Method and apparatus for product packaging

Abstract

A method and apparatus for packaging items, such as meat, non-meat products and non-food products, using ultrasound or heat is disclosed herein. In a preferred embodiment, a continuous thermoplastic tubular mesh material is used to package multiple meat products. The preferred packaging method does not use metal clips as in conventional packaging, and instead uses thermal energy, ultrasonic energy, or other types of energy to create seals in the packaging material itself. The method advantageously causes one seal to be formed between each pair of adjacently packaged products. This single seal can be cut in half thereby creating two seals, one seal for each adjacently packaged product.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of packaging items in a tubular thermoplastic material, having either end of the tubular material initially open and with each packaged item sealed at opposite ends by first and second seals, said method including: 
 (a) forming a first seal in the material;    (b) placing an item in the tubular material wherein the item is adjacent to the seal formed in (a);    (c) forming a second seal in the material so as to enclose the item between the first and second seals; and    (d) severing the second seal to package the item, thereby creating a first seal for a subsequent item to be packaged.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further including placing a subsequent item into the tubular material to be adjacent to the first seal created in (d) and forming a second seal in said material so as to enclose the subsequent item between the first seal and the second seal.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein forming the seals includes using ultrasound.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the seals have a width of about one-half of an inch and a length of about three-quarters of an inch.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the ultrasound is at a frequency in the range of about 15 kHz to 40 kHz.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein forming the seals includes using heat sealing.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , further including rotating each item prior to forming a seal such that the tubular material is gathered together for sealing.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the multiple items are food products.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the food products are meat products.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the multiple items are non-food products.  
     
     
         11 . A method of packaging items in a tubular thermoplastic material without the aid of foreign objects, having either end of the tubular material initially open and with each packaged item sealed at opposite ends by first and second seals, said method including: 
 (a) forming a first seal in the material;    (b) placing an item in the tubular material wherein the item is adjacent to the seal formed in (a);    (c) forming a second seal in the material so as to enclose the item between the first and second seals; and    (d) severing the second seal to package the item, thereby creating a first seal for a subsequent item to be packaged.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein (a) and (c) include a logo in the seal.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein (d) includes severing the second seal approximately at its midpoint.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein a handle is formed at the same time as the seals are being formed.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the seals in (a) and (c) include identification information.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein (d) includes severing the second seal at a location away from its midpoint so as to result in two cut portions of different sizes.  
     
     
         17 . A method of packaging items in a tubular thermoplastic material, having either end of the tubular material initially open and with each packaged item sealed at opposite ends by first and second seals, including: 
 (a) forming a first seal in the material using ultrasound;    (b) placing an item in the tubular material adjacent to the first seal formed in (a);    (c) forming a second seal in the material so as to enclose the item between the first and second seals; and    (d) perforating the second seal thereby creating two seals when the perforation is separated, one of said two seals being a first seal for a subsequent item to be packaged.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further including placing a subsequent item into the tubular material to be adjacent to the first seal created by the perforation in (d) and forming a second perforated seal in said material so as to enclose the subsequent item between the first perforated seal and the second perforated seal.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein forming the seals includes using ultrasound.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein each seal has a width of about one-half of an inch and a length of about three-quarters of an inch.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the ultrasound has a frequency in the range of about 15 kHz to 40 kHz.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein forming the seals includes using heat sealing.  
     
     
         23 . An apparatus for packaging multiple items, comprising: 
 a horn having two open ends, a receiving end for receiving an item and an exit end through which the item exits the horn;    a tubular thermoplastic material that fits over the exit end of the horn;    a welder which forms seals in the material;    wherein the welder forms one weld in said material between adjacent items to be packaged such that the weld so formed can be cut thereby providing a weld for opposing ends of adjacently packaged items.    
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein the welder uses ultrasound to form the welds in said material.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein the welder uses heat to form the welds in said material.