Microwave receptive heating sheets and packages containing them

Claim 2

A package for heating food sticks comprising, a microwave transparent package enclosure, a plurality of parallel partitions formed from microwave receptive sheet material extending within the package to divide the package into a plurality of side-by-side chambers each sized to hold at least one of said food sticks to be heated by conduction from the microwave receptive sheet material, each of the chambers enclosing a food stick such that the microwave receptive sheet material is in face to face relationship with the surfaces of each food stick, the food sticks being oriented with respect to one another in a predetermined manner such that the longitudinal axis of each stick is parallel to those of the other sticks and also coincides with the axis of each chamber to facilitate the transfer of heat from each chamber to each stick so as to brown, crisp or toast the surface thereof.

Claim 3

The package of claim 1 wherein the microwave interactive sheet comprises a tray formed from said sheet by being folded into a plurality of parallel upright flutes that are pressed as by pinching the sheet into narrow folds defining said flutes, said flutes being spaced apart from one another and extending parallel to one another, each of the flutes comprising a double thickness of said sheet to provide a fluted tray in which the compartments are defined by the spaces between the flutes and each food stick is deposited in one of the compartments and is surrounded on three sides thereby.

Claim 4

The package of claim 2 wherein the package enclosure is a paper or paperboard carton.

Claim 5

The package of claim 3 wherein the carton has an upper portion that normally covers the food sticks which can be lifted to expose the food sticks.

Claim 6

As assembled microwave heating package for food articles comprising, a microwave transparent carton having upper and lower separable carton portions and a microwave receptive heating sheet formed to define a honeycomb-like array comprising a plurality of chambers whereby the food article placed in each chamber has at least some of its sides in contact with or adjacent to the microwave receptive heating sheet, the food articles being oriented with respect to one another in a predetermined manner such that a longitudinal axis of each article is parallel to those of the other articles and also coincides with an axis of each chamber to facilitate the transfer of heat from each chamber to each article so that the article is crisped or toasted within the package by the receptive sheet when the upper and lower portions are together and heated in a microwave oven and after said separable upper and lower portions are separated from one another the hot food articles can be removed or can be eaten out of the lower portion which then functions as a serving dish.

Claim 7

As assembled microwave heating package for food articles comprising, a microwave transparent carton having upper and lower separable carton portions and a microwave receptive heating sheet formed to define a honeycomb-like array comprising a plurality of chambers whereby the food article placed in each chamber has at least some of its sides in contact with or adjacent to the microwave receptive heating sheet, the food articles being oriented with respect to one another in a predetermined manner such that a longitudinal axis of each article is parallel to those of the other articles and also coincides with an axis of each chamber to facilitate the transfer of heat from each chamber to each article so that the article is crisped or toasted within the package by the receptive sheet when the upper and lower portions are together and heated in a microwave oven and after said separable upper and lower portions are separated from one another the hot food articles can be removed or can be eaten out of the lower portion which then functions as a serving dish.

Claim 8

The package of claim 5 wherein said upper portion and a lower portion of the package are connected together by means of a severable member and means is provided for tearing the severable member to disconnect the upper and lower portions of the package prior to opening the package.

Claim 9

The package of claim 6 wherein the severable member comprises a tear line extending through the member and the severable member extends between both the upper and lower portions of the package.

Claim 10

A microwave heating package for heating food sticks comprising, an outer microwave transparent enclosure having an upper portion and a lower portion, an inner microwave receptive sheet material forming walls of a plurality of parallel chambers, each of the chambers enclosing a food stick, the microwave receptive sheet material of each chamber being in heat transfer relationship with one of the sticks for crisping the surface of the food stick, the food sticks being oriented with respect to one another in a predetermined manner such that the longitudinal axis of each stick is parallel to those of the other sticks and also coincides with the axis of each chamber to facilitate the transfer of heat from each chamber to a food stick, said chambers having walls extending vertically within the package and said chambers enclose the food sticks such that the food sticks can slide when the package is opened by separating the upper portion of the package from the lower portion whereupon the food sticks are able to slide out of the chambers for removal from the package.

