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Plastic packaging for produce products

a technology for produce products and plastics, applied in the field of packaging produce products, can solve the problems of interior water condensation, insufficient permeation of water vapor out of the package, and insufficient robustness of the film utilized by nir et al., and achieve the effects of enhancing moisture permeation, enhancing heat sealing strength, and improving gas transmission

Inactive Publication Date: 2005-06-30
HONEYWELL INT INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] The package of this invention exhibits increased heat seal strength and improved transmission of gases to provide a desirable modified atmosphere in the package. It has been unexpectedly found that packages formed from the foregoing coextruded layers exhibit enhanced moisture permeation. This enables ship

Problems solved by technology

However, the films utilized by Nir et al. do not have robust strength when they are heat sealed.
In addition, growers and packagers of fresh fruit and vegetable produce commonly package with films of polyolefins only, or blends

Method used

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Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

[0029] A two layer unoriented film is formed by coextruding a nylon 6 layer and nylon 6,66 layer. The melt temperature during extrusion is between 465 to 544° F. (241 to 284° C.) for the nylon 6 layer and between 465 to 480° F. (241 to 249° C.) for the nylon 6,66 layer. The polymers are extruded as a cast film by a typical cast film extrusion process, with a combined thickness of 75 mils (19μm).

[0030] The film is tested for its water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and its oxygen and carbon dioxide transmission rates, and such rates are compared with those of a single layer of cast nylon 6 film and a single layer of monoaxially oriented cast nylon 6 film. The results are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1O2 Trans. RateO2 Trans. RateCO2 Trans. RateWVTR(23 C., 65% RH)(23 C., 90% RH)(23 C., 0% RH)(38 C., 100% RH)Film(cc / m2day)(cc / m2day)(cc / m2day)(g-mils)*N 6 / 6,66 coex63.2396.7043941N 6 monolayer40.3663.3031933-37N 6 oriented40.3549.78342—

*normalized to 1 mil

example 2

[0031] The film of Example 1 is sealed to itself with a pressure of 40 psi (0.28 Mpa) and a 1 second dwell time, at three different temperatures, with the nylon 6,66 layers being heat sealed together. As a comparison, a monolayer of nylon 6 is similarly tested. The results are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2Seal StrengthSeal StrengthSeal StrengthFilmat 400 F. (g)at 425 F. (g)at 450 F. (g)6 / 6,66 coex732165014536 monolayerno seal450650

[0032] The coextruded film is formed into a bag by folding over the film with the nylon 6,66 layer facing inward and heat sealing the two side edges together. Melons are packaged in the bag.

[0033] As can be seen, coextruded nylon 6 / nylon 6,66 films have higher oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor transmission rates than films of nylon 6 monolayer and monoaxially oriented nylon 6 monolayer. In addition, the heat seal strength of the nylon 6 / nylon 6,66 coextruded film is significantly greater than that of monolayer nylon 6 films. In addition, packages formed...

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Abstract

A packaged produce product formed from at least one polyamide film. The polyamide film is a coextruded film of at least one layer of nylon 6 and at least one layer of nylon 6,66. The film is heat sealed to form a package via the nylon 6,66 layer and produce is contained within the package. A single polyamide film may be used and the film is heat sealed to itself. Alternatively, two overlapped polyamide films are used and the nylon 6,66 layers of both films are heat sealed together. The package exhibits increased heat seal strength and improved transmission of gases to provide a desirable modified atmosphere in the package.

Description

BACKROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention relates to packaged produce products which are packaged in polyamide films, especially for fruits and vegetables. [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] Packaging of fruits and vegetables using plastic packaging films is well-known in the art. Fresh vegetable and fruit produce are often packaged at the grower level for shipment to end users. Such produce needs a moisture permeable packaging material to permit moisture condensation to escape the sealed package for extended shelf life, enhanced product maturity, enhanced appearance, reduced spoilage, as well as increased harvest yield and to permit better in-transit shipment packaging in cubes. The produce is sold for food service or institutional uses, as well as for retail sale and consumer use. [0005] It has been suggested to perforate the films, such as by mechanical or laser perforation, in order to permit gases that are generated by the prod...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): B32B27/34
CPCB32B27/34Y10T428/1352Y10T428/1334B32B27/18B32B2439/70B32B27/08B32B37/153B32B2307/31B32B2307/724B32B38/04
Inventor HATLEY, EARL L.
Owner HONEYWELL INT INC