JP6474882B2 - Package with individually sealed compartments - Google Patents

Description

(Cross-reference of related applications)
This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 62 / 036,021, filed Aug. 11, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(Field of Invention)
A package and its method of manufacture are described herein (specifically, a package having a plurality of individually sealed compartments, such as for confectionery products).

  Flexible films and cardboard packages are used for a variety of food products (eg, chewing gum sticks, chocolates, candies, etc.). One common form of gum package is a blister pack removably contained within a cardboard sleeve, with a first layer having a thermoformed pocket for containing individual pellets, and to cover the pocket. And a second layer of film sealed against the first layer. Pushing the blister pack from the first layer side toward the second layer causes the gum piece to rupture the second layer and form an opening from which the gum can be removed for consumption. Can do.

  The disadvantage of such blister packs is the use of at least two different types of materials and an increased number of manufacturing steps. This can unnecessarily increase the complexity and cost of the manufacturing process. In addition, before the user can push the blister pack to remove a piece of gum, the consumer must first remove the blister pack from its paperboard sleeve, adding an extra step to the consumer during opening.

  The packages described herein include a plurality of individually sealed compartments, optionally compartments formed from a single web of film. Each compartment includes a line of weakness that can be ruptured by pushing the film material and gum pieces toward the line of weakness. The line of weakness advantageously provides a compartment having a hinged flap that opens in response to a force applied by the consumer and remains attached to the rest of the film after opening. The hinged flap may provide a tamper evidence function for the package and may be configured to make a click or other audible noise when first opened along the line of weakness. The individually sealed compartments are separable from one another so that after the food is removed, the user can discard the empty compartment. If desired, the used gum may be placed in an empty compartment so that the user can discard both the used gum and the empty compartment.

  In one form, the package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments. Each compartment contains food in an interior defined between back panels that are sealed to the front panel around the interior. The front panel includes a flap that is removable from an adjacent portion of the front panel along the flap line of weakness to form an access opening configured to allow removal of food from the interior of the compartment. .

  The flap line of weakness may have first and second spaced apart ends that intersect a free edge of the package that is configured to pivot to form an access opening. The flap line of weakness extends from its first and second ends toward the opposite edge of the package.

  The package may be formed from a sheet of flexible film. The front panel and back panel of each compartment may be made of the same material. The package may be formed from one or more sheets of flexible film without deformation.

  In one form, each compartment is completely removable from the package along at least one compartment line of weakness extending between the compartments. The at least one compartment line of weakness may extend between two adjacent compartments, the first of the two adjacent compartments being a first seal extending in a direction along the compartment line of weakness The second of two adjacent compartments may include a second seal that extends in a direction along the compartment line of weakness. The first and second sealing portions may be on both sides of at least one compartment weakened line.

  In one approach, at least one of the compartments is removable from the package along at least two compartment weakening lines, and the at least two compartment weakening lines are perpendicular to each other. In another approach, at least one of the compartments is removable from the package along at least two compartment weakening lines, and the at least two compartment weakening lines are parallel to each other.

  The flap may be defined by a flap line of weakness and a free edge of the package. The flap may include four sides and the flap line of weakness extends along the three sides of the flap. The flap line of weakness may be U-shaped.

  In one form, the back panel and front panel of each compartment include first and second compartments that extend along opposite edges of the package and perpendicular to the free and opposite edges. They are sealed so that they cannot be removed from each other along the side.

  In one form, the first and second portions of the flap line of weakness extending from the first and second ends of the flap line of weakness toward the opposite edge of the package are parallel to each other and the flap weakness Interconnected by a third portion of the flap line of weakness perpendicular to the first and second portions of the line. The third part of the flap line of weakness is that of the compartment formed by joining the front and back panels together from the lower end of the compartment formed by the intersection of the front and back panels at the free edge of the package. You may approach the upper end.

  The food product may be a plurality of gum pieces, each gum piece being contained within a respective one of a plurality of individually sealed compartments. Each gum piece is in each of a plurality of individually sealed compartments, such that each gum piece is positioned between a respective one of the individually sealed compartment flap flap lines and the free edge of the package. It may be positioned inside one.

  In one form, the compartment is configured to form a hermetic seal around the food product.

  The flap may be non-removable from the bottom of the compartment. The flap may be movable from a non-open position to an open position in response to a force applied in a direction toward the front panel relative to the back panel.

  The method of manufacturing the package includes the steps of providing a flexible material having first and second longitudinal edges, and allowing a gap between the first and second longitudinal edges and the longitudinal centerline. Forming a plurality of U-shaped weak lines in the flexible film, and placing a portion of the food on the flexible material on both sides of the longitudinal center line and at least in part between the U-shaped weak lines; Forming a sealing portion between the step of folding the first and second longitudinal edges of the flexible material in the direction toward the longitudinal centerline and covering the food with the covering portion of the flexible film Forming a plurality of individually sealed compartments, each of the compartments containing a food, a longitudinal line of weakness coinciding with the longitudinal centerline, and in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal line of weakness Work to form multiple crossing lines of weakness A is, and a step of allowing separation of the compartment adjacent extending between compartments each transverse line of weakness is adjacent from one another, the.

  The method opens at least one of the compartments to access food in at least one of the compartments by applying force to the package to separate the flaps from the adjacent portions of the package along the flap line of weakness. And may further comprise the step of singulating at least one of the compartments from the package by propagating a tear along at least one of the longitudinal line of weakness and the transverse line of weakness.

  In one form, the flexible package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments. Each compartment contains food in an interior defined between back panels sealed to the front panel. The front panel is partially removable from the adjacent portion of the front panel along the flap line of weakness to form an access opening configured to allow removal of food from the interior of the compartment Includes flaps.

  The flap line of weakness may include at least two free ends. The flap line of weakness may extend across the portion of the flap that covers the food contained within the compartment. The flap line of weakness may include at least two lines that intersect each other.

  The compartment may further include a second flap that is partially removable from an adjacent portion of the back panel along the second flap line of weakness.

  In another form, the flexible package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments, each compartment having food inside an interior defined between the back panels sealed to the front panel around the interior. To accommodate. Each compartment is removable from an adjacent portion of the compartment along at least one flap line of weakness to form an access opening configured to allow removal of food from the interior of the compartment Includes a flap. The package is in an unfolded form, from a folded form in which at least one of the compartments is nested between the other two compartments, and in a form in which at least one of the compartments is not nested between the other two compartments It is movable.

  At least two of the compartments may be nested between the other two compartments in an unfolded form.

  The flaps of the at least one compartment may be in a first direction, and the flaps of each of the other two compartments that may be nested in an unfolded form with at least one compartment in between are the first The direction may be the second direction opposite to the direction.

  The first portion of the package, including the free end of the package, may form a closure flap that is removably coupled to the second portion of the package with an adhesive.

  The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive that is configured to allow multiple opening and reclosing of the closure flap.

  In one form, the flexible package comprises a plurality of individually sealed compartments, each compartment having food within an interior defined between a back panel that is sealed against the front panel around the interior. An adjacent portion of the compartment along at least one flap line of weakness to accommodate and form an access opening that is configured to allow removal of food from the interior of the compartment Includes removable flap. The package is in a folded configuration in which at least one of the compartments is positioned in a closed configuration over another of the compartments, and at least one of the compartments is positioned over another of the compartments. Not movable in open form.

  At least two of the compartments may be stacked on top of the other two compartments in an open configuration.

  Two of the two flaps in the compartment may be directed in the first direction, and two of the other two compartment flaps stacked in the open configuration on the two are: You may go to the 2nd direction opposite to the 1st direction.

  The first portion of the package, including the free end of the package, may form a closure flap that is removably coupled to the second portion of the package with an adhesive.

  The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive configured to allow multiple opening and reclosing of the closure flap.

  The package may have a maximum height in the unfolded configuration and a maximum height in the closed configuration that is at least twice the maximum height in the open configuration.

  The package has a maximum length in a closed configuration and a maximum height in an unfolded configuration that is at least twice the maximum length in an open configuration.

  At least one of the flaps may include a graphic display unit.

