Patent ID: 9561889
Date: 2017-02-07
CPC Classifications: B29C,B32B,B65D,Y10T

Claim:
1. A heat-shrinkable packaging article comprising a heat-shrinkable multilayer film having an inside seal layer heat sealed to itself at a heat seal, the article comprising a first side, a second side, and a skirt or header outward of the heat seal, the skirt or header comprising an article edge and a first tear initiator, the first tear initiator being in the first side of the article, the article skirt or header also comprising a second tear initiator, the second tear initiator being in the second side of the article, the article being capable of having a manually-initiated, manually-propagated first tear in the first side of the article, and a manually-initiated and manually-propagated second tear in the second side of the article, the first tear and the second tear each being capable of being propagated in a machine direction from the respective first and second tear initiators, with each tear being propagated in the machine direction through the heat seal and down the length of the article, or across the article, with each tear being capable of being manually propagated in the machine direction through and to an opposite article edge after shrinking the film around a product, so that upon using the multilayer film to make a packaged product by providing the product inside the article with the article being sealed closed around the product so that a package is formed, and thereafter shrinking the film around the product, the resulting package can be manually opened, and the product readily removed from the article, by manually initiating machine-direction tears from the first and second tear initiators, with the tears being manually propagated through the seal and down the length of the article, for a distance up to the full length of the article and to the opposite edge of the article, with the heat-shrinkable multilayer film exhibiting a Peak Load Impact Strength of at least 50 Newtons per mil measured using ASTM D 3763-95A, with at least one layer of the multilayer film containing an incompatible polymer blend of from 80 to 35 weight percent ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer with from 20 to 65 weight percent ethylene/unsaturated ester copolymer having an unsaturated ester content of from 12 to 30 weight percent based on copolymer weight, the multilayer film containing the blend in an amount of from 20 to 95 weight percent, based on the weight of the multilayer film, and wherein the multilayer film has been biaxially oriented in the solid state and has a total free shrink, as measured by ASTM D 2732, of from 15 percent to 120 percent at 185° F., and wherein the packaging article does not comprise a patch thereon, and wherein the multilayer film has a thickness, before shrinking, of from 1.5 to 10 mils.