Abstract:
The disclosure pertains to method for manufacturing reclosable packages, bags or pouches using a flow wrapper machine wherein, typically, a self-mating reclosure or zipper sealed inside of the package. In a first embodiment, self-mating reclosures are placed transversely on the web and a flow wrapping machine wraps the web around the food product thereby forming a machine direction fin seal. Transverse direction end seals are likewise formed. In a second embodiment, the web includes quad seals formed by a drag sealer at positions which will become corners of the package. Similar to the method of the first embodiment, the flow wrapping machine wraps the web around the food product thereby forming a fin seal.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/036,378 filed on Feb. 28, 2011 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application 61/329,400, filed on Apr. 29, 2010. This application is further a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/193,030 filed on Jul. 28, 2011 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/368,496 filed Jul. 28, 2010, the disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Disclosure 
         [0003]    The present disclosure pertains to zippered reclosable packages, such as, but not limited to, flow wrapper packages with a wide mouth opening feature and/or easy open and/or easy close features. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Wide mouth gusseted packages are disclosed by U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2007/0258665 entitled “Wide Mouth Gusseted Packages”, published on Nov. 8, 2007 on behalf of Greco. While the Greco reference is well-adapted for its intended purposes, further improvements are sought with respect to simplifying the manufacturing process, particularly in transverse direction (TD) applications. 
         [0006]    In the prior art, many food items are packed using flow wrapper technology. For example, chunk cheese may be packaged using flow wrapper technology. Typically, the film fits tightly around the product leaving little or no room for a reclosure. In the past, webless zipper has been used in the machine direction, but due to the size and shape of the product, the zipper closure was frequently not satisfactorily effective and not user friendly. These deficiencies were further exacerbated by the way consumers typically consume the chunk cheese. That is, typically, the user slices the cheese from an end of the chunk, meaning that the portion returned to the package still does not fit well. 
         [0007]    Similarly, one of the notable pouch styles available to the industry is the box pouch, a flexible pouch formed in such a way that it holds a box shape. Pouches of this style are typically produced on a Totani-type pouch machine in a complicated process requiring multiple film webs. A reclosure can be added, but this has been limited to a standard transverse direction zipper in the past, resulting in a package with an opening of a reduced size. The process is typically complex and the machinery used to produce the box pouch is expensive. 
       OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0008]    It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide improvements in wide mouth reclosable flow wrapper packages or bags. 
         [0009]    It is therefore a further object of the present disclosure to provide improvements in the manufacture of wide mouth reclosable flow wrapper packages. 
         [0010]    These and other objects are attained in a first embodiment of the disclosure by placing a full mouth opening reclosure in the cross section of the package. As a result, the end user can move the product into and out of the package more efficiently as well as achieving a positive reclosure of the package. 
         [0011]    These and other objects are attained in a second embodiment of the disclosure by preforming the corners of a box pouch with quad seals and placing a full mouth opening reclosure in the cross section of the package, the resultant web can be run through a conventional flow wrapper machine to produce a box pouch with a full mouth open and close. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, wherein: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the reclosures placed in a transverse direction on a web in a first embodiment of the disclosure, prior to entering the flow wrapper apparatus. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a plan view of a front of the resulting package. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a plan view of a rear of the resulting package. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of quad seals applied to the film in a second embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view along plane  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the box pouch formed by flow wrapper apparatus from the configuration illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, one sees that  FIG. 1  discloses a flow wrapper machine  300  (it is likewise envisioned that a horizontal form fill and seal ‘HFFS’ machine could be used) wherein a web or film  100  made of polymeric material, is supplied by unwinding from a spool or reel  200 . Reclosures or zippers  106  (typically comprising a plurality of re-engageable interlocking elements which can close upon themselves, such as, but not limited to, male and female interlocking elements) are supplied from a reel  202  and placed periodically along the web or film  100  in a transverse machine direction, and sealed or otherwise attached thereto. Alternately, the spool or reel  200  may be supplied with web or film  100  with the reclosures or zippers  106  pre-applied, either in a local or remote location with respect to the flow wrapper machine  300 . In the embodiment of the flow wrapper machine  300  illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the reclosures or zippers  106  are placed on the underside of web or film  100  so that, after the web  100  traverses roller  204 , the reclosures or zippers  106  are on the top surface of the web or film  100 . The reclosures or zippers  106  may be those of the Zip360™ package made by Zip-Pak, Inc. or a similar reclosure or zipper which allows self-mating (i.e., which can close upon itself) closure around an periphery of a wide open mouth of a container. Velcro™ reclosures (i.e., hook-and-eye) and Aplix™ reclosures may also be used. The reclosure or zippers  106  extend across the transverse direction of the web or film  100 , but do not extend fully to machine directional edges  102 ,  104 , thereby leaving spaces  108 ,  110  (immediately inwardly adjacent from edges  102 ,  104 ) subsequently free of the reclosures or zipper  106  thereby leaving room for the subsequent formation of a fin seal (or, in some embodiments, a lap seal). Food items  400  (such as, but not limited to, chunks of cheese  400 ) are placed lengthwise in a machine direction on the web or film  100  between successively spaced traverse reclosures or zippers  106 . That is, the food items  400  and the reclosures or zippers  106  are on the same side of the web or film  100 . The web or film  100 , with the food items  400  and reclosures or zippers  106  thereon, is transported along planar surface  206  so that food items  400  pass through control plate  208 . The film or web  100  is wrapped around the food items  400  thereby bringing spaces  108 ,  110  of longitudinal machine directional edges  102 ,  104  together. A fin seal  120  is formed downstream by the sealing of spaces  108 ,  110  (adjacent to edges  102 ,  104 ) together by fin sealer  212  (illustrated as a pair of cooperating sealing pinch rolls, which may be replaced by sealing bars) thereby forming a continuous tube with the food items  400  periodically placed therein. Optionally, the fin seal  120  may be made to lie flat with the web or film  100  by use of fin seal flattening roller  214 . Additionally, the gasses adjacent to the food items  400  may be controlled by ducts  210 , as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,145, entitled “Packaging Material and Device”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The tube processes further down the flow wrapper machine  300  wherein the transverse direction end seals  122 ,  124  (see  FIGS. 2 and 3 ) are formed and the tube is cut by transverse sealer/cutter  216  thereby forming ends  126 ,  128  of the resulting package  130  (also see  FIGS. 2 and 3 ). The reclosure or zipper  106  is located in the package  130  and is spaced from, and separate from, the end seal  122  formed on end  126  of package  130 . This sealing of the reclosure or zipper  106  into the package  130  allows the reclosure of zipper  106  to stay out of the seal jaws that form end seal  122 . 
