Method of wrapping a soap bar
Soap bars that are not of essentially a square or rectangular shape, but of a generally rectangular shape, can be packaged using a single plastic film wrapper. This plastic film preferably is biaxially oriented polypropylene of from about 60 micron to about 180 microns. It can be a monolayer or a multilayer laminated. However, any plastic film having a Taber stiffness of more than about 5 and preferably about 7 to 20 can be used. The soap bar in order to facilitate making an effective longitudinal seal on the bottom of the soap bar package should have a planar surface adjacent to the position of the overlapping longitudinal edges of the wrapping film. This provides a surface for the sealing plate to seal the longitudinal edges against.
1. A method of wrapping a generally rectangular soap bar having a top surface, a bottom surface having a shaped area and a planar area, longitudinal side surfaces and end surfaces, the soap bar devoid of a stiffener reinforcing element, the method comprising:
wrapping a plastic wrapper film laterally around and directly on said soap bar without any intervening stiffener reinforcing element;
overlapping the edges of said film that extend longitudinally across and adjacent the planar area of the bottom surface of said soap bar;
folding the film at each end surface of said soap bar; and
sealing said overlapping edges of the film adjacent the planar area of the bottom surface and the folded film at the end surfaces to form a package fully enclosing the soap bar, wherein the film is a thermoplastic film having a thickness of about 60 micron to about 180 micron and a Taber Stiffness of more than about 5.
2. A method as in claim 1 wherein the bottom surface of said soap bar has shaped areas.
3. A method as in claim 1 wherein said film is folded at both longitudinal ends of said soap bar.
4. A method as in claim 1 wherein the overlapping edges of the film and the folded film at the longitudinal ends are sealed at about the same time.
5. A method as in claim 1 wherein the overlapping edges of film and the folded film at an end surface are sealed sequentially.
6. A method as in claim 1 wherein said film is selected from the group consisting of polyethylenes, polypropylenes, vinyl polymers, acrylic polymers and copolymers, styrene polymers and copolymers and polyesters.
7. A method as in claim 6 wherein the film is biaxially oriented polypropylene.
8. A method as in claim 6 wherein said film is a polyethylene.
9. A method as in claim 6 wherein said film is a vinyl polymer.
10. A method of applying a single plastic wrapper film onto a generally rectangular soap bar, the method comprising:
providing a generally rectangular soap bar having a top surface, a bottom surface having a planar area, longitudinal side surfaces, and end surfaces, at least one of the surfaces having a curved shape;
wrapping a plastic wrapper film laterally around and directly onto the soap bar without any intervening stiffener reinforcing element;
overlapping the edges of the plastic wrapper film that extend longitudinally across the planar area of the bottom surface of the soap bar;
closing the plastic wrapper film at each end surface of the soap bar; and
sealing the overlapping edges of the plastic wrapper film adjacent the planar area of the bottom surface and the folded film at the end surfaces to form a package fully enclosing the soap bar, wherein the plastic wrapper film is a thermoplastic film having a thickness of about 60 micron to about 180 micron and a Taber Stiffness of more than about 5 and the thickness and stiffness of the plastic wrapper film is sufficient to provide a rectangular shape to the soap bar package without an internal stiffener reinforcing element.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the sealing step involves heat sealing the overlapping edges.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the soap bar includes two scalloped, dished out areas.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the closing step includes folding the wrapper film at each end surface to form fold over seals.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the top surface of the soap bar is convexly curved.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the side surfaces of the soap bar are convexly curved.
16. A method of applying a single plastic wrapper film onto a generally rectangular soap bar, the method comprising:
providing a generally rectangular soap bar having a curved top surface, a bottom surface having a planar area and two dished out scalloped areas, curved longitudinal side surfaces, and end surfaces;
wrapping a plastic wrapper film laterally around and directly onto the soap bar without any intervening stiffener reinforcing element;
overlapping the edges of the plastic wrapper film that extend longitudinally across the planar area of the bottom surface of the soap bar;
closing the plastic wrapper film at each end surface of the soap bar: and
sealing the overlapping edges of the plastic wrapper film adjacent the planar area of the bottom surface and the folded film at the end surfaces to form a package fully enclosing the soap bar, wherein the plastic wrapper film is a thermoplastic film having a thickness of about 60 micron to about 180 micron and a Taber Stiffness of more than about 5 and the thickness and stiffness of the plastic wrapper film is sufficient to provide a rectangular shape to the soap bar package without an internal stiffener reinforcing element.