Easy opening packaging article made from heat-shrinkable film exhibiting directional tear

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10202229-B2
Application number	US-31339608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2008
Priority date	May 21, 2007
Publication date	Feb 12, 2019
Grant date	Feb 12, 2019

Abstract

A heat-shrinkable packaging article has one or more tear initiators for initiating a manual tear that can be propagated to open a package and allow a product to be readily removed therefrom, without the use of a knife or scissors or any other implement. The tear initiators are present in a skirt and/or header of the article. The skirt and/or header has a first side and a second side. In one embodiment, some or all of the first side of the skirt and/or header can be heatset in order to reduce the shrink and curling of the skirt and/or header. This improves identification and utilization of the tear initiators by a consumer upon shrinking the packaging article around the product. In another embodiment, the skirt and/or header has a plurality of pairs of tear initiators to allow portions of the package to be torn off to expose a portion of the product that can then be sliced off while the remainder of the packaged product remains covered by a remainder of the film.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heat-shrinkable packaging article comprising a heat-shrinkable multilayer film having an inside seal layer heat sealed to itself at a heat seal, the article having a first side and a second side, the article having a skirt or header outward of the heat seal, the skirt or header comprising an article edge and a pair of tear initiators, each pair of tear initiators having a first tear initiator and a second tear initiator, the first tear initiator of the pair being in the first side of the article, and the second tear initiator of the pair being in the second side of the article, the article being capable of having a manually-initiated, manually-propagated first tear in the first side of the article, and a manually-initiated and manually-propagated second tear in the second side of the article, the first tear and the second tear each being capable of being propagated in a machine direction from the pair of first and second tear initiators, with each tear being propagated in the machine direction through the heat seal and down the length of the article, or across the article, with each tear being capable of being manually propagated in the machine direction through and to an opposite article edge, so that upon using the multilayer film to make a packaged product by placing a product inside the article with the article being sealed closed around the product so that a package is formed, and thereafter shrinking the film around the product, the resulting package can be manually opened, and the product readily removed from the package, by manually initiating machine-direction tears from the first and second tear initiators, with the tears being manually propagated through the seal and to the opposite edge of the article, with the multilayer film exhibiting a Peak Load Impact Strength of at least 50 Newtons per mil measured using ASTM D 3763-95A, with at least one layer of the multilayer film containing at least one incompatible polymer blend selected from the group consisting of:
(A) a blend of from 80 to 35 weight percent ethylene homopolymer and/or ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer with from 20 to 65 weight percent ethylene/unsaturated ester copolymer having an unsaturated ester content of at least 10 weight percent;
(B) a blend of ionomer resin with ethylene/unsaturated ester copolymer, and/or polybutylene, and/or propylene homopolymer and/or propylene copolymer;
(C) a blend of homogeneous ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer with recycled polymer blend comprising ethylene homopolymer, propylene homopolymer, ethylene copolymer, propylene copolymer, polyamide, ethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymer, ionomer resin, anhydride-modified ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer, and/or antiblock;
(D) a blend of from 10 to 75 weight percent ethylene/unsaturated ester copolymer with from 90 to 15 weight percent polypropylene and/or propylene/ethylene copolymer, and/or polybutylene, and/or modified ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer, and/or styrene homopolymer, and/or styrene/butadiene copolymer;
(E) a blend of from 90 to 15 weight percent ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer with from 10 to 75 weight percent polypropylene and/or polybutylene;
(F) a blend of from 90 to 25 weight percent homogeneous propylene homopolymer and/or homogeneous propylene copolymer with from 10 to 75 weight percent homogeneous ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer and/or ethylene/unsaturated ester copolymer;
(G) a blend of propylene homopolymer and/or propylene/ethylene copolymer and/or polybutylene with ethylene/methyl acrylate copolymer and/or ethylene/acrylic acid copolymer and/or ethylene/butyl acrylate copolymer;
(H) a blend of polyamide with polystyrene and/or ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer and/or ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer and/or styrene/butadiene copolymer; and
(I) a blend of polyamide 6 and polyamide 6I6T ; and
wherein at least a portion of the skirt or header is heatset with a remainder of the film remaining heat-shrinkable, so that upon forming the package and shrinking the film around the product, the shrinkage and curl of the skirt or header is reduced, and wherein the heat-shrinkable packaging article does not comprise a patch thereon.

2. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 1 , wherein the header or skirt further comprises at least one grip assister for assisting grip of the multilayer film during manual tearing.

3. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 1 , wherein a portion of the skirt or header on the first side of the article is heatset, and a corresponding portion of the skirt or header on the second side of the article is also heat-set.

4. The heat-shrinkable packaging article according to claim 3 , wherein the article is an end-seal bag and the first and second tear initiators are present in the bag skirt, and a heat seal is present within the heatset portion of the first and second sides of the article.

5. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 4 , wherein the first tear initiator is aligned over the second tear initiator, and the heat seal present within the heatset portion is a perimeter seal, and the skirt further comprise the first grip assister between the pair of tear initiators and a first end of the skirt, and the second grip assister between the pair of tear initiators and a second end of the skirt.

6. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 1 , wherein a first portion of a first side of the skirt or header is spot sealed to the second side of the skirt or header at a first spot seal, and a second portion of the first side of the skirt or header is spot sealed to the second side of the skirt or header at a second spot seal.

7. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 1 , wherein the heat-set portions of the first and seconds sides of the skirt or header comprise a perimeter seal in the skirt or header.

8. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 7 , wherein the first tear initiator aligns directly over the second tear initiator, and the skirt or header further comprises a first spot seal within 1 inch of the first and second tear initiators and a first end of the skirt, and a second spot seal within 1 inch of the first and second tear initiators and a second end of the skirt or header.

9. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 8 , wherein the header or skirt further comprise a first grip assister between the first spot seal and the first end of the header or skirt, and a second grip assister between the first and second tear initiator and a second end of the header or skirt.

10. The heat-shrinkable article according to claim 8 , wherein the article is a side seal bag or pouch having a skirt comprising a plurality of pairs of first and second tear initiators, with each first tear initiator being aligned directly over the second tear initiator with which is it paired.

11. The heat-shrinkable packaging article according to claim 10 , wherein the article is a side-seal bag having a skirt that comprises, for each pair of first and second tear initiators, a first spot seal within 1 inch of the pair of tear initiators, the first spot seal being between the pair of tear initiators and a first end of the skirt, and a second spot seal within 1 inch of the pair of tear initiators, the second spot seal being between the pair of tear initiators and the a second end of the skirt.

12. The heat-shrinkable packaging article according to claim 10 , wherein the multilayer film has an oxygen transmission rate of at least 50 cc/m 2 day at stp and 0% relative humidity.

13. The heat-shrinkable packaging article according to claim 10 , wherein the multilayer film has a non-symmetrical polymeric layer arrangement.

14. The heat

Assignees

• Huerta Diana L
• Odabashian Robert A
• Compton Stephen F
• Ranganathan Sumita
• Rosinski Michael J
• Stockley H Walker
• Bossong Scott C
• Watson Richard K
• Cryovac Inc

Inventors

• Huerta Diana L
• Odabashian Robert A
• Compton Stephen F
• Ranganathan Sumita
• Rosinski Michael J
• Stockley H Walker
• Bossong Scott C
• Watson Richard K

Classifications

• B32B2307/7242

  Non-permeable · CPC title

• B65D75/002 Primary

  in shrink films (B65D71/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B32B2307/558

  Impact strength, toughness · CPC title

• B32B2307/7244

  Oxygen barrier · CPC title

• B32B7/045

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic