Gusset Package

Abstract

A gusseted package manufactured from recycle ready flexible packaging film including an obround aperture for sealing the front panel and rear panel together to accommodate the stretch characteristics of recycle ready flexible packaging film such that gusseted packages can be manufactured at the same speed and consistency as with non-recycle ready flexible packaging film.

Claims

1. A web of recycle ready flexible packaging material used to create a gusseted package comprising: a first panel; a second panel; a pair of gusset legs between the first panel and the second panel, each gusset leg having a gusset aperture having a length and a width and wherein the length is greater than the width; a side seal portion having a sealing axis; and a gusset seal portion, wherein the gusset aperture is within the side seal portion and is elongate in the direction of the sealing axis.

2. The web of recycle ready flexible packaging material of claim 1 wherein the gusset aperture is obround.

3. The web of recycle ready flexible packaging material of claim 1 wherein the gusset aperture is non-circular.

4. The web of recycle ready flexible packaging material of claim 1 wherein the gusset apertures on each gusset leg are aligned.

5. The web of recycle ready flexible packaging material of claim 1 wherein the length of the gusset aperture is at least two times the width of the gusset aperture.

6. A method of manufacturing a gusseted package of recycle ready flexible packaging film comprising the steps: providing a web of recycle ready flexible packaging film; creating an obround gusset aperture in each portion of the web that will become a gusset leg; folding the web to create a first panel, a second panel and a pair of the gusset legs therebetween; side sealing the web in a sealing portion along a sealing axis through each gusset aperture, wherein each gusset aperture is elongate in the direction of the sealing axis; gusset sealing the web; and cutting the web through the side seal portion to create individual gusseted packages.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the recycle ready flexible packing film is a majority polyethylene outer web with either one of adhesive and extrusion laminated to a high barrier, coextruded polyethylene based sealant.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein a non-recycle ready flexible packaging film is used in place of recycle ready flexible packaging film.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the gusset apertures on each gusset legs are aligned before the side sealing step.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein the obround gusset has a length and a width and wherein the length is at least two times greater than the width.

11. A method of side sealing a web of recycle ready flexible packaging film in the manufacture of a gusseted package comprising the steps: providing a web of recycle ready flexible packaging film that has been folded to create a first panel, a second panel and a pair of the gusset legs therebetween, wherein each gusset leg has an elongate gusset aperture; aligning the elongate apertures on the gusset legs; providing a side sealing portion that contains the first panel, the second panel and the portion of each gusset leg containing the elongate aperture, the sealing portion having a sealing axis and the elongate aperture being elongate in the direction of the sealing axis; and sealing the web in the side sealing portion.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein in the sealing step, a seal bar is provided to contact the first panel and a sealing bar is provided to contact the second panel.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the elongate aperture is obround.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the elongate aperture has a width and a length and wherein the length is at least two times greater than the width.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a HFFS machine to manufacture gusseted packages from recycle ready flexible packaging film.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a manufactured gusseted package made from recycle ready flexible packaging film.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a front view of a web of recycle ready flexible packaging film during manufacture of a gusseted package on the HFFS machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Before any constructions of the disclosure are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The disclosure is capable of other constructions and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. For example, although one aspect of the invention is to accommodate the stretch characteristics of recycle ready flexible packaging film such that gusseted packages can be manufactured at the same speed and consistency as with non-recycle ready flexible packaging film, the invention could be used to broaden the operating window on non-recycle ready flexible packaging film such that HFFS speeds and/or manufacturing consistencies might increase.

[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary HFFS machine 10 to manufacture gusseted packages 12 from recycle ready (RR) flexible packaging film. Each gusseted package 12 is made from a web 14 of RR flexible packaging film supplied on a roll 16 and having at least one side that is heat sealable. The RR flexible packaging film is, for example, a majority polyethylene (PE) outer web either adhesive or extrusion laminated to a high barrier, coextruded polyethylene (PE) based sealant available that commercially meets the Association of Plastic Recyclers Polyethylene (PE) Film Critical Guidance. These RR flexible packaging films are becoming more and more readily available commercially from many film manufactures that extrude, print, laminate, slit and rewind to create roll-stock of flexible packaging film for HFFS machines. RR flexible packaging film has the potential of being recovered in existing in-store collection stations, the most common means to collect flexible films in the United States today.

[0019] Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the web 14 of RR flexible packaging film is fed from the roll 16 to a punching station 18 and a punching station 19 by web feed rolls 88. The punching stations 18 and 19 create a gusset aperture 20 in each portion of the web 14. The distance between the centers of adjacent apertures 20 will become the width W1 of an individual gusseted package 12. The gusset apertures 20 are formed from punches 24 that are non-circular and elongate in shape. The gusset apertures 20 have a width W2 and a length L2, with the length L2 being greater than the width W2. For example, the gusset apertures 20 can be obround as shown or other shapes such as rectangular.

[0020] After the punching stations 18 and 19, the web 14 is folded at a plow station 26 to create a front panel 28, a front gusset leg 29, a rear gusset leg 31, and a rear panel 30. Thereafter, the web 14 is moved to a gusset sealing station 34 to create a gusset seal 42 and to three side sealing stations 36 having sealing bars as known in the art to create a side seal 40 having a width W3 and a side seal axis 38. The web 14 is then moved to side seal cooling station 37, and then to a cutting station 44 to individuate the web 14 through each side seal 40 and preferably through the center of what was the gusset apertures 20 to create individual gusseted packages 12 as is shown in FIG. 2.

[0021] The gusset aperture 20 enables the HFFS machine 10 to accommodate the stretch characteristics of the RR flexible packaging film such that gusseted packages 12 can be manufactured at the same speed and consistency as with NRR flexible packaging film.

[0022] Turning to FIG. 3, each gusset aperture 20 has its length L2 that is elongate in the direction of the side seal axis 38. In one embodiment for example, the side seal width W3 is and the gusset aperture 20 is obround thus allowing a width W4 of on each side of the gusset aperture 20 to the edge of the side seal 40 for variance in registration. With each gusset aperture 20 being in in length, this regains 33% of seal area as compared to the use of a circular aperture. Accordingly, use of the gusset aperture 20 that has a longer length L2 than compared to its width W2 enables a bigger window for registration and enables more sealing area than compared to the prior art circular aperture, and which results in the manufacture of gusseted packages 12 of RR flexible packaging film at the same speed and consistency as with NRR flexible packaging film.

[0023] Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.