ES2710227T3 - Containers with individually sealed compartments and method for their production - Google Patents

Abstract

A package (10, 200, 400) comprising a plurality of individually sealed compartments (12, 212, 412), each of the compartments containing a food product (90) in an interior (28, 228, 428) defined between a rear panel (32, 232, 432) sealed to a front panel (34, 234, 434) around the interior, the front panel including a flap (26, 226, 426) at least partially separable from adjacent parts of the compartment along a flap line of weakness (24, 224, 424) to form an access opening configured to allow food product to be removed from within the compartment; characterized in that : the flap line of weakness has first and second spaced ends intersecting a free edge portion (15, 215, 415) of the container about which the flap is configured to pivot to form the opening access port, the flap line of weakness extending from its first and second ends toward an opposite edge portion (17, 217, 417) of the container; and the food product is a plurality of pieces, each of the pieces being contained within a respective one of the plurality of compartments individually sealed such that each of the pieces is disposed between the line of weakness of the flap of the compartment respective of the individually sealed compartments and the free edge portion of the package.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Containers with individually sealed compartments and method for their production

Cross reference with related request

This application claims the priority of provisional application US-62 / 036,021, filed on August 11, 2014, incorporated by reference in its entirety in this report.

Field

Herein described are packages and methods for their manufacture and, specifically, packages having a plurality of individually sealed compartments, such as for confectionery products.

Background

Flexible film and paperboard containers are used for various food products (eg, chewing gum sheets, chocolates, candies and the like). A common format of a chewing gum container is a blister package contained in a cardboard sleeve and including a first layer with thermoformed sachets for containing individual dragees and a second film layer sealed with respect to the first layer for covering the sachets. The application of pressure in the blister pack from the face of the first layer to the second layer can cause the chewing gum to break the second layer to form an opening through which it is possible to extract the gum for consumption.

A disadvantage of said blister packs consists in the use of at least two different types of materials and the greater number of stages for their manufacture. This can undesirably increase the complexity and cost of the manufacturing process. Furthermore, before a user can exert pressure on the blister pack to extract a chewing gum, the consumer first has to remove the blister pack from its carton, adding an additional step for the consumer during the opening of the pack. .

In US-4035984 packaging machines are cited and, more specifically, it refers to high-speed and double-line packaging machines that simultaneously co-locate pairs of articles transversally separated in a band of packaging material.

WO2010088492 generally refers to a container for containing one or more confectionery products and that can be opened to allow one or more products to be extracted. More specifically, reference is made to a sealed bag that can be opened to contain and dispense a plurality of confectionery products and that can be closed in a reusable manner.

In CA-2823465 it relates to a box of pills comprising a receptacle of pills comprising a number of compartments for pills; and a cover sheet attached to the receptacle of pills.

WO0168473 relates to multi-compartment sheet packages produced from one or two sheets sealed on their three or four sides and used to jointly package solid materials and / or bulk materials that are used simultaneously.

Summary

The packages described herein include a plurality of individually sealed compartments, optionally formed from a single film web. Each of the compartments includes a line of weakness that can be broken by pushing the film material and chewing gum toward the line of weakness. Advantageously, the line of weakness provides the compartments with an articulated fin that opens in response to a force applied by a consumer and remains attached to the rest of the film after opening. The hinged flap can make it possible to obtain an evidence of tamper evidence of the package and can be configured to produce a click or other audible noise after its initial opening along the line of weakness. The individually sealed compartments can be separated from one another to allow a user to discard the empty compartments after having removed the food product. Optionally, the chewing gum used can be arranged in the empty compartment to allow the user to discard the used chewing gum and the empty compartment.

In one form, a package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments. Each of the compartments contains a food product in an interior defined between a back panel sealed to a front panel around the interior. The front panel includes a separable flap with respect to adjacent portions of the front panel along a line of flap weakness to form an access opening configured to allow removal of the food product from the interior of the compartment.

The flap weakness line may have a first and second spaced apart ends that intersect with a free edge portion of the container around which the flap is configured to pivot to form the access opening, the fin weakness line extending from its first and second ends towards an opposite edge portion of the container.

The package can be formed from a single sheet of flexible film. The front panel and the back panel of each of the compartments can be made of identical materials. The package can be formed from one or more sheets of flexible non-deformed film.

In one form, each of the compartments is completely separable from the container along at least one line of compartment weakness extending between the compartments. The at least one line of compartment weakness may extend between two adjacent compartments, one of the two adjacent compartments may include a first seal extending in a direction along the line of compartment weakness, and may include a second of the two adjacent compartments a second seal extending in a direction along the line of compartment weakness. The first and second seals can be arranged on opposite sides of the at least one line of compartment weakness.

In one embodiment, at least one of the compartments is separable from the container along at least two lines of compartment weakness and the at least two lines of compartment weakness are perpendicular to each other. In another embodiment, at least one of the compartments is separable from the container along at least two lines of compartment weakness and the at least two lines of compartment weakness are parallel to each other.

The fin may be defined by the fin weakness line and the free edge portion of the container. The fin can include four sides and the line of fin weakness extends along three of the sides of the fin. The fin weakness line can be U-shaped.

In one form, the rear panel and the front panel of each of the compartments are sealed together non-separable along the opposite edge portion of the container and along a first and a second side of the compartment that is they extend perpendicularly with respect to the free edge portion and the opposite edge portion.

In one form, a first and a second portion of the fin weakness line extending from its first and second ends towards the opposite edge portion of the container are parallel to each other and are connected to each other by a third part of the line of fin weakness perpendicular to the first and second parts of the fin weakness line. The third part of the fin weakness line may be disposed closer to an upper end portion of the compartment formed by the connection between the front panel and the rear panel than to a lower end portion of the compartment formed by the intersection of the front and back panels in the free edge part of the container.

The food product may be a plurality of chewing gums, each chewing gum being contained within a respective compartment of the plurality of individually sealed compartments. It is possible to arrange each of the chewing gums inside the respective compartment of the plurality of individually sealed compartments, so that each chewing gum is disposed between the fin weakness line of the respective compartment of the individually sealed compartments and the of free edge of the container.

In one form, the compartment is configured to form a hermetic seal around the food product.

The flap may be non-separable from the bottom of the compartment. The flap can move from a non-open position to an open position in response to a force applied to the rear panel in a direction toward the front panel.

A method of manufacturing the above package includes: arranging a flexible material having first and second longitudinal edges; forming a plurality of lines of U-shaped weakness in the flexible film between the first and second longitudinal edges and a longitudinal central line; depositing parts of the food product on the flexible material on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line and at least in part between the lines of U-shaped weakness; folding the first and second longitudinal edges of the flexible material in a direction toward the longitudinal center line to cover the food product; forming seals between overlapping portions of the flexible film to form the plurality of individually sealed compartments, each of the compartments including the food product; and forming a line of longitudinal weakness that coincides with the longitudinal centerline and a plurality of transverse weakness lines that extend in a direction perpendicular to the line of longitudinal weakness, each of the lines of transverse weakness extending between adjacent compartments to allow the separation between adjacent compartments.

The method may further include opening at least one of the compartments by applying a force in the container to separate the fin along the fin weakness line with respect to adjacent portions of the package to access the food product at least in one of the compartments; and singling out at least one of the compartments with respect to the container extending a tear along the line of longitudinal weakness and at least one of the lines of transverse weakness.

In one form, a flexible package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments. Each of the compartments contains a food product in an interior defined between a back panel sealed to a front panel. The front panel includes a fin that is partially separable with respect to adjacent portions of the front panel along a line of flap weakness to form an access opening configured to permit removal of the food product from the interior of the compartment.

The fin weakness line may include at least two free ends. The fin weakness line may extend through portions of the fin superimposed with the food product contained within the compartment. The fin weakness line can include at least two lines that intersect each other.

The compartments may further include a second, partially detachable fin of adjacent portions of the back panel along a second fin weakness line.

In another form, a flexible package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments and each of the compartments contains a food product in an interior defined between a back panel sealed to a front panel around the interior. Each compartment includes a separable flap of adjacent portions of the compartment along at least one line of flap weakness to form an access opening configured to allow removal of the food product from the interior of the compartment. The package is movable in a folded configuration, where at least one of the compartments is fitted between two other compartments, to an unfolded configuration, where the at least one of the compartments is not wedged between the other two compartments.

At least two of the compartments may be fitted between two other compartments in the non-bent configuration.

The flap of the at least one compartment can be oriented in a first direction and the flap of each of the other two compartments between which the at least one compartment can be fitted in the unfolded configuration can be oriented in a second direction opposite to the first address

A first part of the package including a free end of the package can form a closure flap removably attached by an adhesive to a second part of the package.

The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive configured to allow multiple openings and closures of the closure flap.

In one form, a flexible package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments, each of the compartments containing a food product in an interior defined between a sealed back panel with respect to a front panel around the interior, each compartment including a separable tab adjacent portions of the compartment along a line of flap weakness to form an access opening configured to allow the food product to be removed from the interior of the compartment. The package is movable in a bent configuration, wherein at least one of the compartments is arranged in a closed configuration on top of another of the compartments, to an open configuration, where the at least one of the compartments is not arranged on top of the other of the compartments. compartments.

At least two of the compartments can be stacked on top of two other compartments in the open configuration.

Two of the fins of two of the compartments can be oriented in a first direction and two of the fins of two other compartments on top of which two of the compartments are stacked in the open configuration can be oriented in a second direction opposite to the first address.

A first part of the package including a free end of the package can form a closure flap removably attached by an adhesive to a second part of the package.

The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive configured to allow multiple openings and closures of the closure flap.

The package can have a maximum height in the unfolded configuration and a maximum height in the closed configuration that is at least twice the maximum height in the open configuration.

The package has a maximum length in the closed configuration and a maximum height in the unfolded configuration that is at least twice the maximum length in the open configuration.

At least one of the fins may include graphic marks.

In the closed configuration, it is possible to arrange at least one of the compartments on another of the compartments at least by winding, bending or stacking.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a first illustrative container having individual separable compartments, each unopened;

Fig. 2 shows a front perspective view of the container of Fig. 1 with one of the compartments partially open, with a fin of the compartment moving by a force applied by a consumer to the partially open position by separating adjacent portions of the container. compartment along a line of weakness; Fig. 3 shows a front elevation view of the package of Fig. 2 in a fully open position, with the food product accessible by the consumer and the fin completely spaced from adjacent portions of a front panel of the compartment along the the line of weakness, and with the fin attached to a free edge portion of the container;

Fig. 4 shows a cross section of the package of Fig. 1 taken along line 4-4 thereof; Fig. 5 shows a cross-section of the package of Fig. 2 taken along line 5-5 thereof; Fig. 6 shows a front perspective view of the package of Fig. 1, shown with one of the compartments completely separated from the package along two lines of weakness between adjacent compartments;

Fig. 7 shows a front perspective view of the package of Fig. 1, shown with two of the compartments partially separated from the package along a line of weakness between compartments; Fig. 8A shows a top plan view of a sheet of illustrative material, which can be part of a larger material web, which can be used to form the package of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8B shows a top plan view of a sheet of illustrative material, which can be part of a band of larger material, which can be used to form an alternative packaging to the package of Fig. 1; Fig. 8C shows a top plan view of another sheet of illustrative material, which can be part of a band of larger material, which can be used to form an alternative packaging to the package of Fig. 1; Fig. 8D shows a top plan view of another sheet of illustrative material, which can be part of a band of larger material, which can be used to form an alternative package to the package of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the sheet of material of Fig. 8A having the food product deposited thereon and with portions of the sheet of material being folded into a sealing position covering the food product;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the sheet of material of Fig. 9 with the parts of the sheet of material sealed together by multiple seals to form eight individually sealed compartments each containing one of the food products and with lines of weakness formed in the sheet of material; Fig. 11 shows a perspective view of a second illustrative package having separate separable compartments, each in a non-open configuration;

Fig. 12 shows a front perspective view of the container of Fig. 11, with one of the compartments partially open, with the flap moving by a force applied by a consumer to the partially open position by separating adjacent parts of the compartment along a line of weakness;

Fig. 13 shows a cross section of the container of Fig. 11 taken along line 13-13 thereof; Fig. 14 shows a cross section of the package of Fig. 12 taken along line 14-14 thereof; Fig. 15 shows a front perspective view of the package of Fig. 11, shown with one of the compartments partially separated from the package along a line of weakness between adjacent compartments;

Fig. 16A shows a top plan view of a sheet of illustrative flexible material, which can be part of a larger material web, which can be used to form the package of Fig. 11;

Fig. 16B shows a top plan view of two sheets of opposed flexible material that can be used to form the package of Fig. 11;

Fig. 16C shows a top plan view of a sheet of illustrative material that can be part of a larger material web that can be used in a flow packaging process to form a package similar to the package of Fig. 11 ;

Fig. 16D shows a package including a fin shaped seal formed by the flow packing process of Fig. 16C;

Fig. 16E shows a package including an overlapping seal formed by the flow packing process of Fig. 16C;

Fig. 17 is a top plan view of the sheet of material of Fig. 16 having a food product deposited thereon and with a portion of the sheet of material being folded into a sealing position covering the food product ;

Fig. 18 is a top plan view of the sheet of material of Fig. 17 and with parts of the sheet of material sealed together by multiple seals to form five sealed compartments covering the food product and lines of weakness formed in the sheet of material;

Fig. 19 shows a cross section of a third illustrative package taken along a line similar to line 4-4 of Fig. 1, showing the package in a non-open configuration;

Fig. 20 shows a cross-section of the package of Fig. 19 taken along a line similar to line 5-5 in Fig. 2, showing the package in a partially open configuration;

Fig. 21 shows a top plan view of a sheet of illustrative material, which can be part of a larger material web, which can be used to form the package of Fig. 19;

Fig. 22A shows a top plan view of the material sheet of Fig. 21, showing a plurality of thermoformed pouches formed therein;

Fig. 22B shows a top plan view of a sheet of illustrative flexible material, which can be part of a band of larger material, which can be used to form an alternative package to the package of Fig. 11;

Fig. 22C shows a side elevational view of the package formed from the sheet of flexible material shown in Fig. 16E and folded into an accordion-shaped configuration;

Fig. 23A is a top plan view of the sheet of material of Fig. 22A having the food product deposited thereon and with portions of the sheet of material being folded into a sealing position covering the food product;

Fig. 23B shows a top plan view of two sheets of opposed flexible material that can be used to form the package of Fig. 19;

Fig. 24 is a top plan view of the material sheet of Fig. 23 with the parts of the sheet of material sealed together by multiple seals to form eight individually sealed compartments each containing one of the food products and with lines of weakness formed in the sheet of material;

Fig. 25 shows a top plan view of a fourth illustrative container having individually sealed compartments fitted in a non-open configuration;

Fig. 26 shows a top plan view of the package of Fig. 25 in an open configuration;

Fig. 27 is an end elevational view of the package of Fig. 26;

Fig. 28 is the same view as Fig. 27, shown with a part of the package of Fig. 27 moving in a direction toward the fitted configuration;

Fig. 29 is the view of Fig. 28, shown with the package of Fig. 28 in the nested configuration and a closure flap in an open configuration;

Fig. 30 is the view of Fig. 29, shown with the package of Fig. 29 in the nested configuration and the closure flap moving towards the closed configuration;

Fig. 31 is the view of Fig. 30, shown with the package in the nested configuration and the closure flap in the closed configuration;

Fig. 31A shows a partial top plan view of one of the compartments of the package of Fig. 31, showing an illustrative configuration of the fin weakness line;

Fig. 31B shows a partial upper plan view of an alternative illustrative configuration of the fin weakness line of a compartment of the container of Fig. 31;

Fig. 31C shows a partial top plan view of another alternative configuration illustrating the fin weakness line of a compartment of the container of Fig. 31;

Fig. 31D shows a partial top plan view of another additional illustrative alternative configuration of the fin weakness line of a compartment of the container of Fig. 31;

Fig. 31E shows a partial top plan view of another additional illustrative alternative configuration of the fin weakness line of a compartment of the package of Fig. 31;

Fig. 31F shows a partial top plan view of another additional illustrative alternative configuration of the fin weakness line of a compartment of the container of Fig. 31;

Fig. 32 shows a top plan view of an illustrative package having an alternative food product orientation that it is possible to use to form an alternative package to the package of Fig. 25;

Fig. 33 shows a top plan view of a fifth illustrative container having stacked individual compartments, each unopened;

Fig. 34 shows a top plan view of an illustrative package that can be used to form the package of Fig. 33;

Fig. 35 is an end elevational view of the package of Fig. 34;

Fig. 36 is the view of Fig. 35, shown with a part of the container moving in a direction toward the stacked configuration;

Fig. 37 is the view of Fig. 36, shown with the package in the stacked configuration and a closure flap in an open configuration;

Fig. 38 is the view of Fig. 37, shown with the package in the stacked configuration and the closure flap moving towards the closed configuration;

Fig. 39 is the view of Fig. 38, shown with the package in the stacked configuration and the closure flap in the closed configuration;

Fig. 40 shows an end elevational view of the package of Fig. 26 in a rolled up configuration; and Fig. 41 shows a top plan view of an illustrative package having an alternative food product orientation that it is possible to use to form an alternative package to the package of Fig. 33.

Detailed description

The packages described herein include individually sealed compartments which may be formed by a single film web or opposed film webs. Each of the compartments includes a line of weakness that can be broken by pushing the back of the film material and the chewing gum toward the line of weakness. Advantageously, the line of weakness provides the compartments with an articulated fin that can remain attached to the rest of the film after the opening of the compartment by the consumer. During the initial opening of the compartment due to the breaking of a part of the line of weakness, it is possible to use a snap or other audible sound for the consumer to indicate that the container has been opened. Therefore, advantageously, the flap makes it possible to obtain an evidence of tamper evidence of the package.

In Figs. 1-5 a first illustrative package 10 is shown. The package 10 has a first side edge portion 11, a second side edge portion 13 opposite the first side edge portion 11, a first edge portion 15 free and a second portion 17 edge free opposite the first portion 15. of free edge. The package 10 has a length defined by a distance from the first side edge portion 11 to the second side edge portion 13. The package 10 has a width transverse to the length and is defined by a distance from the first free edge portion 15 to the second free edge portion 17.

Illustrative container 10 includes eight compartments 12 individually sealed, each configured to contain a food product therein. Each of the compartments 12 is individually sealed (preferably hermetically) by means of seals 14, 16 and 18, as shown in Fig. 1. The adjacent compartments 12 are contiguous with each other, as shown in Fig. 1, and are separable from each other and with respect to the container 10 by one or more lines of compartment weakness 20, 22, 23 and 25. The adjacent compartments 12 can be separated from each other individually, as shown in Fig. 6, in groups of two, as shown in Fig. 7, or in groups of three or more.

As shown in Fig. 1, the line of compartment weakness 20 extends from the first edge portion 11 to the second edge portion 13 of the container 10 and the compartment weakness lines 22, 23 and 25 extend from the first free edge part 15 to the second free edge part 17. The lines of compartment weakness 20, 22, 23 and 25 can be formed by a series of cut parts or lines of incision, as shown in Fig. 1. Alternatively, the lines of weakness 20, 22, 23 and 25 of compartment can be formed by a single line of continuous weakness similar to a line of weakness 24 of fin.

The lines of compartment weakness 22, 23 and 25 may be parallel to each other and perpendicular to the line of compartment weakness 20, as shown in Fig. 1. Alternatively, the lines of weakness 22, 23 and 25 of compartment may converge or diverge between each other. Furthermore, although the line of compartment weakness 20 has been shown in parallel with respect to a longitudinal axis of the package 10, the line of compartment weakness 20 may be inclined at various angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the package 10. Although the axis longitudinal of the container 10 is not shown in Fig. 1, it is understood that the longitudinal axis of the container 10 extends in parallel with respect to the first and second free edge parts 15 and 17 and passes through the first and second parts 11, 13 of the side edge of the container 10. Although the lines of compartment weakness 20, 22, 23 and 25 have been shown to be straight, the lines of compartment weakness 22, 23 and 25 may be curved (eg, convex). , concave, undulating, etc.).

One of the compartments 12 can be separated from the container 10 by tearing the compartment 12 along the lines of compartment weakness 20 and 22, as shown generally in Fig. 6. Alternatively, two of the compartments 12 they can be separated from the container 10 by tearing the compartments 12 and separating them from the container 10 along the line of compartment weakness 22, from the first free edge portion 15 to the second free edge portion 17, as shown in FIG. 7. It should be noted that the lines of weakness 20 and 22 allow the consumer to separate any number of compartments 12 from the package 10 at a time. For example, a tear along the line of compartment weakness 23 allows the consumer to separate four compartments 12 at a time, while a tear along the line of compartment weakness 25 allows the consumer to separate six compartments 12 from each compartment. once.

Each of the compartments 12 is configured to contain a food product 90, for example, a dragee or chewing gum, as shown in Fig. 3. It should be noted that the number of compartments 12 (ie, eight) and the number of chewing gum 90 (ie, one) in each of the compartments 12 have been shown only by way of example, and that the package 10 may have less than 8 compartments (eg, two, four, six, etc.). ), or more than eight compartments (eg, ten, twelve, fourteen or more), and each of the compartments 12 may contain more than one chewing gum or other confectionery product or other food product 90 therein. Furthermore, although the chewing gum 90 is shown in Fig. 3 not individually packed, it should be noted that the chewing gum or any other food product 90 contained in a compartment 12 of the package 10 can be individually packaged by a separate wrapper of the container 10. It should also it should be noted that the chewing gums are shown as the food product 90 only by way of example, and that other products, for example, chocolate, candy, or non-food products, may be contained in the compartments 12 of the package 10.

