Meat package

Claim 2

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, at least a portion of the hermetic seal being releasable to provide access to said package, said package including means for separating said sheets at said releasable hermetic seal portion therebetween, the improvement in which: each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination having an inner first lamina and an outer second lamina; each of said sheets including means for peelably bonding said first and second laminae to each other at least at that portion of said sheet which encloses said body with sufficient tenacity to maintain the structural integrity of said sheet and yet provide peelability; said improvement including tab means for grasping a portion of the outer lamina for peelably separating the outer lamina from the inner lamina; said outer lamina being relatively oxygen impermeable, said inner lamina being relatively oxygen permeable.

Claim 3

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, at least a portion of which is releasable to provide access to the package, the improvement in which: each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination having an inner first lamina and an outer second lamina; each of said sheets including means for peelably bonding said first and second laminae to each other at least at that portion of said sheet which encloses said body with sufficient tenacity to maintain the structural integrity of said sheet and yet provide peelability; said improvement including tab means for grasping a portion of the outer lamina for peelably separating the outer lamina from the inner lamina; said outer lamina having an oxygen permeability between 0 to 4 cubic centimeters of oxygen per 100 square inches, per 24 hour per mil thickness per atmosphere difference at 75* F, said inner lamina having an oxygen permeability greater than 100 cubic centimeters of 02 per 100 square inches per mil thickness per 24 hours per 1 atmosphere at 75* F.

Claim 4

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, at least a portion of which is releasable to provide access to the package, the improvement in which: each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination having an inner first lamina and an outer second lamina; each of said sheets including means for peelably bonding said first and second laminae to each other at least at that portion of said sheet which encloses said body with sufficient tenacity to maintain the structural integrity of said sheet and yet provide peelability; said improvement including tab means for grasping a portion of the outer lamina for peelably separating the outer lamina from the inner lamina; said outer lamina having an oxygen permeability between 0 to 4 cubic centimeters of oxygen per 100 square inches, per 24 hour per mil thickness per atmosphere difference at 75* F, said inner lamina having an oxygen permeability greater than 100 cubic centimeters of 02 per 100 square inches per mil thickness per 24 hours per 1 atmosphere at 75* F.

Claim 5

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between first and second sheets of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adheRed to each other to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination, having outer and inner laminae peelably bonded to each other at that portion of the sheet which encloses the body, said outer lamina having an oxygen transmission rate between 0 and 10 cubic centimeters per 100 square inches per 24 hours per mil thickness at 75* F and 760 mm. Hg, and said inner lamina having an oxygen permeability about 500 cubic centimeters of 02 per 100 square inches per 24 hours per 1 atmosphere per mil thickness at 75* F; said improvement including tab means for initiating peeling of the outer lamina from said inner lamina.

Claim 6

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between first and second sheets of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adheRed to each other to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination, having outer and inner laminae peelably bonded to each other at that portion of the sheet which encloses the body, said outer lamina having an oxygen transmission rate between 0 and 10 cubic centimeters per 100 square inches per 24 hours per mil thickness at 75* F and 760 mm. Hg, and said inner lamina having an oxygen permeability about 500 cubic centimeters of 02 per 100 square inches per 24 hours per 1 atmosphere per mil thickness at 75* F; said improvement including tab means for initiating peeling of the outer lamina from said inner lamina.

Claim 7

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination having an inner first lamina and an outer second lamina, said inner first lamina being a member selected from the group consisting of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, and polyvinyl chloride, said outer second lamina consisting of a film of saran, said inner first lamina and outer second lamina being peelably bonded to each other by inherent adhesion therebetween, said improvement including tab means for grasping a portion of the outer lamina for peelably separating the outer lamina from the inner lamina.

Claim 8

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination having an inner first lamina and an outer second lamina, said inner first lamina being a member selected from the group consisting of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, and polyvinyl chloride, said outer second lamina consisting of a film of saran, said inner first lamina and outer second lamina being peelably bonded to each other by inherent adhesion therebetween, said improvement including tab means for grasping a portion of the outer lamina for peelably separating the outer lamina from the inner lamina.

