Tear-open packaging container

Abstract

A lightweight container for foodstuffs or the like, formed from a multi-layer composite material, typically a sandwich of metal and synthetic plastic foil. A dish-shaped base member and a cover are thermally joined or welded at respective flanges. The cover is provided with weakening score lines which define an area which is to be removed by fracturing the cover material along the score lines when a tab, contiguous with a part of the cover, is pulled up. Each partial section of the tear-open cover has such a tab which is intended to be grasped with the fingers of one hand. The tabs themselves are not joined to the base member of the container and may, in fact, protrude out of the plane of the cover when the container is sealed. The hermetic seal in the region of the free-standing tabs is assured by a platelet, which may be made of the same material as that from which the container is made, but which may have a different composition. This platelet is welded to the inside of the cover, substantially congruent with the region of the starting tabs. To open the package, one of the tabs is grasped and pulled up, resulting in fracture of the material of the cover along the weakening score lines, permitting removal of the associated part of the cover. The procedure is then repeated, if necessary, for removal of any remaining parts of the cover.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.