U.S. patent application number 15/118336 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-29 for flexible package and method of manufacturing a flexible package.
This patent application is currently assigned to WM. WRIGLEY JR. COMPANY. The applicant listed for this patent is WM. WRIGLEY JR. COMPANY. Invention is credited to Yoichiro ISHIKAWA, Russell L. STACY-RYAN.
Application Number | 20170183136 15/118336 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53005621 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170183136 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
STACY-RYAN; Russell L. ; et
al. |
June 29, 2017 |
FLEXIBLE PACKAGE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A FLEXIBLE PACKAGE
Abstract
A reclosable package configured to contain a plurality of
consumable products includes a flexible film blank having a flap
portion, a back portion, and a front portion, wherein the flap
portion, the back portion and the front portion are contiguously
formed portions of the flexible film blank. The package further
includes a pocket formed by the cooperation of an inner surface of
the front portion and an inner surface of the back portion along a
first fold line, wherein the pocket has an opening at the top of
the pocket and the flap portion is secured to the pocket on the
outer surface of the front portion after being folded along a
second fold line to cover the opening and the flap portion is
reclosable over the opening.
Inventors: |
STACY-RYAN; Russell L.;
(Chicago, IL) ; ISHIKAWA; Yoichiro; (Glenview,
IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
WM. WRIGLEY JR. COMPANY |
CHICAGO |
IL |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
WM. WRIGLEY JR. COMPANY
CHICAGO
IL
|
Family ID: |
53005621 |
Appl. No.: |
15/118336 |
Filed: |
February 12, 2015 |
PCT Filed: |
February 12, 2015 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US15/15584 |
371 Date: |
August 11, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61939700 |
Feb 13, 2014 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 75/20 20130101;
B65D 85/60 20130101; B65D 75/14 20130101; B65D 75/04 20130101; B65D
2575/586 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65D 75/20 20060101
B65D075/20; B65D 85/60 20060101 B65D085/60; B65D 75/14 20060101
B65D075/14 |
Claims
1. A reclosable package configured to contain a plurality of
consumable products, the package comprising: a) a flexible film
blank having a flap portion, a back portion and a front portion,
wherein the flap portion, the back portion and the front portion
are contiguously formed portions of the flexible film blank; b) a
pocket formed by the cooperation at of an inner surface of the
front portion and an inner surface of the back portion along a
first fold line, wherein the pocket has an opening at the top of
the pocket; c) the flap portion secured to the pocket on an outer
surface of the front portion after being folded along a second fold
line to cover the opening; and d) wherein the flap portion is
reclosable over the opening.
2. The package of claim 1 further comprising a tab on the flap
portion that can be grasped to open the flap.
3. The package of claim 1 wherein the pocket is formed by heat
sealing the inner surface of the front portion and an inner surface
of the portion along a first fold line.
4. The package of claim 1 wherein the flap portion is reclosable
over the opening with a reclose selected from the group consisting
of a pressure sensitive adhesive, wax, tape, glue, sticker, and
cold seal.
5. The package of claim 4 wherein the flap portion fully extends
longitudinally across the front portion.
6. The package of claim 1 wherein the flexible film blank is a film
laminate.
7. The package of claim 6 wherein the film laminate comprises
oriented polypropylene.
8. The package of claim 6 wherein the film laminate comprises
paper.
9. The package of claim 1 wherein the opening of the pocket is
configured to fully expose the top and a portion of the front of a
plurality of consumable products.
10. The package of claim 1 wherein the flap portion is reclosable
over the opening with glue.
11. The package of claim 1 wherein the flap portion is reclosable
with pressure sensitive adhesive.
12. The package of claim 10 wherein the glue is placed on an inner
surface of the flap portion.
13. The package of claim 11 wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive
is placed on the outer surface of the front portion.
14. The package of claim 1 wherein an inner surface of the flap
portion is heat sealed to the outer surface of the front
portion.
15. The package of claim 14 wherein pressure sensitive adhesive is
placed underneath the heat seal and upon opening the flap portion
the pressure sensitive adhesive is exposed so that the flap portion
is reclosable.
16. The package of claim 1 further comprising a tamper
indicator.
