Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Packaged or wrapped product – Three or more layered packaging materials
Reexamination Certificate
1997-03-17
2001-10-02
Sherrer, Curtis E. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Packaged or wrapped product
Three or more layered packaging materials
C426S129000, C383S109000, C383S119000, C493S210000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296886
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the packaging of bone-in meat products. More particularly, the present invention relates to a bag having a protective patch for reducing or eliminating puncture of the bag by a bone in a meat product packaged therein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Heat-shrinkable thermoplastics are known to be useful as flexible packaging materials for vacuum packaging various foodstuffs, including meat. Such plastic materials, however, while generally suitable for packaging meat, understandably have difficulties in successfully packaging sharp or bony products. For example, attempts to package bone-in primal cuts of meat usually result in an unsatisfactorily large number of bag failures due to bone punctures. The use of cushioning materials such as paper, paper laminates, wax impregnated cloth, and various types of plastic inserts have proved to be less than totally satisfactory in solving the problem. The preparation of special cuts of meat or close bone trim with removal of protruding bones has also been attempted. However, this is at best only a limited solution to the problem since it does not offer the positive protection necessary for a wide variety of commercial bone-in types of meat. Furthermore, removal of the bone is a relatively expensive and time-consuming procedure.
The use of heat-shrinkable bags having one or two heat-shrinkable patches adhered thereto has recently become a commercially-preferred manner of packaging a number of bone-in meat products. However, even the bags having two patches thereon leave “uncovered regions” (i.e., regions of the bag which are not covered by the patch, also herein referred to as “bald regions”) which are more vulnerable to puncture because they do not have a patch adhered thereover.
Patch bags used in packaging bone-in meat products are generally provided in a “lay-flat” position, in which the factory seal or seals are in contact with a table surface on which the patch bag is placed during insertion of the meat product into the bag. However, it has been found that for certain cuts of meat, the uncovered regions along one or more edges of the bag are likely to be contacted with exposed bone at the periphery of the meat product which is being inserted into the bag. As a result, some packagers of such cuts have been “rotating” the bag about ninety degrees before inserting the bone-in meat product into the bag. In this manner, the uncovered region of the bag is positioned some distance away from the exposed bones along the periphery of the meat product.
In response to this problem, a patch bag which has come to be known as a “rotated patch bag” has been developed, in which the patches cover at least a portion of an edge of the bag, these bags having uncovered regions between the patches, these regions being positioned away from the bag edges. However, in the process of making such patch bags, it has been found that the creases (in the tubing from which the bag portion is made) interfere with the beat sealing. More particularly, some of the seals have a “line” therethrough. This line is believed to be associated with an imperfect seal which either leaks or is a particularly weak spot in the seal. It would be desirable to produce a patch bag having patches which cover one or more bag edges and which has seals which are not made across creases in the bag film.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a patch bag in which a patch covers a bag edge, with a seal which is not made across a crease in the bag film. The also provides a process for removing film creases in a film tubing before the sealing step which is carried out during the making of a patch bag in which a patch covers a bag edge. In this manner, the problem of the defective seal has been solved.
As a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a patch bag comprising a bag and a patch adhered thereto. The patch bag has an open top, a bottom edge, a first side edge, a second side edge, a first lay-flat side, and a second lay-flat side. The patch covers at least a segment of a member selected from the group consisting of the first side edge, the second side edge, and the bottom edge, and wherein the first lay-flat side does not have a crease therethrough and the second lay-flat side does not have a crease therethrough.
Preferably, the bag comprises a first heat-shrinkable film, and the patch comprises a second heat-shrinkable film. Preferably, first film has been biaxially-oriented, and the second film has been biaxially-oriented. The bag can be an end-seal bag or a side-seal bag.
Preferably, the patch is a first patch which covers a segment of the first side edge, with the patch bag further comprising a second patch which covers a segment of the second side edge, the second patch comprising a third biaxially-oriented, heat-shrinkable film. Preferably, both of the patches are adhered to the bag with an adhesive. Although the patches can be adhered to the inside surface of the bag the patches are adhered to an outside surface of the bag. Preferably, the bag has a first uncovered region which is between the first patch and the second patch and which is on the first lay-flat side of the bag, and a second uncovered region which is between the first patch and the second patch and which is on the second lay-flat side of the bag. Preferably, the first uncovered region has a width of from about 0.2 to 15 inches, and the second uncovered region has a width of from about 0.2 to 15 inches; preferably, from about 0.2 to 2 inches preferably, from about 0.5 to 10 inches; still more preferably, from about 1 to 8 inches.
Preferably, the first film comprises: (i) an outside abuse layer comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer having a density of from about 0.85 to 0.95, propylene/ethylene copolymer, polyamide, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene/methyl acrylate copolymer, and ethylene/butyl acrylate copolymer; (ii) an inner
0
2
-barrier layer comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of ethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyamide, polyester, polyacrylonitrile; and (iii) an inside sealant layer comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic polyolefin, thermoplastic polyamide, thermoplastic polyester, and thermoplastic polyvinyl chloride.
Preferably, the second film and the third film each comprise at least one member selected from the group consisting of ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer having a density of from about 0.85 to 0.95, propylene/ethylene copolymer, polyamide, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene/methyl acrylate copolymer, and ethylene/butyl acrylate copolymer.
Preferably, the first film has a total thickness of from about 1.5 to 5 mils; more preferably, about 2.5 mils. Preferably, the first film has a total free shrink (i.e., L+T), at 185° F., of from about 20 to 120 percent; more preferably, 30 to 80 percent; still more preferably, about 50 percent. Preferably, the second film has a total thickness of from about 2 to 8 mils; more preferably, from about 3 to 6 mils. Preferably, the second film has a total free shrink, at 180° F., of from about 10 to 100 percent; more preferably, from about 20 to 60 percent; still more preferably, about 30 percent.
Preferably, the third film has a total thickness of from about 2 to 8 mils; more preferably, from about 3 to 6 mils. Preferably, the third film has a total free shrink at 180° F., of from about 10 to 100 percent; more preferably, from about 20 to 60 percent; still more preferably, about 30 percent. Preferably, the third film has the same chemical composition, layer order, and layer thickness as the second film.
Alternatively, the patch bag of the present invention can be a side-seal bag, having a patch which covers at least a segment of the bottom edge of the bag. A preferred side-seal patch bag according to the present invention is otherwise in accordance with the preferred end-seal patch bag accord
DePoorter Larry W.
Moore, Jr. Donald B.
Odabashian Robert A.
Ramirez Joseph M.
Tucker Carl L.
Cryovac Inc.
Hurley Jr. Rupert B.
Sherrer Curtis E.
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