GB2272207A

GB2272207A - Inner flap package

Info

Publication number: GB2272207A
Application number: GB9320994A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas King
Original assignee: ALIDA HOLDINGS PLC
Current assignee: ALIDA HOLDINGS PLC
Priority date: 1992-11-07
Filing date: 1993-10-12
Publication date: 1994-05-11
Also published as: GB9320994D0

Abstract

A package manufactured from a flexible sheet, suitable for use in the packaging of frozen vegetables or chips and the like which provides an overlapping seal portion on one face of the package adapted to prevent both ingress of air to the package and egress of the contents of the package when the bag has already been opened, regardless of the orientation of the bag. The overlapping portion comprises an inner flap which preferably extends to one inner edge of the package, and extends longitudinally at least 40% of the width of the bag. Access to the contents is by means of tearing along perforations 35. Alternatively, the adhesive 33 may be re-sealable. <IMAGE>

Description

INNER FLAP PACKAGE The present invention relates to packaging, and in particular to packages formed from a flexible sheet within which products may be contained.

In the sale of, for example, frozen foodstuffs it is common for product in the form of multitudinous discrete articles such as chips, vegetables, meat or fish steaks to be packaged in quantities greater than will be initiallyrequired upon first opening of the package by the consumer. In use, the package is opened, an appropriate quantity of foodstuff is removed from the package, and an attempt is made to reseal the package using one of a number of known techniques before re-storing the package in, for example, a freezer.

When resealing the package, both to prevent deterioration of the contents and to prevent escape of the remaining product, known techniques suffer from various disadvantages. For example, wire ties are inconvenient to use and can easily be dislodged; plastic clips easily become detached, particularly when pulling the package out of a full freezer, and both wire ties and plastic clips require a portion of the package to be tied up which is difficult when the bag is still substantially in full condition. Other techniques such as spring clips take up space and are also easily dislodged.

In addition, where ties and clips are not readily to hand, packages are often replaced in freezers in an open, or semi-open condition and this leads to rapid deterioration of the product and subsequent dissatisfaction of the consumer who may blame the product manufacturer for the poor quality of the remaining food product.

A known solution to the above problem is to use specially constructed resealable bags. Resealable bags, such as those including a plastic sealing strip or line of pressure sensitive adhesive allow for the opening and reclosing of the bag. However, such sealing strips of various known types are inherently more complicated and expensive to produce, thereby adding substantial packaging cost to otherwise low cost commodities. Such reusable adhesives typically degrade quite quickly, ie. before the food product is entirely consumed.

Additionally, such adhesive strips may attract crumbs and other particulates of the food product being packaged, further deteriorating their resealing performance. Additionally, many of these resealable bags require careful resealing which is not always easily accomplished, especially by children.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a package which retains as far as possible the freshness of the product remaining therein after the package has first been opened.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a package which is readily capable of retaining its contents after having been opened, regardless of the orientation of the package.

It is a further object to provide a low cost packaging technique having a high degree of compatibility with existing packaging techniques and equipment.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is described a package for frozen food formed from a flexible material including an opening for access to the inside thereof, said opening comprising: an overlapping portion of the flexible material defining an inner layer and an outer layer extending across a portion of a surface of the package; an openable seal proximal to an outer extent of the overlapping portion; the inner layer extending away from the openable seal and terminating at an inner extent of the overlapping portion; and at least one seal extending from the outer extent to the inner extent of the overlapping portion, operative to maintain the outer layer in overlying relation to the inner layer.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, there is described a method for packaging a product including the steps of: a) transversely folding two opposing ends of a sheet of flexible material to render a portion of one folded end in overlying relation to the other folded end, thereby defining an overlapping portion comprising an inner layer and an outer layer; b) sealing the outer layer to the inner layer with a transverse seal proximal to an outer extent of the overlapping portion; c) sealing the folded ends including the overlapping portion to the unfolded portion of the sheet using two longitudinal seals in order to enclose a product in the volume therebetween.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a package according to one embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 2 shows a cross sectional view through the line A-A of the package of figure 1.

With reference to figures 1 and 2 there is shown a package 10 according to the present invention. The package is formed from a single sheet of flexible material, such as polythene or the like. The sheet is folded at transverse folds 12,13 in manner best illustrated with reference to figure 2, and the folded ends 14,15 form the upper part of the package 10. A respective part of folded ends 14,15 define an overlapping portion 20, having an outer layer 22 and an inner layer 24. The inner layer 24 extends to an inner extent 30 (shown as a dotted line in figure 1), and the outer layer 22 extends to an outer extent 32.

The package is sealed by known techniques such as heat sealing the plastic sheet at transverse seal 33 between the inner and outer layers, and two longitudinal seals 40,41 between the folded ends 12,13 and the unfolded portion of the sheet. Preferably, transverse seal 33 is made when the ends 14,15 are first folded, and one of the longitudinal seals 41 is made thereafter. The product is then placed inside the bag before final sealing thereof with the other longitudinal seal 40. The insertion of the product may conveniently take place while the package is oriented such that longitudinal seal 40 is uppermost.

Preferably, a perforation 35 is provided in the original sheet of material such that when folded, the perforation 35 is proximal to the transverse seal 33.

This perforation 35 (shown as a dashed line in figure 1) is in the outer layer 22 only, and need not extend transversely across the entire package. In order to remove product from the package, the perforation 35 is first broken. As a result of the flexibility of the material used to form the package, the consumer may reach through the resulting perforation aperture (also indicated as 35) to part the inner and outer layers 24,22 of the overlapping portion 20 to thereby remove product from the bag.