At least one of the compartments may be positioned in a closed configuration on another of the compartments by at least one of rolling, folding and stacking.
For example, the present invention provides the following.
(Item 1)
A plurality of individually sealed compartments, each of the compartments containing food in an interior defined between a back panel sealed to the front panel around the interior, wherein the front panel includes the compartment A flap that is at least partially removable from an adjacent portion of the compartment along a flap line of weakness to form an access opening configured to allow removal of the food product from the interior of the Including the package.
(Item 2)
The flap line of weakness has first and second spaced apart ends that intersect the free edge of the package configured to pivot the flap to form the access opening. The package of claim 1, wherein the flap line of weakness extends from the first and second ends thereof toward an opposite edge of the package.
(Item 3)
Item 2. The package of item 1, wherein the package is formed from a sheet of flexible film.
(Item 4)
Item 2. The package of item 1, wherein the front panel and the back panel of each of the compartments are made of the same material.
(Item 5)
Item 2. The package of item 1, wherein the package is formed from one or more undeformed sheets of flexible film.
(Item 6)
Item 2. The package of item 1, wherein each of the compartments is completely removable from the package along at least one compartment line of weakness extending between the compartments.
(Item 7)
The at least one compartment line of weakness extends between two adjacent compartments, the first of the two adjacent compartments extending in a direction along the compartment line of weakness; A second seal that extends in a direction along the compartment line of weakness, wherein the first and second seals are the at least one compartment. Package according to item 6, on both sides of the line of weakness.
(Item 8)
Item 3. The package of item 2, wherein the flap is defined by the flap line of weakness and the free edge of the package.
(Item 9)
The back panel and the front panel of each of the compartments extend along the opposite edge of the package and perpendicular to the free edge and the opposite edge. Item 3. The package of item 2, wherein the package is non-removably sealed along the first and second sides.
(Item 10)
Item 2. The package of item 1, wherein the flap includes four sides, and the flap line of weakness extends along three of the sides of the flap.
(Item 11)
First and second portions of the flap line of weakness extending from the first and second ends of the flap line of weakness toward the opposite edge of the package are parallel to each other; Item 3. The package of item 2, interconnected by a third portion of the flap weakness line that is perpendicular to the first and second portions of the flap weakness line.
(Item 12)
The third portion of the flap line of weakness joins the front panel and the back panel together from the lower end of the compartment formed by the intersection of the front and back panels at the free edge of the package Item 12. The package of item 11, wherein the package approaches the upper end of the compartment formed by:
(Item 13)
The food product is a plurality of gum pieces, each of the gum pieces being positioned between the respective flap weakness line of the individually sealed compartment and the free edge of the package; Item 3. The package of item 2, wherein each of said gum pieces is housed within said one of each of said plurality of individually sealed compartments.
(Item 14)
Item 2. The package of item 1, wherein the flap is non-removable from the bottom of the compartment.
(Item 15)
A method of manufacturing a package according to item 1, wherein the method includes:
Providing a flexible material having first and second longitudinal edges;
Forming a plurality of U-shaped weak lines in the flexible film between the first and second longitudinal edges and a longitudinal centerline;
Placing a portion of the food product on the flexible material on both sides of the longitudinal centerline and at least in part between the U-shaped line of weakness;
Folding the first and second longitudinal edges of the flexible material in a direction toward the longitudinal centerline and covering the food;
Forming a plurality of individually sealed compartments by forming a sealing portion between the coated portions of the flexible film, wherein each compartment contains the food product;
Forming a longitudinal line of weakness coinciding with the longitudinal centerline and a plurality of transverse line of weakness extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal line of weakness, each of the transverse line of weaknesses being adjacent to each other Extending between and allowing said adjacent compartments to be separable from each other.
(Item 16)
The package of claim 1, wherein the flap line of weakness includes at least two free ends.
(Item 17)
The package of claim 1, wherein the flap line of weakness extends across a portion of the flap that covers the food contained in the interior of the compartment.
(Item 18)
Item 4. The package of item 1, wherein the flap line of weakness includes at least two lines that intersect each other.
(Item 19)
The package of claim 1, wherein the compartment further comprises a second flap that is partially removable from an adjacent portion of the back panel along a second flap line of weakness.
(Item 20)
The package is folded from a folded configuration in which at least one of the compartments is nested between two other compartments, and wherein the at least one of the compartments is not nested between the other two compartments. Item 1. The package of item 1, wherein the package is movable to an unshaped form.
(Item 21)
Item 21. The package of item 20, wherein at least two of the compartments are nested between the other two compartments in the unfolded form.
(Item 22)
The flaps of the at least one compartment are oriented in a first direction and the flaps of each of the other two compartments nested in the unfolded form between the at least one compartment, Item 22. The package of item 21, wherein the package is directed in a second direction opposite to the first direction.
(Item 23)
21. A package according to item 20, wherein a first part of the package including a free end of the package forms a closure flap removably coupled to a second part of the package by an adhesive.
(Item 24)
The package is in a folded configuration in which at least one of the compartments is positioned in a closed configuration over another of the compartments, so that the at least one of the compartments is the one of the compartments. The package of item 1, wherein the package is movable in an open configuration that is not positioned over the one.
(Item 25)
25. A package according to item 24, wherein at least two of the compartments are stacked on top of the other two compartments in the open configuration.
(Item 26)
Two of the two flaps of the compartment are oriented in a first direction, and two of the flaps of the other two compartments are stacked in the open configuration on the two of the compartments. 25. The package of item 24, wherein one is in a second direction opposite to the first direction.
(Item 27)
25. A package according to item 24, wherein the first part of the package including the free end of the package forms a closure flap removably coupled to the second part of the package by an adhesive.
(Item 28)
25. The package of item 24, wherein the at least one of the compartments is positioned in the closed configuration on another of the compartments by at least one of rolling, folding, and stacking.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a first exemplary package, each having a closed separable individual compartment. A view in which one of the compartments is partially open, with the flaps of the compartment moving to the partially open position by separating from the adjacent portions of the compartment along the line of weakness by the force applied by the consumer The front side perspective view of the package of 1 is shown. In a fully open position where the food is accessible to the consumer, the flap is completely separated from the adjacent part of the compartment front panel along the line of weakness, and the flap is joined to the free edge of the package FIG. 3 shows a front view of the package of FIG. 2. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the package taken along line 4-4 of FIG. Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the package taken along line 5-5 of Figure 2; FIG. 2 shows a front perspective view of the package of FIG. 1 with one of the compartments shown completely separated from the package along two lines of weakness between adjacent compartments. FIG. 2 shows a front perspective view of the package of FIG. 1 with two of the compartments shown partially separated from the package along the line of weakness between the compartments. FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a sheet of exemplary material, which can be a portion of a larger material web, which can be used to form the package of FIG. FIG. 3 shows a top view of a sheet of exemplary material, which can be part of a larger web of material, which can be used to form an alternative package of the package of FIG. FIG. 6 shows a plan view of another exemplary sheet of material, which can be part of a larger web of material, which can be used to form an alternative package of the package of FIG. FIG. 6 shows a plan view of another exemplary sheet of material, which can be part of a larger web of material, which can be used to form an alternative package of the package of FIG. FIG. 8B is a plan view of the sheet of material of FIG. 8A with the food item on top and the portion of the sheet of material being folded toward a sealing position covering the food item. Parts of the sheet of material are sealed together by a plurality of seals to form eight individually sealed compartments each enclosing one of the food items, and a line of weakness is formed in the sheet of material. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the sheet of material of FIG. FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a second exemplary package having separable individual compartments, each in a closed configuration. The package of FIG. 11 in which one of the compartments is partially open as the flap is moved from the adjacent portion of the compartment along the line of weakness by the force applied by the consumer to a partially open position. The front side perspective view of is shown. FIG. 13 shows a cross-sectional view of the package taken along line 13-13 in FIG. FIG. 13 shows a cross-sectional view of the package taken along line 14-14 of FIG. FIG. 12 shows a front perspective view of the package of FIG. 11 with one of the compartments shown partially separated from the package along the line of weakness between adjacent compartments. FIG. 9 shows a top view of an exemplary sheet of flexible material, which can be part of a larger web of material, which can be used to form the package of FIG. FIG. 12 shows a plan view of two opposing sheets of flexible material that can be used to form the package of FIG. FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of a sheet of exemplary material that may be part of a larger material web that may be used in a flow wrap process to form a package similar to that of FIG. FIG. 16C illustrates a package including a fin seal formed by the flow wrap process of FIG. 16C. FIG. 16C illustrates a package including a wrap seal formed by the flow wrap process of FIG. 16C. FIG. 17 is a plan view of the sheet of material of FIG. 16 with the food item on top and a portion of the sheet of material being folded toward a sealing position covering the food item. FIG. 18 is a plan view of the sheet of material of FIG. 17 in which portions of the sheet of material are sealed together by a plurality of seals to form five sealed compartments that cover food; Formed in the sheet. FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a third exemplary package taken along a line similar to line 4-4 of FIG. 1, showing the package in a closed configuration. FIG. 20 shows a cross-sectional view of the package of FIG. 19 taken along a line similar to line 5-5 of FIG. 2, showing the package in a partially open configuration. FIG. 9 shows a top view of a sheet of exemplary material, which can be a portion of a larger material web, which can be used to form the package of FIG. FIG. 22 shows a top view of the sheet of material of FIG. 21, showing a plurality of thermoformed pockets formed therein. FIG. 9 shows a plan view of an exemplary sheet of flexible material, which can be part of a larger web of material, which can be used to form an alternative package of the package of FIG. FIG. 16D shows a side view of a package formed from the sheet of flexible material shown in FIG. 16E and folded into an accordion-type configuration. FIG. 22B is a plan view of the sheet of material of FIG. 22A with the food item on top and the portion of the sheet of material being folded toward the sealing position covering the food item. FIG. 20 shows a plan view of two opposing sheets of flexible material that can be used to form the package of FIG. 19. Parts of the sheet of material are sealed together by a plurality of seals to form eight individually sealed compartments each enclosing one of the food items, and a line of weakness is formed in the sheet of material. 24 is a plan view of the sheet of material of FIG. FIG. 9 shows a top view of a fourth exemplary package having nested, individually sealed compartments in a closed configuration. FIG. 26 shows a plan view of the package of FIG. 25 in an open configuration. FIG. 27 is an end elevation view of the package of FIG. 26. FIG. 28 is the same view as that of FIG. 27 in which the portion of the package of FIG. 27 is shown moving in the direction toward the nested configuration. FIG. 29 is a perspective view of FIG. 28 shown with the package of FIG. 28 in a nested configuration and the closure flap open. FIG. 30 is a perspective view of FIG. 29 shown with the package of FIG. 29 in a nested configuration and the closure flaps moving toward the closed configuration. FIG. 31 is a perspective view of FIG. 30 where the package is in a nested configuration and the closure flap is shown in a closed configuration. FIG. 32 shows a fragmentary plan view of one of the compartments of the package of FIG. 31 illustrating the shape of the exemplary flap line of weakness. FIG. 32 shows a partial plan view of an exemplary other possible shape of the flap weakness line of the package compartment of FIG. 31; FIG. 32 shows a partial plan view of another exemplary other possible shape of the flap weakness line of the compartment of the package of FIG. 31; FIG. 32 illustrates a partial plan view of yet another exemplary shape of the flap weakness line of the package compartment of FIG. 31; FIG. 32 illustrates a partial plan view of yet another exemplary shape of the flap weakness line of the package compartment of FIG. 31; FIG. 32 illustrates a partial plan view of yet another exemplary shape of the flap weakness line of the package compartment of FIG. 31; FIG. 26 shows a plan view of an exemplary package having alternative food orientations that can be used to form an alternative package of the package of FIG. FIG. 7 shows a top view of a fifth exemplary package with each of the stacked individual compartments closed. FIG. 34 shows a top view of an exemplary package that can be used to form the package of FIG. FIG. 35 is an end elevation view of the package of FIG. 34. FIG. 36 is a view as shown in FIG. 35 in which a portion of the package is shown moving in a direction toward the stacked configuration. FIG. 37 is a perspective view of FIG. 36 shown with the packages stacked and the closure flaps open. FIG. 38 is a perspective view of FIG. 37 shown with the packages in a stacked configuration and the closure flaps moving toward the closed configuration. FIG. 39 is a view of FIG. 38 with the packages in a stacked configuration and the closure flaps shown in a closed configuration. FIG. 27 shows an end elevation view of the package of FIG. 26 in a rolled configuration. FIG. 34 shows a top view of an exemplary package having alternative food orientations that can be used to form an alternative package of the package of FIG.

  The packages described herein include individually sealed compartments and can be formed by a single web of film or opposing webs of film. Each compartment includes a line of weakness that can be ruptured by pushing the back of the film material and a piece of gum toward the line of weakness. The line of weakness advantageously provides the compartment with a hinged flap that can remain attached to the rest of the film after the compartment has been opened by the consumer. During the initial opening of the compartment, a crackling or other audible noise may be provided to the consumer to indicate that the package has been opened due to the rupture of the line of weakness. The flap therefore advantageously provides tamper evidence for the package.

  A first exemplary package 10 is shown in FIGS. The package 10 includes a first side edge 11, a second side edge 13 opposite to the first side edge 11, a first free edge 15, and a side opposite to the first free edge 15. Second free edge 17. The package 10 has a length defined by the distance from the first side edge 11 to the second side edge 13. The package 10 has a lateral width relative to its length and a lateral width defined by the distance from the first free edge 15 to the second free edge 17.

  The exemplary package 10 includes eight individually sealed compartments 12 each configured to contain food items therein. Each compartment 12 is individually sealed (preferably sealed) by seals 14, 16, and 18 as shown in FIG. Adjacent compartments 12 are adjacent to each other as shown in FIG. 1 and are separable from each other and package 10 by one or more compartment weakening lines 20, 22, 23, and 25. Adjacent compartments 12 can be separated from each other individually as shown in FIG. 6, two together as shown in FIG. 7, or three or more together.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the compartment weakening line 20 extends from the first side edge 11 to the second side edge 13 of the package 10, and the compartment weakening lines 22, 23, and 25 are connected to the first side edge 11. Extends from the free edge 15 to the second free edge 17. Compartment weakening lines 20, 22, 23, and 25 may be formed by a series of ablation or score lines as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the compartment line of weakness 20, 22, 23, and 25 may be formed by a single continuous line of weakness similar to the flap line of weakness 24.