Each of the compartments 12 has a hermetically sealed interior 28 which contains the food product 90 therein and an opening 30 to allow access to the food product 90 contained within the interior 28, as shown in Fig. 5. The compartment 12 includes a rear or rear panel 32 and a front panel 34, which are sealed together to define the interior 28. More specifically, the rear panel 32 and the front panel 34 are sealed to each other along a longitudinal seal 14 and transverse seals 16, 18, as shown in Fig. 1. The front panel 34 and the rear panel 32 are also connected to each other by the free edge portion 15 of the container 10, allowing a part of the panel front 34 (i.e., flap 26) is moved (eg, by pivoting) with respect to rear panel 32 around free-edge portion 15 of container 10 when a consumer opens compartment 12.

The rear panel 32 of the compartment 12 has an outer surface 36 and an inner surface 38, and the front panel 34 of the compartment 12 has an outer surface 40 and an inner surface 42, as shown in Fig. 4. The compartment 12 it is configured so that the inner surfaces 38 and 42 of the rear and front panels 32 and 34, respectively, face each other. When the package 10 is in the non-open position, shown in Fig. 4, the food product 90 is contained within the interior 28 of the compartment 12 between the inner surfaces 38 and 42 of the rear and front panels 32 and 34, respectively.

Referring to Fig. 4, the rear panel 32 and the front panel 34 intersect each other and are joined by the free edge portion 15 of the container 10 to form a closed bottom end portion 44 of the compartment 12. Although the part 44 at the lower end of the compartment 12 is shown in the form of a fold in Fig. 4, it should be noted that the lower end part 44 of the compartment 12 can be formed by a joining of a part of the rear panel 32 and a part of the front panel 34 by a seal (eg, thermal seal, cold seal, etc.) , adhesive or similar.

The rear panel 32 and the front panel 34 are interconnected in a non-separable manner through the longitudinal seal 14 to form a closed upper end portion 46 of the compartment 12. Moreover, the rear panel 32 and the front panel 34 are joined together if preferably non-separable through the transverse seals 16, 18 to form a first and second closed side portions 48, 50 of the compartment 12, as shown in Fig. 6. For purposes of this description, "not separable. "Means a union not designed to separate.

As shown in Fig. 1, the longitudinal seal 14 extends generally in parallel with respect to the free edge portion 15 and the opposite free edge portion 17 of the container 10, while the transverse seals 16 and 18 extend generally parallel to each other and perpendicular with respect to the longitudinal seal 14 and to the free edge portions 15 and 17 of the container 10. Specifically, the longitudinal seal 14 extends in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the container 10 and with respect to the compartment weakness line 20 and connecting the seals 16 and 18 together, which extend in a direction parallel with respect to the compartment weakness line 22 and perpendicular with respect to the longitudinal axis and the line of weakness. of compartment. The seals 14, 16 and 18 may include a metallized layer to facilitate their formation.

A part of the front panel 34 of the compartment 12 is configured as an integral fin 26 which allows a consumer to open the compartment 12 to access the food product 90 in the compartment 12. In the embodiment of Fig. 1, each of the compartments 12 of the container 10 includes a fin weakness line 24 which allows the flap 26 of the compartment 12 to move around the free edge portion 15 of the package 10 of a non-open position, shown in Fig. 1, where avoids access to a food product 90, to an open position, shown in Fig. 3, where the consumer can access the food product 90. The line of weakness 24 of the fin can be an incision line, which can be formed by ablation laser, cut by die cutting, micro abrasion or similar. Flap weakness line 24 has a first and second spaced apart ends that intersect with free edge portion 15 of package 10 and extend from its first and second ends toward an opposite free edge portion 17 of package 10, such as it is shown in Fig. 3. Generally, the area defined between the line of weakness 24 principal and the free end portion 15 of the container 10 defines the flap 26, as shown in Figs. 1 -3.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, main weakness line 24 is generally U-shaped, and fin 26 includes four sides, and fin weakness line 24 extends along three of the sides of the flap 26. Flap weakness line 24 has first and second portions 24a and 24b that are substantially parallel to each other and extend from the first free edge portion 15 to the second free edge portion 17 of container 10. The first and the second part 24a, 24b of the line of weakness 24 of the fin are connected to each other by a third part 24c of the line of weakness 24 of the fin which is substantially perpendicular with respect to the first and second parts 24a, 24b of the line of main weakness 24, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Flap weakness line 24 has generally been shown in a U-shape only by way of example, and it should be noted that the fin weakness line 24 can have any other suitable shape, for example, square, triangular, oval, circular, trapezoidal or similar. More specifically, although the parts 24a, 24b of the line of weakness 24 have been shown as straight and parallel with respect to the sides 11, 13 of the side edge of the container 10, as shown in Fig. 3 , the parts 24a, 24b of the fin weakness 24 line may be non-parallel with respect to the side edge portions 11, 13 and may be non-linear (e.g., wavy or arched) or in the form of a line discontinuous

Also, although in Figs. 1-3 fin weakness line 24 is shown with its first and second ends intersecting with free edge portion 15 of container 10, fin weakness line 24 may be slightly spaced from free edge portion 15 of the container. package 10 in a direction toward the opposite free edge portion 17 of package 10. For purposes of this description, "substantially intersecting" will be understood as two lines that physically intersect or are slightly separated (eg, 1-5 millimeters) , 1 4 millimeters, 1-3 millimeters, 1 or 2 millimeters or less) without physically intersecting.

When the package 10 is in a non-open position, as shown in Fig. 4, the adjacent compartments 12 are joined together and detachably by the line of compartment weakness 20. The line of compartment weakness 20 also allows a joint to be obtained around which the adjacent compartments 12 can pivot with each other. The joint formed by the line of compartment weakness 20 may allow a consumer to move four of the compartments 12 of the package 10 around the line of compartment weakness 20 to bring the free edge portions 15 and 17 closer together so that they substantially overlap each other, advantageously bending the storage size of the container 10 in half. Similarly, the lines of compartment weakness 22, 23 and 25 form articulations that allow the adjacent compartments 12 to move around one of the respective compartment weakness lines 22, 23, 25, allowing a user to bend the 10 container to reduce its length.

As can be seen in Figs. 4 and 5, the upper end portion 46 of the compartment 12 is formed by the longitudinal seal 14 between the converging portions of the rear and front panels 32, 34, and the lower end portion 44 of the compartment 12 is formed by a fold that connects the rear and front panels 32, 34 and defines the free edge portion 15 of the container 10. Figs. 4-5 show that, because the illustrative package 10 is formed by a sheet of flexible material, a gap 52 defined by a distance between free ends 54, 56 of the flexible material can separate the upper end portions 46 from the adjacent compartments 12

When the compartment 12 of the package 10 is in the non-open position, access to the opening 30 and the interior 28 of the compartment 12 of the package 10 is blocked by the flap 26. Although the inner surface 42 of the front panel 34 and the inner surface 38 of the rear panel 32 are shown in Fig. 4 separated from the outer surface of the food product 90 for the sake of clarity, the inner surfaces 38 and 42 of the rear and front panels 32 and 34, respectively, may be in direct contact with the outer surface of the food product 90, in this example, chewing gum, when the package 10 is in an unopened position.

It should be noted that the container 10 is not drawn to scale and that the chewing gums 90 may be arranged closer or further apart than shown in Figs. 4-5. In addition, chewing gums 90 are not shown in Figs. 4 5 in cross section for clarity. Although the package 10 has been shown in Figs. 1-5 with the flap 26 formed in the front panel 34, alternatively, the flap 26 can be formed in the back panel 32 instead of the front panel 34. In another alternative embodiment, the package 10 can be formed in a manner that each of the front and rear panels 32 and 34 include the detachable fin 26, allowing a consumer to access the food product 90 within the interior 28 of the compartment 12, either through the front panel 34, by pushing the rear panel 32 , or through the rear panel 32, pushing the front panel 34.

With the package 10 in the non-open position shown in Fig. 4, the closure flap 26 is detachably attached to adjacent portions of the front panel 34 by the line of flap weakness 24, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. For purposes of this description, "detachably joined" means a union designed to be separated. The flap 26 of the compartment 12 is movable from the non-open position of Fig. 4 towards the open position of Fig. 5 in response to a force applied by a consumer. Specifically, to open the compartment 12 for accessing the food product 90 stored inside the compartment 28, the consumer can apply (eg, by one or more fingers) a force on the rear panel 32 of the compartment 12 in a direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5. It should be noted that, instead of applying a force on the rear panel 32 of the compartment 12 to open the flap 26, as shown in Fig. 5, the user can, for example, use two fingers to pinch the compartment 12 on both sides (i.e., both the rear panel 32 and the front panel and 34), as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and moving both fingers while pinching the compartment 12 both to initiate a tear in the fin weakness 24 line and to propagate the tear along the fin weakness line 24 to separate the fin 26 from adjacent parts of the front panel 34, so that the flap 26 opens to allow the consumer to access the interior 28 of the compartment 12.

The force applied by the consumer on the outer surface 36 of the rear panel 32 of the compartment 12 causes the rear panel 32, which is made of a flexible film, as described in more detail below, to deviate in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5. This deviation of the rear panel 32 of the compartment 12 allows the force applied by the consumer to be applied indirectly, through the inner surface 38 of the rear panel 32, in the food product 90, and makes that the food product 90 exerts a force in the direction towards the front panel 34. The force exerted by the food product 90 on the inner surface 42 of the front panel 34 along the fin 26 causes the flap 26 to move away from the flaps 26. adjacent portions of the front panel 34 along the fin weakness 24 line. This separation allows the flap 26 to pivot about the first free edge portion 15 of the package 10 towards an open position shown in Fig. 5, where the food product 90 is accessible by the consumer through the opening 30 created in the compartment 12 due to the separation of the flap 26 with respect to the adjacent parts of the front panel 34.

It is likely that the tension created by the opening force applied by the consumer in Fig. 5 causes a tearing through the part 24c of the line of weakness 24 of the fin, since the upper end of the food product 90, where the greater opening force applied by the consumer is substantially aligned with the part 24c of the line of weakness 24 of the fin, as shown in Fig. 3. It should be noted that the tearing in the line of weakness 24 of the fin it may also be initiated in one or, simultaneously, in both parts 24a and 24b of the weakness 24 line of fin. In one form, the weakness line 24 can be configured so that the part 24c requires a lower traction force for its breaking than the parts 24a and 24b of the line of weakness 24 of the fin, thus ensuring that the line of weakness 24 of fin is preferably initially broken in part 24c.

The flap 26 allows the consumer to obtain a visual indication of the degree of opening of the compartment 12 of the package 10, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Because a consumer would note some resistance during the separation of the flap 26 along the line of flap weakness 24, the flap 26 may allow to obtain a tactile response for the consumer during the initial opening of the compartment 12 of the container 10. Furthermore, because the consumer would hear a click during the initial separation of the flap 26 along the line of weakness 24 of the flap, the flap 26 may allow obtaining an auditory response for the consumer during the initial opening of the container 10.