Claim 11

A microwave heating package for heating food sticks comprising, an outer microwave transparent enclosure having an upper portion and a lower portion, an inner microwave receptive sheet material forming walls of a plurality of parallel chambers, each of the chambers enclosing a food stick, the microwave receptive sheet material of each chamber being in heat transfer relationship with one of the sticks for crisping the surface of the food stick, the food sticks being oriented with respect to one another in a predetermined manner such that the longitudinal axis of each stick is parallel to those of the other sticks and also coincides with the axis of each chamber to facilitate the transfer of heat from each chamber to a food stick, said chambers having walls extending vertically within the package and said chambers enclose the food sticks such that the food sticks can slide when the package is opened by separating the upper portion of the package from the lower portion whereupon the food sticks are able to slide out of the chambers for removal from the package.

Claim 12

A package for heating food in a microwave oven comprising, a carton having telescoping upper and lower parts adapted to contain a multiplicity of food sticks arranged in substantially parallel relationship, chambers formed from flexible sheet material enclosed within the carton, a food stick in each of the chambers and the food sticks being oriented such that the longitudinal axis of the food sticks coincide with the axis of the chamber, at least a portion of each of the chambers having a microwave interactive susceptor material therein for transferring heat to an adjacent surface of one of the food sticks to toast, brown or crisp the food stick.

Claim 13

A package for heating food in a microwave oven comprising, a carton having telescoping upper and lower parts adapted to contain a multiplicity of food sticks arranged in substantially parallel relationship, chambers formed from flexible sheet material enclosed within the carton, a food stick in each of the chambers and the food sticks being oriented such that the longitudinal axis of the food sticks coincide with the axis of the chamber, at least a portion of each of the chambers having a microwave interactive susceptor material therein for transferring heat to an adjacent surface of one of the food sticks to toast, brown or crisp the food stick.

Claim 14

A microwave heating package including a carton formed from microwave transparent sheet material having a top portion and a bottom portion, a multiplicity of elongated french fried potato pieces within the carton, each piece being parallel to all of the other pieces within the carton and each of the french fried potato pieces being at least partially surrounded by a microwave interactive susceptor sheet said sheet being formed to provide parallel chambers having walls in contact or almost in contact with each piece, said chambers each having a longitudinal axis and being open at one end of the carton, said carton having a closing wall normally obstructing the open ends of the chambers and said closing wall being removable from said open ends whereby when said closing wall is removed the french fried potato pieces can slide out of the package through the ends of the chambers.

Claim 15

A microwave heating package including a carton formed from microwave transparent sheet material having a top portion and a bottom portion, a multiplicity of elongated french fried potato pieces within the carton, each piece being parallel to all of the other pieces within the carton and each of the french fried potato pieces being at least partially surrounded by a microwave interactive susceptor sheet said sheet being formed to provide parallel chambers having walls in contact or almost in contact with each piece, said chambers each having a longitudinal axis and being open at one end of the carton, said carton having a closing wall normally obstructing the open ends of the chambers and said closing wall being removable from said open ends whereby when said closing wall is removed the french fried potato pieces can slide out of the package through the ends of the chambers.

Claim 16

The package of claim 10 wherein the microwave interactive sheet comprises a tray formed from said sheet by being folded into a plurality of parallel upright flutes that are pressed as by pinching the sheet into narrow folds defining said flutes, said flutes being spaced apart from one another and extending parallel to one another, each of the flutes comprising a double thickness of said sheet to provide a fluted tray in which the chambers are defined by the spaces between the flutes and each potato piece is deposited in one of the chambers and is surrounded on three sides thereby.

Claim 17

A package for heating food sticks comprising: a microwave transparent package enclosure; said enclosure comprising a carton including first and second broad opposing faces, relatively narrow connecting sidewalls extending between the broad face walls, at least one microwave receptive sheet extending within the package between the sidewalls and in generally parallel relationship to the broad face walls; said microwave receptive sheet including a plurality of side-by-side chambers including microwave receptive partitions therebetween to provide walls for the chambers; said partitions extending between the broad faces of the carton and generally perpendicular thereto; each of the chambers between the partitions being sized to hold at least one of the food sticks to be heated by conduction from the microwave receptive sheet material; each of the chambers enclosing a food stick such that the microwave receptive sheet material is in face-to-face relationship with the surface of the food stick; the food sticks being oriented with respect to one another in a predetermined manner such that the longitudinal axis of each food stick is parallel to those of the other food sticks and also coincides with the axis of each of the chambers to facilitate the transfer of heat from the walls of each chamber to each food stick so as to brown, crisp or toast the surface thereof.

