Flexible tubular package for edible product

An array of squeezable, flexible, tubular packages for an edible product which comprises:

• a plurality of elongated enclosures defined by a pair of transparent, flexible film sheets bonded to one another around the periphery thereof by liquid tight seals and by longitudinal, liquid tight bonding bands at spaced intervals within the periphery;
• a sheet-form membrane situated between the film sheets, bonded to the periphery of the film sheets and by said longitudinal bonding bands partitioning each said enclosure into a pair of juxtaposed, liquid tight compartments;
• and
• an extrudable, edible product in each of the compartments.

A packaging apparatus for a flexible, tubular, compartmented package which comprises:

• a substantially vertical frame;
• a pair of driven, parallel, grooved heat sealing rolls rotatably mounted to the frame, each heat sealing roll defining at least one opposed circumferential groove and the rolls together defining at least one open passageway between respective opposed grooves;
• a membrane sheet supply mounted to the frame above the heat sealing rolls and positioned to feed a membrane sheet between the heat sealing rolls;
• an outer film sheet supply mounted to the frame on each side of the membrane sheet supply and positioned to feed a substantially co-extensive outer film sheet between the heat sealing rolls on each side of the membrane;
• sheet;
• at least one product dispensing nozzle on each side of the membrane sheet between the membrane sheet and adjacent outer film sheet;
• and
• a transverse heat sealing device mounted to the frame a predetermined distance below the heat sealing rolls adapted to fuse together a portions of the membrane sheet and the outer film sheets contiguous therewith;
• said parallel, grooved sealing rolls being spaced from one another at a distance sufficient to pinch therebetween and heat-seal to one another the membrane sheet and the outer film sheet at pinch sites to form at least one tube having two adjacent longitudinal compartments;
• and
• said dispensing nozzles being positioned to dispense a product into the adjacent longitudinal compartments.