US20040050745A1

US20040050745A1 - Bag for vacuum sealing an item within

Info

Publication number: US20040050745A1
Application number: US10/243,893
Authority: US
Inventors: William Lee; Jerome Speights; Sung Oh
Original assignee: SII NORTH AMERICA LLC
Current assignee: SII NORTH AMERICA LLC
Priority date: 2002-09-13
Filing date: 2002-09-13
Publication date: 2004-03-18

Abstract

This invention provides a bag adapted to vacuum seal an item and allow the user to see through the bag so that the item within the bag may be later identified. This is accomplished through providing a bag with two panels, a first panel and a second panel, that may be sealed along the outer edges except for at least one opening end. A portion of the interior surfaces of the two panels or the panels it self may be embossed to form air channels to remove the air within the bag. For example, the first panel may be embossed on one-half of the bag where the air channels may extend into the depth of the bag from the opening end. The second panel may be embossed on the other one-half of the bag where air channels may extend into the depth of the bag from the opening end. With this arrangement, both the first and second panels of the bag may have a portion that is embossed and the remaining portion that is transparent for identifying the content or item in the bag.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a bag capable of vacuum sealing at least one item within the bag and allowing a user to identify the item within the bag.

2. General Background and State of the Art

There are many types of bags available that allow a user to extract air within the bag so that perishable items such as meat, fruit, and pasta stay fresh longer in the bag. These bags are generally formed from two panels where the outer edges are sealed except for one opening end. The user then use the opening end to insert and extract the item from the bag. The two panels are formed from two layers of outer and inner transparent plastic sheets, where the outer layer prevents air from penetrating through the panels and the inner surface is heat sealable with the opposing panel. At least one inner surface of the bag is entirely embossed to form air channels that allow air to flow from the areas within the bag during the vacuuming process. The air channels are designed to prevent the two panels from collapsing onto themselves when suction is applied so that no air gets trapped between the two panels. Once the air is removed from the bag, the opening end is heat sealed to vacuum seal the bag. This way, the item within the bag stays fresher for a longer period of time so that it may be enjoyed later.

One of the drawbacks of current vacuum bags is that the entire inner surface of one or both panels are embossed to form the air channels so that at least one panel is opaque. This means that the item in the bag may not be clearly seen through the embossed panel. Another drawback with current vacuum bags is that it is difficult to keep items separated within the bag. For example, with left over spaghetti, the pasta and the sauce either needs to be combined into one bag or use two bags to keep the items separated. When both the pasta and sauce are put into one bag, and served later, the combination may not look pleasing. On the other hand, when one bag is used to hold the pasta and a second bag is used to hold the sauce, one or both of the bags may be misplaced.

INVENTION SUMMARY

This invention provides a bag adapted to vacuum seal an item and allow the user to see through the bag so that the item within the bag may be later identified. This may be accomplished by providing a bag with two panels, a first panel and a second panel, that may be sealed along the outer edges except for at least one opening end. A portion of the interior surfaces of the two panels may be embossed to form air channels to remove the air within the bag. For example, the first panel may be embossed on one-half of the bag where the air channels may extend into the depth of the bag from the opening end. The second panel may be embossed on the other one-half of the bag where air channels may extend into the depth of the bag from the opening end. With this arrangement, both the first and second panels of the bag may have a portion that is embossed and the remaining portion that is transparent for identifying the content or item in the bag. The portion of the panels that is embossed may vary from embossing substantial portion along the opening end of the bag to less than one-half along the opening end of the bag.

