Flexible bags – Bag having means to facilitate opening it by severing bag... – Combined with – or modified for opening by – a sharp-edged...
Patent
1998-12-01
2000-09-12
Garbe, Stephen P.
Flexible bags
Bag having means to facilitate opening it by severing bag...
Combined with, or modified for opening by, a sharp-edged...
2291031, 493212, B65D 3336
Patent
active
061167827
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to beverage containers which have an opening through which the beverage is consumed by means of a straw, and more particularly to a pouch or bag-shaped beverage container having an opening system which is pierced by a straw to access the beverage.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In pouch or bag-shaped beverage containers having a membrane seal which is to be pierced by a straw, there is a problem making the seal sufficiently easy for the consumer to pierce. The piercing of the membrane seal may especially be a problem for small children who frequently utilize such containers and who lack the dexterity of adults.
The beverage pouches which are currently being marketed are fabricated from a laminated sheet material which is built up as follows from the outside to the inside: polyester film/printing ink/coating adhesive/metal foil/coating adhesive/heat-sealable plastic (e.g., polyethylene) film. Such a laminate is further described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,583 which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In the present commercial pouches, the outer polyester foil is removed within a straw piercing area so that the straw (typically a pointed straw) does not have to pierce the polyester film. Typically the straw piercing area is in the shape of a circle having a diameter in excess of the diameter of the straw. The straw piercing area has usually been removed from the polyester film before this film is laminated or adhered to the metal foil. To gain access to the pouch the straw must then only pierce the metal foil and adhered polyethylene film; however, this has still proven to be a difficult task.
Aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,583 discloses an improved straw piercing opening wherein a hole is punched through all layers of the pouch laminate and a sealing film is affixed to the inner side of the polyethylene film around the straw piercing opening. Although this approach facilitates entry of the straw into the pouch, the added material and operational cost associated with this approach are not desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, access to a pouch by a straw is facilitated by the application of laser energy to the inside surface of the laminate such that, within the straw piercing area, one or more areas of delamination are created between the inner polyethylene layer and the metal foil. If the pouch laminate contains an outer polyester film, the polyester film is preferably removed in the straw piercing area. This removal may be done, as in the prior art, by punching out a straw piercing area from the polyester film before this film is adhered to the metal foil; alternatively, the polyester film may be removed from the straw piercing area by laser treatment after the polyester film has been adhered to the metal foil.
The pouch laminate described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,583, which is exemplified by the sheet material used to fabricate CAPRI SUN.RTM. beverage pouches, typically uses polyethylene terephthalate as the polyester film and aluminum as the metal foil. The heat-sealable plastic film, may be any ethylene homopolymer or copolymer. The adhesive layers are generally polylefin-based, interlaminar bonding agents known for use as bonding layers in laminated structures. The composition and fabrication of these beverage pouch laminates are known in the art.
In order to effect delamination between the inner heat sealable plastic layer and the metal foil, laser energy is employed, whereby pulses of light energy are directed, or focused onto the laminate. The inner heat-sealable plastic layer must have a relatively lower absorption coefficient for laser radiant energy such that a high percentage (preferably at least 90%) of the radiant energy passes through this layer. In contrast the adhesive layer must have a relatively higher absorption coefficient for laser radiant energy such that a high percentage of the radiant energy is absorbed and transformed largely into heat. The adhesive layer may include such polymers
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Albaum Gary J.
Arkins Thomas D.
Garbe Stephen P.
Kraft Foods Inc.
Marcoux Thomas A.
Savoie Thomas R.
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