  The compartment weakening lines 22, 23, and 25 can be parallel to each other and perpendicular to the compartment weakening line 20, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the compartment weaklines 22, 23, and 25 can converge or diverge relative to each other. Further, although the compartment weakening line 20 is shown as being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the package 10, the compartment weakening line 20 may be inclined at various angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the package 10. The longitudinal axis of the package 10 is not shown in FIG. 1, but the longitudinal axis of the package 10 extends parallel to the first and second free edges 15 and 17, and the first and second It will be understood that it passes through the two side edges 11, 13. Although the compartment weakening lines 20, 22, 23, and 25 are shown as being straight, the compartment weakening lines 22, 23, and 25 may be curved (eg, convex, concave, wavy, etc.). .

  One of the compartments 12 may be separated from the package 10 by tearing the compartment 12 along the compartment weakening lines 20 and 22, as shown generally in FIG. Alternatively, two of the compartments 12 can be packaged by tearing the compartments 12 from the package 10 along the compartment weakened line 22 from the first free edge 15 to the second free edge 17 as shown in FIG. 10 may be separated. It will be appreciated that the weak lines 20 and 22 allow the consumer to separate any number of compartments 12 from the package 10 at a time. For example, a tear along the compartment weakening line 23 allows the consumer to separate four compartments 12 at a time, while a tear along the compartment weakening line 25 allows the consumer to have six compartments at a time. 12 can be separated.

  Each compartment 12 is configured to contain a food product 90 such as, for example, pellets or gum pieces as shown in FIG. The number of compartments 12 (ie, 8) and the number of gum pieces 90 in each compartment 12 (ie, 1) is shown as an example only, and package 10 has less than 8 compartments (eg, 2 pieces) 4, 6, etc.), or may have more than 8 compartments (eg, 10, 12, 14 or more), and each compartment 12 may have two or more gum pieces or another It should be understood that a confectionery or other food item 90 may be contained therein. Furthermore, although the gum pieces 90 are shown in FIG. 3 as not being individually packaged, the gum pieces or any other food 90 contained in the compartment 12 of the package 10 is separated by a wrapping paper separate from the package 10. It will be understood that they may be individually packaged. It will also be appreciated that the gum pieces are shown as food 90 by way of example only, and that other products such as chocolate, candy, or non-food can be contained within the compartment 12 of the package 10.

  Each compartment 12 has a hermetically sealed interior 28 that houses food 90 therein, and an opening 30 for providing access to the food 90 retained in the interior 28 as shown in FIG. Compartment 12 includes a back or back panel 32 and a front panel 34 that are sealed together to define an interior 28. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the back panel 32 and the front panel 34 are sealed together along the longitudinal seal 14 and the transverse seals 16, 18. The front panel 34 and the back panel 32 are also joined together at the free edge 15 of the package 10 so that when the compartment 12 is opened by the consumer, a portion of the front panel 34 (ie, the flap 26) Allows movement (eg, by swiveling) relative to the back panel 32 around the free edge 15.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the back panel 32 of the compartment 12 has an outer surface 36 and an inner surface 38, and the front panel 34 of the compartment 12 has an outer surface 40 and an inner surface 42. The compartment 12 is configured such that the inner surfaces 38 and 42 of the back and front panels 32 and 34 face each other. When the package 10 is in the non-open position shown in FIG. 4, the food product 90 is contained in the interior 28 of the compartment 12 between the inner surfaces 38 and 42 of the back and front panels 32 and 34, respectively.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the back panel 32 and the front panel 34 meet each other and join at the free edge 15 of the package 10 to form a closed lower end 44 of the compartment 12. The lower end 44 of the compartment 12 is shown in the shape of a fold in FIG. 4, but the lower end 44 of the compartment 12 is used for sealing (for example, heat sealing, cold sealing, etc.), bonding, etc. It will be understood that it can be formed by combining parts of

  The back panel 32 and the front panel 34 are non-removably joined to each other via the longitudinal seal 14 to form a closed upper end 46 of the compartment 12. In addition, the back panel 32 and the front panel 34 are preferably non-removably coupled to one another via the transverse seals 16, 18 as shown in FIG. Side portions 48 and 5 are formed. For the purposes of this disclosure, “non-removable” means a bond that is not intended to be removed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the longitudinal seal 14 extends generally parallel to the free edge 15 and the opposite free edge 17 of the package 10, while the transverse seals 16 and 18 are connected to each other. It extends generally parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal seal 14 and the free edges 15 and 17 of the package 10. In particular, the longitudinal seal 14 extends in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the package 10 and parallel to the compartment line of weakness 20 and interconnects with the seals 16 and 18. Extends in a direction parallel to the compartment weakening line 22 and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and the compartment weakening line 20. Seals 14, 16, and 18 may include a metallized layer to facilitate their formation.

  A portion of the front panel 34 of the compartment 12 is configured in the form of an integral flap 26 that allows the compartment 12 to be opened by the consumer to access the food item 90 in the compartment 12. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, each compartment 12 of the package 10 is from an unopened position where the flaps 26 of the compartment 12 are around the free edge 15 of the package 10 and access to the food product 90 shown in FIG. 1 is restricted. 3 includes a flap line of weakness 24 that allows the food product 90 shown in FIG. 3 to move to an open position that is accessible by the consumer. The flap line of weakness 24 can be a score line and can be formed by laser ablation, punching, microabrasion, and the like. The flap line of weakness 24 has first and second spaced apart ends that intersect the free edge 15 of the package 10 and the package from its first and second ends as shown in FIG. 10 towards the free edge 17 on the opposite side. In general, the area defined between the main line of weakness 24 and the free end 15 of the package 10 forms a flap 26 as shown in FIGS.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the main line of weakness 24 is generally U-shaped, the flap 26 includes four sides, and the flap line of weakness 24 is along three of the sides of the flap 26. Extend. The flap line of weakness 24 is substantially parallel to each other and has first and second portions 24 a and 24 b that extend from the first free edge 15 of the package 10 toward the second free edge 17. . The first and second portions 24a, 24b of the flap line of weakness 24 are flaps that are substantially perpendicular to the first and second portions 24a, 24b of the main line of weakness 24 as shown in FIGS. Interconnected by a third portion 24 c of the line of weakness 24.

  The flap fragile line 24 has been shown to be generally U-shaped by way of example only, but the flap fragile line 24 is of any other suitable shape such as, for example, a square, a triangle, an ellipse, a circle, a trapezoid, etc. It will be understood that it may be. More specifically, although the portions 24a, 24b of the flap line of weakness 24 have been shown to be straight and parallel to the side edges 11, 13 of the package 10 as shown in FIG. The 24 portions 24a, 24b may be non-parallel to the side edges 11, 13, and may be non-linear (eg, wavy or arcuate) or discontinuous.

  In addition, the flap line of weakness 24 has been shown in FIGS. 1-3 to intersect its first and second ends with the free edge 15 of the package 10, but the flap line of weakness 24 is The free edge 15 may be slightly spaced from the free edge 15 toward the free edge 17 on the opposite side of the package 10. For the purposes of this disclosure, “substantially intersect” means that the two lines physically intersect or are slightly spaced apart (eg, 1-5 millimeters, 1 Will be understood to mean (below -4 millimeters, 1-3 millimeters, 1 or 2 millimeters or less).

  When the package 10 is in the non-open position as shown in FIG. 4, adjacent compartments 12 are joined together and are separably joined to each other by a compartment weakening line 20. The compartment line of weakness 20 also provides a hinge around which adjacent adjacent compartments 12 can pivot relative to each other. The hinge provided by the compartment weakening line 20 allows the consumer to move four of the compartments 12 of the package 10 around the compartment weakening line 20 so that the free edges 15 and 17 substantially overlap each other. It can be brought in, advantageously folding the storage size of the package 10 in half. Similarly, compartment weakening lines 22, 23, and 25 provide hinges that allow adjacent compartments 12 to move around one of compartment weakening lines 22, 23, or 25, respectively, The package 10 can be folded to reduce its length.

  4 and 5, the upper end 46 of the compartment 12 is formed by the longitudinal seal 14 between the converging portions of the back and front panels 32, 34, and the lower end 44 of the compartment 12 is the back and front panel. 32, 34 are connected and formed by a crease that defines the free edge 15 of the package 10. 4-5, the exemplary package 10 is formed from a single sheet of flexible material, so that the gap 52 defined by the distance between the free ends 54, 56 of the flexible material is adjacent to the compartment. 12 to obtain the upper end 46 of the twelve.

  Access to the opening 30 and interior 28 of the compartment 12 of the package 10 is blocked by the flap 26 when the compartment 12 of the package 10 is in the non-open position. Although the inner surface 42 of the front panel 34 and the inner surface 38 of the back panel 32 have been shown spaced apart from the outer surface of the food product 90 for clarity in FIG. 4, the back and front panels 32 and The inner surfaces 38 and 42 of 34 may each be in direct contact with the food product 90, in this example the outer surface of the gum piece, respectively, when the package 10 is in the unopened position.

  It should be understood that the package 10 is not accurate and that the gum pieces 90 may be closer to or farther from each other than shown in FIGS. In addition, the gum piece 90 is not shown in cross-section in FIGS. 4-5 for purposes of clarity. Although the package 10 has been shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 with the flap 26 formed on the front panel 34, the flap 26 may alternatively be formed on the back panel 32 instead of the front panel 34. In another alternative embodiment, the package 10 may be formed such that each front and back panel 32 and 34 each includes a separable flap 26, pushing the back panel 32 through the front panel 34, or Either pushing the front panel 34 and through the back panel 32 allows the consumer to access the food 90 within the interior 28 of the compartment 12.

  With the package 10 in the non-open position shown in FIG. 4, the closure flap 26 is removably coupled to an adjacent portion of the front panel 34 at the flap weakening line 24 as shown in FIGS. For the purposes of this disclosure, “removably coupled” means a coupling that is intended to be removed. The flap 26 of the compartment 12 is movable from the non-open position of FIG. 4 toward the open position of FIG. 5 in response to a force applied by the consumer. Specifically, the consumer is in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. 5 with respect to the back panel 32 of the compartment 12 to open the compartment 12 to access the food 90 stored in the interior 28 of the compartment 12. A force may be applied to (eg, with one or more fingers). Instead of applying force to the back panel 32 of the compartment 12 to open the flap 26 as shown in FIG. 5, the user may use two fingers, for example, as shown in FIGS. (I.e., both the back panel 32 and the front panel 34) and both fingers are moved while pinching the compartment 12, both start tearing at the flap line of weakness 24, and the flap 26 is opened to the consumer in the compartment 12 It will be appreciated that a tear may be propagated along the flap line of weakness 24 to separate the flap 26 from the adjacent portion of the front panel 34 so as to provide access to the interior 28 of the front panel 34.

  The force applied by the consumer to the exterior surface 36 of the back panel 32 of the compartment 12 causes the back panel 32 made of flexible film, as will be described in more detail below, in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. Bias. This bias of the back panel 32 of the compartment 12 allows a force applied by the consumer to be indirectly applied to the food product 90 via the inner surface 38 of the back panel 32, which causes the food product 90 to be applied to the front panel 34. Energize in the direction you head. The force exerted by the food product 90 on the inner surface 42 of the front panel 34 along the flap 26 causes the flap 26 to separate from the adjacent portion of the front panel 34 along the flap line of weakness 24. This separation allows the flaps 26 to pivot around the first free edge 15 of the package 10 toward the open position shown in FIG. Access to the consumer through the opening 30 made in the compartment 12 by separation of the flap 26 from the consumer.

