Package for protecting friable products

Claim 1

In a packaging arrangement for a generally fragile flat elongated product, the combination of: a. a substantially rigid cylindrical container including a peelable top closure member and a bottom closure member forming a sealed container; b. at least one product-containing pouch in said container positioned so as to conform to the inner cylindrical surface thereof having flange means formed along the bottom edge of said pouch in yieldable contact with the bottom closure member of said container for absorbing axial shock loads imparted to said container, said pouch having a plurality of vacuum-sealed pockets circumferentially spaced along the cylindrical inner circumference of said container, with each pocket being separated from each adjacent pocket by a seam extending longitudinally along the length of said cylindrical container, each of said vacuum-sealed pockets containing respectively one stack of said friable product held immobile in said pockets and stacked to extend radially toward the center of the container, each said pocket being vertically arranged in said cylindrical container with the length of the pocket extending along the height and parallel to the longitudinal axis of said container, and the length of each friable product extending along substantially the entire length of the pocket, said pouch being formed of a resilient plastic material laminate and creased in the axial direction of said container intermediate said pockets so as to facilitate conformance thereof to the contour of the inner cylindrical surface of said container, said pouch being of a height substantially in conformance with the axial length of said container intermediate the closure members thereof so as to be restrained from axial movements within said container, said pouch extending beyond the length of the product in said pockets to thereby maintain the product in a spaced relationship from said top and bottom closure members.