Stress concentrator for opening a flexible container

A flexible container for containing a product comprising:

• a plastic film formed into an enclosure for receiving a product and defining at least one openable portion;
• a hermetic seal closing the openable portion of the enclosure;
• a first opening-tab extending beyond the seal outside of the enclosure, and a second opening-tab extending beyond the seal outside the enclosure,
• wherein the plastic film is formed into the opening-tabs such that the opening-tabs integrally extend from the enclosure;
• and
• at least one of the first and second opening tabs having two openings positioned adjacent to each other to define a stressed film region between the openings, and wherein the stressed film region concentrates opening stress on the hermetic seal so that the hermetic seal is torn and the flexible container is opened when the tabs are pulled, and
• wherein the plastic film comprises a first outer heat-sealing layer, a second outer layer, and an internal cohesive failure layer.

A flexible container for containing a product comprising:

• a plastic film formed into an enclosure for receiving a product and defining at least one openable portion;
• a hermetic seal closing the openable portion of the enclosure and defining a seal direction;
• a first opening-tab extending beyond the seal outside of the enclosure, and a second opening-tab extending beyond the seal outside the enclosure,
• wherein the plastic film is formed into the opening-tabs such that the opening-tabs integrally extend from the enclosure;
• and
• at least one of the first and second opening tabs having at least two openings, wherein two or more of the openings are positioned adjacent to each other, and further wherein two of the adjacent openings each further defines,
• an inner edge extending generally perpendicular to the seal direction and generally parallel to the inner edge of the adjacent opening so as to define a stressed film region between the openings, and
• a guide edge adjacent to the inner edge and defining an angle with respect to the inner edge for receiving a finger of a user and guiding that finger towards the inner edge of the opening due to the angle defined between the guide edge and the inner edge so that the stressed film region concentrates opening stress on the hermetic seal and the flexible container is opened when the tabs are pulled by the user;
• and
• wherein the plastic film comprises a first outer heat-sealing layer, a second outer layer, and an internal cohesive failure layer.