After the flap 26 has been separated from the adjacent portions of the front panel 34 of the compartment 12 along the line of weakness 24 of the flap, the flap 26 no longer obstructs the opening 30 of the compartment 12 and no longer seals the interior 28 of the compartment 12. An interior surface 86 of the open fin 26 may include graphic markings that may be visually appealing to consumers. The graphic marks can be printed, stamped, painted or applied on the interior surface 86 of the fin 26 by any other suitable means. The graphic marks may have any regular or irregular geometric shape (eg, triangular, star, snowflake) or be a physical object (eg, a flower, butterfly, cartoon character or the like) ). The graphic marks can be applied on the interior surface 86 of each of the fins 26 of the compartments, on some of the fins 26 or none of the fins 26.

The flap 26 can be non-detachably connected to the rear panel 32 in the first free edge portion 15 of the package 10, as shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, when the compartment 12 is in the open position shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the flap 26 remains attached to the rear panel 32 of the compartment 12 in the free edge portion 15, although it no longer seals the compartment 12 of the container 10 or blocks access to the opening 30 of the compartment 12. In fact, a The consumer can remove the food product 90 from the compartment 12 through the opening 30 shown in FIG. 5. It should be noted that the front panel 34 of the compartment 12 and the line of weakness 24 can be configured so that the fin 26 is completely detachable from the front panel 34 and the rear panel 32 of the compartment 12. Therefore, the flap 26 allows to obtain a freshness guarantee seal and / or a tamper evident feature of each of the compartments 12 of the container 10, so that the absence of the flap 26 or its partial separation would visually indicate to a consumer that a compartment 12 of the package 10 has been opened or previously handled.

A consumer who wishes to at least partially close the compartment 12 of the package 10 from the open position of Fig. 5 to the non-open position of Fig. 4 after the initial opening of the compartment 12, as described above , and using the food product 90 (eg, chewing gum sheets or chips), can again dispose the used chewing gum 90 inside the compartment 28 and move the front panel 34 in a direction towards the used chewing gum 90 and towards the rear panel 32, so that the inner surface 86 of the flap 26 contacts and adheres with respect to the outer surface of the chewing gum 90. The consumer may apply some force, for example, by pinching the rear and front panels 32, 34 from the compartment 12 towards each other, to ensure a secure attachment of the used chewing gum 90 to the inner surface 38 of the rear panel 32 and to the inner surface 86 of the front panel 34 of the compartment 12, reclosing at least partially the chewing gum 90 used in compartment 12 for disposal in a trash receptacle.

When the compartment 12 of the container 10 has at least partially closed again, as described above, the food product 90 is contained in the compartment 12 of the container 10 and its sagging and removal from the compartment 12 is prevented. , a consumer who wishes to dispose of the compartment 12 containing the used food product 90 can completely separate the compartment 12 from the container 10 along the lines of compartment weakness 20 and 22, as shown in Fig. 6, and it can then arrange the separate compartment 12 containing the food product 90 used in a waste container. Advantageously, this allows the consumer to obtain an easy way to dispose of used gum 90 without having to search for a piece of paper to wrap the used gum 90.

With reference to Figs. 8A-10, an illustrative method of manufacturing the package 10 is described. The manufacturing method is shown generally in FIGS. 8A-10 illustrating the orientation and manipulation of the flexible material 100 of which the package 10 is made, without showing the machinery of the corresponding manufacturing line. It should be noted that the flexible material 100 can be unwound from a supply roll and can be supplied as a band in a direction of the machine indicated by the direction arrow shown in Fig. 10. It will be understood that the flexible film 100 and the product food 90 can be supplied on a stationary plate, a mobile conveyor or the like.

It is possible to manufacture the package 10 from a single sheet 100 of flexible material, as shown, for example, in Fig. 8A. Alternatively, it is possible to manufacture the package 10 from two opposed sheets 100 of flexible material, as shown, for example, in Fig. 8B. The flexible material 100 can be a film made of polymers, laminates, metallized polymers, paper or the like. For purposes of illustration clarity of the method, a portion of the flexible film 100 from which it is possible to manufacture the package 10 is shown in Figs. 8A-10. When oriented in one direction of the machine indicated in Fig. 8A by an arrow, the single illustrative flexible film sheet 100 has a leading edge 111 (which corresponds to the side edge portion 11 of the package 10), an edge rear 113 (which corresponds to the side edge portion 13 of the container 10), a first longitudinal side edge 154 (which corresponds to the free end 54 of the packaging film 10), a second longitudinal side edge 156 (which is it corresponds to the free end 56 of the package film 10) and an upwardly facing surface 160 in which it is possible to arrange the food product 90 during the manufacture of the package 10.

As the flexible film 100 moves in the direction of the machine indicated by the direction arrow in Fig. 8A, it is possible to form fold lines and / or fold lines, as well as lines of weakness, in the flexible film 100. Specifically, it is possible to form lines of weakness 124 (which correspond to the weakness lines 24 of the container flap 10) in the flexible film 100 using, for example, a laser In addition, it is possible to form lines of weakness 120, 122, 123 and 125 (which correspond to the weakness lines 20, 22, 23 and 25 of the container compartment 10) in the film 100 using, for example, laser ablation. The lines of weakness 124 of fin, as well as the lines of weakness 120, 122, 123 and 125 of the compartment, can be formed in the flexible film 100 before or after unwinding the flexible film 100 from the supply roll in the direction of machine. Flap weakness lines 124, as well as lines of weakness 120, 122, 123 and 125 of the compartment, can be formed in the flexible film 100 before or after depositing the food product 90 on the surface 160 facing upwards of the 100 flexible film.

A pair of crease lines or fold lines 115 and 117 (corresponding to the free edge portions 15 and 17 of the package 10, respectively) can be formed in the flexible film 100, as shown in Fig. 8A . In the illustrative method shown in Fig. 8A, the fold lines 115, 117 extend from the leading edge portion 111 to the trailing edge portion 113 and intersect with the first and second ends of the weakening lines. of fin. The folding lines 115, 117 can be formed in the flexible film 100 before or after unwinding the flexible film 100 from the supply roll in the machine direction. The folding lines 115 and 117 can be formed in the flexible film 100 before or after depositing the food product 90 on the upwardly facing surface 160 of the flexible film 100. Preferably, the folding lines 115, 117 are formed when the part 154, 156 of the longitudinal edge of the flexible film 100 is bent in a direction indicated by the direction arrows in Fig. 9. In an embodiment where the folding lines 115 and 117 are created in the flexible film 100 before bending of the flexible film 100 shown in Fig. 9, said bending lines can be formed, for example, by rollers, suitable lasers, or the like, before the instant when the flexible film 100 is unwound from the supply roll or after the flexible film 100 is unwound from the supply roll.

Although the first and second bending lines 115 and 117 have been shown in Fig. 8A, both intersecting with the leading and trailing edge portions 111, 113 of the flexible film 100, as well as with the free ends of the lines of weakness 124 of fin, it should be noted that the fold lines 115, 117 can "substantially intersect" with the front and rear edge portions 111, 113 and the free ends of the fin weakness 124 lines. In other words, the bending lines 115, 117 may be slightly spaced (eg, 1 -2 millimeters or less) from the trailing edge portions 111, 113 and the free end portions 115, 117 of the lines. of weakness 124 of fin. Although the fold lines 115, 117 and the lines of weakness 120, 122, 123 and 125 of the compartment have been shown in Fig. 8 as straight lines, it should be noted that one or both lines 115, 117 of bending and lines of weakness 120, 122, 123 and 125 of the compartment can be non-linear, curved or discontinuous, instead of having the form of a single continuous line.

Referring to Fig. 8A, the area 126 of the flexible film 100 between the fin weakness line 124 and the fold line 115 corresponds to the fin 26 of the container 10. The area 134 disposed adjacent to the line of weakness 124 of fin and disposed within a perimeter defined by lines of compartment weakness 120, 122, fold line 115 and leading edge 111 of flexible film 100 corresponds to front panel 34 of container compartment 12 10. The area 132 disposed within a perimeter defined by the front and rear ends 111, 113, the longitudinal edge portion 154 and the folding line 115 of the flexible film 100 correspond to the rear panel 32 of the container compartment 12 10

It should be noted that the locations of flap weakness lines 124 in the flexible film 100 shown in Fig. 8A are shown only by way of example, and that the fin weakness 124 lines can be formed alternatively in the film. flexible 100 in illustrative locations shown in Figs. 8B-D or other suitable locations for a specific container. For example, the formation of fin weakness lines 124 at locations in the flexible film as shown in Fig. 8B allows obtaining a container having a different orientation from the fins 26 of the package 10 assembled. Specifically, while the flap 26 of the package 10 mounted from the flexible film 100 shown in Fig. 8A is moved to an open position by pivoting with respect to the rear panel 32 around the free edge portion 15 of the container 10 when the compartment 12 is being opened by a consumer, as shown in Fig. 3, in a container mounted from the flexible film 100 shown in Fig. 8B, the flap 26 moves to a open position pivoting with respect to the rear panel 32 around the longitudinal edge portion 156 of the container, being able to overlap substantially with the line of compartment weakness 20.

Fig. 8C shows another alternative formation of fin weakness lines 124 in flexible film 100. Specifically, while lines of fin weakness 124 in Fig. 8A are formed in areas 132 of the flexible film. 100 which correspond to the rear panels 32 of the container 10, the lines of weakness 124 of fin in Fig. 8B are both formed in the areas 132 of the flexible film 100 corresponding to the rear panels 32 of the container 10 and in the area 134s of the flexible film 100 corresponding to the front panels 34 of the container 10. The disposition of the flap weakness lines 124 as shown in Fig. 8B allows a container having fins 26 that can be obtained. opening formed in the front and rear panels of the container, which allows a user to open the container by applying an opening force from either side of the container, unlike the container 10 of Fig. 4, which has a flap 26 that is p can open formed only in the front panel 34 and can be opened by an opening force applied from one side (ie, the rear panel 32) of the container 10.

Fig. 8D also shows another alternative formation of the fin weakness lines in the flexible film 100. Specifically, while the lines of fin weakness 124 in Fig. 8C formed in the areas 132 and 134 of the flexible film 100 are oriented in the same direction, the fin weakness lines 124 of FIG. 8D formed in the areas 132 and 134 of the flexible film 100 are oriented in opposite directions. Similar to the arrangement of the flap weakness lines 124 shown in Fig. 8C, the arrangement of flap weakness lines 124 shown in Fig. 8D allows obtaining a package having flaps 26 that can be opened formed in the front and rear panels of the container, although the fins 26 in the front panels 34 of the container 10 made from flexible film 100 of Fig. 8C would have an inverse orientation as compared to the fins 26 in the front panels 34 of the container 10 made from flexible film 100 of Fig. 8D.

While the flexible film 100 moves in the machine direction, a food product, such as chewing gum 90, is deposited on the upwardly facing surface 160 of the flexible film 100, as shown in Fig. 9. Chewing gum 90 are disposed on the surface 160 facing upwards of the flexible film, so that each of the chewing gums 90 fits completely within the area of the flap 126, i.e., without protruding beyond the line of weakness 124 of flap or line 115 of folded. It should be noted that any one or a greater number of the chewing gums 90 may partially protrude (eg, 1-3 millimeters or less) from the area enclosed by the fin 126.

