Cryovac, Inc.

W. R. Grace Co.-conn.

W. R. Grace & Co., Cryovac Div.

Robert A Odabashian

H Walker Stockley

Diana L Huerta

Richard Keith Watson

Stephen Floyd Compton

Thomas Duane Kennedy

Janet W Rivett

Richard M Dayrit

Sumita Sanjeevi Ranganathan

Michael J Rosinski

Mendy W Mossbrook

Larry W Depoorter

Tom Bonner

Rodney R Hodgson

Scott C Bossong

Joseph M Ramirez

Dilip K Boal

Donald B Moore, Jr

Thomas D Kennedy

Benjamin G Wofford

Carl L Tucker

Richard M Worley

Craig G Wallington

Edgar A Chow

Donald B Moore

Iii Stockley

Rodney Hodgson

Diana Huerta

Richard K Watson

Scott Bossong

Thomas Bonner

H Walker Iii Stockley

A heat-shrinkable packaging article has one or more tear initiators for initiating a manual tear that can be propagated to open a package and allow a product to be readily removed therefrom, without the use of a knife or scissors or any other implement. The tear initiators are present in a skirt and/or header of the article. The skirt and/or header has a first side and a second side. In one embodiment, some or all of the first side of the skirt and/or header can be heatset in order to reduce the shrink and curling of the skirt and/or header. This improves identification and utilization of the tear initiators by a consumer upon shrinking the packaging article around the product. In another embodiment, the skirt and/or header has a plurality of pairs of tear initiators to allow portions of the package to be torn off to expose a portion of the product that can then be sliced off while the remainder of the packaged product remains covered by a remainder of the film.

Easy opening packaging article made from heat-shrinkable film exhibiting directional tear

A heat-shrinkable bag has a means for initiating a manual tear that can be propagated to open the bag and allow a product to be readily removed therefrom, without the use of a knife or scissors or any other implement. The bag is made from a heat-shrinkable multilayer film having a Peak Load Impact Strength of at least 50 Newtons per mil. The means for initiating tearing results in a first tear in the first side of the bag, and a second tear in the second side of the bag. The first tear and the second tear are each capable of being manually propagated through a heat seal and across the bag, or down the length of the bag, with the tear being capable of being manually propagated through and to an opposite bag edge, so that the product inside a package can be readily removed from the bag. A process for making a package and manually opening the package, comprises placing a product inside the bag, sealing the bag closed, shrinking the film around the product, manually initiating and manually propagating the first and second tears, and readily removing the product from the bag.

Bag made from high-strength heat-shrinkable film exhibiting directional tear, and process utilizing same

A packaging article has tear initiators for initiating a manual tear that can be propagated to open a package and allow a product to be readily removed therefrom, without the use of a knife or scissors or any other implement. The packaging article is made from a heat-shrinkable multilayer film having at least one layer containing an incompatible polymer blend, and/or a layer containing an inorganic filler, and/or a layer having a high Young's modulus. The film also has a Peak Load Impact Strength of at least 50 Newtons per mil, The tear initiators can be used to generate a manual machine direction tears to open the package, with the manual machine direction tear being capable of propagating in the machine direction to the opposite edge of the packaging article. A process for making a package and manually opening the package is also disclosed.

A flexible container including opposing closed first and second edges, a closed third edge and an open side or end. The flexible container may include an unclosed area extending beyond one of the closed edges forming the flexible container. The unclosed area may include a first opening tab and a second opening tab configured to be pulled apart in order to initiate opening of the flexible container. The first opening tab and second opening tab may each include at least two openings. The opening may be positioned so as to channel a stress concentration proximate a heat seal. The flexible container may be formed of multi-layer film having a first outer layer, a second outer layer and directly adhered to the first outer layer an internal layer formed of a blend of at least two resin components that are partially compatible.

Stress concentrator for opening a flexible container

A patch bag comprises a heat-shrinkable bag comprising tubular bag film, and a heat-shrinkable patch comprising a patch film, the patch being adhered to the bag, the patch bag having a seal which is through both patches as well as through both lay-flat sides of the bag. A process for making the bag includes sealing an inside surface of the film tubing to itself, the sealing being carried out by applying heat to each of the patch outside surfaces, the heat being applied by a first means for heating and a second means for heating, the first and second means for heating being in alignment with one another, with the patches and bag tubing therebetween during sealing.

Patch bag having seal through patches

A process for removing creases from a film eliminates a problem in the quality of the heat seal for a patch bag having at least a segment of one or more bag side edges (or the bag bottom edge) covered by one or more patches. The film creases are removed by inflating the film tubing which is later converted to a bag, heating regions containing the creases with a heating means to a temperature which, in combination with the pressure within the inflated tubing, causes the creases to relax. The heated crease-containing regions are then cooled and the inflated tubing is deflated and wound up in a new configuration in which at least one patch covers at least one side edge or the bottom edge.

Method of film crease elimination and patch bag without crease within lay-flat bag side

A bag and a method and apparatus for forming an easy open bag wherein a said bag is formed of thermoplastic heat shrinkable film is disclosed. Specifically, an easy open thermoplastic heat shrinkable bag having a heat shrinkable thermoplastic tear strip panel sealed without adhesives or heat seals is disclosed. A method of making said easy open bag is also described.

Easy open bag

An easy open, hermetically sealed, display package made from a single sheet of thermoplastic, gas barrier, heat shrinkable film is provided. The sheet is folded to form one end of the package, the fold being spaced apart from a seal parallel to the fold line with the material between the seal and the fold line being unshrunken and the remainder of the material being shrunk around the product and sealed on all sides. A unshrunken strip of plastic material having a line of weakness is adhered to the unshrunken portion which is also provided with a line of weakness which also corresponds to the line of weakness in the unshrunken strip. The material on both sides of the line of weakness serves as tear tabs.

Easy open, hemetically sealed, display package made from heat shrinkable

The invention is directed to an improvement in flexible side-sealed taped bags having an extended lip rear panel. The external surface of the rear panel is releasably secured, at least at one point, to at least one tape (preferably two tapes) whereby a plurality of the bags may be advantageously presented in imbricated form. The improvement includes extension of the side seals of the front bag panel to the rear bag panel. The length of the extended side seals being such that their termination points are extended beyond the bag mouth so that the forces imposed on the bag mouth during loading of a product into the bag, while the bag is secured to the tape(s), act on the side seals below the side seal termination points. During product loading, the bag preferentially releases or separates from the tape(s) rather than tearing or delaminating at the side seal termination points. Preferably, the side seal termination points are at or above the point(s) at which the tape(s) is secured to the external surface of the rear panel of the bag.

Taped bag with extended side seals

Growing community of inventors

Greer, SC, United States of America

Robert A Odabashian