FOOD PACKAGE AND METHOD

Abstract: A food package is formed by a semi-rigid base (2) and a semi-rigid cover (3). The base comprises a raised pedestal (5) surrounded by the planar flange. The cover comprises a cavity for receiving and holding compressible and generally sliced food product surrounded by a planar flange. Cavity depth is sufficiently deep to contain the produce and to telescopically receive the base pedestal. A cover locking means contained in the base and cover vertical walls provides for snap locking the base and cover. On application of pressure and vacuum the base and cover are drawn together compressing the food product against all inner walls of base and cover that can contact the product. The pedestal is of sufficient depth to provide the necessary travel to push on and compress the food product within the cavity and remove any voids or trapped gas so that on evacuation and sealing of the flanges the product remains in contact with inner portions of the package.

Description: FOOD PACKAGE AND METHOD SPECIFICATION This invention relates generally to food packages More specifically, this invention relates to food packages having a cover and base defining a cavity for receiving foodstuff and locking means contained in the vertical walls of the base and cover provid¬ ing snap locking of base and cover in telescopic engagement with each other. More specifically, this invention pertains to.a food package having a base and a transparent cover. The food package has a sealing means for hermetically sealing the base to the transparent cover and a reclosable means encompassing the sealing means for snap locking the base and the transparent cover in telescoping relationship with each other. More specifically, this invention relates to packages for sliced food arranged in stacks, especially stacks of sliced luncheon meat. In one embodiment of this invention, packages are formed from a semi-rigid base and cover, the base and cover mating to form an enclosed product receiving cavity surrounded by a hermetically sealed flange. A third plastic or paper insert may be employed. Two component packages of this general type are known commercially and are in the patented art. In this connection the packages of the present invention may be viewed as improvements of the O ?I sliced food packages described in the Cornish et al. U.S. Patent No. 4,411,122. patented October 25, 1983 and the Seiferth et al. U.S. Patent No. 3,498,018, patented March 3, 1970. Sliced food packages disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,595,428 to Mounts et al. patented July 27, 1971 discloses a somewhat raised pedestal on the base but does not provide for telescoping action between pedestal and cover. U.S. Patent No. 3,556,337 to Harmon et al. patented January 19, 1971 discloses packages which contain a locking means designed in the planar flanges and spaced a distance from the cover wall. Harmon et al. also discloses the hinge for maintaining the top cover and base in proper relation with each other. U.S. Patent No. 4,202,464 Mohs et al. issued May 13, 1980 discloses a locking means contained in a minor portion of the flange. None of these patents provide locking means in the vertical walls of the base and cover, designed to allow the pedestal of the base to telescopically lock into the cover cavity. The food package of the present invention thus exhibits certain improvements over the food package disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,498,018 to Seiferth et al. or U.S. Patent No. 4,411,122 in that the product can be properly pressed and evacuated within the cover by means of pressure on either the cover or pedestal base because of the telescopic movement of the pedestal base into the cover. By providing locking means on the vertical walls of the cover and base there is obtained an attractive food product in a container providing reclosable and locking means. In addition, pivoting means may be provided by a hinge between the base and the cover or a perforated portion outside a permanent seal of the cover and FR OM?I base flanges. These provide pivoting means which prevents the consumer from attempting to lock the cover and base in a position other than the position in which the product was originally packaged. Packaging problems in manufacture are avoided by sealing separately base and cover. This is particu¬ larly important when lugs are used to interlock with a similarly shaped cavity contained in the opposing vertical wall of the pedestal or of the cover, since it ensures that the lug is properly indexed into the channel. It is also important where other. locking means are employed which must be indexed into each other and do not fit around the entire periphery of the cover and pedestal. For a more complete understanding of then nature and scope of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description of several preferred embodiments taken with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sliced food package forming one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, broken away in the center, taken on line.2-2 of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of an alternative pedestal base broken away in the center, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a sliced food package forming another embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical section broken away in the center taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Figure 6 is a view of the base pedestal member of Fig. 5; Figure 7 is a side view of a cover having conduit means ; f OMPI Figure 8 is a top plan view of the back of the sliced food package shown in Fig. 4; Figure 9 is a perspective view of a sliced food package having inset means between the cover portion and base pedestal portion; Figure 10 is a top plan view of a sliced food package forming one embodiment of this invention which contains 3 distinct