Although in Fig. 9 the food product 90 has been shown in the form of chewing gum, it is possible to use food products other than chewing gum, for example, candies, chocolates or the like, together with the flexible film 100 instead of the chewing gum. In one proposal, a non-food product can be used to wrap in the package 10 together with the flexible film 100. Optionally, the food product 90 or the non-food product can be detachably attached to the surface 160 facing upwards. the flexible film 100, for example, by a suitable adhesive material, adhesive tape or the like. Optionally, the areas 126 of the upwardly facing surface 160 of the flexible film 100 where the food products 90 are disposed may at least partially include a non-slip surface. An anti-slip surface and / or a detachable attachment of the food product 90 to the upwardly facing surface 160 of the flexible film 100 of this type can prevent undesirable displacements of the food product 90 on the surface 160 facing upward of the flexible film 100 when the flexible film 100 moves in the direction of the machine during manufacture.

With the food product 90 disposed on the upwardly facing surface 160 of the flexible film 100 as shown in FIG. 9, the opposite longitudinal edge portions 154, 156 of the flexible film 100 can be folded inwardly around the lines. 115 and 117, respectively, and approaching each other in the direction indicated by the direction arrows in Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 10, the first and second longitudinal edge portions 154, 156 of the flexible film 100 are moved to a position where the portions 132 of the flexible film 100 cover the parts 126 and 134 of the flexible film 100 and cover the food product 90, while the first and second longitudinally extending portions 154 and 156 they are arranged adjacent to each other to create the interstice 152 therebetween. The gap 152 may be, for example, approximately 1-3 millimeters or smaller.

It should be noted that the gap 152 between the first and second longitudinal edges 154 and 156 has been exaggerated for clarity and that the gap 152 may not be visible in the finished package 10 by the consumer. It should also be noted that the first and second longitudinal edges 154 and 156 may be arranged in direct contact with each other so that the gap 152 between them is substantially eliminated. Furthermore, it should be noted that the dimensions in Figs. 8-10 are merely illustrative and not drawn to scale, and that it is possible to use flexible film 100 to manufacture flexible packages with various shapes and sizes. In Figs.

11-41 examples of such packages are shown, and will be described below.

Once the first and second longitudinal edges 154 and 156 of the flexible film 100 have been folded inwardly, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, parts of the areas 132 and 134 of the flexible film 100 are sealed together along the areas 114, 116 and 118 to form eight individually sealed (and preferably hermetically) compartments 112 each including a single chewing gum 90. The sealing can be carried out by means of a cold seal or a thermal seal. Adhesive materials, lamination, bonding, welding, UV curing or fusion can be used instead of heat sealing.

Finally, the package 10 can be separated from the rest of the flexible film 100. For example, a cutting device, such as cutting jaws, can make one or more cuts through the flexible film 100 to separate the individual package 10. Advantageously, the method described above allows the container 10 described above to be easily formed from a single sheet 100 of flexible film (or two identical identical sheets 100 of flexible film) and avoids the use of a material for the back panel of the container 10 and another different material for the front panel of the container 10.

In Figs. 11-15 a container 200 is shown according to another form. Unlike package 10, which includes eight individually sealed compartments 12 arranged in two rows of four compartments 12 in each row, as shown in Fig. 1, package 200 includes five compartments arranged in a single row. Each of the compartments 12 is configured to contain a food product 90, for example, a chewing gum sheet, as shown in Fig. 12. The chewing gum sheets can be unpacked as shown in Fig. 12, or they can each be optionally packaged individually in a separate wrapping material. It should be noted that the number of compartments (ie, five) and the number of chewing gum sheets (ie, one) in each of the compartments 212 have been shown only by way of example, and that the package 200 may have less than five compartments (eg, four, three or two) or more than five compartments (eg, six, seven, eight or more), and that each of the compartments 12 may contain more than one sheet of chewing gum or other food product or non-food product 90. As regards the rest, the container 200 is generally similar to the container 10, as will be described in more detail below.

For ease of reference, aspects of the container 200 that are similar to the aspects of the package 10 described above have been indicated by similar reference numbers, preceded by a "2." The package 200 has a general structure similar to the package 10 described above and can be formed from a single sheet of flexible film or two sheets of flexible film, with some differences highlighted below.

The adjacent compartments 212 of the container 200 are contiguous with each other and are joined together by a respective line of the compartment weakness lines 222, 223, 225 or 227, as shown in Fig. 11. The adjacent compartments 212 of the container 200 can be separated from each other and from container 200 along the line of compartment weakness 222, as shown in Fig. 15. Alternatively, two of compartments 212 can be simultaneously separated from container 200 along of compartment weakness line 223, three of the compartments 212 can be simultaneously separated from the container 200 along the line of weakness 225 of compartment or four of the compartments 212 can be simultaneously separated from the container 200 along the line of weakness 227 of compartment. This constitutes a difference between the container 200 and the container 10, since the separation of an individual compartment 12 from the container 10 requires the separation of the compartment 12 along two compartment weakness lines 20 and 22, as shown in FIG. Fig. 6

As shown in FIG. 11, the lines of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 extend from the first free edge portion 215 to the second free edge portion 217 of the container 200. Similar to the lines of compartment weakness 22, 23 and 25, the lines of weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 of the compartment may be formed by a series of cut parts or lines of incision, as shown in Fig. 11, or may be formed by a single line of continuous weakness similar to the line of weakness 224 of fin. The lines of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225, 227 can form articulation areas between adjacent compartments 212, so that adjacent compartments 212 can be movable around a respective line of compartment lines 222, 223, 225 and 227. to bend the container 200 so that it has a shorter length.

The lines of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 may be parallel to each other, as shown in Fig. 11, or may converge or diverge from each other. Furthermore, although the line of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 has been shown to be perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the container 200, the lines of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 may be inclined at various angles with with respect to the longitudinal axis. Although the lines of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 have been shown to be straight, the lines of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 may be curved (eg, convex, concave, undulating, etc.). .

Preferably, each individual compartment 212 of the container 10 is hermetically sealed. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 11, each of the compartments 212 includes three seals 214, 216, 218. The adjacent compartments 212 are joined together and can be separated from each other along the lines of weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 of compartment, which extend between the adjacent compartments 212 of the container 10. The longitudinal seal 214 extends in a direction along the longitudinal axis of the container 10 and connects the cross seals 216 and 218, which extend in a parallel direction with respect to the line of compartment weakness 222 and perpendicular with respect to the longitudinal axis and to the longitudinal seal 214. The longitudinal axis of the container 200 is not shown in Fig. 11, but it is understood that the longitudinal axis is extends in parallel with respect to the first and second free edge portions 215, 217 of the container 200 and passes through the first and second side edge portions 211, 213 of the container 200.

Each of the compartments 212 has a hermetically sealed interior 228 configured to contain the food product 290 therein and an opening 230 to allow access to the food product 290, as shown in Fig. 14. The compartment 212 includes a panel rear 232 and a front panel 234, which are sealed together to define the interior 228. Specifically, the rear panel 232 and the front panel 234 are sealed together along the longitudinal seal 214 and the transverse seals 216, 218 , as shown in Fig. 11. The front panel 234 and the rear panel 232 are also connected together by the first free edge portion 215 of the container 200, allowing a portion of the front panel 234, such as the flap 226, moves (e.g., by pivoting) with respect to the rear panel 232 around the free edge portion 215 of the container 15 when a consumer opens the compartment 212.

With reference to Figs. 13-14, the rear panel 232 and the front panel 234 intersect and are joined by the first free edge portion 215 of the container 200 to form a closed bottom end portion 244 of the compartment 212. The rear panel 232 and the front panel 234 are non-releasably joined together in the second free edge portion 217 of the container 200 through the seal 214 to form a closed upper end portion 246 of the compartment 212, as shown in Fig. 13. In addition, the rear panel 232 and the front panel 234 are non-removably attached to each other through the transverse seals 216, 218 to form a first and second closed side portions 248, 250 of the compartment 212 of the container 200, as shown in FIG. Fig. 15

A part of the front panel 234 of the compartment 212 is configured in the form of a flap 226 that allows a consumer to open the compartment 212 of the package 200 from an unopened position to an open position to access the food product 290 in the compartment 212. Each one of the compartments 212 of the container 200 shown in Fig. 11 includes line of weakness 224 that allows the flap 226 of the compartment 212 to move around the free edge portion 215 of the container 200 from an unopened position, shown in Fig. 11, where access to a food product 290 is prevented, to an open position, shown in Fig. 12, where the consumer can access the food product 290. During the movement of the flap 226 from the position not open to the open position, the flap 226 is separated from adjacent portions of the front panel 234, but may remain attached to the free edge portion 215 of the package 200, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

As shown in Fig. 11, the weakness line 224 of the container 200 is similar to the weakness line 24 of the container 10 due to the fact that it also has a first and a second parallel portions 224a, 224b with first and second ends intersecting the free edge portion 215 and extending toward the second edge portion 217 of the container 200 from the free edge portion 215 of the container 200. The first and second portions 224a, 224b of the line of weakness 224 of the fin are connected to each other by a third part 224c of the line of weakness 224 of the fin which is perpendicular with respect to the first and second parts 224a, 224b of the line of weakness 224 of the fin.

As can be seen, for example, in Figs. 9 and 17, the food product 290 stored in the container 200 has a longer length and is a longer elongated rectangle compared to the food product 90. In other words, the food product 290 is shown in the form of chewing gum sheets, and the food product 90 is shown in the form of grajeas. To accommodate the increased length of the food product 290 as compared to the food product 90, the compartments 212 of the container 200 correspond to a larger width in a direction from the first free end portion 215 to the second free end portion 217. of the container 200 than the compartments 12 of the container 10. The fins 226 of the compartment 212 of the container 200 also have a length greater than the fins 26 of the compartment 12 of the container 10, as can be seen with reference to Figs. 1 and 11.

When the compartment 212 of the container 200 is in the non-open position shown in Fig. 13, access to the opening 230 and the interior 228 of the compartment 212 of the container 200 is blocked by the flap 226. The flap 226 of the compartment 212 of the package 200 is movable from the non-open position of Fig. 13 to the open position of Fig. 14 in response to a force applied by a user in compartment 212 and, in turn, in food product 290, such as it has been described above with reference to Fig. 5. Specifically, to open the compartment 212 of the container 200 in order to access the food product 290 stored inside the compartment 228 of the compartment 212, a consumer can apply (e.g. by one or more fingers) a force on the outer surface 236 of the rear panel 232 of the compartment 212 in a direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 14. In this way, the compartment 212 of the container 200 opens as shown. in Figs. 12 and 14, similar to the manner in which the compartment 12 of the package 10 is opened as shown in Figs. 2 and 5 in response to the force exerted by the user. It should be noted that, instead of applying a force on the rear panel 232 of the compartment 212 to open the flap 226, as shown in Fig. 14, the user can, for example, use two fingers to pinch the compartment 212 in both sides, as shown in Figs. 12 and 14, and moving both fingers while pinching the compartment 212 both to initiate a tear in the fin weakness line 224 and to propagate the tear along the weakness line 224 to separate the flap 226 from adjacent portions of the front panel 234, so that ^{the flap 226 opens to allow the consumer to access the interior} 228 of the compartment 212.

With reference to Figs. 16A-16C, 17 and 18, an illustrative method of manufacturing the package 10 is described. Generally, the package 200 can be manufactured from a single sheet 300 of flexible material (or opposed sheets 300A and 300B of the flexible material 300) using a method substantially similar to the method shown in Figs. 8-10, referring to the flexible film 100 above. Because the container 200 includes only one row having five adjacent compartments 212 instead of two rows having four adjacent compartments, such as the container 10, the method shown in Figs. 16A-16C, 17 and 18 includes a difference with respect to the method of Figs. 8-10.

Specifically, as described above, in the method of Figs. 8-10, two free ends (or longitudinal edges) 154, 156 of the flexible film 100 are bent toward each other in the direction shown in Fig. 9 around the fold lines 115 and 117, respectively, and are disposed of. shape adjacent to each other to overlap substantially with line of weakness 120 and cover the food product 90, as shown in Fig. 10. In contrast, in the method of Figs. 16A-16C, 17 and 18, only one free end or longitudinal edge 356 of the flexible film 300 is bent in the direction shown in FIG. 17 around a fold line 315 and is arranged to overlap substantially with the end portion. free or longitudinal edge 317 of the film 300 and cover the food product 290, as shown in Fig. 18. In this way, while the flexible film 100 includes two fold lines 115 and 117 and a line of weakness 120 of compartment, the flexible film 300 includes only a fold line 315 and does not have a line of weakness that corresponds to the line of weakness 120 of the compartment.

Oriented in the direction of the machine indicated by the arrow in Fig. 16A, the single illustrative flexible film sheet 300 has a front edge portion 311 (which corresponds to the side edge portion 311 of the container 200), a rear edge portion 313 (which corresponds to the side edge portion 213 of the container 200), a first longitudinal side edge portion 354 (which corresponds to the free end 254 of the container film 200) , a second part 317 of longitudinal side edge (which corresponds to a free end portion 217 of the container 200) and an upwardly facing surface 360 in which it is possible to arrange the food product 290 during the manufacture of the container 200. The line 315 of bending can be formed before unwinding the flexible film 300 from a roll, after unwinding the flexible film 300 from the roll and before or after disposing the food product 290 in the film 300 and folding the film 300 as shown in Fig. 17, or as a result of the folding of the film 300 as shown in Fig. 17.

Referring to Fig. 16A, the area 326 of the flexible film 300 between the line of weakness 324 and the fold line 315 corresponds to the flap 226 of the container 200. The area 334 adjacent to the line of weakness 324 of fin and disposed within a meter defined by the line of compartment weakness 322, the fold line 315, the front edge portion 311 and the longitudinal edge portion 317 of the flexible film 300 correspond to the front panel 234 of the compartment 212 of container 200. A portion of area 332 of flexible film 300 that is opposite and corresponding to area 334 corresponds to rear panel 232 of compartment 212 of container 200.

Although the container 200 is shown in Figs. 16A, 17 and 18 formed by a single sheet 300 of flexible film, it should be noted that the package 200 can be made alternatively from two opposite sheets or bands 300A and 300B of film, as shown in Fig. 16B . In the embodiment shown in Fig. 16B, instead of forming the package 200 by folding a single flexible film sheet 300 around the folding line 315 to cover the chewing gum sheets 290, as shown in Fig. 17, a sheet 300B of film is arranged to overlap the chewing sheet 290 in the sheet 300A, and the film sheets 300a and 300B are sealed together by a cold seal, a hot seal and / or adhesives to obtain a configuration closed of the flexible film 300 as shown substantially in Fig. 18. Although the film sheets 300A and 300B are shown in Fig. 16B with lines of compartment weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 formed therein before of the joint by sealing the film sheets 300A and 300B, it should be noted that the film sheets 300A and the lines of weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 of the compartment can be formed after sealing the sheets 300A and 300B of each other. movie It should be noted that any of the packages described herein may be made of two film sheets sealed together, as shown in FIG. 16B, instead of a single sheet of film bent around one or more lines of film. folded, as shown in Figs. 8-10.

In an alternative embodiment, instead of forming the package 200 by folding a single flexible film sheet 300 around the fold line 115, as shown in FIGS. 17-18, it is possible to form the package 200 from a single flexible film sheet 600 by a continuous flow packaging process with a movement in the direction of the machine, indicated by the arrow shown in Fig. 16C. . In the embodiment shown in Fig. 16D, the illustrative package 700 produced by the continuous flow packaging process is similar to the package 200 shown in Figs. 13-14, although it includes a fin-shaped seal 751 extending from the rear panel 732 which seals the free ends of the film 752 and 754 through a sealing area 714, which may be a cold seal. , a hot seal or an adhesive. In an alternative embodiment shown in Fig. 16e, an illustrative package 1700 produced by the continuous flow packaging process is similar to the package 700 shown in Fig. 16D, although, instead of the fin shaped tab 751, it includes a overlapping seal 1761 extending in a portion of back panel 1732 and sealed with respect to the exterior surface of back panel 1732 through a sealing area 1714, which may be a cold seal, a hot seal or a adhesive. It should be noted that it is possible to manufacture any of the containers described herein by encapsulating the food product into a single flexible film sheet by packing a flow pack instead of bending a single sheet of flexible material around one or more folding lines. , as shown in Figs. 9-10 and 17-18.

While the flexible film 300 of FIG. 16A moves in the direction of the machine, a food product 290 is deposited on the upwardly facing surface 360 of the flexible film 300, as shown in FIG. 17. The sheets 290 of chewing gum are disposed on the surface 360 facing upwards of the flexible film, so that each of the sheets 290 of chewing gum fully fits within the area of the flap 326, i.e. not protruding beyond the line of weakness 324 of fin or bend line 315. It should be noted that any one or a higher number of the chewing gum sheets 290 may partially protrude (eg, 1 2 millimeters or less) from the area 326 defining the fin 226 of the container 200.

With the food product 290 disposed on the upwardly facing surface 360 of the flexible film 300, as shown in Fig. 17, the longitudinal edge 356 of the flexible film 300 is bent in the direction indicated by the arrows and it is arranged to overlap substantially with the longitudinal edge portion 317 and cover the food product 290 and the parts 326 and 334 of the flexible film 300, as shown in Figs. 17-18. It should be noted that it will be understood that "substantially overlapping" means that it is not necessary for the longitudinal edge 356 of the flexible film 300 to overlap directly with the longitudinal edge portion 317, but may be arranged at a small distance from the longitudinal edge portion 317. , with a small space between them, for example, 1-5 millimeters, 1-4 millimeters, 1-3 millimeters, 1-2 millimeters or less.

Once the longitudinal edge 356 of the flexible film 100 has been folded inwardly, as shown in Fig. 17, to a position shown in Fig. 18, portions of the areas 332 and 334 of the flexible film 134 are they seal each other along the areas 314, 316 and 318, for example, by heat sealing, to form five compartments 312 individually sealed (and preferably hermetically), each of the compartments 312 including a single chewing gum 290. Adhesive materials, lamination, bonding can be used , welding, UV curing or fusion instead of heat sealing.

Finally, the container 200 is separated from the rest of the flexible film 300. For example, a cutting device, such as cutting jaws, can make one or more cuts through the flexible film 300 to separate the individual package 200 shown in Fig. 18. Advantageously, the method described above allows the container 200 described above to be easily formed from a single sheet 300 of flexible film or two sheets 300 of flexible film, while avoiding the use of a material for the rear panel 232 of the container 200 and another material different for the front panel 234 of the container 200. Moreover, the method allows to obtain a container 200 with a characteristic that allows to obtain an easy opening of a compartment 212 of the container 200, an auditory signal that indicates to the consumer that compartment 212 has been opened and a tamper indicator.

In Fig. 19 a package 400 according to another form is shown. The package 19 is generally similar to the package 10 in that the package 400 includes eight individually sealed compartments 412 arranged in two rows of four compartments 412 in each row. As shown in Fig. 19, the container 400 has a general structure similar to that of the container 10 and 400 described above in that the container 400 can be formed from a single flexible film sheet (by bending or flow packaging processing) or by joining two sheets of flexible film, and can be opened in substantially the same manner as package 10 in response to a force application by a consumer on a panel of package 400, highlighting some differences below. For ease of reference, aspects of the container 400 that are similar to the aspects of the package 10 described above have been indicated by similar reference numbers, preceded by a "4."

Specifically, as shown in Fig. 8A, when the food product 90 is disposed in the flexible film 100 that is used to produce the package 10, the areas 126 of the flexible film 100 where the food product is disposed 90 they are oriented in the same horizontal plane as the adjacent areas 134 of the flexible film 100. One difficulty that may arise during the production of a package from the flexible film 100, as shown in Fig. 8A, is that the food product 90 can move or move unintentionally from the desired position in flexible film 100 due to movement of flexible film 100 along a manufacturing line in the machine direction shown in Fig. 8A.

To limit the movement of the food product 90 in the flexible film 500 during manufacture, it is possible to form thermoformed cavities in the flexible film 500 of FIG. 21 from which the container 400 is formed to form pouches 580 in the flexible film 500, as shown in Fig. 22A. The pouches 580 contain the chewing gums 90 in their interior, as shown in Fig. 23A. For example, the thermoformed pouches 580 may be formed by one or more vacuum devices and by one or more molds with a corresponding shape disposed below a surface through which the flexible film 500 moves, so that the vacuum device may making parts of the flexible film 500 fill the molds and take the form of a sachet 480 containing the chewing gums 90, as shown in Figs. 19 and 20. Once the pockets 580, each with a perimeter 582, have been formed in the flexible film 500 and the food product 90 has been disposed in the pockets 580, as shown in Fig. 23A, the container 400 can be shaped in a manner similar to the manner in which the package 10 is formed from the flexible film 100, as shown in Figs. 8-10. Specifically, the package 400 can be formed from the flexible film 500 by folding portions of the flexible film 500 in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 23A to a position shown in Fig. 24. It should be noted that, alternatively, the package 400 can be made from two opposed film sheets or bands 500A and 500B, as shown in Fig. 23B.

A difference between the container 10 of Figs. 4-5 and the container 400 of Figs. 19-20 is that, due to the presence of the thermoformed sachets 482 in the container 400, portions of the rear panel 432 of the container 400 contain and enclose more food product 90 therebetween than corresponding portions of the back panel 32 of the container 10. In other words, while parts of the rear panels 32 and the front panels 34 diverge from each other and with respect to the side edge portion 13 of the container 10 according to similar angles, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, portions of the rear panels 432 of the container 400 diverge away from the side edge portion 413 of the container 400 to a greater degree than the corresponding portions 32 diverge from the side edge portion 13 of the container 10. .

