IE83924B1 - A package - Google Patents

Description

A PACKAGE RYE DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED “A Package” Introduction The invention relates to a package and in particular to a package for a food » product such as a tortilla or the like.

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a package for a food product, the package having a front wall and a rear wall joined by side walls, a top closure and a bottom closure, the package having an integral tear strip extending around the front, rear and side walls and having a pull tab for pulling the tear strip, removal of the strip dividing the package into at least two separate package parts, at least one of the package parts defining a pocket to hold the food product during consumption, wherein the tear strip is arranged to define a tear path between laterally spaced apart locations on the front and rear walls.

Preferably the tear strip divides the package into two separate package parts.

In one embodiment the package is formed from a crush resistant food grade sheet.

Preferably the package is formed from a blank having creases to define fold lines between panels of the package.

The invention also provides a package having a food product such as a tortilla, housed therein.

In one embodiment the food product is in a sleeve which is preferably removable.

In a preferred embodiment the package is suitable for microwave heating of a food product housed therein. In this case the package may comprise a microwave interactive material.

The invention also provides a blank for use in forming the package of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof given by way of example only, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a package according to the invention with a tear strip partially removed; Fig. 2 is a side view of the package of Fig. 1 with the tear strip removed; Fig. 3 is a view of the removed tear strip; Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the opened package; Fig. 5 is a side view of a closed package; Fig. 6 is a rear view of the closed package; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the closed package; Fig. 8 is a perspective view from the rear of the closed package; Fig. 9 is a perspective view from the front of the closed package; Fig. 10 is a plan view of the inside of a blank used to form the package; Fig. 11 is plan view of the outside of the blank; and Fig. 12 is a view of the inside of the blank being erected; Fig. 13 is a plan view of an alternative blank for forming a package; and Fig. 14 is a plan view of another blank for forming a package.

Detailed Description Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 to 12 there is illustrated a package 1 for a ready-to-eat product such as a tortilla 2 or the like. The package 1 comprises a front wall 3, a rear wall 4, and a pair of side walls 5, 6 interconnecting the front and rear walls 3, 4. A top closure is provided by I closure flaps 8 and a bottom closure is provided by closure flaps 9. The pack also includes a side closure flap 7.

The package 1 has an integral tear strip 10 which extends through the rear wall 4, the front wall 3 and the side walls 5, 6. The strip 10 has a pull tab 11 for gripping the strip 10 to facilitate tearing thereof from the package. In this case the strip 10 divides the package into two separate package parts and is arranged to define a tear path between laterally spaced-apart locations l2, 13 on the front and rear walls 3, 4 respectively.

The package is formed from a suitable crush resistant food grade paper based sheet which is cut into the blank illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11. The dotted lines indicate creases along which the various flaps are folded to form the finished package 1. The package 1 is used to house a food product such as a tortilla or the like. A user opens the pack by pulling on the tab 1 l and tearing away the strip 10.

This divides the package into two pack parts 20, 21 one of which houses the now partially exposed food product 2 which is ready to be consumed by holding the pack 20 in the hand. This provides an extremely quick and convenient way of accessing and consuming the food product without having to remove the product onto a plate or the like.

Referring to Fig. 13 there is illustrated a blank 50 for forming another package for a ready-to-eat product such as a tortilla or the like. The blank 50 comprises a front panel 52, a rear panel 53, side panels 54, 55 and a glued side closure flap 56.

In this case an integral tear strip 60 with a pull tap 61 extends initially through the side panel 55 and progresses through the front panel 52, side panel 54 and the rear panel 53. A user pulls on the tab 61 and tears away the strip 60, dividing the pack into a lower pack part A in which the tortilla is retained for cooking and an upper pack part B which is removed. By tearing along the narrowest part of the pack first the tortilla remains in the lower pack part A in the correct orientation for cooking. The orientation of the tortilla 65 is shown in dotted outline with the top single layer uppermost.

The cross hatched areas 67 in Figure 13 indicate unvamished areas which are not printed with a varnish and to which adhesive is applied, on erection.

Another blank 70 for forming a package for a ready-to-eat product such as a tortilla is illustrated in Figure 14, which is however outside the scope of the claimed invention. The blank is similar to that illustrated in Figure 13 and the like parts are assigned the same reference numerals. in this case a tear strip 71 extends across the blank in a straight line. Such an arrangement is suitable for shorter ready to-eat products and is readily manufactured.

If desired, the food product may be heated or cooked in a microwave prior to consumption. In this case the food product may be housed in a sleeve which is removable prior to heating. Thus, the package is designed to facilitate microwave heating. The package may include a microwave interactive material.

Generally such an interactive is metallic such as a vacuum deposited thin layer of aluminium metal.

Many variations on the invention will be readily appreciated and accordingly the invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in construction and detail.

Claims (12)

1. . A food package for a food product, the package having a fiont wall and a rear wall joined by side walls, a top closure and a bottom closure, the package having an integral tear strip extending around the front, rear and side walls and having a pull tab for pulling the tear strip, removal of the strip dividing the package into at least two separate package parts, at least one of the package parts defining a pocket to hold the food product during consumption, wherein the tear strip is arranged to define a tear path between laterally spaced apart locations on the front and rear walls.
2. . A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tear strip divides the package into two separate package pans.
3. . A package as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the package is formed from a crush resistant food grade sheet.
4. . A package as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the package is formed from a blank having creases to define fold lines between panels of the package.
5. . A package as claimed in any preceding claim having a food product housed therein.
6. . A package as claimed in claim 5 wherein the food product is a tortilla.
7. . A package as claimed in claims 5 or 6 wherein the food product is in a sleeve.
8. . A package as claimed in claim 7 wherein the sleeve is removable. 10
9. 9. A package as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the package is suitable for microwave heating of a food product housed therein.
10. 10. A package as claimed din claim 9 wherein the package comprises a microwave interactive material.
11. 11. A package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
12. 12. A package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to