The bag may also include a divider panel between the first and second panels. The divider panel may be sealed along the outer edges of the bag along with the first and second panels forming two storage areas. The first storage area may be formed between the first panel and the divider panel, and the second storage area may be formed between the second panel and the divider panel. With this bag, two items may be stored in the bag but separated from each other. For instance, spaghetti pasta may be stored in the first storage area and the spaghetti sauce may be stored in the second storage area.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention can be better understood with reference to the following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. [0009]
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the bag adapted to vacuum seal an item within the bag. [0010]
FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view along the [0011] line 1B-1B in FIG. 1A.
FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the bag in FIGS. 1A and 1B after the bag has been sealed. [0012]
FIG. 3 is a top view of an embossment having square protrusions to form air channels there between. [0013]
FIG. 4 is a top view of an embossment having triangular protrusions forming air channels there between. [0014]
FIG. 5 is a top view of an embossment having circular protrusions forming air channels there between. [0015]
FIG. 6 is a top view of an embossment having pentagon protrusions forming air channels there between. [0016]
FIG. 7 is a top view of an embossment having pyramid protrusions forming air channels there between. [0017]
FIG. 8 is a cross section view of the left side of the bag showing the second panel having saw-tooth like embossment. [0018]
FIG. 9 is a prospective view of the second panel showing the saw-tooth like embossment extending along the length of the bag. [0019]
FIG. 10 is a cross section view of the left side of the bag showing the second panel having sine wave like embossment. [0020]
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the opening of the bag illustrating the embossment formed on portions of the first and second panels. [0021]
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the opening of the bag showing the embossment formed on the outer edges of the bag. [0022]
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the bag illustrating a divider between the first and second panels. [0023]
FIG. 14 is a cross section view of the bag illustrating an embossment layer over the inner layer of the bag. [0024]
FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of the [0025] encircled area 15 in FIG. 14.
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the bag illustrating a divider between the first and second panel. [0026]
FIG. 17 is a side view of the bag illustrating a line of weakness along the center of the bag. [0027]
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of another bag adapted to vacuum seal an item within the bag. [0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A illustrates a [0029] bag 10 capable of substantially vacuum sealing items within the bag. The bag 10 has a width “W” and a length “L” formed from a first panel 12 and a second panel 14 coupled to each other along the outer edges 16 except for the opening end 18. The opposite end of the opening 18 of the bag may be provided with an opening as well. The bag 10 may have various outer configuration such as a rectangular shape as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, however, the bag 10 may also have other configuration such as square, half-circular, and triangular configurations. The opening may be also formed along the longitudinal side L rather than on the width side as shown in FIG. 1A. The coupling the two panels 12 and 14 may be done through heat sealing along the outer edges 16 of the two panels together. Within the bag 10, air channels 20 may be formed on the interior side of the first panel 12, and air channels 22 may be formed on the interior side of the second panel 14. The air channels may be formed by embossing the first and second panels 12 and 14 so that protrusions may be formed, and between the protrusions channels 20 and 22 may be formed. The air channels 20 and 22 are adapted to provide paths to remove the air within the bag during the vacuuming process. The configuration of the air channels 20 and 22 may vary as discussed later. Note that the embossments on the bag 10 are shown for illustration purpose and are not drawn to scale.
FIG. 1B illustrates the two [0030] panels 12 and 14 separated from each other before the vacuuming process. And FIG. 2 illustrates the two panels 12 and 14 substantially adjacent to each other during and after the vacuuming process. FIGS. 1B and 2 also illustrate enlarge cross-sectional views of the second panel 14 having two layers, an outer layer 24 and an inner layer 26. The inner layer 26 may be formed from a heat sealable thermoplastic material, and the outer layer 26 may be formed from a gas-impermeable material to provide a barrier against the influx of air to the interior of the bag 10 after it has been sealed. A variety of materials may be used for the inner layer 26 such as polyethylene that is food safe but does not provide an oxygen barrier, and may not provide sufficient mechanical strength for vacuum bag applications. To compensate for this, the outer layer 24 may be made of polyester or polyamide (nylon) that has good mechanical properties, and provides a good oxygen barrier. The outer layer may be formed from other materials such as waxed sheet material, suitable coated cellulous acetate film, suitably coated regenerated cellulose film, rubber hydrochloride film that is a rubber hydrochloride film, polyvinyl films, metal foil, and laminated materials such as polyethylene-cellulose acetate, polyethylene-regenerated cellulose, or triple laminates. The first panel 12 may be also formed of two layers 24 and 26 similar to the second panel 14. U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 34,929 and 2,778,171 are hereby both incorporated by reference into this application. The first and second panels may be also formed from Notran® Film manufactured by SK Corporation, and other materials known to one skilled in the art.