As can also be seen in Figs. 4-5 and 19-20, another difference between the container 10 and the container 400 is that portions of the front panels 434 of the container 400 contain less amount of food product 90 therebetween than corresponding portions of the front panels 34 of the container 10. In other words, portions of the front panels 434 diverge from the side edge portion 413 of the container 400 to a lesser degree than the corresponding portions of the front panels 32 diverge from the side edge portion 13 of the container 10. In other words, the orientation of the front and rear panels 32 and 34 appears to be more symmetrical with respect to the side edge portion 13 of the container 10 than the orientation of the front and rear panels 432 and 434 with respect to part 413 of lateral edge of the container 400, as can be seen in Figs. 4-5 and 19-20.

Fig. 22B shows a flexible sheet 800 of material according to an alternative embodiment, where some of the flap incision lines 824 are formed on one side of the folding line 815 and some of the flap incision lines 824 are formed at an opposite side of the bend line 815. More specifically, Fig. 22B shows an embodiment of a flexible film material 800 where, in addition to the lines of weakness 822, 823, 825 and 827 of the compartment and the lines of weakness 824 of the fin, the flexible film 800 includes adhesive areas 860 that allow the resulting container 900 to bend to a non-open configuration, as shown in Fig. 22C.

Referring to Fig. 22C, the container 900 is similar to the container 200 in that it includes five chewing gum sheets wrapped in five individually sealed compartments 912a-912e of the container 900. Similar to the container 200, the compartments 912a- 912e of the container 900 can be opened individually to extract the food product 290 contained therein and individually separated from the container 900 along one of the lines of weakness 922, 923, 925 and 927 of respective compartment. Unlike the container 900. Unlike the compartments 212 of the container 200, which have an orientation that can be described as generally flat, linear or adjacent, as shown in Fig. 11, the container 900 has a orientation that can be described as in accordion form, as shown in Fig. 22C, which allows the package 900 to be more compact by having a smaller length.

Another difference between the containers 200 and 900 is that the adjacent compartments 912a-912e of the container 900 are not only joined together by a line of weakness 222, 223, 225 and 227 of respective compartment, such as the compartments 212 of the container 200, but which are also joined together in a non-separable manner by the adhesive areas 960, as shown in Fig. 22C. The adhesive selected for the adhesive areas 960 is selected to create a non-separable bond from the rear panel 932 of an upper adjacent compartment, eg, 912a, to a portion of the vane 926 of a lower adjacent compartment, eg, 912b. For purposes of this description, "non-separable" means a union not designed to be separated. For example, the adhesive areas 960 can be in the form of one or more glue dots (shown in Fig. 22C), pressure sensitive adhesive, tape / adhesive strips, velcro or the like. This allows the rear panel 932 of the compartment 912a to remain attached to the vane 926 of the compartment 912b when the compartment 912 is opened and / or separated from the container 900 completely for disposal.

A consumer can open the container 900 by grasping a portion of an outer compartment 912a and pulling the outer compartment 912 away from its adjacent compartment 912b, so that the line of compartment weakness 922 forms a joint around which the compartment outer 912a moves with respect to its adjacent compartment 912b. Once the consumer separates the compartment 912a from its adjacent compartment 912b, the consumer can open the outer compartment 912a by applying an opening force on the panel 932 in a direction towards the chewing gum sheet contained within the compartment 912a and towards the panel 936, substantially as shown in Fig. 12, with reference to the opening of the outer compartment 212 of the container 200. In this way, the consumer can remove the chewing sheet 290 from the open outer compartment 912a and, if desired, it can completely separate the outer compartment 912a already empty from the rest of the container 900 along the line of compartment weakness 922 and discard the empty compartment 912.

In one form, the relative strengths of the material forming the panel 934 of the container 900 along the line of weakness 924 of the flap and the adhesive areas 960 may be arranged so that when the outer compartment 912a is displaced by the consumer in away from its adjacent compartment 912b in a direction toward the open position, the force and opening tension applied by the consumer initiate a tear in the line of weakness 924 of flap and cause the flap 926 to separate from the panel 934 of the compartment 912b by tearing along fin weakness line 924 even if the consumer does not apply an opening force on panel 932 of compartment 912b, as described above. Advantageously, this embodiment can make it possible to obtain a configuration where the outer compartment 912a is separated from its adjacent compartment 912b and the vane 926 of the compartment 912b opens in response to a continuous movement by the consumer.

In Figs. 25-31 a container 1000 according to another form is shown. The container 1000 is generally similar to the containers 10 and 400 in that the container 1000 includes eight individually sealed compartments 1012 arranged in two rows of four compartments 1012 in each row, as shown in Fig. 26, which shows the container 1000 in an open or extended configuration. The container 1000 has a general structure similar to the containers 10 and 400 described above by the fact that the container 1000 can be formed by bending or processing of flow packaging from a single flexible film sheet (indicated by the number of reference 1100, for example, only in FIG. 28) or by joining two flexible film sheets (indicated by the reference numerals 1100A and 1100B, for example, only in FIG. 27).

Although the container 1000 is not shown with lines of compartment weakness 22, 23 and 25 similar to the container 10, it should be noted that the container 1000 may be provided with compartmental weakness lines which allow any of the compartments 1012 of the container 1000 to be Separate completely from the container 1000 individually and be discarded. In addition, although the container 1000 is shown with an optional separable area 1099 and the container 10 is shown without such a separable area, it should be noted that the container 10 or any other container described herein may include a separable area similar to that of the container 10. 1099 separable area. The separable area 1099 of the container 1000 can be separated from the container to expose an opening that allows the container 1000 to be hung on a counter in a store or convenience store.

The container 1000 may be in the form of front and rear panels 1083 and 1085 sealed together along one or more edges by end seals 1089 formed from a material selected to obtain a detachable connection of the front and rear panels 1083 and 1085 , so that the container 1000 can be opened from the closed configuration of FIG. 25 to the extended configuration of FIG. 26 by separating the front and rear panels 1083 and 1085 from the container 1000. The package may also include a flap. 1095 of closure non-removably attached to a portion of the rear panel 1085 by a seal 1081 or an adhesive and including a line of weakness 1087 that allows separating between portions of the closure flap 1095 along the line of weakness 1087 when the container 1000 initially opens and passes from the position of Fig. 25 to the position of Fig. 26. Therefore, the closing flap 1095 and the line of weakness 1087 allow obtaining a to evidence of tamper evidence of the container 1000, so that partial separation of the closure flap 1095 would visually indicate to a consumer that the container 1000 has been previously opened or tampered with. The compartments 1012 of the container 1000 can be opened in substantially the same manner as the compartments 12, 212 and 412 of the containers 10, 200 and 400 in response to a force application by a consumer in a panel of the container 1000 to force a flap 1026 of a compartment 1012 of the flexible container 1000 is separated from adjacent portions of the compartment 1012 along a line of flap weakness 1024 and passed to an open position to allow the consumer access to the food product 90 contained in the compartment 1012 .

In Fig. 31A a configuration of a compartment 1012 of the container 1000 is shown showing the shape of a pouch 1080 containing the chewing gum and indicating the shape and orientation of the line of weakness 1024 of the fin. It should be noted that the shape and orientation of the weakness line 1024 can be selected from various alternatives that can be selected, for example, to facilitate the opening of the compartments 1012 of the container 1000 by consumers, or provide a visual indication of where the compartment 1012 can be opened, or simply to obtain a visually pleasing design. Some possible alternatives of the shapes and orientations of the weakness lines 1024 of compartment flap 1012 of the container 1000 are shown in Figs. 31B-31E. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 31E, fin weakness line 1024 includes first and second segments 1024a and 1024b, each with hook-shaped end portions 1025 and 1027, which can limit unwanted propagation of a torn along the 1024 weakness line of fin beyond the 1025 and 1027 endpoints.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 31 D, one of the segments 1024b of the weakness line 1024 with the hook-shaped parts 1025b and 1027b may be shorter than the other of the segments 1024a of the line of weakness 1024 of flap with the portions 1025a and 1027a in the form of a hook, so that the line of flap weakness 1024 can initially tear preferably in the segment 1024a instead of in the segment 1024b when the consumer applies an opening force in the compartment 1012. The container 1000 may be similar to the container 400 of Figs. 19 and 20 by the fact that the compartments 1012 of the container 1000 include thermoformed pouches 1080. It should be noted that the compartments 1012 of the pouch 1000 can be formed alternatively without the thermoformed pouches 1080, similarly to the compartments 12 of the package 10. Some differences between the containers 10, 400 and 1000 are highlighted below. For ease of reference, the aspects of the container 1000 that are similar to the aspects of the package 400 described above have been indicated by similar reference numbers, preceded by a " 10. "

The container 1000 is shown in a closed configuration in Fig. 25 and in an open configuration in Fig. 26. Figs. 27-31 show how it is possible to bend the container 1000 of the open configuration shown in Fig. 26 to the closed configuration of Fig. 25. The material selected for the end seals 1089 of the container 1000 (shown in Fig. 25) it can be selected to allow multiple openings and closures of the container 1000 from the configuration of Fig. 25 to the configuration of Fig. 26. Specifically, the container 1000 can be initially bent from the open configuration shown in Fig. 27, moving a free end 1052 of the package towards the free end 1054 of the package 1000 in a direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 28. As shown in Fig. 28, parts of the flexible film from which it is possible producing the container 1000 can pivot about two articulation areas 1053 and 1055 when the free end 1052 of the container 1000 moves towards the free end 1054 of the container 1000. It should be noted that the free end 1052 of the container it can be moved towards the free end 1054 of the container 1000 from the position shown in Fig. 27 to the position shown in Fig. 31 by pivoting about only one hinge area.

The free end 1052 of the container 1000 can be moved towards the free end 1054 of the container 1000 to a position where parts of the container 1000 substantially enclose all of the compartments 1012 of the container 1000, as shown in Fig. 29. Although the Fig. 29 shows that the free end 1052 of the container 1000 does not completely enclose the compartment 1012d, it should be noted that it is possible to bend the container 1000 so that the free end 1052 is arranged to extend beyond the compartment 1012d towards the free end 1054, so that the compartment 1012d is completely covered by the flexible film of the folded part of the container 1000.

In Fig. 29, the compartments 1012 are arranged in an interlocking configuration where the compartment 1012a is disposed between the compartments 1012c and 1012d, while the compartment 1012c is disposed between the compartments 1012a and 1012b. Advantageously, the fit of the compartments 1012a-1012d shown in Figs. 29-31 allows the container 1000 to be bent from the longer open configuration of Fig. 27 to the more compact configuration of Fig. 25 without increasing the thickness (ie height) of the container 1000 by the thickness or height of the container. the individual compartments 1012a-1012d.

When the package 1000 is in the nested configuration shown in Fig. 29, the package 1000 can be further bent, so that the free end 1054 of the package 1000 can be moved towards the free end 1052 of the package 1000 in a direction indicated by an arrow in Fig. 30 until the free end 1054 is disposed in the position shown in Fig. 31 and a part of the film forming the container 1000 forms the closing flap 1095, which can be attached non-detachably underlying parts of the container 1000 by means of an adhesive material, a hot seal or a cold seal.

