Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Hollow or container type article – Paper containing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-11
2001-02-13
Dye, Rena L. (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Hollow or container type article
Paper containing
C428S035600, C428S137000, C428S339000, C428S507000, C428S513000, C383S102000, C383S106000, C383S107000, C383S113000, C383S116000, C383S123000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06187396
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bag for wrapping food items, in particular bread and similar baked goods.
Food item packagings basically have the task of protecting the product against drying-out and loss of aroma as well as against damaging external influences. In addition, they must be safe from a health point of view. With respect to the shelf life and freshness of baked goods, such as bread, it is critical, on the one hand, that the baked goods do not dry out and, on the other hand, that for example the crust of the bread, nevertheless, remains crunchy.
Fresh bread and similar baked goods are commonly wrapped by bakeries into sheets of paper or bags of paper, of synthetic material or of a composite material thereof. In conventionally used packaging materials it has not been possible until now to maintain the freshness of a loaf of bread for more than two days. For example, when using wrappings of paper the cut edge of the cut bread is already dry and hard after only two days. In the case of synthetic wrappings, the moistness of the bread is maintained, however the crust absorbs the moisture and thereby becomes soft and rubbery. If it is assumed that a loaf of bread is consumed within four days, the second half of the loaf, consequently, is regularly stale.
A further requirement made of packaging for baked goods, such as bread, in particular when used in bakeries, is ease of handling. It should be possible to package the baked goods rapidly without great expenditures so that the customer can be served as rapidly as possible. The requirement may also exist of having to package the baked goods, in particular bread, still warm immediately after removal from an oven. Conventionally used packaging materials, in particular including synthetic material, are not suitable for this purpose since the bread quickly becomes moldy if it is wrapped while still warm.
DE 295 12 436 U 1 relates to a packaging produced of multi-layer composite material in the form of a bag, a box or the like, in particular for packaging fat-containing goods. The multi-layer composite material comprises a layer facing the inner volume of the packaging comprising an absorbent paper and a layer of a water-proof synthetic film. The paper can be filter paper and the synthetic film can be polyethylene. Herewith a packaging is being suggested which is suitable for storing fat-containing goods even over a relatively long time.
DE-GM 19 85 257 discloses a sack, bag or the like with a wall comprising several layers of which the outer layer comprises synthetic film and at least one inner layer comprises paper, and the synthetic layer disposed on the outside, before the sack is formed, is connected by means of adhesive with the paper layer adjoining it on the inside to form a wall unit. Hereby a sack, bag or the like is to be suggested which, for one, can be manufactured on conventional paper processing or bag or sack machines and, for another, comprises improved insulation of the bag contents against temperature fluctuations with simultaneously increased resistance when filled with warm goods.
CH 659 056 A5 discloses a packing bag, in particular for bread-like baked goods, with two walls extending from its opening to its bottom and opposing one another, with one connected to the other to form the bag. At least one wall is composed of three webs disposed one next to the other and extending from the bag opening to the bottom and connected one with the other. The two lateral webs are formed of paper permeable to water vapor and at most translucent while the center web comprises a transparent synthetic film with the synthetic film web having a perforation. The synthetic film web can preferably be a clear polypropylene film. Hereby a packing bag, economic in production and application, is to be created which can equally well meet the needs of the customer (check of goods visually and by touch while maintaining hygienic requirements), as well as also the needs of the producer and seller (sufficient ability to breath and sales appeal).
WO 73/22207 discloses a packing bag of a perforated synthetic film for receiving food items such as vegetables and fruit, which causes local condensation in the bag such that weight losses are reduced to a minimum.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to create a food packaging with ease of handling, which ensures a sufficiently long shelf life and freshness of the food items, in particular of baked goods, such as bread.
This object is achieved by the provision of a bag, in particular for being filled with food items, comprising a composite material with at least one first layer comprising a cellulose containing material and a second layer comprising a synthetic material, with the first layer having a specific weight of 15 to 40 g/m
2
and the second layer having a thickness of 4 to 20 &mgr;m, with the composite material being perforated and with the ratio of open to closed area of the composite material being between 1/50 and 1/250.
Apart from the ease of handling, a special advantage of this bag according to the invention is that it is actively breathing due to the perforation of the composite material. A controlled exchange of moisture between the inside of the bag and the surrounding is thereby possible. On the one hand, enough moisture can penetrate from the bag so that a crust of bread can give off moisture absorbed from the inside of the bread. On the other hand, only enough moisture escapes to the outside so that a cut loaf of bread, even after four days have passed, still retains sufficient moisture to not become stale and thus is still palatable to the consumer.
By way of the ratio of open area to total area of the composite material, i.e. through the choice of perforation size and number of perforations per unit area, the moisture exchange between the interior of the bag and the surroundings or exterior can be established. For example, at a low ratio of open area to total area of the composite material the moisture transition from the interior of the bag to the exterior is low while at a high ratio the moisture transition is higher. Thereby the bag of the invention can be optimally adapted in terms of its properties and seasonally varying climate conditions, for example, to different bread types, for example, bread with hard or soft crust or relatively moist or hard bread. The bag can also be used, given a correspondingly selected ratio of open area to total area of the composite material, for packaging baked goods still warm from the oven, such as bread, or for packaging already cooled baked goods at the time they are sold.
By combining a cellulose-containing layer with a synthetic material layer, apart from controlling the moisture given off, a protection against light is effected. The cellulose-containing layer, if it is the outer layer, is more pleasant to the touch than a synthetic material layer, and it is readily imprintable. Further, the composite material is sufficiently resistant to tearing and yet, in terms of its mass, is reduced to a minimum such that the accumulated packaging waste is low if the bag is no longer to be used. These advantages of the bag according to the invention not only can be utilized for keeping fresh baked goods, such as bread, but also other food items, such as for example cold cuts, meat or fish.
The first layer of the composite material is preferably formed of paper or cellulose. The synthetic material of the second layer comprises preferably a polyethylene, wherein is especially suitable an LDPE (low-density polyethylene) with a density of 0.915-0.925 g/cm
3
or an LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene) with a density of 0.92-0.935 g/cm
3
. When making the selection, ultimate tensile strength and heat resistance are of importance. For example, the synthetic material layer, in particular in the case of bags for bread or the like still warm from the oven and to be packaged, should be temperature resistant up to at least 120° C. so that bread or similar baked goods can be packaged as soon
Dye Rena L.
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
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