Patent ID: 8053008

Claim:
A method of making flavor pouches comprising the steps of: feeding a non-woven strip along a generally horizontal feed path, the strip having a combination of natural and synthetic material with a basis weight of 5 to 25 g/m 2 , being a water-permeable, water-insoluble stain resistant polymer membrane that is insoluble in saliva, having structural integrity sufficient to retain a flavor carrier material when used in a human oral cavity, having a coating of barrier material which minimizes staining of one surface, and having a dissolvable film on the other surface; forming the strip into an upwardly open U-shaped or V-shaped configuration such that the dissolvable film is within the U-shaped or V-shaped configuration; placing preselected amounts of flavorant material at spaced apart locations along the formed strip on the surface having the dissolvable film, within the shaped configuration, the flavorant material being a solid material having a flavorant as a surface coating or incorporated in the material; forming flavor pouches sized for placement in a human oral cavity by sealing portions of the strip together with a continuous arcuate seal having one or more corners to enclose each preselected amount of flavorant material by thermally welding overlapping regions of the strip; separating the flavor pouches from a waste portion of the strip wherein the separating comprises punching the flavor pouches out of remaining portions of the strip; and trimming overlapping portions of the strip to provide rounded corners.