Easy-open moisture resistant packages

Abstract

Novel package wrappers made of humidity resistant plastic, utilizing a teartape disposed proximate to, but spaced inward from, one edge of the package, extending substantially linearly continuously about three adjacent sides. The teartape in one form of the invention is a separate tape adhered to the package wrapper, and in another form of the invention is integral with and formed from the package wrapper itself. The package is completely sealed but does not require the use of any tool to open it. After the teartape has been removed, fingers or a thumb may be inserted beneath the revealed torn edge of the wrapper and the wrapper torn downward through slits in the then exposed portions of the ends of the package wrapper which had been previously overlaid by the teartape ends, such slits being concealingly disposed and sealed beneath the overlying ends of the intact wrapper before removal of the teartape. By locating the teartape fairly closely to one edge of the package and providing the underlying tear down slits in the package wrapper ends, the intact upper corners of the opened package are able to slide smoothly over and down around the corners of the contained product without exerting any substantial pressure thereon, so that no corner curling force is exerted on the sheets sufficient to cause corner distortion. The wrapper is quickly and easily removable from the contents, so that the dry undistorted paper may be quickly loaded into a copy machine.

1 . A package wrapper, comprising in combination, 
 a) a substantially rectangular flexible sheet of humidity resistant package wrapper material having a first pair of parallel sides and a second pair of parallel sides,    b) at least one pair of spaced apart slits through said wrapper material extending for a short distance inward from one of said second pair of parallel sides of said wrapper material and spaced away from both of said first pair of parallel sides,    c) at least one slit through said wrapper material extending for a short distance inward from the same one of said second pair of parallel sides of said wrapper material as the aforesaid pair of slits, said at least one slit being spaced away from and between said pair of slits and one of said first pair of parallel sides.    
   
   
       2 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the slits of said at least one pair of slits are substantially parallel to one another.  
   
   
       3 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said at least one slit through said wrapper material comprises a plurality of substantially parallel slits.  
   
   
       4 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said at least one slit through said wrapper material comprises a plurality of substantially parallel slits substantially parallel to said at least one pair of slits.  
   
   
       5 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said at least one slit through said wrapper material comprises a plurality of substantially parallel slits each of which is formed with two connected segments disposed at an obtuse angle to one another.  
   
   
       6 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said at least one slit is spaced away from said pair of slits a distance such that in a package wrapped in said package wrapper said at least one slit is overlaid by and disposed immediately beneath the wrapper material lying between said at least one pair of slits.  
   
   
       7 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  further including a visible indicia on said wrapper extending between said at least one pair of slits to provide a visual locator for the end of a lift tab defined by said at least one pair of slits.  
   
   
       8 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  further including a second pair of slits through said wrapper material extending for a short distance inward from the other of said second pair of parallel sides of said wrapper material and disposed in substantial alignment with said at least one pair of slits.  
   
   
       9 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  further including a second at least one slit through said wrapper material extending for a short distance inward from the other of said second pair of parallel sides of said wrapper material and positioned in substantial alignment with said at least one slit.  
   
   
       10 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  further including, 
 a) a second pair of spaced apart slits through said wrapper material extending for a short distance inward from the other of said second pair of parallel sides of said wrapper material and disposed in substantial alignment with said at least one pair of slits to provide a visual locator for the end of a second lift tab defined by said second pair of slits, and    b) a second at least one slit through said wrapper material extending for a short distance inward from the other of said second pair of parallel sides of said wrapper material and positioned in substantial alignment with said at least one slit.    
   
   
       11 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  further including a teartape adhered to said wrapper material, said teartape having side edges and first and second opposite ends and being affixed to said wrapper material substantially parallel to and displaced from said first pair of parallel sides of said sheet of wrapper material, and extending substantially entirely between said second pair of parallel sides, the sides of one of said first and second opposite ends of said teartape being disposed between said at least one pair of spaced apart slits,  
   
   
       12 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said package wrapper material is made of bi-axially oriented polypropylene coated with a heat seal coating of ethyl vinyl acetate.  
   
   
       13 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said package wrapper material is a composite film made of one layer of bi-axially oriented polypropylene laminated to a layer of mono-oriented polypropylene.  
   
   
       14 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 10  further including a first visible indicia on said wrapper extending between said at least one pair of slits and a second visible indicia on said wrapper extending between said second pair of slits.  
   