  When the maximum opening force is applied by the consumer, the opening force applied by the consumer in FIG. 5 since the top end of the food product 90 is substantially aligned with the portion 24c of the flap line of weakness 24 as shown in FIG. The tension provided by is likely to tear through the portion 24c of the flap line of weakness 24. It should be understood that tearing at the flap line of weakness 24 may also begin at one or both of the portions 24a and 24b of the flap line of weakness 24. In one form, the portion 24c can configure the flap line of weakness 24 such that less tension is required to rupture than the portions 24a and 24b of the flap line of weakness 24, which First ensure that the portion 24c preferentially ruptures.

  The flap 26 provides the consumer with a visual indication of the degree of opening of the compartment 12 of the package 10 as shown in FIGS. Because the consumer feels some resistance while separating the flap 26 along the flap line of weakness 24, the flap 26 may provide a tactile response to the consumer during the initial opening of the compartment 12 of the package 10. it can. Further, since the consumer hears a snapping sound during initial separation of the flap 26 along the flap fragile line 24, the flap 26 may provide an audible response to the consumer during the initial opening of the package 10. it can.

  After separating the flap 26 from the adjacent portion of the front panel 34 of the compartment 12 along the flap weakening line 24, the flap 26 no longer obstructs the opening 30 of the compartment 12 and does not seal the interior 28 of the compartment 12. . The open inner surface 86 of the flap 26 may include a graphic display that can be visually appealed to the consumer. The graphic display may be applied to the inner surface 86 of the flap 26 by printing, stamping, painting, or any other suitable method. The graphic display may be any regular or irregular geometric shape (eg, triangle, star, snowflake) or physical object (eg, flower, butterfly, cartoon character, etc.). The graphic display may be applied to the inner surface 86 of each compartment flap 26, may be applied to some of the flaps 26, or may not be applied to the flaps 26.

  The flap 26 may be removably connected to the back panel 32 at the first free edge 15 of the package 10 as shown in FIG. Thus, when the compartment 12 is in the open position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the flap 26 remains coupled to the back panel 32 of the compartment 12 at the free edge 15 but no longer seals the compartment 12 of the package 10. Or access to the opening 30 of the compartment 12 is not blocked. Rather, the consumer can remove food 90 from the compartment 12 through the opening 30 shown in FIG. It will be appreciated that the front panel 34 and the flap line of weakness 24 of the compartment 12 may be configured such that the flap 26 is completely removable from the front panel 34 and the back panel 32 of the compartment 12. The flap 26 thus provides a freshness seal and a visual indication to the consumer that the compartment 12 of the package 10 has been pre-opened or tampered with by the absence of the flap 26 or partial separation of the flap 26. Provide tamper evidence functionality to each compartment 12 of the package 10.

  After initial opening of the compartment 12 and use of the food product 90 (eg, gum sticks or pieces of gum) as described above, the compartment 12 of the package 10 is at least partially moved from the open position of FIG. 5 to the non-open position of FIG. A consumer who desires to reclose the front piece 34 returns the used piece of gum 90 to the interior 28 of the compartment 12 so that the inner surface 86 of the flap 26 contacts and adheres to the outer surface of the gum piece 90. The gum 90 may be moved in a direction toward the used piece and the back panel 32. The consumer applies some force against each other, for example, by pinching the back of the compartment 12 and the front panels 32, 34, so that the gum 90 is applied to the inner surface 38 of the rear panel 32 and the inner surface 86 of the front panel 34. The used gum piece 90 can be at least partially reclosed in the compartment 12 to ensure a stable adherence of the used piece and to be disposed in a trash can.

  As described above, when the compartment 12 of the package 10 is at least partially reclosed, the food product 90 is accommodated in the compartment 12 of the package 10 and the fall from the compartment 12 is restricted. A consumer who wants to discard the compartment 12 containing the used food 90 will then completely separate the compartment 12 from the package 10 along the compartment weakening lines 20 and 22 as shown in FIG. A separate compartment 12 containing the used food 90 can be placed in a trash can. This advantageously provides the consumer an easy way to discard the used gum piece 90 without having to look for a piece of paper to wrap the used gum piece 90.

  An exemplary method of manufacturing the package 10 is described with reference to FIGS. The method of manufacture is generally illustrated in FIGS. 8A-10 by illustrating the orientation and operation of the flexible material 100 that makes the package 10 without showing the associated assembly line machine. It should be understood that the flexible material 100 can be unwound from a feed roll and fed as a web in the machine direction indicated by the directional arrows shown in FIG. It will be appreciated that the flexible film 100 and the food product 90 may be fed onto the top surface of a fixed plate, moving conveyor, etc.

  The package 10 may be manufactured, for example, from a single sheet of flexible material 100 as shown in FIG. 8A. Alternatively, the package 10 may be manufactured from, for example, two sheets of flexible material 100 as shown in FIG. 8B. The flexible material 100 may be a film formed from a polymer, laminate, metallized polymer, paper or the like. For clarity of illustration of the method, a portion of the flexible film 100 from which the package 10 can be manufactured is shown in FIGS. When oriented in the machine direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 8A, an exemplary sheet of flexible film 100 has a leading edge 111 (corresponding to the side edge 11 of the package 10), a back edge 113. (Corresponding to side edge 13 of package 10), first longitudinal side edge 154 (corresponding to free end 54 of the film of package 10), second longitudinal side edge 156 (film of package 10) And a horizontally upward surface 160 on which the food product 90 can be placed during the manufacture of the package 10.

  As the flexible film 100 moves in the machine direction indicated by the directional arrow in FIG. 8A, fold lines and / or crease lines and weak lines can be created in the flexible film 100. In particular, the line of weakness 124 (corresponding to the flap line of weakness 24 of the package 10) can be made in the flexible film 100 using, for example, a laser. In addition, line of weakness 120, 122, 123, and 125 (corresponding to compartment line of weakness 20, 22, 23, and 25 of package 10) can be made in film 100 using, for example, laser ablation. The flap line of weakness 124 and the compartment line of weakness 120, 122, 123, and 125 may be formed in the flexible film 100 before or after the flexible film 100 is unwound from the feed roll in the machine direction. The flap line of weakness 124 and the compartment line of weakness 120, 122, 123, and 125 may be formed in the flexible film 100 before or after placing the food product 90 on the upper facing surface 160 of the flexible film 100.

  A set of fold or crease lines 115 and 117 (corresponding to the free edges 15 and 17 of the package 10, respectively) may be formed in the flexible film 100 as shown in FIG. 8A. In the exemplary method shown in FIG. 8A, the fold lines 115, 117 extend from the leading edge 111 to the trailing edge 113 and intersect the first and second ends of the flap fragile line 124. The crease lines 115 and 117 can be created in the flexible film 100 before or after the flexible film 100 is unwound from the feed roll in the machine direction. The crease lines 115 and 117 may be formed in the flexible film 100 before or after placing the food product 90 on the upper facing surface 160 of the flexible film 100. Preferably, the fold lines 115, 117 are created when the longitudinal edges 154, 156 of the flexible film 100 are folded in the direction indicated by the directional arrows in FIG. In one approach, if the fold lines 115 and 117 are made in the flexible film 100 prior to the folding of the flexible film 100 shown in FIG. Before unwinding from the feed roll or after the flexible film 100 is unwound from the feed roll, it can be produced by, for example, a suitable roller or laser.

  First and second fold lines 115 and 117 are shown in FIG. 8A to intersect both the leading and trailing edges 111, 113 of the flexible film 100 and the free end of the flap fragile line 124. However, it will be appreciated that the fold lines 115, 117 may “substantially intersect” the leading and trailing edges 111, 113 and the free end of the flap fragile line 124. In other words, the crease lines 115, 117 are slightly spaced (eg, 1-2 millimeters or less) from the leading and trailing edges 111, 113 and from the free ends 115, 117 of the flap fragile line 124. May be. The fold lines 115, 117 and the compartment weak lines 120, 122, 123, and 125 have been shown in FIG. 8 as straight lines, but one of the fold lines 115, 117 and the compartment weak lines 120, 122, 123, and 125 is shown. Or it will be appreciated that both may be non-linear, curved, or discontinuous instead of being in the form of a single continuous line.

  With reference to FIG. 8A, the region 126 of the flexible film 100 between the flap line of weakness 124 and the crease line 115 corresponds to the flap 26 of the package 10. A region 134 located adjacent to the flap line of weakness 124 and located within the outer periphery defined by the compartment line of weakness 120, 122, the fold line 115, and the leading edge 111 of the flexible film 100 is a compartment of the package 10. This corresponds to 12 front panels 34. A region 132 located within the outer periphery defined by the leading and trailing ends 111, 113, the longitudinal edge 154, and the crease line 115 of the flexible film 100 is on the back panel 32 of the compartment 12 of the package 10. Correspond.

  The location of the flap weakness line 124 in the flexible film 100 as shown in FIG. 8A is shown as an example only, and the flap weakness line 124 is shown in FIGS. It should be understood that a location or other location suitable for a particular package may be formed instead. For example, the formation of the flap line of weakness 124 at a location in the flexible film as shown in FIG. 8B provides a package in which the orientation of the flaps 26 of the assembled package 10 is different. In particular, the flaps 26 of the package 10 assembled from the flexible film 100 shown in FIG. 8A may be applied to the free edge 15 of the package 10 when the compartment 12 is opened by the consumer as shown in FIG. In the package assembled from the flexible film 100 shown in FIG. 8B, the flap 26 is around the longitudinal edge 156 of the package, although it is moved to the open position by pivoting around the back panel 32. The longitudinal edge 156 may substantially overlap the compartment line of weakness 20 by moving to the open position by pivoting with respect to the back panel 32.

FIG. 8C shows yet another alternative formation of the flap line of weakness 124 in the flexible film 100. In particular, the flap line of weakness 124 in Figure 8A, but is produced in the region 132 of the flexible film 100 corresponding to the rear panel 32 of the package 10, the flap line of weakness 124 in Figure 8 C is the back panel of the package 10 32 Are formed in both the region 132 of the flexible film 100 corresponding to the region 132 and the region 134 of the flexible film 100 corresponding to the front panel 34 of the package 10. Arrangement of the flap lines of weakness 124 as shown in FIG. 8 C provides a package having a closure flap 26 which is formed on both the front and back panels of the package, this arrangement, the package 10 of FIG. 4 Differently, the user can open the package by applying an opening force from both sides of the package. The package 10 of FIG. 4 has an open / close flap 26 formed only in the front panel 34 and can be opened by an opening force applied from one side of the package 10 (ie, the back panel 32).

