Easy-open packages

摘要

A novel package wrapper (24) is disclosed, made of plastic film (26), with a line of package-opening perforations (29) through the film positioned in one face of the package (23) and being overlaid by a piece of plastic tape (28) which seals the perforations, the tape having a dry edge (31). The perforations and overlying tape are spaced inward from the edges of the package (23) and extend substantially linearly, but have the tape ends terminate short of the package seal (26A) so that they are not bound into the seals. In one embodiment the package wrapper is made of air and moisture non-permeable shrink wrap film (26), and the tear down tape (28) is made of a non-permeable non-shrink plastic which has been processed to exhibit the same shrink characteristics as those of the shrink wrap film, so that when the wrap film is shrunk during packaging, the tape shrinks the same amount as the film and does not itself pucker or wrinkle the film. The package is completely sealed but does not require the use of any tool to open it. Package opening is accomplished by grasping the tape dry edge (31) and pulling it toward the line of perforations (29). The tape (28) peels from the wrapper film (26) until it reaches the perforations, where continued pulling of the tape ruptures the film through the perforations and permits the film to be further torn to open the package. Tapes with several variant configurations are disclosed. Apparatus and methods for making the novel package and wrapper are also shown and described.