One modified sealing jaw. Same film. Same line.
The crumb catcher is a non-continuous heat seal formed one to two inches above the bottom seal. Nothing else about the liner, the box, or the filling process changes.
The patent
US 9,221,584 B2, “Cereal bag with crumb collector.” Filed June 2, 2014. Granted December 29, 2015. Assignee: Smartland, Cleveland, Ohio. Term runs to June 2, 2034. Allowed over 67 cited references. Read it on Google Patents.
Independent claim 1 covers any bag, not only cereal, with a main compartment, a crumb-collector compartment below it, a horizontal heat seal made of melted sealed portions alternating with open portions, and a continuous bottom seal. Claim 4 covers the cereal bag specifically. Claim 7 covers the manufacturing method, using a heat plate with protruding ridges. So the same license applies to crackers, chips, granola, pretzels, and pet kibble.
How it’s made
The continuous bottom seal is made as usual. A ridged heat plate forms the slotted seal at an offset above it. The two seals can be formed by two jaws or by one modified jaw. The bag is then filled and top-sealed as usual.
At Pack Expo, packaging-equipment manufacturers characterized adding the heat plate to existing vertical form-fill-seal machines as relatively easy and inexpensive. It doesn’t change the process or the timing, and it works with pillow and gusseted bags. Slot size and count are tunable per cereal.
- Ridged heat plate. Melts the film only where its ridges touch, leaving open slots between sealed sections: the slotted seal.
- Sealing jaw. The usual continuous bottom seal, one to two inches below.
Engineering questions, answered where we can
Settling. The patent describes fixing the liner to the carton so the cereal’s weight doesn’t collapse the crumb compartment. The compartment also reduces the appearance of settling.
Fill weight, line speed, and cost per bag. Open item. An independent packaging engineer’s memo is in progress, and we’ll post it here when it’s done.
What consumers are telling us
People vote on the home page for the cereal that should get the crumb catcher first. We publish only verified votes: one per device, checked for bots. Confirmed emails are reported separately. How we count.
Campaign launched ; results publish at 1,000 verified votes.
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Ways to work together
Talk to us
Write to vadim.k@smartland.com, or use the form.