Claim 9

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a two-ply lamination having an inner first ply and an outer second ply, and means for peelably bonding said first and second plies to each other at least at that portion of said sheet which encloses said body with sufficient tenacity to maintain the structural integrity of said sheet and yet provide peelability; said improvement including tab means for grasping a portion of the outer ply for peelably separating the outer ply from the inner ply, said tab means comprising a relatively narrow paper strip adhering to at least one of said plies and being positioned between said plies, said tab means including means for repelling adhesion between said paper strip, the opposing portion of the other ply.

Claim 10

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a two-ply lamination having an inner first ply and an outer second ply, and means for peelably bonding said first and second plies to each other at least at that portion of said sheet which encloses said body with sufficient tenacity to maintain the structural integrity of said sheet and yet provide peelability; said improvement including tab means for grasping a portion of the outer ply for peelably separating the outer ply from the inner ply, said tab means comprising a relatively narrow paper strip adhering to at least one of said plies and being positioned between said plies, said tab means including means for repelling adhesion between said paper strip, the opposing portion of the other ply.

Claim 11

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination of an inner first lamina and an outer second lamina; each of said sheets including means for peelably bonding said first and second laminae to each other at least at that portion of said sheets which encloses said body with sufficient tenacity to maintain the structural integrity of said sheet and yet provide peelability for separating said outer second lamina from said inner first lamina; said improvement including first tab means for grasping a portion of the outer lamina for peelably separating the outer lamina from the inner lamina; said improvement including second tab means for grasping a portion of the inner lamina for peelably separating the inner laminae from each other to provide accessibility to said body.

Claim 12

In a package comprising a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat enclosed between a first and second sheet of packaging material, said first and second sheets being adhered to each other in a margin encompassing said body to define a hermetic seal, the improvement in which each of said sheets consists essentially of a lamination of an inner first lamina and an outer second lamina; each of said sheets including means for peelably bonding said first and second laminae to each other at least at that portion of said sheets which encloses said body with sufficient tenacity to maintain the structural integrity of said sheet and yet provide peelability for separating said outer second lamina from said inner first lamina; said improvement including first tab means for grasping a portion of the outer lamina for peelably separating the outer lamina from the inner lamina; said improvement including second tab means for grasping a portion of the inner lamina for peelably separating the inner laminae from each other to provide accessibility to said body.

Claim 13

In the improvement of claim 6 in which said first tab means are positioned along one side of said package, and in which said second tab means is positioned along a second side of said package, and indicia on said first and second tab means for indicating to a user of the package which of the respective plies are separaTed by the respective tab means.

Claim 14

In a method of packaging a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat between a pair of film laminations comprising the steps of forming said pair of film laminations by bonding respective inner lamina to respective outer lamina to form first and second film laminations, inserting a product between said first and second film laminations, enclosing the body by drawing at least one of said laminations around the article, and bonding said first and second laminations to each other to form a hermetic seal completely enclosing said body between said first and second laminations, the improvement in which: said bonding of said inner and outer lamina consists of forming a peelable bond therebetween; said outer lamina being relatively oxygen impermeable, said inner lamina being relatively oxygen permeable; said improvement including the step of continuously feeding means for separating said outer and inner laminae along a zone which is spaced apart from that portion of the resulting lamination which encloses said body, said zone being located along a portion of said lamination in which a portion of said hermetic seal is formed, said zone including a portion of the lamination which becomes an edge of the finished package.

Claim 15

In a method of packaging a body of fresh or fresh-frozen meat between a pair of film laminations comprising the steps of forming said pair of film laminations by bonding respective inner lamina to respective outer lamina to form first and second film laminations, inserting a product between said first and second film laminations, enclosing the body by drawing at least one of said laminations around the article, and bonding said first and second laminations to each other to form a hermetic seal completely enclosing said body between said first and second laminations, the improvement in which: said bonding of said inner and outer lamina consists of forming a peelable bond therebetween; said outer lamina being relatively oxygen impermeable, said inner lamina being relatively oxygen permeable; said improvement including the step of continuously feeding means for separating said outer and inner laminae along a zone which is spaced apart from that portion of the resulting lamination which encloses said body, said zone being located along a portion of said lamination in which a portion of said hermetic seal is formed, said zone including a portion of the lamination which becomes an edge of the finished package.