portions, a base member with pedestal, a cover portion and an insert opaque sheet; Figure 11 is a side view of the pedestal suitable for use in any of the embodiments of this invention wherein the pedestal contains 3 lugs of roughly 50% of the circumference of the pedestal and contains an opaque overlay; Figure 12 is a top view of the bottom member of one embodiment of this invention comprising easy open tab. When the embodiments Figs. 12 and 13 are combined there is provided an easy open feature to the package; Figure 14 is a composite view of the easy opening package detailed in Figs. 12 and 13 and containing a third member positioned between the base pedestal and cover portions for purposes of providing an opaque appearance to at least part of the base and cover portions and suitable for imprinting thereon. This section may be scored if required; Figures 15 and 16 are schematic illustrations of locking means. In Fig. 1-3, a sliced luncheon meat package (indicated generally as 1) is formed by a semi-rigid base 2 and a semi-rigid cover 3. Slice luncheon meat is contained between the cover 3 and the base portion 2 and may constitute any of the usual sliced sausage or luncheon meat such as bologna, salami, New England Brand Sausage, etc. and non-meat products such as sliced cheese. While particularly suitable for sliced food products the package of the invention can also be used for non-slice compressible items. The base 2 and cover 3 may be formed in any known manner from semi-rigid material such as aluminum laminated or impregnated paper which is moisture resistant and gas impermeable, or plastics. Examples of suitable plastic materials are a polyvinylchloride, cellulose acetate, nylon, polycarbonate, high impact polystyrene, high impact polypropylene, high impact polyethylene, polyester, acrylonitrile copolymers, extruded plastics, etc. These plastic materials may be coated with saran or other coating if desired. Copolymers of these various plastics may be used in order to obtain desired properties. The semi-rigid base 2 includes a raised pedestal generally indicated in Figs. 2 at 5 and in Fig. 3 at 6. This raised pedestal allows the food product to be pressed by force applied to either the base member 7 of Fig. 2 or the cover portion 10 of Fig. 3 so that product is forced between the cover 10 and base 8 of Fig. 3 or base 7 and cover 11 of Fig. 2. The telescoping action of base and cover compress the meat product between them such that voids are removed while at the same time the vacuum applied to the interior generally shown as 15 of Figs. 2 and 3 draws together the cover and base portions and further compresses the meat products so that the contents or food product touches all inner surfaces that contact or could contact the food product. Deforming means generally shown at 16 and 21 of Figs. 2 and 17 of Fig. 3 allow the cover or base or both to deform under the pressure and vacuum applied to the product thus ensuring that the entire contents of the package closely touch the inner surfaces of the package and provide a pleasing appearance free of voids and open spaces which cause a poor quality looking product on sealing the flange areas 22. Deforming means generally shown as 16 allow the semi-rigid plastic material to flex and deform sufficient to provide a tight fit of product against the inner face of the cover upon application of pressure and vacuum and final sealing of product. The raised pedestal and side wall of the cover contain snap locking means generally indicated as 18 and 19 in Figs. 2 and 3. The locking means consist of, in the embodiment shown, a channel 18 formed around part or all of the circumferential periphery of the cover 10 which is generally parallel with the flange portion and extends outwardly from the pedestal. The pedestal contains a bead 19 designed to fit into the channel and thus lock the base 7 to the cover 11 of Fig. 2. The bead is generally shown as 19 in Figs. 2 and 3. When a single or several small protrusions may snap into a similarly shaped cavity, the bead is preferably greater than 35% of this circumference of the cover and more preferably more than 45% of the circumference of the conduit contained in the vertical cover wall 18. Also contained on Fig. 1 is pivoting means 23. The pivoting means may be formed by perforation either the cover or base (in this case the cover) which allows the bottom portion to pivot in the perforated area. The two portions are prevented from separating entirely by suitable permanent adhesive means employed to seal above the perfor¬ ations in the general area of the peg hole shown as O PI 24 or by suitable heat sealing of the plastic material in the area of the peg hole. While the locking means are shown in this embodiment to be a conduit and bead and the conduit is contained in the cover portion of the package, this snap locking arrangement can be .reversed with the conduit or cavity contained in the raised pedestal portion of the package and the bead or protrusion contained on the inner portion of the cover. While a snap action can be provided about the circumference of the vertical wall of the telescoping base and cover by means of one or more beads, lugs or protrusions of various design made to lock into a cavity of similar design in the opposing vertical wall, it is preferred that at least two or more channel and bead portions be provided and preferably that at least 5% preferably 35% and more at least 45% of the circumference of the vertical wall contain the locking means. The most positive snap action is obtained when substantially all of the vertical wall circumference contains a continuous bead and opposing channel and is used for snap sealing or locking means. Figure 4 is another embodiment of the package of this invention suitable for round sliced meat or cheese products or other compressible food products. In this embodiment the pivoting or hinge means