Gusseted microwave popcorn bag with susceptor

A process for popping corn in a tube-type pinch-style bag in microwave oven including the steps of:

• providing a bag having
• (a) a front panel and a back panel constructed to be adjacent when the bag is flattened and spaced when the bag is expanded,
• (b) a pair of gusseted side panels each of which are connected to the front panel and the back panel,
• (c) a sealed top end, (d) a sealed bottom end, (e) a susceptor construction associated with the bag for receiving microwave energy and converting microwave energy to thermal energy for heating corn kernels to be popped therein,
• (f) each of the seals for the top and bottom ends being only internal of the bag,
• (g) the seal for the bottom end being stronger than the seal for the top end,
• (h) each of the seals being essentially linear and transverse to the length of the bag, and
• (i) each side panel includes only one gusset which extends between the top end and bottom end of the bag and is secured to the front panel and the back panel,
• so that upon expansion each gussett opens without external restraints and the bag assumes a pillow-like shape and the internal volume of the bag is maximized;
• applying microwave energy to the bag so as to interact with the susceptor, cause the corn kernels to pop and the bag to expand;
• and
• permitting the bag to expand along the gusset folds and to form a winged-center section at the lower end where the center of the front and back panels are adhered to each other, and the gusset fold sections adhered to the front panel or the back panel.

A process for making a pinch-style and tube-type bag to carry corn kernels and in which to pop the kernels and permit the bag to expand using microwave energy

• including the steps of:
• providing a web of bag making material and a susceptor;
• folding the web so that a front, a back and a pair of folded and gusseted side panels are formed and each side panel including only a single gusset;
• locating the susceptor on a central portion of the front or back panel;
• sealing the bottom end of the bag only on the inner surfaces thereof so that the gusset folds are secured to either the front or back panel, and applying the seal to form a transverse seal zone;
• sealing the top end of the bag only on the inner surfaces thereof so that the gusset folds are secured to either the front or back panel, and applying the seal to form a transverse seal zone;
• and
• wherein the bottom end seal is stronger than the top end seal.