The overlapping portion 20 or inner layer "flap" 24 is "pinned" at both edges by longitudinal seals 40 and 41 thereby preventing the flap from being pulled out of the package through perforation aperture 35.

When sufficient quantity of product has been retrieved, the bag is pulled back into its original shape, resulting in effective closure of the opening which has been made The length of the overlapping portion (ie. the distance between the inner extent 30 and the outer extent 32 thereof, or between the inner extent 30 and perforation opening 35) is made sufficiently large that the overlying material forms a sufficiently air tight seal to prevent unwanted deterioration of the product by, for example, freezer burn.

It will also be understood that the bag may then be placed in any orientation without egress of any of the remaining contents. The remaining product in the bag will tend press outwardly against inner layer 24, to maintain inner layer 24 and outer layer 22 in overlying relation. In the presently preferred embodiment, the inner extent 30 of the overlapping portion 20 is located proximal to the transverse fold 12, and thus product will be unlikely to enter the overlapping portion between inner layer 24 and outer layer 22 even should the bag first be held with folded end 13 uppermost, then reoriented with folded end 12 uppermost.

It will be recognized that the degree of tendency for the contents to escape an opened package will vary dependent upon the size of the product, the stiffness of the flexible material and the size of the overlapping portion 20.

Although in a preferred embodiment, the inner extent 30 is located as previously described adjacent to a folded edge 12, this need not be so.

The degree of sealing effected by the bag is dependent upon the extent of the overlapping portion 20. In a typical application, the overlapping portion 20 should extend longitudinally over a distance of at least 40% of the width of the bag (width being defined as the transverse distance between longitudinal seals 40,41), although this figure may be influenced by other factors, such as stiffness of the flexible material, and width-to-length proportions of the bag.

Thus, in a long, thin embodiment, the distance between longitudinal seals 40,41 is quite small, and the overlapping portion 20 need not be so great while still maintaining the benefits of providing a satisfactory seal against ingress of air to the bag.

In a presently preferred embodiment, the transverse seal 33 is located approximately half way along the length of the bag, and the overlapping portion 20 extends over 50% of the length of the bag.

In a further preferred embodiment, the transverse seal 33 is located approximately half way along the length of the bag, and the overlapping portion 20 extends over a distance equal to 50% of the width of the bag.

Where small articles are being packaged, it is particularly desirable that the inner extent 30 is located adjacent to the folded edge 12; however, where larger items are being packaged, the inner extent 30 may be located away from the folded edge 12 by a distance of comparable length to the size of product being packaged. The transverse seal could then be longitudinally positioned so as to allow an overlapping portion extending over a distance equivalent to at least 40% of the width of the bag.

Although the openable seal of the package has been described as being by way of a perforation 35, it will be understood that the use of a peelable seal 33 or the like is also within the scope of the present invention. This can readily be achieved by ensuring that the transverse seal 33 is made weaker than both the nnaterial used to make the package, and also weaker than the longitudinal seals 40,41. It will also be understood that the present invention is not limited to the "envelope" style illustrated. For example, a bag with gusseted sides creating greater volume within may be used.

Although the use of a plastic or polythene type material has been described, it will be understood that other flexible materials may be used.

Claims

1. A package for frozen food products comprising a bag comprising an outer skin for enclosing said frozen products, the bag having an opening therein for access to the contents of the bag, the opening being provided with internal flap means underlying at least a portion of the outer skin of the bag to provide a double layer of skin material proximal to the opening.

2. A package formed from a flexible material including an opening for access to the inside thereof, said opening comprising: an overlapping portion of the flexible material defining an inner layer and an outer layer extending across a portion of a surface of the package; a first seal coupling the inner layer and the outer layer proximal to an outer extent of the overlapping portion; the inner layer extending away from the first seal and terminating at an inner extent of the overlapping portion; and at least one second seal extending from the outer extent to the inner extent of the overlapping portion, operative to maintain the outer layer in overlying relation to the inner layer.

3. A package according to claim 2 wherein the inner extent is proximal to one end of the package.

4. A package according to claim 2 wherein the overlapping portion extends longitudinally over a distance of at least approximately 4056 of the width of the bag.

5. A package according to claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4 wherein an openable seal is provided in the outer layer.

6. A package according to claim 5 wherein the openable seal is formed by transverse perforations in the outer layer.

7. A package according to any one of claims 2 to 6 in which the flexible material is a plastics sheet and the at least one second seal is formed by mutually heat sealing the inner and outer layers together.

8. A package according to any one of claims 2 to 7 wherein the least one second seal also forms an edge of the package.

9 A package according to claim 8 including two second seals forming opposing edges of the package.

10. A package substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A method for packaging a product including the steps of: a) transversely folding two opposing ends of a sheet of flexible material to render a portion of one folded end in overlying relation to the other folded end, thereby defining an overlapping portion comprising an inner layer and an outer layer; b) sealing the outer layer to the inner layer with a transverse seal proximal to an outer extent of the overlapping portion; c) sealing the folded ends including the overlapping portion to the unfolded portion of the sheet using two longitudinal seals in order to enclose a product in the volume therebetween.

12. A method according to claim 11 including the step of folding one end such that it extends across the whole of the package, thus defining an inner extent of the overlapping portion substantially coincident with an edge of the package.

13. A method according to claim 11 or claim 12 further including the step of providing an openable seal in said outer layer proximal to said outer extent.

14. A method of packaging a product substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.