   
       15 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 10  wherein said at least one slit and said second at least one slit are spaced away from said pair of slits and said second pair of slits a distance such that in a package wrapped in said package wrapper said at least one slit and said second at least one slit are respectively overlaid by and disposed immediately beneath the package wrapper material between said pair of spaced apart slits and said second pair of spaced apart slits.  
   
   
       16 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 11  wherein said teartape is between 4 mm and 20 mm in width, is between 1.5 mils and 4 mils thick, and is made of one of polyester or polypropylene coated with an ultraviolet resistant pressure sensitive acrylic adhesive, and wherein said package wrapper material is made of bi-axially oriented polypropylene coated with a heat seal coating of ethyl vinyl acetate.  
   
   
       17 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 11  wherein said at least one slit is spaced away from said teartape a distance such that in a package wrapped in said package wrapper said at least one slit is overlaid by and disposed immediately beneath one end of said teartape.  
   
   
       18 . A package wrapper as set forth in  claim 11  further including a first visible indicia on said wrapper extending between said at least one pair of slits and a second visible indicia on said wrapper extending between said second pair of slits, said first and second visible indicia respectively overlying different ends of said teartape to provide a visual locator for each of said teartape ends.  
   
   
       19 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package consisting of a flexible package wrapper made of humidity resistant material with a product enclosed therein, said package having top and bottom faces, a pair of opposite side faces, a pair of opposite ends, a package seal extending the length of one of said top and bottom package faces and into both ends, and said ends each having, 
 (1) a pair of in-turned end flaps turned inward toward one another from said opposite side faces,    (2) an upturned end flap partially overlying and sealed to both of said in-turned end flaps, and    (3) a down-turned end flap partially overlying and sealed to both of said in-turned end flaps and to said upturned end flap,    the combination comprising,    a) at least one pair of spaced apart slits through said package wrapper extending for a short distance upward from the bottom edge of one of said down-turned end flaps to form a first graspable tab, and    b) at least one slit through said package wrapper material extending for a short distance downward from the upper edge of the said upturned end flap which is disposed as aforesaid in underlying relationship to said one of said down-turned end flaps, said at least one slit underlying said first graspable tab.    
   
   
       20 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in claim  19  further including a visible indicia on said first graspable tab to provide a visual locator for said tab.  
   
   
       21 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in  claim 19  wherein said at least one slit through said package wrapper material comprises a plurality of substantially parallel closely spaced slits  
   
   
       22 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in  claim 19  further including a second pair of slits extending for a short distance upward from the bottom edge of the other of said down-turned end flaps to form a second graspable tab.  
   
   
       23 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in  claim 19  further including, 
 a) a second pair of slits extending for a short distance upward from the bottom edge of the other of said down-turned end flaps to form a second graspable tab,    b) a second at least one slit through said package wrapper material extending for a short distance downward from the upper edge of the said upturned end flap which is disposed in underlying relationship to the other one of said down-turned end flaps, said second at least one slit underlying said second graspable tab.    
   
   
       24 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in  claim 19 , the combination further including a teartape having length, side edges and first and second opposite ends, said teartape being extended and adhered to the inside of said wrapper and being affixed to the latter substantially parallel to and displaced from said package side faces and extending continuously the length of one of said package top and bottom faces and to the bottom edges of both of said package ends down-turned end flaps, one end of said teartape underlying and being adhered to said first graspable tab,  
   
   
       25 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in claim  22  the combination further including a teartape having length, side edges and first and second opposite ends, said teartape being extended and adhered to the inside of said wrapper and being affixed to the latter substantially parallel to and displaced from said package side faces and extending continuously the length of one of said package top and bottom faces and to the bottom edges of both of said package ends down-turned end flaps, said first and second opposite ends of said teartape underlying and being respectively adhered to said first and second graspable tabs,  
   
   
       26 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in  claim 23  further including visible indicia on said first and second graspable tabs to provide visual locators for both of said graspable tabs.  
   
   
       27 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in  claim 23  wherein said at least one slit and said second at least one slit each comprise a plurality of substantially parallel slits each of which is formed with two connected segments disposed at an obtuse angle to one another.  
   
   
       28 . In a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package as set forth in  claim 23  wherein said at least one slit and said second at least one slit through said package wrapper material comprise a plurality of substantially parallel closely spaced slits.  
   
