Food package having opening feature and methods of opening thereof
AssigneeIntercontinental Great Brands LLC
InventorPaul Veternik
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A package is described herein with an opening feature including a flap defined by cut and score lines formed in a film of the package. The flap can be at least partially in a front wall portion of the package to be peeled back and expose an opening to an interior of the package. The flap can also extend across a package such that peeling back of the flap removes a portion of the package. The packages described herein advantageously include a sealed pleat extending across the front wall portion of the package or a fin seal that includes at least a portion of a gripping portion of the flap. The removal of the gripping portion when the flap is peeled back to open the package can expose an adhesive on the inside of the pleat for package reclose.
Claims24
A package for a foodstuff and having an opening feature, the package comprising:
- a film sealed together to define at least a front wall and a rear wall enclosing an interior for receiving a foodstuff;
- a pleat of the front wall extending transversely thereacross, the pleat comprising first and second wall portions of the front wall pivoted together about a fold line and sealed with an adhesive therein;
- an opening feature formed in the film and including a flap, the flap being at least partially separable from a remainder of the film along one or more score lines extending partially through the film to form an access opening to the interior for removal of the foodstuff;
- and
- a terminal portion of the flap extending into the pleat, the terminal portion of the flap being removable from and reclosable against the adhesive of the pleat to generally reclose the opening feature using the flap after the flap has been separated from the remainder of the film along the score lines.
An opening feature for a food package having a wall, the opening feature comprising:
- a pleat extending transversely across the wall, the pleat comprising first and second wall portions pivoted together about a fold line and sealed with an adhesive;
- a cut through the first wall portion of the pleat;
- score lines extending from ends of the cut away from the fold line and longitudinally across at least a portion of the wall;
- a flap formed at least in part in the wall by the cut and the score lines, the flap configured to be separated from a remainder of the wall by breaking the score lines to reveal an opening through the wall;
- and
- a terminal portion of the flap disposed at least partially in the first wall portion of the pleat, the terminal portion of the flap being removable from and reclosable against the adhesive of the pleat to generally reclose the flap over the opening after the flap has been separated from the remainder of the film along the score lines.
A method of opening, removing a food product, and reclosing a reclosable food package using an opening feature, the food package having a pleat comprising first and second wall portions pivoted together about a fold line and sealed with an adhesive that extends transversely across a wall of the food package, the method comprising:
- grasping a tab of a flap of the opening feature formed in the wall, the tab disposed at least partially in the first wall portion of the pleat;
- pulling the tab of the flap to separate the flap from adjacent portions of the wall along a plurality of score lines extending partially through the wall, including detaching the tab from the first wall portion of the pleat to expose the adhesive, to form an access opening of the food package;
- removing a food product from an interior of the food package through the access opening;
- and
- reattaching the tab of the flap to the adhesive of the pleat to reclose the food package.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.