Claim 18

A package for heating food sticks comprising: a microwave transparent package enclosure; said enclosure comprising a carton including first and second broad opposing faces, relatively narrow connecting sidewalls extending between the broad face walls, at least one microwave receptive sheet extending within the package between the sidewalls and in generally parallel relationship to the broad face walls; said microwave receptive sheet including a plurality of side-by-side chambers including microwave receptive partitions therebetween to provide walls for the chambers; said partitions extending between the broad faces of the carton and generally perpendicular thereto; each of the chambers between the partitions being sized to hold at least one of the food sticks to be heated by conduction from the microwave receptive sheet material; each of the chambers enclosing a food stick such that the microwave receptive sheet material is in face-to-face relationship with the surface of the food stick; the food sticks being oriented with respect to one another in a predetermined manner such that the longitudinal axis of each food stick is parallel to those of the other food sticks and also coincides with the axis of each of the chambers to facilitate the transfer of heat from the walls of each chamber to each food stick so as to brown, crisp or toast the surface thereof.

Claim 19

The package of claim 12 wherein a portion of the enclosure comprises a removable portion adapted to expose the food sticks for allowing their removal from the package enclosure.

Claim 20

The package of claim 13 wherein the cover portion of said package enclosure is connected to a remaining portion of the package by means of a severable member that can be torn or otherwise disconnected to allow the cover to be removed from said remaining portion of the package enclosure.

Claim 21

The package of claim 12 wherein the food stick comprises a potato piece.

Claim 22

The microwave heating package of claim 12 wherein the microwave interactive sheet comprises a tray formed from said sheet by being folded into a plurality of parallel, upright flutes that are pressed as by pinching the sheet into narrow folds defining said flutes, each of said flutes comprising a double thickness of said sheet material, each to define one of said partitions to thereby provide a fluted tray in which the chambers are defined by the spaces between the flutes and each of the food sticks is deposited in one of the chambers and is surrounded on three sides thereby.

Claim 23

A package for heating food pieces, comprising: a microwave transparent package enclosure; a microwave interactive susceptor comprising, a) a base formed from microwave interactive sheet material and b) a plurality of parallel partitions projecting up from the base, said partitions being formed from microwave receptive sheet material and each partition extending within the package to divide the package into a plurality of side-by-side chambers; each chamber being sized to hold at least one of the food pieces that is to be heated by the microwave receptive sheet material; each of the chambers being bounded along each edge by one of the partitions and being bounded on the bottom by a portion of the base defining a floor portion of the chamber which extends between adjacent partitions; and both the partitions and the floor portion of each of the chambers including said microwave interactive material so as to brown, crisp or toast more than one side of the food pieces.

Claim 24

A package for heating food pieces, comprising: a microwave transparent package enclosure; a microwave interactive susceptor comprising, a) a base formed from microwave interactive sheet material and b) a plurality of parallel partitions projecting up from the base, said partitions being formed from microwave receptive sheet material and each partition extending within the package to divide the package into a plurality of side-by-side chambers; each chamber being sized to hold at least one of the food pieces that is to be heated by the microwave receptive sheet material; each of the chambers being bounded along each edge by one of the partitions and being bounded on the bottom by a portion of the base defining a floor portion of the chamber which extends between adjacent partitions; and both the partitions and the floor portion of each of the chambers including said microwave interactive material so as to brown, crisp or toast more than one side of the food pieces.

Claim 25

The package of claim 17 wherein the sheet comprises paper or plastic film having a layer of a microwave interactive material applied to at least one surface thereof.

Claim 26

The package of claim 18 wherein the microwave interactive material comprises a semiconductive metallic coating that is deposited by metallization of the sheet.

Claim 27

The package of claim 17 wherein the sheet comprises greaseproof paper.

Claim 28

The package of claim 17 wherein said package includes a plurality of said susceptors forming trays and said trays are stacked one above the other within the package for holding the food pieces in layers.

Claim 29

The package of claim 17 wherein the microwave interactive sheet comprises a tray formed from said sheet by being folded into a plurality of parallel, upright flutes that are pressed as by pinching the sheet into narrow folds defining said flutes, each of said flutes comprising a double thickness of said sheet material, each said flute defines one of said partitions to thereby provide a fluted tray in which the chambers are defined by the spaces between the flutes and each of the food sticks is deposited in one of the chambers and is surrounded on three sides thereby.