Fruit packaging containers

Abstract

Described herein are sealable, breathable bags for packaging, storing, and transporting fresh fruit in boxes. The bags protects the fruit from outside contaminants while maintaining a modified atmosphere environment around the fruit to preserve the freshness of the fruit. Furthermore, the bags are constructed in such a way that they have a flattened closed configuration and a fully opened configuration that allows them to efficiently fit into a generally cuboid, open-topped packaging box to be filled with fresh fruit and then seal around the fruit in the box. In one variation, the bag has a substantially trapezoidal shape with a wider mouth, or top opening, and shorter lower edge.

1 . A sealable bag for packaging fresh fruit within an open-topped box, the bag comprising:
 a front outer panel, a front inner panel, a rear inner panel, and a rear outer panel formed from a folded sheet of polymeric material;   wherein the bag has a flattened, closed configuration wherein:
 the front outer panel transitions to the front inner panel along a first lower fold, the front inner panel transitions to the rear inner panel along an intermediate fold at upper ends of the front and rear inner panels, and the rear inner panel transitions to the rear outer panel along a second lower fold, such that the folded sheet forms a generally “W” shaped cross-sectional profile; 
 the front outer panel, the front inner panel, the rear inner panel, the rear outer panel, the first and second lower folds, and the intermediate fold extend laterally along a length of the bag between a first sealed side of the bag and an opposing second sealed side of the bag; 
 the first sealed side of the bag includes a first lower sealed side and a first upper sealed side, and the second sealed side of the bag includes a second lower sealed side and a second lower sealed side; 
 the first lower sealed side comprises a joining of first lateral edges of the front outer panel, the front inner panel, the rear inner panel, and the rear outer panel below the intermediate fold, and the second lower sealed side comprises a joining of opposing second lateral edges of the front outer panel, the front inner panel, the rear inner panel, and the rear outer panel below the intermediate fold; 
 the first upper sealed side comprises a joining of the first lateral edges of the front outer panel and the rear outer panel above the intermediate fold, and the second upper sealed side comprises a joining of the second lateral edges of the front outer panel and the rear outer panel above the intermediate fold; 
 the front outer panel and the rear outer panel form an upper opening between the first upper sealed side and the second upper sealed side, and the front outer panel and the rear outer panel include an upper closure adjacent the upper opening, the upper closure configured to selectively seal closed the upper opening with fresh fruit packaged within the bag such that a modified atmosphere environment is created around the fresh fruit within the sealed bag; 
   wherein the bag has a fully open configuration when the bag is placed in the open-topped box, the box having a rectangular lower panel, two rectangular end panels extending upward from opposing ends of the lower panel, and two rectangular side panels extending upward from opposing sides of the lower panel and extending between the two end panels;   wherein in the fully open configuration, the bag overlies an upper surface of the lower panel and inner surfaces of the two end panels and two side panels of the box, and the upper opening of the bag is spread apart with upper edges of the front and rear outer panels being positioned adjacent to or folded over upper edges of the two side panels and the two end panels of the box, such that fresh fruit can be placed inside the bag within the box; and   wherein the first and second sealed sides converge in a direction away from the upper opening to give the bag a substantially trapezoidal configuration.   
     
     
         2 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the front outer panel, rear outer panel, front inner panel and rear inner panel are sealably joined to the first and second lower sealed sides. 
     
     
         3 . The bag of  claim 1 , further comprising a bottom edge defined when the panels are in a substantially flat condition, the first, and second sealed sides and bottom edge defining an angle of about 100 to 135 degrees. 
     
     
         4 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the first lower sealed side is longer than the first upper sealed side, and the second lower sealed side is longer than the second upper sealed side. 
     
     
         5 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the first lower sealed side is shorter than the first upper sealed side, and the second lower sealed side is shorter than the second upper sealed side. 
     
     
         6 . The bag of  claim 1  wherein the bag further has a sealed configuration wherein the bag encloses fresh fruit within the box with the upper closure sealing the upper opening closed above the fresh fruit between the two end panels of the box, wherein in the sealed configuration a modified atmosphere environment is created around the fresh fruit within the bag. 
     
     
         7 . The bag of  claim 1  wherein the bag comprises a breathable polymeric material that is permeable to CO 2  and O 2  and configured to create a modified atmosphere environment around the fruit within the bag when the bag is sealed closed. 
     
     
         8 . The bag of  claim 1  wherein, in the flattened, closed configuration, a first interior pocket is defined between the first outer panel and the first inner panel, between the first lower sealed side and the second lower sealed side, and above the first lower fold; and a second interior pocket is defined between the second outer panel and the second inner panel, between the first lower sealed side and the second lower sealed side, and above the second lower fold. 
     
     
         9 . The bag of  claim 8  wherein, in the fully open configuration, the first interior pocket is divided into a first interior corner pocket adjacent a first end panel of the box and a second interior corner pocket adjacent a second end panel of the box; and the second interior pocket is divided into a third interior corner pocket adjacent the first end panel of the box and a fourth interior corner pocket adjacent the second end panel of the box. 
     
     
         10 . A sealable bag for packaging fresh fruit for transportation and storage, the bag comprising:
 a front outer panel and a rear outer panel which together define a central interior space therebetween, the front and rear outer panels each having free upper ends with respective mating sealing mechanisms to allow the upper ends to be selectively joined to one another to seal the upper ends of the front and rear outer panels or separated to open the bag, the front and rear outer panels each being joined at opposed first and second lateral edges, the lower end being foldable into the central interior space to a distance less than the overall height of the bag to create a “W” shaped cross-sectional profile, the profile including a lower portion of the front outer panel, a lower portion of the rear outer panel, a front inner panel created by the fold, and a rear inner panel created by the fold;   a laterally opposed first pair of gussets, each sealingly joining the lower portion of at least one of the front and rear outer panels to at least one of the front and rear inner panels; and   wherein the laterally opposed first pair of gussets converge towards one another to give the bag a substantially trapezoidal configuration.   
     
     
         11 . The bag of  claim 10  wherein the bag comprises a breathable polymeric material that is permeable to CO 2  and O 2  and configured to create a modified atmosphere environment around the fruit within the bag when the bag is sealed closed. 
     
     
         12 . The bag of  claim 10  wherein the first pair of gussets each sealingly joins together opposed lateral edges of the lower portion of the rear outer panel, lower portion of the front outer panel, and front and rear inner panels. 
     
     
         13 . The bag of  claim 10  wherein the height of the first pair gussets is at least about one-half of the overall height of the bag when the bag is in a flattened condition. 
     
     
         14 . A method of making a sealable bag for packaging fresh fruit comprising:
 forming a bag from a breathable polymer material that is permeable to CO 2  and O 2  and configured to create a modified atmosphere environment when the bag is sealed;   folding the bag in half to create a fold along a bottom edge;   folding the bottom fold inwardly to create a pleat having an intermediate fold such that the bag has first and second outer panels and smaller first and second inner panels;   sealing side edges of the first and second outer panels and first and second inner panels, and   providing a top edge of the outer panels with a mating closure device to allow the bag to be selectively sealed and opened.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  including joining opposed sides of the first inner panel to respective lower opposed sides of the first outer panel, joining opposed sides of the second inner panel to respective lower opposed sides of the second outer panel, and joining upper opposed sides of each one of the first and second outer panels to one another. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  including joining respective opposed sides of the first and second inner panels to opposed lower sides of the first and second outer panels, and joining respective first and second upper sides of the first and second outer panels to one another. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein prior to the sealing step, removing opposed corners of the bag such that the bag when folded has a substantially trapezoidal configuration. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  including removing the corners after the folding steps.