  FIG. 8D also shows another alternative formation of a flap line of weakness in the flexible film 100. In particular, the flap line of weakness 124 of FIG. 8C made in regions 132 and 134 of flexible film 100 is oriented in the same direction, but is made in regions 132 and 134 of flexible film 100. FIG. The flap weakening line 124 is oriented in the opposite direction. Similar to the arrangement of the flap line of weakness 124 as shown in FIG. 8C, the arrangement of the flap line of weakness 124 as shown in FIG. 8D has an openable flap 26 formed on both the front and back panels of the package. Although providing a package, the flap 26 on the front panel 34 of the package 10 made from the flexible film 100 of FIG. 8C is on the front panel 34 of the package 10 made from the flexible film 100 of FIG. 8D. It has the opposite direction compared to the flap 26.

  As the flexible film 100 is moved in the machine direction, food products such as gum pieces 90 are placed on the horizontally upward surface 160 of the flexible film 100 as shown in FIG. The gum pieces 90 are arranged on the flexible film's horizontal upward surface 160 so that each gum piece 90 fits completely inside the region of the flap 126, ie, does not protrude beyond the flap line of weakness 124 or the crease line 115. Positioned on. It will be appreciated that any one or more of the gum pieces 90 may partially protrude from the area sealed by the flap 126 (eg, with a difference of 1-3 millimeters or less).

  Although the food product 90 is shown in the shape of a gum piece in FIG. 9, foods other than the gum piece, for example, candy, chocolate, etc. may be used in combination with the flexible film 100 instead of the gum piece. . In one approach, non-food items that are packaged in package 10 may be used in combination with flexible film 100. If desired, the food item 90 or non-food item may be removably attached to the horizontally upward surface 160 of the flexible film 100, for example, by a suitable adhesive, tape, or the like. If desired, the region 126 of the horizontal upward surface 160 of the flexible film 100 on which the food product 90 is placed may at least partially include a non-slip surface. Such a non-slip surface and / or removable attachment of the food product 90 to the horizontally upward surface 160 of the flexible film 100 allows the flexible film 100 to move as it moves in the machine direction during manufacture. The horizontal upward surface 160 of 100 can prevent the food 90 from being unnecessarily displaced.

  With the food product 90 placed on the horizontal upward surface 160 of the flexible film 100 as shown in FIG. 9, the opposing longitudinal edges 154, 156 of the flexible film 100 have fold lines 115 and 117. Each may be folded inward around the perimeter and brought closer together in the direction indicated by the directional arrows in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the first and second longitudinal edges 154, 156 of the flexible film 100 overlap the portion 132 of the flexible film 100 with the portions 126 and 134 of the flexible film 100. The first and second longitudinal edges 154 and 156 are positioned adjacent to each other, creating a gap 152 therebetween, while being moved into position and covering the food item 90. The gap 152 may be about 1 to 3 millimeters or less, for example.

  The gap 152 between the first and second longitudinal edges 154 and 156 is highlighted for clarity purposes, and the gap 152 may not be visible to the consumer in the finished package 10. It should be understood that there is. It should also be understood that the first and second longitudinal edges 154 and 156 may be placed in direct contact with each other such that the gap 152 therebetween is substantially eliminated. In addition, it is understood that the dimensions in FIGS. 8-10 are merely exemplary and not exact, and that flexible film 100 can be used to produce flexible packages of various shapes and sizes. Should. Examples of such packages are shown in FIGS. 11-41 and will be described later.

  After the first and second longitudinal edges 154 and 156 of the flexible film 100 are folded inward, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the regions 132 and 134 of the flexible film 100 are , Sealed together along regions 114, 116, and 118 to form eight individually (and preferably hermetically sealed) compartments 112 each containing a piece of gum 90. Sealing can be performed by cold sealing or heat sealing. Adhesives, lamination, bonds, welding, UV curing, or melting may be used instead of heat sealing.

  Finally, the package 10 may be separated from the remaining portion of the flexible film 100. For example, a cutting device such as a cutting jaw can make one or more sections from the flexible film 100 to singulate individual packages 10. The method described above advantageously allows the package 10 described above to be easily formed from a single sheet of flexible film 100 (or two opposite sheets of the same flexible film 100), and the package 10 back. Avoid using one material for the panel and another different material for the front panel of the package 10.

  Another form of package 200 is shown in FIGS. Unlike package 10, which includes eight individually sealed compartments 12 with four compartments 12 in each row arranged in two rows as shown in FIG. 1, package 200 was arranged in one row. Contains 5 compartments. Each compartment 12 is configured to contain a food product 90, such as a gum stick, for example, as shown in FIG. The gumsticks may not be packaged as shown in FIG. 12, or if desired, each may be individually packaged with a separate wrapping paper material. The number of compartments (ie, 5) and the number of gumsticks in each compartment 212 (ie, 1) is shown only as an example, and the package 200 has less than 5 compartments (eg, 4, 3 Or 2), or may have more than 5 compartments (eg, 6, 7, 8 or more), and each compartment 12 may have 2 or more gum sticks or another food or It should be understood that non-food 90 can be accommodated. Package 200 is generally similar to package 10 in other respects as will be described in more detail below.

  For ease of reference, aspects of package 200 that are similar to aspects of package 10 described above are designated with similar reference numbers prefixed with “2”. Package 200 has a general configuration similar to package 10 described above and can be formed from one sheet of flexible film or from two sheets of flexible film, with some differences. Is highlighted below.

  Adjacent compartments 212 of the package 200 are adjacent to each other and joined together by one of each of the compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, or 227 as shown in FIG. Adjacent compartments 212 of the package 200 may be separated from the package 200 from each other and along the compartment weakening line 222 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, two of the compartments 212 may be simultaneously separated from the package 200 along the compartment weakening line 223, and three of the compartments 212 may be simultaneously separated from the package 200 along the compartment weakening line 225. Or four of the compartments 212 may be simultaneously separated from the package 200 along the compartment weakening line 227. Since separation of the individual compartments 12 from the package 10 requires separation of the compartments 12 along two compartment weakening lines 20 and 22 as shown in FIG. Is one difference.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 extend from the first free edge 215 of the package 200 to the second free edge 217. Similar to the compartment weakening lines 22, 23, and 25, the compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 can be formed by a series of ablation or score lines as shown in FIG. It can be formed by a single continuous line of weakness similar to 224. Compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, 227 are hinges between adjacent compartments 212 so that adjacent compartments 212 can be movable around a corresponding one of compartment lines 222, 223, 225, and 227. By providing an area, the package 200 can be folded so that the length of the package 200 is shorter.

  The compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 can be parallel to each other, as shown in FIG. 11, or may converge or diverge relative to each other. Further, compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 are shown as being perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of package 200, but compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 are relative to the longitudinal axis. It may be inclined at various angles. Although the compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 are shown to be straight, the compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 may be curved (eg, convex, concave, wavy). Such).

  Each individual compartment 212 of the package 10 is preferably hermetically sealed. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, each compartment 212 includes three seals 214, 216, 218. Adjacent compartments 212 are joined to each other by compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 extending between adjacent compartments 212 of package 10 and are separable from each other along these weakening lines. Longitudinal seal 214 extends in a direction along the longitudinal axis of package 10 and interconnects with transverse seals 216 and 218, which cross seals 216 and 218 are connected to compartment weakened line 222. Parallel and extends in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and the longitudinal seal 214. Although the longitudinal axis of the package 200 is not shown in FIG. 11, the longitudinal axis extends parallel to the first and second free edges 215, 217 of the package 200, and the first and second It will be understood that it passes through the two side edges 211, 213.

  Each compartment 212 has a hermetically sealed interior 228 configured to hold the food 290 therein, and an opening 230 to provide access to the food 290 as shown in FIG. Compartment 212 includes a back panel 232 and a front panel 234 that are sealed together to define an interior 228. In particular, as shown in FIG. 11, the back panel 232 and the front panel 234 are sealed together along the longitudinal seal 214 and the transverse seals 216, 218. The front panel 234 and the back panel 232 are also coupled together at the first free edge 215 of the package 200 so that when the compartment 212 is opened by the consumer, the portion of the front panel 234, such as the flap 226, is Allows movement (e.g., by pivoting) relative to the back panel 232 around the free edge 215.

  Referring to FIGS. 13-14, the back panel 232 and the front panel 234 meet and join at the first free edge 215 of the package 200 to form the closed lower end 244 of the compartment 212. As shown in FIG. 13, the back panel 232 and the front panel 234 are non-removably coupled to each other through the sealing portion 214 at the second free edge 217 of the package 200 to close the closed upper end 246 of the compartment 212. Form. In addition, the back panel 232 and the front panel 234 are non-removably coupled to each other via transverse seals 216, 218 as shown in FIG. Side portions 248, 250 are formed.

  A portion of the front panel 234 of the compartment 212 includes a flap 226 that allows the compartment 212 of the package 200 to be opened from a non-open position to an open position by the consumer to access the food 290 in the compartment 212. Configured in shape. Each compartment 212 of the package 200 shown in FIG. 11 is viewed from a non-open position in which the flaps 226 of the compartment 212 are around the free edge 215 of the package 200 and access to the food 290 shown in FIG. 12 includes a flap line of weakness 224 that allows food 290, shown at 12, to move to an open position that is accessible by the consumer. During movement of the flap 226 from the non-open position to the open position, the flap 226 moves away from the adjacent portion of the front panel 234, but remains coupled to the free edge 215 of the package 200 as shown in FIGS. It may be.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the flap weakening line 224 of the package 200 intersects the free edge 215 and extends from the free edge 215 of the package 200 toward the second edge 217 of the package 200. It is similar to the flap line of weakness 24 of the package 10 in that it also has parallel first and second portions 224a, 224b having first and second ends. The first and second portions 224a, 224b of the flap fragile line 224 are interconnected by a third portion 224c of the flap fragile line 224 that is perpendicular to the first and second portions 224a, 224b of the flap fragile line 224. The

  For example, as can be seen in FIGS. 9 and 17, the food 290 stored in the package 200 has a greater length compared to the food 90 and is a more elongated rectangle. In other words, the food 290 is shown in the form of a gumstick, and the food 90 is shown in the form of a pellet. In order to accommodate a longer length of food 290 compared to food 90, the compartment 212 of the package 200 is correspondingly directed from the first free end 215 to the second free end 217 of the package 200. Has a larger width than the compartment 12 of the package 10. The flap 226 of the compartment 212 of the package 200 also has a length that is longer than the flap 26 of the compartment 12 of the package 10, which can be seen with reference to FIGS.

  When the compartment 212 of the package 200 is in the unopened position shown in FIG. 13, access to the opening 230 and the interior 228 of the compartment 212 of the package 200 is blocked by the flap 226. The flap 226 of the compartment 212 of the package 200 is shown in FIG. 14 from the unopened position of FIG. 14 in response to the force applied by the user to the compartment 212 and then the food 290 as described above with reference to FIG. It is movable toward the open position. In particular, the consumer may use the arrow in FIG. 14 against the outer surface 236 of the back panel 232 of the compartment 212 to open the compartment 212 of the package 200 to access the food 290 stored in the interior 228 of the compartment 212. A force may be applied in the direction indicated by (e.g., with one or more fingers). Similar to the case where the compartment 12 of the package 10 is opened in response to a force exerted by the user as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the compartment 212 of the package 200 is then opened as shown in FIGS. . Instead of applying force to the back panel 232 of the compartment 212 to open the flap 226 as shown in FIG. 14, the user may use two fingers, for example, as shown in FIGS. , And move both fingers while grasping compartment 212 so that both begin to tear at flap fragile line 224 and flap 226 opens to provide the consumer with access to interior 228 of compartment 212. It will be appreciated that a tear may propagate along the line of weakness 224 to separate the flap 226 from the adjacent portion of the front panel 234.