In Figs. 33-39 a container 1300 according to another form is shown. The container 1300 is generally similar to the container 1000 in that the container 1300 includes a front panel 1383 and a back panel 1385 sealed together from one another by a seal 1389, a sealing flap 1395 non-separablely sealed to the panel. rear 1385 by a seal 1381, and eight individually sealed compartments 1312 arranged in two rows of four compartments 1312 in each row, as shown in Fig. 34, showing the container 1300 in an open or extended configuration. The container 1300 has a general structure similar to the container 1000 described above by the fact that the container 1300 can be formed by bending or processing of flow packaging from a single flexible film sheet (indicated by reference numeral 1400, for example, only in Fig. 36) or by joining two sheets of flexible film (indicated by the reference numbers 1400A and 1400B, for example, only in Fig. 35).

Although the container 1300 is not shown with lines of weakness of 22, 23 and 25 compartment similar to the container 10, it should be noted that the container 1300 may be provided with lines of compartment weakness which allow any of the compartments 1312 of the container 1300 to be Separate completely from container 1300 individually and discard. Further, although the container 1000 is shown with an optional separable area 1099 and the container 1300 is shown without such a separable area, it should be noted that the container 1300 may include a separable area similar to the separable area 1099.

The container 1300 can be opened substantially in the same manner as the container 1000 by separating the front and rear panels 1383 and 1385 from each other and tearing along the line of weakness 1087 of the closure flap 1095, such as has been described above. The compartments 1312 of the container 1300 can also be opened in substantially the same manner as the compartments 1012 of the container 1000 in response to a force application by a consumer on a panel of the container 1300 to force a flap 1326 of a compartment 1312 of the flexible container 1300 is separated from adjacent portions of the compartment 1312 along a line of weakness 1324 of flap and passes to an open position to allow the consumer to access the food product 90 contained in the compartment 1312. The package 1300 may have lines of weakness 1324 of fin having a configuration selected from one or more of the configurations (eg, U-shaped, X-shaped, I-shaped) shown and described above in Figs. 31A-31E.

The container 1300 may be similar to the container 1000 of Figs. 25-31 by the fact that the compartments 1312 of the container 1300 include thermoformed pouches 1080. It should be noted that the compartments 1312 of the container 1300 can be formed alternatively without the thermoformed pouches 1380, similar to the compartments 12 of the package 10. Next, some differences between the containers 1300 and 1000 are highlighted. For ease of reference, aspects of the container 1300 that are similar to the aspects of the container 1000 described above have been indicated by similar reference numbers, preceded by a "13 . "

The container 1300 is shown in a closed or compact configuration in Fig. 33 and in an open or extended configuration in Fig. 34. Figs. 35-39 show how it is possible to bend the container 1300 of the open configuration shown in Fig. 34 to the closed configuration of Fig. 33. The material selected for the end seals 1389 of the container 1300 (shown in Fig. 33) can be selected to allow multiple openings and closures of the container 1300 from the configuration of Fig. 33 to the configuration of Fig. 34. Similar to the container 1000 described above, the container 1300 can be initially bent from the open configuration shown in FIG. Fig. 35, moving a free end 1352 of the package toward the free end 1354 of the package 1300 in a direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 36. The free end 1352 of the package 1300 can be moved towards the free end 1354 of the package 1300 to a position where parts of the container 1300 enclose substantially all of the compartments 1312 of the container 1300, as shown in Fig. 37.

Because the container 1300 is made of a flexible material, the container 1300 can be configured in a coiled configuration, as shown in Fig. 40. Advantageously, the coiled configuration of Fig. 40 allows the container 1300 is more compact for storage in a pocket, backpack or user's bag. When the container 1300 is in the coiled configuration of Fig. 40, an end portion of the flexible film forming the container 1300 including the free end 1354 may optionally be removably attached to an opposite portion of the container 1300 by a adhesive 1374 selected to obtain multiple junctions and free end separations 1354, so that package 1300 can be unwound and rolled multiple times when the consumer uses the chewing gum sheets in package 1300.

Unlike the container 1000, where the compartments 1012a-1012d are arranged in a nested configuration shown in Fig. 29, the positions of the compartments 1312a-1312d of the container 1300 are such that by folding the container 1300 from the position of Fig. 35 to the position of Fig. 37 the compartments 1312a1312 of the container 1300 are arranged in a stacked configuration in which the compartments 1312a and 1312d are arranged opposite each other and the compartments 1312b and 1312c are arranged opposite each other. The relative positions of the compartments 1312a-1312d are shown only by way of example and the compartments 1312a and 1312b, as well as the compartments 1312c and 1312d, may be arranged closer together than shown in Figs. 37-39, and the compartments 1312a and 1312d, as well as the compartments 1312b and 1312c, may be in contact with each other or separated from each other in the stacked configuration.

The stacked configuration of the compartments 1312a-1312d shown in Figs. 37-39 allows the container 1300 to be bent from the longer open configuration of Fig. 34 to the more compact and closed configuration of Fig. 33. Although the thickness (ie, the height) of the container 1300 in the closed configuration of Fig. 39 increases in comparison with the thickness or height of the container 1000 of Fig. 31, the container 1300 has a length that is approximately half the length of the container 1000 due to the stacking of the compartments 1312a and 1312b on the compartments 1312d and 1312c, respectively.

The container 1300 shown in Fig. 34 also differs from the container 1000 shown in Fig. 26 in that each of the compartments 1312 of the container 1300 includes graphic markings 1391 that can be visually attractive to consumers and another part of the packaging. 1300 container separated from compartments 1312 also includes 1393 graphic marks that can be visually appealing to consumers. The graphic markings 1391 and 1393 may be printed, stamped, painted or applied to the container 1300 by any other suitable means. The graphic marks 1391 and 1393 may have any regular or irregular geometric shape (eg, triangular, star, snowflake) or be a physical object (eg, a flower, butterfly, a cartoon character). animated or similar). The graphic markings 1391 may be applied in each of the compartments 1312, as shown in Fig. 34, or they may be applied in some of the compartments 1312. It should be noted that the different containers 1300 may include different graphic markings 1391, 1393 selected according to different themes and / or for your collection. It should be noted that the container 1000 may include graphic marks similar to the graphic markings 1391 and 1393.

The arrangement and separation between the compartments 1012 of the container 1000 and the compartments 1312 of the container 1312, as well as the number of compartments 1012 and 1312 of the containers 1000 and 1300, are selected only by way of example, and it is possible to use quantities, to conform them and arrange them for their adaptation to any application and size of packaging desired. For example, in Figs. 32 and 41, respectively, illustrative packages 1200 and 1500 are shown having different designs and number of compartments 1212 and 1512, respectively. It should be noted that containers having a nested configuration of the compartments as described above can include three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten or more compartments, and that the containers having a stacked configuration of the compartments as the described above may include three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten or more compartments.

Any of the aforementioned packages can be made from a variety of included materials, but not limited to metallized or non-metallized polymers, laminates, plastics, paper, cardboard, paperboard and the like, as well as combinations thereof. Any of the aforementioned packages can be hermetically sealed to maintain the freshness of a food or other product contained in the package before the initial opening of the packages. Any of the aforementioned packages can optionally be configured in rectangular or non-rectangular formats, such as trapezoidal, circular, oval, triangular and the like.

Although preferred embodiments have been described in detail, variations and modifications can be made to the configurations described herein.

Claims (17)

A container (10, 200, 400) comprising a plurality of compartments (12, 212, 412) individually sealed, each of the compartments containing a food product (90) in an interior (28, 228, 428) defined between a rear panel (32, 232, 432) sealed to a front panel (34, 234, 434) around the interior, the front panel including a fin (26, 226, 426) at least partially detachable from adjacent portions of the compartment a along a line of weakness (24, 224, 424) of fin to form an access opening configured to allow the food product to be extracted from the interior of the compartment; characterized in that: the flap weakness line has a first and second spaced apart ends that intersect with a free edge portion (15, 215, 415) of the container around which the flap is configured to pivot to form the access opening, extending the fin weakness line from its first and second ends to a part (17, 217, 417) of opposite edge of the container; Y the food product is a plurality of pieces, each of the pieces being contained within a respective compartment of the plurality of individually sealed compartments so that each of the pieces is disposed between the fin weakness line of the respective compartment of the individually sealed compartments and the free edge portion of the container. 2. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the package is formed by a single sheet of flexible film (100, 300, 500). 3. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the front panel and the back panel of each of the compartments are made of identical materials. 4. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the package is formed by one or more sheets of flexible non-deformed film. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein each of the compartments is completely separable from the package along at least one line of weakness (22, 222, 422) of compartment extending between the compartments. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 5, wherein the at least one line of compartment weakness (22, 222, 422) extends between two adjacent compartments, including a first of the two adjacent compartments a first seal (18, 218, 418) extending in one direction along the line of compartment weakness, including a second of the two adjacent compartments a second seal (16, 216, 416) extending in one direction along the line of compartment weakness, the first and second seals being arranged on opposite sides of the at least one compartment weakness line. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the flap is defined by the fin weakness line and the free edge portion of the package. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the back panel and the front panel of each of the compartments are sealed together non-separable along the opposite edge portion of the package. and along first and second sides of the compartment extending perpendicularly with respect to the free edge portion and the opposite edge portion. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the fin includes four sides and the fin weakness line extends along three of the sides of the fin. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein a first and a second portions of the fin weakness line extending from its first and second ends towards the opposite edge portion of the package are parallel. each other and are connected to each other by a third of the perpendicular fin weakness line with respect to the first and second parts of the fin weakness line. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 10, wherein the third part of the flap weakness line is disposed closer to an upper end portion of the compartment formed by the interfitting of the front panel and the rear panel having a lower end portion of the compartment formed by the intersection of the front and rear panels in the free edge portion of the container. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the flap is not detachable from a lower end portion (44, 244, 444) of the compartment. 13. A method of manufacturing the package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, the method comprising: arranging a flexible material (100, 300, 500) having first and second longitudinal edges (154, 354, 554; and 156, 356, 556); forming a plurality of lines of weakness (124, 324, 524) U-shaped in the flexible film between the first and second longitudinal edges and a longitudinal central line (120, 320, 520); depositing parts of the food product (90) on the flexible material on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line and at least in part between the lines of U-shaped weakness; folding the first and second longitudinal edges of the flexible material in a direction toward the longitudinal center line to cover the food product; forming seals (114, 314, 514; 116, 316, 516; and 118, 318, 518) between superimposed portions of the flexible film to form the plurality of compartments (112, 312, 512) individually sealed, including each of the compartments the food product; Y forming a line of longitudinal weakness coinciding with the longitudinal center line and a plurality of lines of weakness (122, 123, 125, 322, 323, 325, and 522, 523, 525) transverse extending in a perpendicular direction with respect to to the line of longitudinal weakness, extending each of the lines of transverse weakness between adjacent compartments to allow separation from each other of the adjacent compartments. 14. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the fin weakness line includes at least two free ends. 15. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the fin weakness line extends through portions of the fin superimposed on the food product contained within the compartment. 16. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the fin weakness line includes at least two lines intersecting each other. The package (10, 200, 400) of claim 1, wherein the compartments further include a second partially detachable fin of adjacent portions of the back panel along a second fin weakness line.