17. The package of claim 1 wherein the cooperation of the front
portion and the back portion is at side edges of the flexible film
blank.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This patent document generally relates to product packaging,
and more particularly to reclosable flexible product packages
configured to store and preserve consumable products.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Known product packages are often expensive to manufacture,
requiring costly materials or complicated processes. Moreover,
these known product packages often require or utilize bulky and/or
inconveniently shaped configurations to protect one or more
consumable products. As the consumer typically uses less than all
of the products contained in the product packaging at a single
time, it is desirable that the package be able to reclose to
contain the remaining products therein. In order to maintain the
cost effectiveness of this type of packaging, especially where a
small number of products are desired to be housed and sold as a
unit, the package should be capable of being efficiently and
economically manufactured.
[0003] It would be desirable to provide a product package that
addresses the limitations of known product packages and provides
additional advantageous features or elements.
SUMMARY
[0004] The disclosed reclosable package addresses the limitations
of the known product packages and advantageously provides
mechanisms for usability to facilitate consumer satisfaction.
[0005] A reclosable package configured to contain a plurality of
consumable products includes a flexible film blank having a flap
portion, a back portion, and a front portion, wherein the flap
portion, the back portion and the front portion are contiguously
formed portions of the flexible film blank. The package further
includes a pocket formed by the cooperation of an inner surface of
the front portion and an inner surface of the back portion along a
first fold line, wherein the pocket has an opening at the top of
the pocket and the flap portion is secured to the pocket on the
outer surface of the front portion after being folded along a
second fold line to cover the opening and the flap portion is
reclosable over the opening.
[0006] Other embodiments are disclosed, and features of each of the
embodiments can be used alone or together in combination.
Additional features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments are
described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed
Description and the figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0007] FIG. 1 illustrates a flexible film blank configured
according to the disclosure provided herein;
[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates a closed reclosable package;
[0009] FIG. 3 illustrates an open reclosable package;
[0010] FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention with
a longer tab portion;
[0011] FIG. 5 illustrates a reclosable package with heat seal and
pressure sensitive adhesive before a flap portion is secured to a
front portion;
[0012] FIG. 6 illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 5 with the flap
portion secured to the front portion;
[0013] FIG. 7 illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 6 with the flap
portion lifted from the front portion;
[0014] FIG. 8 illustrates an outer surface of a flexible film
blank; and
[0015] FIG. 9 illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 8 with the inner
surface of a flexible film blank.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] The disclosed reclosable package advantageously provides
mechanisms to facilitate consumer usability. The reclosable package
may be folded and secured to provide a pocket to preserve and
present consumable products, such as confectionaries, and
particularly chewing gum. The disclosed reclosable package provides
a low-cost and compact package for handling, selling and accessing
consumable products. Moreover, because the flexible package seals
and protects consumable products without the need for additional
packaging and wrapping, the disclosed flexible package results in
little wasted material, thereby making it environmentally friendly
compared to many traditional packages.
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a flexible film blank 100. The flexible
film blank 100 may be a polypropylene film such as an oriented
polypropylene (OPP) material. In another embodiment, the material
may be metalized film, or any other suitable material such as
paper, foil, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film. In an
embodiment the flexible film may be a laminate of OPP/paper or
OPP/paper/OPP wherein the OPP may be metalized. This type of
laminate is beneficial because having a paper layer in the laminate
can provide more stiffness so that the package can be more
structured and prevent curling of the film and dead folds can be
achieved when the film is folded but can protect the product and
prevent contamination or alteration of consumable products.
Additional layers to the film can include inks, lacquer, varnish,
release coating, protective coatings, etc. The flexible film blank
100 may be printed with graphics, logos, health, ingredient and/or
regulatory information as well as colors or patterns such as
registration marks.
[0018] The flexible film blank 100 includes a flap portion 106
connected to a back portion 110 along a fold line 108. The back
portion 110, in turn, connects to a front portion 114 along a fold
line 112. The flap portion 106, back portion 110, and front portion
114 are contiguously formed portions of the flexible film blank.
The flap portion 106 may also include a tab portion 116 so that a
consumer can open the package by grasping the tab 116 and lifting
the flap portion 106 away from the outer surface of the front
portion 114. The inner surface of the tab portion 116 may not be
secured to the outer surface of the front portion 114 but the rest
of the flap portion 106 may be secured to the outer surface of the
front portion 114.
[0019] FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a reclosable package 200 in a
closed and open position. A pocket 208 is formed by the cooperation
of an inner surface of the front portion 114 and an inner surface
of the back portion 110 along a first fold line 112. The
cooperation of the front portion 114 and the back portion 110 may
be at the side edges 210 of the flexible film blank 100. The
cooperation of the front portion 114 and the back portion 110 may
be through a number of sealing methods such as heat sealing,
ultrasonic sealing, or cold seals. Further, the pocket also has an
opening 202 starting at the top edge 204 of the front portion 114.
