Method for punching a sealed package from first and second webs

A method for punching a sealed package from first and second webs of material from which the package is formed wherein said package includes a container formed in said first web, said container having a body defining a mouth and a surrounding flange, the package further including a lid formed in the second web, the lid extending across said container mouth and sealed to said container flange, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a die having a bearing surface with an aperture defined therein to receive said container body;
• positioning the die proximate the first web with the container body received by the aperture and the bearing surface aligned to bear against at least a portion of said first web surrounding the container flange radially outwardly of said container body;
• disposing a punch adjacent said second web, said punch having a peripheral cutting edge at a distal end of said punch facing the second web, said cutting edge having a diameter less than a corresponding diameter of said die aperture and substantially equal to a corresponding diameter of the container flange to be cut from the first web;
• and
• cutting through the second web along an outer periphery of the lid and through the first web along an outer periphery of the container flange using the cutting edge by relatively moving said die and said punch toward each other in a direction generally perpendicular to a plane defined by said first and second webs, the relative movement between said die and said punch being accomplished by moving at least one of said die and said punch along at least a portion of a cutting path, the cutting path extending at least to a point where the cutting edge of the punch is within the die aperture.