generally shown as 29 are contained in the base member which is hidden by the cover 26. The raised cover portion 27 contains several conduits shown as 25 which allow the cover portion to deform and are deforming means similar to those shown in Fig. 1 and 2 at 16 and Fig. 3 at 17. The cross sectional view of the deforming means is shown at 25 in Fig. 5. Fig. 5 also illustrates the locking means generally shown at 28. The peg hole is shown at 33. Figure 6 illustrates in more detail a specific locking means of this invention wherein lugs 49 are spaced around the circumference or periphery of the vertical wall of the base pedestal generally shown as 40. These lugs are designed to fit into the conduit 57 shown in Fig. 7. Figure 7 illustrates an embodiment of a cover of the package designed with locking means containing a conduit 57 around the periphery of the wall of the cover 58 and also having a slight indentation (shown at 52) above the point where the pedestal shown in Fig. 6 will stop. The cover portion continues shown above the indent- ation at 52 which provides for full advancement of the pedestal telecopically into the cover portion 58 up to a portion below indentation 52. Also shown in this embodiment are vertical passageways 55 designed to provide rigidity to the semi-rigid cover and also to provide a passageway for gasses to be drawn off during evacuation thus, insuring a good contact of the food with the inner surfaces of the package. While these conduits are shown to cover the entire length of the vertical portion of the cover they need not do so if able to carry away sufficient gas to produce a desirable looking product. While the conduit is shown on the outerwall of the cover in Fig. 7 it may be reversed and the lugs contained inwardly on the inward portion of the cover and conduit provided entirely or partially around the raised pedestal in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. In embodi¬ ments 6 and 7, the lugs are shown to take up at least 45% of the peripheral area of the telescoping pedestal. Also whown in Figs. 6 at 43 are deforming OMPI means previously discussed in Fig. 1 at 16. In Fig. 7 there are also shown deforming means 59 similar to those shown in Fig. 5 at 25. Shown also in Fig. 7 the position of the lugs 49 is equidistant to top and bottom of the pedestal 40. The exact position of the lugs either at the top of the pedestal midway or towards the bottom is a matter of selection for best locking means and for easy opening of the container. While the embodiments discussed provide for sealing under pressure and vacuum of the base and cover, the packages may be filled with an inert gas if desired. Once vacuum is pulled the gas would be introduced through the same vertical passageways 55 in Fig. 7 prior to heat or adhesive sealing. Gas packaging provides for a loose fit of the meat against each other and the package. The vertical wall locking feature of this invention is applicable to all gas packaging for telescoping cover and base packages. There is shown at Fig. 8 the back portion of a package of this invention containing a perforated section shown at 50. The back portion is shown at 51 and contains a transparent window 54 formed by inserting an opaque semi-rigid member between the cover and base. Figure 9 further illustrates the use of a third component in the package of this invention. Where is its desired to have a clear bottom portion as shown in Fig. 8 at 54, a third member of opaque material is positioned between the cover and back flange portion and suitably affixed to the cover and raised back flange to produce a tight container. This system is better see in Fig. 9 wherein a clear base and cover have sandwiched OMPI between them an opaque material generally shown as 62. This material provides for imprinting of messages, grade names, nutritional information, distinctive color and the like and is cut back at 63 of Fig. 10 to provide a transparent portion which can be marked to be opened here. The package also contains a transparent top telescoping cover shown at 65 as well as the back or base pedestal portion shown in Fig. 8 at 54. The third opaque component 62 will be scored 66 or not depending whether it is permanently attached to either the base or the cover or is removably attached. Figures 12 and 13 show the bottom and top portions of several cutout sections 70 and 71 each providing easy opening of the package. Both these sections are clear. There is shown in Fig. 14 an opaque sheet 72 slipped between the cover and base portions. This can be better seen in Fig. 14 which is a composite view of the food package formed with the opaque sheet between the easy open cut portion shown in Figs. 12 and 13. Two types of sealing means are used in this invention. Permanent sealing means are employed to form the hinge means seal and to seal any opaque or other insert material securely to either the cover or base portions. Peelable sealing means are provided in the flange area to provide hermetic seal but to allow the consumer to open the package. These sealing means may be of any suitable art recognized means including adhesives, heat sealing of plastics, radio frequency heating and sealing and the like. Once the hermetic seal is broken, the cover 112 can be removed from the base 110 in Fig. 15. The seal 30 of Fig. 4 is located above the hinge means line 29 and the adjacent edge of the package and serves as a hinge allowing the cover 26 to be lifted from the contents while maintaining the cover 26 and the base in their original alignment for reclosing. The seal 30 may be formed in known manner using, for example, heat and/or an adhesive, after or when the package has been hermetically sealed. The relatively wide area between the raised portion of the cover 27 of Fig. 5 and the top edge above the peg hole 33 affords adequate space for a header label to be applied on the flange. A hole 33 is provided in the