  An exemplary method of manufacturing the package 10 is described with reference to FIGS. In general, the package 200 is a sheet of flexible material 300 (or acceptable) using a method substantially similar to the method shown in FIGS. 8-10 for the flexible film 100 described above. It can be manufactured from opposing sheets 300A and 300B) of flexible material 300. Since package 200 includes only one row with five adjacent compartments 212, instead of two rows with four adjacent compartments as in package 10, in FIGS. 16A-16C, 17 and 18 The method shown includes differences from the method of FIGS.

  In particular, as described above, in the method of FIGS. 8-10, the two free ends (or longitudinal edges) 154, 156 of the flexible film 100 are shown in FIG. 9 around fold lines 115 and 117. Each is folded in a direction toward each other and positioned adjacent to each other so as to substantially overlap the line of weakness 120, covering the food product 90 as shown in FIG. Conversely, in the method of FIGS. 16A-16C, 17 and 18, only one free end or longitudinal edge 356 of flexible film 300 is folded around fold line 315 in the direction shown in FIG. It is positioned to substantially overlap the free end or longitudinal edge 317 of the film 300 and covers the food product 290 as shown in FIG. Thus, while the flexible film 100 includes two fold lines 115 and 117 and the compartment weak line 120, the flexible film 300 includes only one fold line 315, and the compartment weak line 120 includes Does not have a corresponding weak line.

  When oriented in the machine direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 16A, an exemplary sheet of flexible film 300 has a leading edge 311 (corresponding to side edge 311 of package 200), a trailing edge. 313 (corresponding to the side edge 213 of the package 200), a first longitudinal side edge 354 (corresponding to the free end 254 of the film of the package 200), a second longitudinal side edge 317 (of the package 200) Corresponding to the free end 217), and a horizontally upward surface 360 on which the food 290 can be placed during the manufacture of the package 200. The crease line 315 can be formed before the flexible film 300 is unrolled from the roll, after the flexible film 300 is unrolled from the roll, and before or after the food 290 is placed on the film 300. Is folded as shown in FIG. 17 or as a result of folding the film 300 as shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 16A, the region 326 of the flexible film 300 between the flap line of weakness 324 and the crease line 315 corresponds to the flap 226 of the package 200. A region 334 located adjacent to the flap line of weakness 324 and within the outer periphery defined by the compartment line of weakness 322, the fold line 315, the tip edge 311 and the longitudinal edge 317 of the flexible film 300 is packaged. Corresponds to the front panel 234 of 200 compartments 212. A portion of the region 332 of the flexible film 300 is on the opposite side of the region 334 and corresponds to the region 334 but corresponds to the back panel 232 of the compartment 212 of the package 200.

  While package 200 is shown in FIGS. 16A, 17 and 18 as being made from a single sheet of flexible film 300, package 200 is alternatively shown as two sheets as shown in FIG. 16B. It will be appreciated that it can be made from sheets or webs of opposing films 300A and 300B. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16B, instead of forming a package 200 by folding a sheet of flexible film 300 around a fold line 315 to cover the gumstick 290 as shown in FIG. Place the sheet of film 300B overlying the gum stick 290 positioned on the sheet 300A, the sheets of film 300A and 300B being sealed together by a cold seal, heat seal, and / or adhesive, A closed form of the flexible film 300 as shown in FIG. 18 is provided. Sheets of films 300A and 300B are shown in FIG. 16B as having compartment weakened lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 formed therein prior to the sealing attachment of the sheets of films 300A and 300B to each other. However, it should be understood that the sheet of film 300A and the compartment weakened lines 222, 223, 225, and 227 may be formed after the sheets of film 300A and 300B are sealed to each other. . Any of the packages described herein are shown in FIG. 16B instead of a sheet of film folded around one or more fold lines as shown in FIGS. It should be understood that it can be made from two sheets of film sealed together.

  In an alternative embodiment, package 200 is not formed by folding a sheet of flexible film 300 around fold line 115 as shown in FIGS. It may be formed from a single sheet of flexible film 600 by a continuous flow wrap packaging process that moves in the machine direction indicated by the arrow shown at 16C. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16D, the exemplary package 700 made by a continuous flow wrap process is similar to the package 200 shown in FIGS. 13-14, except that the free ends 752 and 754 of the film are sealed. It includes a fin seal 751 extending from the back panel 732 that seals together through a stop region 714, which fin seal can be a cold seal, heat seal, or adhesive. In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 16E, an exemplary package 1700 made by a continuous flow wrap process is similar to package 700 shown in FIG. 16D, but instead of fin seal 751, back panel 1732. Including a lap seal 1761 that extends over a portion of and seals to the outer surface of the back panel 1732 via a sealing region 1714, which is a cold seal, heat seal, or adhesive obtain. Any of the packages described herein, instead of folding a sheet of flexible material around one or more fold lines as shown in FIGS. 9-10 and 17-18, It should be understood that it can be made by encapsulating food in a sheet of flexible film by flow wrap packaging.

  When the flexible film 300 of FIG. 16A is moved in the machine direction, the food product 290 is placed on the horizontal upward surface 360 of the flexible film 300 as shown in FIG. The gum sticks 290 are positioned on the flexible film's horizontal upward surface 360 such that each gum stick 290 fits completely inside the region of the flap 326, ie, does not protrude beyond the flap fragile line 324 or the crease line 315. Positioned on. It will be appreciated that any one or more of the gumsticks 290 may partially protrude from the region 326 that defines the flap 226 of the package 200 (eg, with a difference of 1-2 millimeters or less). .

  With the food 290 placed on the horizontal upward surface 360 of the flexible film 300 as shown in FIG. 17, the longitudinal edge 356 of the flexible film 300 is folded in the direction indicated by the directional arrow. , Positioned substantially overlying the longitudinal edge 317 and covering the food 290 and portions 326 and 334 of the flexible film 300 as shown in FIGS. “Substantially overlap” does not require the longitudinal edge 356 of the flexible film 300 to directly overlap the longitudinal edge 317, but for example, 1-5 millimeters, 1-4 millimeters, 1- It will be understood that this means that it may be positioned in close proximity to the longitudinal edge 317 with a small air gap, such as 3 millimeters, 1-2 millimeters or less.

  After the longitudinal edge 356 of the flexible film 100 is folded inward as shown in FIG. 17 to the position shown in FIG. 18, the portions of the regions 332 and 334 of the flexible film 134 become regions 314, 316 and 318 together, for example, sealed by heat sealing to form five individually (and preferably hermetically) sealed compartments 312, each compartment 312 having a piece of gum 290. including. Adhesives, lamination, bonds, welding, UV curing, or melting may be used instead of heat sealing.

  Finally, the package 200 is separated from the remaining portion of the flexible film 300. For example, a cutting device such as a cutting jaw can make one or more sections from the flexible film 300 to singulate the individual packages 200 shown in FIG. The method described above advantageously allows one package 200 described above to be used while avoiding the use of one material for the back panel 232 of the package 200 and another different material for the front panel 234 of the package 200. It is easily formed from a sheet of flexible film 300 or two sheets of flexible film 300. In addition, the method provides the package 200 with a function that provides easy opening of the compartment 212 of the package 200, an audible signal that indicates to the consumer that the compartment 212 has been opened, and a tamper indicator.

  Another form of package 400 is shown in FIG. Package 19 is generally similar to package 10 in that package 400 includes eight individually sealed compartments 412 with four compartments 412 in each row arranged in two rows. As shown in FIG. 19, the package 400 can be formed from a sheet of flexible film (by folding or flow wrapping) or by joining two sheets of flexible film, and consumption The package 400 has a general configuration similar to the packages 10 and 400 described above in that it can be opened in substantially the same manner as the package 10 in response to a force applied to the panel of the package 400 by a person. These differences are highlighted below. For ease of reference, aspects of package 400 that are similar to aspects of package 10 described above are designated with similar reference numbers prefixed with “4”.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the food product 90 is placed on the flexible film 100 used to make the package 10, the region 126 of the flexible film 100 on which the food product 90 is placed is acceptable. Arranged on the same horizontal plane as the adjacent region 134 of the flexible film 100. One challenge that can occur while manufacturing a package from the flexible film 100 as shown in FIG. 8A is that the flexible film 100 moves along the assembly line in the machine direction shown in FIG. 8A. That is, the food product 90 may be unintentionally shifted or moved from a desired position on the flexible film 100.

  In order to limit the movement of food 90 on flexible film 500 during manufacture, a thermoformed recess is made in flexible film 500 of FIG. 21 where package 400 is made, as shown in FIG. 22A. Alternatively, the pocket 580 may be formed in the flexible film 500. As shown in FIG. 23A, the pocket 580 holds the gum piece 90 therein. Thermoformed pocket 580 can hold, for example, one or more vacuum devices, and the vacuum device fills a mold with portions of flexible film 500 and holds gum pieces 90 as shown in FIGS. The flexible film 500 may be formed by a mold having a corresponding shape located below the moving surface so that the pocket 480 takes the shape. After forming pockets 580, each having an outer periphery 582, in flexible film 500 and placing food 90 in pocket 580, as shown in FIG. 23A, package 400 is as shown in FIGS. The package 10 can be formed in the same manner as the method in which the package 10 is formed from the flexible film 100. In particular, the package 400 may be formed from the flexible film 500 by folding a portion of the flexible film 500 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 23A to the position shown in FIG. It will be appreciated that the package 400 may alternatively be made from two sheets or webs of opposing films 500A and 500B as shown in FIG. 23B.

  One difference between the package 10 of FIGS. 4-5 and the package 400 of FIGS. 19-20 is that due to the presence of the thermoformed pocket 482 in the package 400, the portion of the back panel 432 of the package 400 is the back of the package 10. More food 90 is retained and sealed between them than the corresponding portion of the panel 32. In other words, the back panel 32 and the front panel 34 diverge at a similar angle as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 from each other and to the side edge 13 of the package 10, but the back panel 432 of the package 400. This portion branches from the side edge 413 of the package 400 at a larger angle than the corresponding portion 32 branches from the side edge 13 of the package 10.

  As seen in FIGS. 4-5 and 19-20, another difference between the package 10 and the package 400 is that the portion of the front panel 434 of the package 400 is greater than the corresponding portion of the front panel 34 of the package 10. The food 90 is not held so much inside. In other words, the portion of the front panel 434 is less branched than the side edge 413 of the package 400 and the corresponding portion of the front panel 32 branches from the side edge 13 of the package 10. In other words, as seen in FIGS. 4-5 and 19-20, the orientation of the front and back panels 32 and 34 is greater than the orientation of the front and back panels 432 and 434 relative to the side edges 413 of the package 400. It appears to be more symmetric with respect to 10 side edges 13.

  FIG. 22B shows the flexibility of the material according to an alternative embodiment in which some of the flap score lines 824 are formed on one side of the fold line 815 and some of the flap score lines 824 are formed on the opposite side of the fold line 815. The property sheet | seat 800 is shown. More specifically, FIG. 22B closed the package 900 where flexible film 800 is obtained as shown in FIG. 22C in addition to compartment weakening lines 822, 823, 825, and 827 and flap weakening line 824. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a flexible film material 800 that includes an adhesive region 860 that allows it to fold into form.