The pocket opening 202 may be configured to fully expose the top
and a portion of the front of a plurality of consumable products
206. In a further embodiment, the plurality of consumable products
206 may be secured in the pocket 208 with wax or adhesive or via
friction.
[0020] The flap portion 106 may be secured to the pocket 208 on the
outer surface of the front portion 114 after being folded along a
second fold line 108 to cover the opening 202. The flap portion 106
may be secured to the front portion 114 through heat sealing,
ultrasonic sealing, cold seals, glue, or other sealing means. The
flap portion 106 may be secured near the top edge 204 of the front
portion 114 from one side edge 210 to the other side edge 210. In
one embodiment, the outer surface of the front portion 114 may have
a heat seal. In another embodiment, the inner surface of the flap
portion 106 may have a heat seal. The heat seal in both embodiments
may be patterned or be fully laid onto the flexible film blank 100.
Additionally, the flap portion 106 may fully extend longitudinally
across the front portion 114. In one embodiment, the flap portion
106 may partially overlap the front portion 114 (as shown in FIG.
2) or can fully cover the front portion and have a tab portion 116
that goes past the first fold line 112 (as shown in FIG. 4) to
facilitate even easier grasping of the tab portion 116 for the
consumer.
[0021] The flap portion 106 is reclosable over the opening. The
reclose can be achieved through a number of methods including
pressure sensitive adhesive, wax, tape, glue, sticker, and cold
seals. In a preferred embodiment, the reclose may be achieved by
either pressure sensitive adhesive or glue. The reclose feature may
be on the inner surface of the flap portion 106 that overlaps the
outer surface of the front portion 114. In the reverse, the reclose
feature may be disposed on the outer surface of the front portion
114.
[0022] FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate an embodiment of a reclosable
package 300 as described above that show the configuration of the
flap portion 306 being secured to the front portion 314 with heat
seal 302 and pressure sensitive adhesive 304 for the reclose. When
forming the reclosable package 300, the pressure sensitive adhesive
304 is placed on the outer surface of the front portion 314. On top
of the pressure sensitive adhesive 304 is the heat seal 302. The
heat seal 302 may fully enclose the pressure sensitive adhesive 304
underneath it. Then the flap portion 306 is folded over to overlap
with the front portion 314 and heat 316 is applied to the outer
surface of the flap portion 306 securing the package 300 closed.
Once a consumer opens the package 300 for the first time by lifting
the flap portion 306 away from the front portion 314, the heat seal
302 sticks to the inner surface of the flap portion 306 and exposes
the pressure sensitive adhesive 304 so that the flap portion 306
may be reclosed to the front portion 314. One advantage of
initially "hiding" the pressure sensitive adhesive 304 under the
heat seal 302 is that when the flexible film blank is unwound from
a roll of material and cut to form the blank, the pressure
sensitive adhesive will not interfere with the unwinding of the
material.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, a further embodiment of the
present invention is shown. In this embodiment, FIG. 8 illustrates
an outer surface of a flexible film blank 400 includes a flap
portion 406 connected to a back portion 410 along a fold line 412.
The back portion 410, in turn, connects to a front portion 414
along a fold line 408. The flap portion 406 may also include a tab
portion 416. In this embodiment, a heat seal 402 may be placed on
the front portion 414 to secure the flap portion 406 to the front
portion 414 to protect any consumable product that may be inside
the package 400. At the same time in FIG. 9, an inner surface of
the flexible film blank 400 is shown with glue 404 on the flap
portion 406 for a reclose. The placement of the heat seal 402 and
the glue 404 are configured so that they do not interfere with one
another when the flap portion 406 is secured to the front portion
414. There are various ways and patterns to place the heat seal and
glue and FIGS. 8 and 9 show one way for the heat seal and glue to
be placed.
[0024] Further embodiments of the invention may include tamper
indicators on the package. Tamper indicators can be shown in a
variety of ways including, ink destruction or frangible portions
when the flap portion lifts away from the front portion, or general
weakened areas when the flap portion is lifted away from the front
portion. Tamper indicators are helpful for consumers to know
whether a product has been tampered with for safety reasons.
[0025] Such changes and modifications can be made without departing
from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without
diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that
such changes and modifications be covered by the appended
claims.
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