Method of manufacturing biaxially oriented heat-shrinkable film

Claim 1

In a method for manufacturing a biaxially oriented heat-shrinkable film wherein a primary tube is extruded, cooled, reheated and stretched in the machine direction and inflated in the transverse direction by internal gas to form a bubble, then collapsed and withdrawn as biaxially oriented thinner film: The improvement comprising forming the primary tube from a three component blend of major constituents consisting of a polyethylene member selected from the group consisting of very low density polyethylene ("VLDPE") and linear low density polyethylene ("LLDPE") or a mixture thereof, ethylene alpha-olefin plastomer copolymer of density below about 0.90 g/cm 3 and ethylene vinyl acetate, wherein as between the polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate total the polyethylene comprises between about 35 and about 60 wt. % of the total and ethylene vinyl acetate comprises between about 40 and about 65 wt. % of the total, and wherein the ethylene alpha-olefin plastomer copolymer comprises between about 10 and about 20 wt. % of the total weight of the three component blend.