         [0020]    In the resulting package  130 , the full mouth opening created through reclosure or zipper  106  allows users to easily remove the food item  400 . Additionally, the use of a self-mating or similar reclosure or zipper  106  is expected to simplify the reclosure of the package thereby allowing the consumer to remove the food item  400  from the package  130  and more easily return the food item  400  to the package  130  through the full mouth opening of the reclosure or zipper  106 . 
         [0021]    Referring now to the embodiment of the disclosure illustrated in  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6 , one sees from  FIG. 4  that film or web  100  made of polymeric material is unwound from spool or reel  200  and longitudinally or machine direction quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158  are formed on the film or web  100 , upstream from the roller  204 , by respective drag sealers  153 ,  155 ,  157 ,  159 . In the illustration of  FIG. 4 , the quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158  are formed on the upper side of the film or web  100  between the spool or reel  200  and the roller  204 . Downstream from roller  204 , the quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156  are on the lower side of the web or film  100 , and then ultimately on the exterior of the finished package  130 . Quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158  are typically formed by a drag sealer as described in U.S. Published Patent Application 2012/0047852 entitled “Wide Mouth Gusseted Bag with Edge Seals” and published on Mar. 1, 2102 (i.e., application Ser. No. 13/036,378, from which priority is claimed). Upstream from roller  204 , reclosures or zippers  106  are then placed and sealed or otherwise attached transversely across the web or film  100  at regular intervals, on the opposite side of web or film  100  from quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158  (i.e., in the illustrated embodiment, upstream from roller  204 , the quad seals  152 .  154 ,  156 ,  158  are formed on the upper side of web or film  100  and the reclosures or zippers  106  are placed on the lower side of web or film  100 , wherein the orientation of the upper and lower sides is reversed downstream of roller  204 ). Alternatively, the spool or reel  200  may be supplied with film or web  100  wherein the quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158  are already formed. That is, the quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158  may be formed by drag sealers at a nearby or at a remote location and then wound onto the spool or reel  200  or a similar source. Similar to the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 , the reclosure or zippers  106  extend across the transverse direction of the web or film  100 , but do not extend fully to machine directional edges  102 ,  104 , thereby leaving spaces  108 ,  110  (immediately inwardly adjacent from edges  102 ,  104 ) subsequently free of the reclosures or zipper  106  thereby leaving room for the subsequent formation of a fin seal (or, in some embodiments, a lap seal). In further similarity to the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 , the reclosures or zippers  106  may be those of the style of the Zip360™ package made by Zip-Pak, Inc. or a similar reclosure or zipper which allows self-mating (i.e., which can close upon itself) closure around an periphery of a wide open mouth of a container. In an alternate embodiment, the reclosures or zippers  106 , as well as the quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158 , may be formed, sealed or placed on the web or film  100  at a local or remote location prior to being supplied to the spool or reel  200 . The web or film  100 , with the reclosures or zippers  106  sealed or otherwise attached thereto, enters the flow wrapper machine  300  of  FIG. 1  at roller  204 . As described with respect to  FIG. 1 , in the flow wrapper machine  300 , food items  400  (such as, but not limited to, chunks of cheese  400 ) are placed lengthwise in a machine direction on the web or film  100 , the film or web  100  is wrapped around the food items  400  thereby bringing longitudinal machine directional edges  102 ,  104  together. A fin seal  120  is formed by the sealing of edges  102 ,  104  together (see  FIG. 6 ) thereby forming a continuous tube with the food items  400  periodically placed therein, with the quad seals  152 ,  154 ,  156 ,  158  at the corners of the tube. The tube processes further down the flow wrapper machine  300  wherein the transverse direction end seals (not shown, but similar to those of  FIGS. 2 and 3 ) are formed and the tube is cut thereby forming ends (not shown, but similar to  126 ,  128  of  FIG. 3 ) of the resulting package  130 . The reclosure or zipper  106  is located in the package  130  and is spaced from, and separate from, the end seal formed on end of package  130 . This sealing of the reclosure or zipper  106  into the package  130  allows the reclosure of zipper  106  to stay out of the seal jaws that form the end seal. 
         [0022]    Advantages are achieved that are similar to that of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 . That is, in the resulting package  130 , the full mouth opening allows users to easily remove the food item  400 . Additionally, the use of a self-mating or similar reclosure or zipper  106  is expected to simplify the reclosure of the package thereby allowing the consumer to remove the food item  400  from the package  130  and more easily return the food item  400  to the package  130  through the full mouth opening of the reclosure or zipper  106 . 
         [0023]    Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.