  Referring to FIG. 22C, the package 900 is similar to the package 200 in that it includes five gumsticks packaged in five individually sealed compartments 912a-912e of the package 900. Similar to package 200, compartments 912a-912e of package 900 take out food 290 that has been individually opened and held therein, along one of the corresponding compartment weakening lines 922, 923, 925, and 927. Can be separated from the package 900 individually. Different from the package 900. Unlike the compartment 212 of the package 200, which has a generally flat, linear, or orientation orientation that can be described as being aligned as shown in FIG. 11, the package 900 has a smaller length to make the package 900 more It has an orientation that can be described as an accordion type as shown in FIG. 22C that allows it to be compact.

  Another difference between packages 200 and 900 is that adjacent compartments 912a-912e of package 900 are only joined together like corresponding compartment 212 of package 200 by corresponding compartment weakening lines 222, 223, 225, and 227. Rather, they are also non-removably coupled to each other by an adhesive region 960 as shown in FIG. 22C. The adhesive selected for the adhesive region 960 is used to create a non-removable bond to the upper adjacent compartment, eg, the back panel 932 of 912a, to the lower adjacent compartment, eg, the portion of the flap 926 of 912b. Selected. For the purposes of this disclosure, “non-removable” means a bond that is not intended to be removed. For example, the adhesive region 960 may be in the shape of one or more adhesive dots (shown in FIG. 22C), pressure sensitive adhesive, adhesive tape / strip, Velcro®, and the like. This allows the back panel 932 of the compartment 912a to remain coupled to the flap 926 of the compartment 912b when the compartment 912 is opened and / or completely separated from the package 900 for disposal.

  The consumer grasps a portion of the outer compartment 912a and pulls the outer compartment 912 away from the adjacent compartment 912b such that the compartment weakening line 922 provides a hinge that moves the outer compartment 912a relative to the adjacent compartment 912b. The package 900 can be opened. When the consumer moves the compartment 912a away from the adjacent compartment 912b, the consumer moves toward the gum stick held inside the compartment 912a relative to the panel 932 and opens the outer compartment 212 of the package 200. The outer compartment 912a can be opened by applying an opening force in a direction substantially toward the panel 936 as shown in FIG. The consumer can then remove the gumstick 290 from the open outer compartment 912a, where it now completely separates the empty outer compartment 912a from the rest of the package 900 along the compartment weakening line 922, Empty compartment 912 may be discarded.

  In one form, the relative strength of the material forming the panel 934 and the adhesive region 960 of the package 900 along the flap fragile line 924 is such that the outer compartment 912a is directed away from the adjacent compartment 912b by the consumer toward the open position. The opening force and tension being applied by the consumer begins to tear at the flap line of weakness 924, even if the consumer does not apply the opening force to the panel 932 of the compartment 912b as described above. , May be provided to separate the flap 926 from the panel 934 of the compartment 912b by tearing along the flap line of weakness 924. This embodiment may advantageously provide a configuration in which the outer compartment 912a moves away from the adjacent compartment 912b and the flap 926 of the compartment 912b opens in response to one continuous movement by the consumer.

  Another form of package 1000 is shown in FIGS. Package 1000 is shown in FIG. 26, which shows package 1000 in an open or expanded configuration, with eight individually sealed compartments in which package 1000 has four compartments 1012 arranged in two rows. It is generally similar to packages 10 and 400 in that it includes 1012. Package 1000 may be folded from a sheet of flexible film (indicated by reference numeral 1100 for illustration only in FIG. 28) or by flow wrapping or of two sheets of flexible film. It has the same general configuration as the packages 10 and 400 described above in that it can be formed by a bond (shown by reference numbers 1100A and 1100B for illustrative purposes only in FIG. 27).

  Package 1000 is not shown to have compartment weakening lines 22, 23, and 25, like package 10, but package 1000 is completely separated from package 1000 and discarded, either of package 10 compartments 1012 individually. It will be appreciated that a compartment line of weakness may be provided that allows to be done. In addition, the package 1000 is shown with any removable area 1099 and the package 10 is shown without such removable area, but the package 10 or any other package described herein is removable. It will be appreciated that a removable region similar to 1099 may be included. The removable area 1099 of the package 1000 may be separated from the package and expose an opening to allow the package 1000 to be placed on a hanging display shelf at a convenience store or supermarket.

  The package 1000 has a front surface so that the movement of the front and back panels 1083 and 1085 of the package 1000 away from each other can open the package 1000 from the closed configuration of FIG. 25 to the extended configuration of FIG. And an end seal 1089 formed from a material selected to provide a releasable bond between the back panels 1083 and 1085 and sealed together along one or more edges. And the shape of the back panels 1083 and 1085. The package is also a closure flap 1095 that is non-removably coupled to a portion of the back panel 1085 by a seal 1081 or adhesive, and the package 1000 is initially opened and moved from the position of FIG. 25 to the position of FIG. A portion of the closure flap 1095 may include a closure flap 1095 that includes a line of weakness 1087 that allows separation from each other along the line of weakness 1087. The closure flap 1095 and the line of weakness 1087 thus provide a tamper evidence function to the package 1000 such that a partial separation of the closure flap 1095 visually indicates to the consumer that the package 1000 has been previously opened or tampered with. provide. The compartment 1012 of the package 1000 is opened in substantially the same manner as the compartments 12, 212, and 412 of the packages 10, 200, and 400 in response to a force being applied to the panel of the package 1000 by the consumer. The flap 1026 of the compartment 1012 of the flexible package 1000 is separated from the adjacent portion of the compartment 1012 along the flap line of weakness 1024 and moved to an open position to give the consumer access to the food 90 held in the compartment 1012. Can be provided.

  The structure of the compartment 1012 of the package 1000 showing the shape of the pocket 1080 in which the gum pieces are held, and the shape and orientation of the flap line of weakness 1024 is shown in FIG. 31A. The shape and orientation of the flap line of weakness 1024 can be, for example, to facilitate the consumer's ease of opening the compartment 1012 of the package 1000, or to provide a visual indicator where the compartment 1012 can be opened, or simply It will be appreciated that a variety of options can be selected that can be selected to provide a visually preferred design. Some possible options for the shape and orientation of the flap weakness line 1024 of the compartment 1012 of the package 1000 are shown in FIGS. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 31E, the flap fragile line 1024 is a hook-shaped end 1025 that can limit unintended propagation of tears along the flap fragile line 1024 beyond the endpoints 1025 and 1027. First and second segments 1024a and 1024b having 1027, respectively.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 31D, when the consumer applies an opening force to the compartment 1012, the hook-shaped portion 1025b can be preferentially torn at the segment 1024a rather than at the segment 1024b when the flap fragile line 1024 is applied. And one of the segments of the flap weak line 1024 having 1027b may be shorter than the other one 1024a of the segments of the flap weak line 1024 having hook-shaped portions 1025a and 1027a. Package 1000 may be similar to package 400 of FIGS. 19 and 20 in that compartment 1012 of package 1000 includes a thermoformed pocket 1080. It will be appreciated that the compartment 1012 of the package 1000 may alternatively be formed without a thermoformed pocket 1080 similar to the compartment 12 of the package 10. Some differences between packages 10, 400 and 1000 are highlighted below. For ease of reference, aspects of the package 1000 that are similar to aspects of the package 400 described above are designated with similar reference numbers prefixed with “10”.

  Package 1000 is shown in a closed configuration in FIG. 25 and in an open configuration in FIG. FIGS. 27-31 show how the package 1000 can be folded from the open configuration shown in FIG. 26 to the closed configuration of FIG. The material selected for the end seal 1089 of the package 1000 (shown in FIG. 25) will allow multiple opening and reclosing of the package 1000 from the FIG. 25 configuration to the FIG. 26 configuration. Can be selected. In particular, the package 1000 is initially folded from the open configuration shown in FIG. 27 by bringing the free end 1052 of the package toward the free end 1054 of the package 1000 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. obtain. As shown in FIG. 28, the portion of the flexible film from which the package 1000 can be made has two hinge regions 1053 and a free region 1052 when the free end 1052 of the package 1000 is moved toward the free end 1054 of the package 1000. It can swivel around 1055. The package free end 1052 may be moved toward the free end 1054 of the package 1000 by pivoting around a single hinge region from the position shown in FIG. 27 to the position shown in FIG. It will be understood.

  The free end 1052 of the package 1000 may be moved toward the free end 1054 of the package 1000 to a position where a portion of the package 1000 substantially surrounds all of the compartments 1012 of the package 1000 as shown in FIG. FIG. 29 shows that the free end 1052 of the package 1000 does not completely surround the compartment 1012d, but the free end 1052 is completely covered by the flexible film of the folded portion of the package 1000. It will be appreciated that the package 1000 may be folded so that it is positioned to extend beyond the compartment 1012d toward the free end 1054.

  In FIG. 29, if compartment 1012a is positioned between compartments 1012c and 1012d and compartment 1012c is positioned between compartments 1012a and 1012b, compartments 1012 are positioned nested relative to each other. The nesting of compartments 1012a-1012d shown in FIGS. 29-31 packages the package 1000 depending on the thickness or height of the individual compartments 1012a-1012d, from the longer open configuration of FIG. 27 to the more compact configuration of FIG. It advantageously allows folding without increasing the thickness (ie height) of 1000.

  When the package 1000 is in the nested configuration shown in FIG. 29, the free end 1054 of the package 1000 is in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 30 toward the free end 1052 of the package 1000, and the free end 1054 is in the position shown in FIG. So that a portion of the film forming the package 1000 can be approached until it forms a closure flap 1095 that can be permanently attached to the portion under the package 1000 by an adhesive, heat seal, or cold seal. 1000 may be further folded.

  Another form of package 1300 is shown in FIGS. The package 1300 includes a front panel 1383, a back panel 1385 that is detachably sealed via a sealing portion 1389, and a closure that is detachably sealed to the back panel 1385 via a sealing portion 1381. Each of the four compartments 1312 in a row includes eight individually sealed compartments 1312 arranged in two rows as shown in FIG. 34 showing the flap 1395 and the package 1300 in an open or extended configuration. In that respect, it is generally similar to the package 1000. The package 1300 may be formed by folding or flow wrapping the package 1300 from one sheet of flexible film (shown by reference numeral 1400 for illustration only in FIG. 36) or of two sheets of flexible film. It has a general configuration similar to package 1000 described above in that it can be formed by a bond (shown with reference numbers 1400A and 1400B for illustrative purposes only in FIG. 35).

  Package 1300 is not shown to have compartment weakening lines 22, 23, and 25 as package 10 is, but package 1300 is completely separated from package 1300 and discarded, either of compartments 1312 of package 1300. It will be appreciated that a compartment line of weakness may be provided that allows to be done. In addition, while package 1000 is shown with any removable area 1099 and package 1300 is shown without such removable area, package 1300 may include a removable area similar to removable area 1099. Will be understood.