header space area so that the package 5 may be displayed on a peg. Once the hermetic seal has been broken and the cover cavity has been raised from the base pedestal, the entire stack contents will be exposed so that the desired number of slices can be removed. There¬ after, the cover can be pressed down on the base so that the circumferential recess 28 in the cover 27 of Fig. 5 again fits and embraces the outer shoulder of the pedestal shown at 31. By suitably dimensioning the recess of cover and the outer wall and the pedestal of the base, a relatively tight-fitting, snap-closing action can be obtained by interference fit. The consumer can repeatedly open the package, remove the desired amount of product and then re-close the package for secure storage. Further illustration of the locking means is shown in Fig. 15. When a food package is employed as described in Seiferth et al. U.S. Patent No. 3,498,018, it is desired to have the "a" dimension close to a predetermined dimension so that the foodstuff e.g., slice meat package will be tightly fit between surfaces 102 and 104 and so that flange -gTxE ; O PI 106 and 108 are in contact for hermetic sealing. As described in Patent No. 3,498,018 if the product is tightly fitted between surfaces 102 and 104 the telescoping action of base 110 into cover 112 under pressure during vacuum packing will result in neatly packaged foodstuff. It is thus important that locking means generally shown at 114 not interfere with the telescoping action. As shown in Fig. 15 the locking means 114 is comprised of lug 124 and or cavity 126. The inside diameter 128 of cavity 126 is sufficiently larger than the outside diameter 130 of lug 124 to permit telescopic action base 110 into cover 112. The outside curved surface of lug 124 acts as an expansion means during opening and closing of locking means 114. Figure 16 shows a further embodiment where the locking means 114 is simply a solid bead of material 144 that snaps into a circular receiving cavity 145. One or more of these snapping devices are arranged in the vertical walls 148 and 149 of the cover 150 and base 140 in order to provide a positive snapping action. Of course, the greater the circumferential distance employed for snap sealing the more positive the seal. Also the snap device must not interfere with the telescoping action of cover and base pressing the food contained in the cavity by external application of pressure. Furthermore as shown in Fig. 15 locking means 114 is positioned in vertical sidewall 132 of cover 112 and in sidewall 134 of base 110. Most of the packages illustrated in the figures are rectangular in shape but other package shapes are contemplated within the scope of this invention such as round, oval, square and fanciful package shapes. iUΕE OMPI While specific snap lock embodiments for the telescoping base and cover vertical walls are illustrated in the figures, any suitable shaped protrusion with corresponding shaped cavity may be employed in the vertical walls to achieve a snap locking feature. Preferably a majority of the vertical wall circumsference is engaged by the snap locking feature with the most hermetic seal formed when substantially the entire circumference is engaged. This invention can be embodied in various forms and therefore is to be construed and limited only by the scope of the appended claims. O PI

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS; 1. A food package comprising: a. a base having a substantially vertical side wall in telescopic relation to a cover; b. a cover having a substantially vertical side wall cooperating with the base side wall said base and cover forming a cavity to receive a foodstuff product; and c. locking means contained in the base and cover vertical walls providing for snap locking the base and cover in telescopic engagement with each other. 2. A food package comprising: a. a base having a peripheral flange and a pedestal having a vertical wall; b. a cover having a peripheral flange said cover cooperating with the base to form a cavity to receive a foodstuff product said base having a vertical sidewall engaging said cover vertical side wall in telescoping arrangement permitting compression of the foodstuff; c. peelable sealing means to provide hermetic sealing of the base peripheral flange to the cover peripheral flange after the product is filled into the cavity; and d. locking means contained in the base and cover vertical walls for snap locking the base and cover said locking means comprised of a raised portion contained in one side wall and a cavity shaped for receiving the raised portion contained in the other sidewall, said base and cover walls alligned to permit the telescopic engagement of the base into the cover allowing -gtJREΛ OMPI for compression of the foodstuff and to permit engagement of the locking means raised portion and cavity said base and cover further mated to allow contact and hermetic sealing of the base and cover flanges. 3. The food package of claim 2 which further includes opaque insert means inserted between the cover and base and permanently attached to either cover and/or base said insert capable of providing consumer messages or distinctive appearance. 4. The food package of claim 2 wherein the locking means raised portion comprises a lug extending circumferentially around one of the side walls parallel to the flange. 5. The food package of claim 4 wherein the lug extends substantially totally around the side wall. 6. The food package of claim 4 in which the l u is positioned in at least two locations about the side wall. 7. The food package of claim 4 wherein the lug extends at least five percent of the circumferencial distance around the side wall.

Inventors: GOLLER ROBERT LOUIS, GOLLER, ROBERT, LOUIS
Applicants: MAYER OSKAR FOODS, OSCAR MAYER FOODS CORPORATION
Application year: 1984
Main classification: B65D6
IPC codes: B65D1, B65D6, B65D75, B65D81