Package for food product

Abstract: A package for a bar of a rigid or semi-rigid food pro­ duct comprising a packaging material (11) enclosing a food product (15), the packaging material having a notch (13) substan­ tially parallel to an edge of the bar.

Description: The present invention relates to an easy-opening package for a rigid or semi-rigid food product. Easy-opening packages containing bars of sweet and confectionery products such as chocolate are well known. Examples are systems comprising a zig-zag cut at each end of the package surrounding the bar, single notches or tear tabs on the sealed ends of the package and a tear tape that can be positioned lengthwise or widthwise on the package. NL-C-98331 describes a package with a notch which extends to encompass three sides of the package. We have found that by realising a notch in the packaging film as defined in claim 1, the packaging film can be torn off at that end of the bar by holding the major part of the bar beyond the notch in one hand and bending or folding the packaging film with the other hand. Accordingly, the present invention provides a package containing a bar of a rigid or semi-rigid food product comprising a packaging material tearable by hand and having four side walls one of which is formed with a longitudinal seal, characterised in that the packaging material has a notch substantially parallel to an end edge of the package and positioned on only the side wall of the package opposite to the side wall which is formed with the longitudinal seal so that, upon bending the package by hand, the packaging material tears away from the notch to open the package. Advantageously, the notch is covered by an adhesive member which may or may not be releasably attached to the packaging material for hygienic reasons or to prevent accidental tearing. Alternatively, the notch may be covered on its inner or outer surface by a coating or sprayed substance such as resin, hot melt or gel which liquefies when heated to a temperature compatible with the wrapping material and which is adhesive enough to remain on the slit, but weak enough to break when the wrapping material is opened by tearing. This possibility can be adapted onto the wrapping machine and could be carried out by the supplier just after forming the notch. The food product may be, for example, a chocolate bar or an iced bar. It may be of various shapes, for example square, oval, circular or rectangular. The packaging material may be made of any conventional wrapping material which can be torn easily e.g. polypropylene, expanded polypropylene, paper, complexed film. The packaging material may be cold sealed. The notch is conveniently a simple slit in the packaging material and may have a curved, triangular or zig-zag shape but is preferably linear. It is also possible that the notch could be a small hole in the packaging material with slits on opposite sides of the hole. The length of the notch may vary depending upon the size or shape of the food product. Although the notch could extend over three sides of the bar i.e. to cover the width and twice the height, preferably the length of the notch is less than the width of one side of the bar parallel to the notch. For example, the length of the notch may be as little as 2 or 3 millimetres on a mini bar or may be up to 5 cms or more on a more conventionally sized bar. In terms of costs it is advantageous to make the notch as small as possible and on a conventionally sized bar a notch length of 2 to 3 cms is sufficient. Normally the notch is eccentrically positioned towards an edge of the bar. The position of the notch on the bar is preferably very close to the edge of the bar parallel to it so that only a very small length of the bar is present on one side of the notch. However, if the bar comprises two food products e.g. two mini-bars, then the notch could be in the middle between the products. The adhesive member may be a sticker with a prehensile end which may be removed partially or totally by grasping the prehensile end and pulling off. Alternatively, the adhesive member may be a sticker with adapted glue having a high-traction strength and a weak sheer force placed on the inner surface of the sticker e.g. "Post-it" from 3M. ("Post-it" is a Registered Trade Mark) In this latter case, it is not necessary to remove the sticker before opening and the opening operation can be carried out in one step. The adhesive member could also be a sticker made of tearable aluminium placed on the outer surface of the packaging material. When the bar of food product is rectangular in shape the notch advantageously extends transversely in the packaging material on the upper longitudinal side of the bar a few millimetres from a short edge. This system can be fully integrated into the production line by integrating a cutting instrument and a ticket dispenser on the machine e.g. a tubular horizontal wrapper or a vertical wrapping machine. Alternatively the cutting of the notch may be carried out by the supplier of the packaging material. The present invention will now be further illustrated by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 illustrates a chocolate bar enclosed by a packaging film according to the invention Figures 2 to 5 illustrate the various stages of opening the bar of Figure 1 and Figures 6 to 9 illustrate the shapes of various notches comprising holes. Referring to Figure 1, a bar of chocolate generally designated 10 is enclosed by a packaging material made of polypropylene 11 cold sealed at each end 12 and having positioned 0,5 cm from the edge of the bar, a notch 13 of length 2 cm covered with a sticker 14. Figure 2 shows the sticker 14 being removed from the bar to expose the notch 13 shown in Figure 3 with the sticker completely removed. The package is opened to expose the chocolate by grasping the packaged bar with the left hand as shown in Figure 4 and bending or folding the packaging material 11 on the right hand side of the notch 13 with the right hand using the rigidity of the bar as a lever whereupon the packaging material tears off neatly to make the right hand end of the bar 15 visible as shown in Figure 5. If desired, it is possible to open the package completely by continuing to pull the packaging material with the right hand whereby the longitudinal sealing at the sole of the bar acts like a tear tape. Referring to Figures 6 to 9, the notches comprise elongate holes 16,17,18,19 at each end of which are slits 20,21,22 and 23.

Claims: A package (10) containing a bar (15) of a rigid or semi-rigid food product comprising a packaging material (11) tearable by hand and having four side walls one of which is formed with a longitudinal seal, characterised in that the packaging material has a notch (13) substantially parallel to an end edge of the package (10) and positioned on only the side wall of the package opposite to the side wall which is Formed with the longitudinal seal so that, upon bending the package (10) by hand, the packaging material (11) tears away from the notch (13) to open the package. A package (10) according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch (13) is covered by an adhesive member (14) which may or may not be releasably attached to the packaging material (11). A package (10) according to claim 2 characterised in that the adhesive member is a sticker (14) with a prehensile end which may be removed partially or totally by grasping the prehensile end and pulling off. A package (10) according to claim 2 characterised in that the adhesive member is a sticker (14) with adapted glue having a high traction strength and a weak sheer force placed on the inner surface of the sticker. A package (10) according to claim 2 characterised in that the adhesive member is a sticker (14) made of tearable aluminium. A package (10) according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch (13) is covered on its inner or outer surface by a coating or sprayed substance which liquifies when heated to a temperature compatible with the wrapping material (11) and which is adhesive enough to remain on the slit (13), but weak enough to break when the wrapping material (11) is opened by tearing. A package (10) according to claim 6 characterised in that the coating or sprayed substance is a resin, hot melt or gel. A package (10) according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch is a simple slit (13). A package (10) according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch (13) is linear in shape. A package (10) according to claim 1 characterised in that the notch (13) is eccentrically positioned towards an edge of the bar (15). A package (10) according to claim 1 where the bar (15) is rectangular characterised in that the notch (13) extends transversely on the upper longitudinal side of the bar a few millimetres from a short edge.

Inventors: JEANNIN BERNARD, JEANNIN, BERNARD
Applicants: NESTLE SA, SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S.A.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65D75
IPC codes: B65D77, B65D75, B65D5