosure by preforming the corners of a box pouch with quad seals and placing a full mouth opening reclosure in the cross section of the package, the resultant web can be run through a conventional flow wrapper machine to produce a box pouch with a full mouth open and close.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, wherein:
Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, one sees that
In the resulting package 130, the full mouth opening created through reclosure or zipper 106 allows users to easily remove the food item 400. Additionally, the use of a self-mating or similar reclosure or zipper 106 is expected to simplify the reclosure of the package thereby allowing the consumer to remove the food item 400 from the package 130 and more easily return the food item 400 to the package 130 through the full mouth opening of the reclosure or zipper 106.
Referring now to the embodiment of the disclosure illustrated in
Advantages are achieved that are similar to that of the embodiment of
Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A process of forming a package, including the steps of:
- providing a sheet of web;
- providing a length of reclosure transversely on a side of the web;
- loading product on the sheet of web; and
- providing a flow wrapping machine for bringing edges of the sheet of web together, wrapping the product, and sealing the edges of the sheet of web together thereby forming sides of a package, whereby the reclosure is on an interior of the package.
2. The process of claim 1 further including the step of forming first and second end seals.
3. The process of claim 2 wherein the first and second end seals are formed in a transverse direction on the web.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure is parallel to the first and second end seals.
5. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure is separated from the first and second end seals.
6. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure is inwardly situated from the first and second end seals.
7. The process of claim 1 wherein the length of reclosure is shorter than a width of the sheet of web.
8. The process of claim 1 wherein the length of reclosure is self-mating.
9. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure includes a plurality of interlocking elements.
10. The process of claim 9 wherein the reclosure is a zipper having a male profile and a female profile.
11. The process of claim 1 wherein the steps of bringing edges of the sheet of web together and sealing the edges of the sheet of web further include the step of forming a fin seal with the edges of the sheet of web.
12. The process of claim 1 wherein the sheet of web is formed from polymeric material.
13. The process of claim 1 wherein the steps of providing a sheet of web and providing a length of reclosure transversely on a side of the web are performed by providing a sheet of web wherein lengths of reclosures have been pre-applied thereto.
14. The process of claim 13 wherein the reclosures are pre-applied to the sheet of web at a location remote from the flow wrapper machine.
15. A process of forming a package, including the steps of:
- providing a sheet of web with a first side and a second side;
- forming a plurality of machine direction seals on a first side of the web;
- providing a length of reclosure transversely on a second side of the web;
- loading product onto the sheet of web; and
- providing a flow wrapping machine for bringing edges of the sheet of web together, wrapping the product and sealing the edges of the sheet of web together thereby forming sides of a package.
16. The process of claim 15 wherein the seals are parallel to each other.
17. The process of claim 15 wherein the length of reclosure is shorter than a width of the sheet of web.
18. The process of claim 15 wherein the length of reclosure is self-mating.
19. The process of claim 15 wherein the step of bringing the edges of the sheet of web together results in the reclosure being on the interior of the package.
20. The process of claim 15 wherein the step of bringing the edges of the sheet of web together results in the machine direction seals being on an exterior of the package.
21. The process of claim 15 wherein the package includes corners and wherein the machine direction seals are formed at the exterior of the corners.
22. The process of claim 15 wherein the plurality of machine direction seals includes four seals and wherein four corresponding corners are formed on the package.
23. The process of claim 15 wherein the package includes four walls.
24. The process of claim 15 wherein the sheet of web is formed from polymeric material.
25. The process of claim 15 wherein the step of providing a sheet of web and the step forming a plurality of machine direction seals on a first side of the web are performed by providing spool including a sheet of web with the machine direction seals formed thereon.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 14, 2013
Publication Date: Mar 13, 2014
Applicant: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC. (Glenview, IL)
Inventor: David ANZINI (Middletown, NY)
Application Number: 14/080,235
International Classification: B65B 11/00 (20060101);