   
       29 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper in the form of a substantially rectangular flexible sheet of package wrapper material having slits for selectively directionally tearing the package wrapper when the package is to be opened, comprising, 
 a) web feeding means for continuously feeding a web of constant width packaging wrapper material from a supply roll,    b) first slitting means for slitting the wrapper material at predetermined intervals along the length of the wrapper material with a pair of spaced apart first slits of fixed predetermined length, the slits lengths being oriented parallel to the running length of the web,    c) second slitting means for slitting the wrapper material at locations on said wrapper material displaced laterally widthwise away from said first slits with at least one second slit of fixed predetermined length, said locations being at predetermined intervals along the length of the wrapper material, and    d) web cutting means for transversely cutting said web of packaging material at desired fixed interval lengths.    
   
   
       30 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 29  wherein said web cutting means cuts said web transversely through both of said first slits and said at least one second slit at substantially the mid-points of the lengths of all of said slits.  
   
   
       31 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 29  wherein said first slits made by said first slitting means are disposed substantially finger-width apart.  
   
   
       32 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 29  wherein said first slits made by said first slitting means are substantially parallel to said at least one second slit.  
   
   
       33 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 29  wherein said at least one second slit is a plurality of closely spaced parallel slits.  
   
   
       34 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 29  wherein said first slitting means comprises a pair of parallel spaced apart slitting blades, and wherein said second slitting means comprises at least one slitting blade parallel to said first slitting means slitting blades, and further including actuatable mounting means carrying both of said first and second slitting means slitting blades, and means for actuating said mounting means to slit said web of package wrapper material and simultaneously form said first and at least one second slits.  
   
   
       35 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 29  further including 
 a) tape feeding means for continuously feeding teartape from a supply roll, said teartape having substantially parallel side edges, and    b) sealing means for continuously sealing the teartape to the wrapper material longitudinally in the running direction of the web of wrapper material,    
   
   
       36 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 34  wherein said web cutting means cuts said web transversely through both of said first slits and said at least one second slit at substantially the mid-points of the lengths of all of said slits.  
   
   
       37 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 35  wherein said web cutting means cuts said web transversely through said teartape and both of said first slits and said at least one second slit at substantially the mid-points of the lengths of all of said slits.  
   
   
       38 . Apparatus for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 35  wherein said first slits made by said first slitting means are substantially parallel to one another and to the said substantially parallel side edges of said teartape, and wherein said at least one second slit is substantially parallel to said first slits.  
   
   
       39 . A method for making a package wrapper in the form of a substantially rectangular flexible sheet of package wrapper material having visible tear ends lift tabs, and slits for selectively directionally tearing the package wrapper when the package is to be opened, consisting of the steps of, 
 a) continuously feeding a web of constant width packaging wrapper material from a supply roll,    b) slitting the wrapper material at predetermined intervals along the length of the wrapper material with first slits of fixed predetermined length,    c) slitting the wrapper material at locations on said wrapper material displaced laterally widthwise away from said first slits with at least one second slit of fixed predetermined length, said locations being at predetermined intervals along the length of the wrapper material, and    d) transversely cutting said web of packaging material at desired fixed interval lengths.    
   
   
       40 . A method for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 39  wherein said step of transversely cutting said web of packaging material cuts said web transversely through both of said first slits and said at least one second slit at substantially the mid-points of the lengths of all of said slits.  
   
   
       41 . A method for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 39  wherein the step of slitting the wrapper material at predetermined intervals along the length of the wrapper material forms said first slits substantially parallel to one another, said first slits being disposed at finger-width spacing.  
   
   
       42 . A method for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 39  wherein said step of slitting the wrapper material at predetermined intervals along the length of the wrapper material with first slits of fixed predetermined length, and said step of slitting the wrapper material at locations on said wrapper material displaced laterally widthwise away from said first slits with at least one second slit of fixed predetermined length, are performed simultaneously  
   
   
       43 . A method for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 39 , in which after the step of continuously feeding a web of constant width packaging wrapper material from a supply roll, performing the further steps of, 
 a) continuously feeding teartape from a supply roll, said teartape having substantially parallel side edges,    b) continuously sealing the teartape to the wrapper material longitudinally in the running direction of the web of wrapper material,    and wherein the subsequent step of slitting the wrapper material at predetermined intervals along the length of the wrapper material with first slits of fixed predetermined length consists of slitting the wrapper material on opposite sides of the teartape.    
   
   
       44 . The method for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 43  wherein said step of continuously sealing the teartape to the wrapper material seals said teartape to said web at a fixed selected distance from an edge of said web.  
   
   
       45 . The method for making a package wrapper as set forth in  claim 43  wherein said step of transversely cutting said web of packaging material cuts said web transversely through said teartape and both of said first slits and said at least one second slit at substantially the mid-points of the lengths of all of said slits.