  The package 1300 can be opened in substantially the same manner as the package 1000 by moving the front and back panels 1383 and 1385 away from each other and tearing along the line of weakness 1087 of the closure flap 1095 as described above. . The compartment 1312 of the package 1300 is opened in substantially the same manner as the compartment 1012 of the package 1000 in response to a force applied by the consumer to the panel of the package 1300 to flap the compartment 1312 of the flexible package 1300. 1326 can be separated from adjacent portions of compartment 1312 along flap line of weakness 1324 and moved to an open position to provide consumers with access to food 90 held in compartment 1312. The package 1300 has a flap line of weakness 1324 having a form selected from one or more of the forms shown in FIGS. 31A-31E and described above (eg, U-shaped, X-shaped, I-shaped). Can have.

  Package 1300 may be similar to package 1000 of FIGS. 25-31 in that compartment 1312 of package 1300 includes a thermoformed pocket 1080. It will be appreciated that the compartment 1312 of the package 1300 may alternatively be formed without a thermoformed pocket 1380 similar to the compartment 12 of the package 10. Some differences between packages 1300 and 1000 are highlighted below. For ease of reference, aspects of package 1300 that are similar to aspects of package 1000 described above are designated with similar reference numbers prefixed with “13”.

  Package 1300 is illustrated in a closed or compact form in FIG. 33 and in an open or extended form in FIG. 35-39 illustrate how the package 1300 can be folded from the open configuration shown in FIG. 34 to the closed configuration of FIG. The material selected for the end seal 1389 of the package 1300 (shown in FIG. 33) so as to allow multiple opening and reclosing of the package 1300 from the FIG. 33 configuration to the FIG. 34 configuration. Can be selected. Similar to the package 1000 described above, the package 1300 takes the free end 1352 of the package from the open configuration shown in FIG. 35 toward the free end 1354 of the package 1300 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. Can be folded first. The free end 1352 of the package 1300 may be moved toward the free end 1354 of the package 1300 to a position where a portion of the package 1300 substantially surrounds all of the compartments 1312 of the package 1300 as shown in FIG.

  Since the package 1300 is made of a flexible material, the package 1300 can be configured in the rolled form shown in FIG. The rolled configuration of FIG. 40 can advantageously make the package 1300 more compact for storage in a user's pocket, backpack, or wallet. When the package 1300 is in the rolled configuration of FIG. 40, the end of the flexible film that forms the package 1300, including the free end 1354, is optionally packaged when the consumer uses a gumstick within the package 1300. Removably coupled with an adhesive 1374 selected to provide multiple attachments and removals of the free end 1354 to the opposite portion of the package 1300 so that the 1300 can be unfolded and unwound multiple times. Can be done.

  Unlike package 1000, as shown in FIG. 29, when compartments 1012a-1012d are positioned in a nested configuration relative to each other, the position of compartments 1312a-1312d in package 1300 is from the position of FIG. When the package 1300 is folded, the compartments 1312a and 1312d face each other and the compartments 1312b and 1312c face each other, and the compartments 1312a to 1312 of the package 1300 are placed in a stacked form. The relative positions of compartments 1312a-1312d are shown by way of example only, compartments 1312a and 1312b and compartments 1312c and 1312d may be closer together than shown in FIGS. 37-39, compartments 1312a and 1312d and compartments 1312b and 1312c. May be in contact with each other when stacked, or may be spaced apart from each other.

  The stacked configuration of compartments 1312a-1312d shown in FIGS. 37-39 allows the package 1300 to be folded from the longer open configuration of FIG. 34 to the more compact closed configuration of FIG. In the closed configuration of FIG. 39, the thickness (ie, height) of the package 1300 increases relative to the thickness or height of the package 1000 of FIG. 31, but compartments 1312a and 1312b are placed on top of compartments 1312d and 1312c. The length of the package 1300 for each stacking is about one-half of the length of the package 1000.

  The package 1300 shown in FIG. 34 also includes a graphical display 1391 that allows each compartment 1312 of the package 1300 to visually appeal to the consumer, and another portion of the package 1300 away from the compartment 1312 is also a consumer. 26 is different from the package 1000 shown in FIG. 26 in that it includes a graphic display portion 1393 that can be visually appealing. The graphic displays 1391 and 1393 may be applied to the package by printing, stamping, painting, or any other suitable method. The graphic display units 1391 and 1393 may be any regular or irregular geometric shape (eg, triangle, star, snowflake) or physical object (eg, flower, butterfly, cartoon character, etc.). Good. The graphic display 1391 may be applied to each compartment 1312 as shown in FIG. 34, or may be in some of the compartments 1312. It will be appreciated that different packages 1300 may include different graphic displays 1391, 1393 selected for different themes and / or collection purposes. It will be appreciated that the package 1000 may include a graphic display similar to the graphic displays 1391 and 1393.

  The location and spacing between the compartments 1012 of the package 1000 and between the compartments 1312 of the package 1312 and the number of compartments 1012 and 1312 of the packages 1000 and 1300 are selected as examples only and are suitable for any desired application and package size. The number, shape, and position can be as follows. For example, exemplary packages 1200 and 1500 having different patterns and numbers of compartments 1212 and 1512 are illustrated in FIGS. 32 and 41, respectively. A package having compartments in the nested form described above may include 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 or more compartments, and a package having compartments in the stacked form described above is 3 It will be appreciated that 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 or more compartments may be included.

  Any of the foregoing packages can be made of a variety of materials, including but not limited to metalized or non-metalized polymers, laminates, plastics, paper, paperboard, cardboard, and the like, as well as combinations thereof. Any of the aforementioned packages can optionally be hermetically sealed to maintain the freshness of the food or other product contained in the package prior to the initial opening of the package. Any of the aforementioned packages can be configured in a rectangular or non-rectangular form, such as trapezoidal, circular, elliptical, triangular, etc. as desired.

  While preferred embodiments have been described in detail, variations and modifications can be made in the arrangements described herein.

Claims (25)

A package Ru comprising a plurality of individually sealed the compartment, each compartment is sealed to said plurality of individually, defined between sealed back panel to the front panel around the inner A food container in the interior, wherein the front panel forms an access opening configured to allow removal of the food product from the interior of the compartment along the flap line of weakness. Including a flap that is at least partially removable from adjacent portions of the compartment;
The flap line of weakness has a first end and a second end that are spaced apart, the first end and the second end intersecting a free edge of the package, A flap is configured to pivot around the free edge to form the access opening, wherein the flap line of weakness extends from the first end and the second end of the flap line of weakness. Extending towards the opposite edge of the package;
The food is a plurality of foods, and each of the plurality of foods is housed in the interior of each one of the plurality of individually sealed compartments, and the plurality of individually housed the plurality of foods. A package, wherein each sealed compartment is surrounded by the respective one of the plurality of individually sealed compartments, the flap line of weakness and the free edge of the package.   The package of claim 1, wherein the package is formed from a sheet of flexible film. The package of claim 1, wherein the front panel and the back panel of each of the plurality of individually sealed compartments are made of the same material.   The package of claim 1, wherein the package is formed from one or more undeformed sheets of flexible film. Each compartment sealed to said plurality of individually, is completely removable from the at least one compartment line of weakness said package along the extending between said plurality of individually sealed the compartment, wherein Item 1. The package according to Item 1. The at least one compartment line of weakness extends between two adjacent compartments, and a first of the two adjacent compartments extends in a direction along the at least one compartment line of weakness. A second sealing portion including a sealing portion, wherein a second of the two adjacent compartments includes a second sealing portion extending in a direction along the at least one compartment line of weakness, and the first and second sealing portions The package of claim 5, wherein a portion is on each side of the at least one compartment line of weakness.   The package of claim 1, wherein the flap is defined by the flap line of weakness and the free edge of the package. The back panel and the front panel of each of the plurality of individually sealed compartments are along the opposite edge of the package and to the free edge and the opposite edge. The package of claim 1, wherein the package is non-removably sealed with each other along a first side and a second side of the compartment extending vertically.   The package of claim 1, wherein the flap includes four sides, and the flap line of weakness extends along three of the sides of the flap.   A first portion and a second portion of the flap line of weakness extending from the first and second ends of the flap line of weakness toward the opposite edge of the package are mutually connected. The package of claim 1, wherein the packages are interconnected by a third portion of the flap line of weakness that is parallel and perpendicular to the first and second portions of the flap line of weakness.   The third portion of the flap line of weakness connects the front panel and the back panel to each other rather than the lower end of the compartment formed by the intersection of the front panel and the back panel at the free edge of the package. The package according to claim 10, wherein the package is close to the upper end of the compartment formed by joining.   The package of claim 1, wherein the flap is non-removable from the lower end of the compartment. A method of manufacturing a package according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises:
Providing a flexible material having a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge;
Forming a plurality of U-shaped weak lines between the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge and a longitudinal centerline in the flexible material;
Placing a portion of the food product on the flexible material on both sides of the longitudinal centerline and at least in part between the plurality of U-shaped weakened lines;
Folding the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge of the flexible material in a direction toward the longitudinal centerline and covering the food;
Forming a plurality of individually sealed compartments by forming a seal between the flexible material covering portions, each of the plurality of individually sealed compartments being Including food, process,
Forming a longitudinal line of weakness that coincides with the longitudinal centerline and a plurality of transverse line of weakness extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal line of weakness, each of the plurality of transverse line of weaknesses being Extending between adjacent compartments so that said adjacent compartments are separable from each other.   The package of claim 1, wherein the flap line of weakness includes at least two free ends.   The package of claim 1, wherein the flap line of weakness includes at least two lines that intersect each other.   The package of claim 1, wherein the back panel includes a second flap that is partially removable from an adjacent portion of the compartment along a second flap line of weakness. The package is in a folded configuration in which at least one of the plurality of individually sealed compartments is positioned between two other compartments, and the at least one of the plurality of individually sealed compartments. The package of claim 1, wherein one is movable in an unfolded form, not positioned between the other two compartments. The package of claim 17, wherein at least two of the plurality of individually sealed compartments are positioned between the other two compartments in the folded configuration.   The flap of the at least one compartment is in a first direction, the flap of each of the other two compartments is in a second direction, and the at least one compartment is not folded 19. The package of claim 18, wherein the package is positioned between the other two compartments, and the second direction is opposite to the first direction.   18. The package of claim 17, wherein the first portion of the package including the free end of the package forms a closure flap that is removably coupled to the second portion of the package with an adhesive. Said package from at least one folded are positioned in the closed configuration over another of the compartments sealed to said plurality of individual forms of the compartments sealed to said plurality of individual , wherein at least one of the compartments sealed to said plurality of individual, but is movable in the another embodiment the open that are not positioned over the ones of the compartments sealed to said plurality of individual, claim The package according to 1. The package of claim 21, wherein at least two of the plurality of individually sealed compartments are stacked on top of the other two compartments when the package is in the folded configuration. Two of the two said flaps of the compartments sealed to said plurality of individual is directed in a first direction, said two of said two flaps of the compartments sealed to said plurality of individual Are stacked on the other two compartments when the package is in the folded configuration, two of the flaps of the other two compartments facing in a second direction, and the second The package of claim 21, wherein a direction is opposite to the first direction.   24. The package of claim 21, wherein a first portion of the package that includes a free end of the package forms a closure flap that is removably coupled to the second portion of the package with an adhesive.   24. The package of claim 21, wherein the package is positioned in the folded configuration by at least one of winding, folding, and stacking.

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