FIG. 2 also illustrates at least a portion of the [0031] second panel 14 may be embossed to form the channels 22 between the protrusions 28. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the bag 10 may be divided into different portions such as a first portion 13 of the bag 10 that may be a left one-half width or along the opening 18 of the bag 10, and a second portion 15 that may be a right one-half width or along the opening 18 of the bag 10. In this example, the first panel 12 may be embossed along the second portion 15, and the second panel 14 may be embossed along the first portion 13. Alternatively, the first panel 12 may be embossed along the first portion 13, and the second panel 14 may be embossed along the second portion 15 of the width or opening 18 of the bag. The embossing formed on the first and second panels may extend along the length of the bag 10. Another alternative is to have the opening formed along the longitudinal side “L” of the bag 10, and have the embossing running along the width of the bag 10.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, during the vacuuming process, the [0032] protrusions 28 may bear against the first panel 12 but the channels 22 may remain substantially open to provide paths for air within the bag to be withdrawn through the opening end 18. The channels 20 formed on the first panel 12 may also provide paths for air to evacuate through the opening end 18 during the vacuuming process. As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 7, the embossing on the panels may have a variety of configurations so that the protrusions may have shapes such as a square, rectangle, triangle, circular, and pentagon, or any other configuration known to one skilled in the art. These shapes may be also combined with one another, such as having a embossing with a combination of triangular shape protrusions and circular protrusions.
FIG. 8 illustrates that the portion of the [0033] second panel 14 may have saw tooth like configuration where the channels 22′ are formed between the protrusions 28′. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the channels 22′ may run longitudinally along the length of the bag 10. FIG. 10 illustrates that the embossment may have a sinusoidal shape as well where the channels 22″ are formed between the protrusions 28″.
FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate that the embossment may be formed along any portion of the first and [0034] second panels 12 and 14 along the width of the bag 10 or its opening end 18. For instance, in FIG. 11, embossing may be formed near the outer edges 27 of the first panel 12 with the center portion 29 being substantially planer. On the second panel 14, the center portion 29 of the panel 14 may be embossed with the outer edges 27 being substantially planer. FIG. 12 illustrate that not every portion of the bag 10 along the width needs to be embossed. In FIG. 12, the first panel 12 may be embossed along the right edge portion 31, and the second panel 14 may be embossed along the left edge portion 33, which leaves the center portion 29 of the bag 10 without any embossment. This allows the item(s) within the bag to be later identified through the transparent panels 12 and 14. In many instances, air pockets form along the outer edges during the vacuuming process, and few if any may form along the center portion of the bag. This is mainly due to positioning the item within the bag along the center portion of the bag, and with items having irregular shapes, gaps are formed between the bag and the item that provide paths for air to be withdrawn from the bag. As such, most if not all of the air within the bag may be withdrawn from the air channels formed along the outer edges of the bag 10.
FIG. 13 illustrates a [0035] bag 30 having a divider 32 between the first panel 12 and the second panel 14 adapted to hold two items within the bag 30 and keep the items separated. The divider may be coupled to the first and second panels 12 and 14 along the outer edge 16 of the bag 30. The divider 32 forms two pockets: a first pocket 38 defined by the first panel 12 and the divider 32, and a second pocket 40 defined by the second panel 14 and the divider 32. The divider 32 may have embossing on both sides where the embossing 34 may be formed on the side facing the first panel 12, and the embossing 36 may be formed on the side facing the second panel 14. The embossings 34 and 36 may be formed along any portion of the divider 32 along the opening end. For instance, the embossing 34 may be formed on the left one-half side of the divider 32, and the embossing 36 may be formed on the right one-half side of the divider 32. And as discussed above, the embossing may be formed near the outer portion(s) or along the center portion of the divider 32. With the divider 32, at least two items may be vacuum sealed within the bag 30 and kept separated.
FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate another [0036] bag 40 having the outer and inner layers 24 and 26, and including an embossed layer 42 over the approximate one-half left side of the inner layer 26 of the second panel 14, and an embossed layer 44 over the approximate one-half right side of the inner layer 26 of the first panel 12. With the embossing layers 42 and 44, more stiffness may be provided to the bag 40 for strength. The embossing layers 42 and 44 may be adapted to heat sealable to the respective exposed inner layer 26 of the opposite panels 12 and 14. For instance, the embossed layer 42 on the left side of the bag 40 may be heat sealable to the left side of inner layer 26 of the second panel 14, and the embossed layer 44 on the right side of the bag 40 may be heat sealable to the right side of the inner layer 26 of the first panel 14. With the embossed layers 42 and 44 being heat sealable, the inner layer 26 may be made of material that is safe for food products but not heat sealable. To ensure a complete heat seal between the first and second panels 12 and 14, the embossed layers 42 and 44 may extend more than one-half of the width of the bag 40 so that the embossed layers 42 and 44 overlap when heat sealed.
FIG. 16 illustrates a [0037] bag 50 having a divider 52 between the first panel 12 and the second panel 14 adapted to hold two items within the bag 50 and keep the items separated. The divider 52 may be coupled to the first and second panels 12 and 14 along the outer edge 16 of the bag 60. The first and second panels may not be embossed so that the two panels are transparent, but at least a portion or all of the divider 52 may be embossed on both sides to provide air channels in a first pocket 54 and a second pocket 56. The first pocket 54 may be defined by the first panel 12 and the divider 52, and a second pocket 56 may be defined by the second panel 14 and the divider 52. With two pockets, items may be separated from each other to keep them fresh. Even with two pockets, only one pocket may be used with the other pocket being empty. For better marking, first pocket 54 may be used to vacuum seal an item and the second pocket 56 may be inserted with a piece of paper with information that defines the item in the second pocket, along with the date the item was stored in the first pocket and the expiration date of the item, for example. The bag 50 may have more than two pockets by adding additional panels and dividers to the bag. And where the second pocket is specifically designed to hold a piece of paper for providing information about the item in the first pocket, the divider wall may not need the embossing on the side that is facing the second panel 14.
FIG. 17 illustrates a [0038] bag 60 having a first pocket 62 and a second pocket 64. The two pockets 62 and 64 may be formed from the two panels 12 and 14 sealed along the edges 16. The two pockets 62 and 64 may be coupled together along the centerline 66 that runs along the width of the bag 60. To keep the items stored in the two pockets separated, a heat seal may be formed between the two openings 62 and 64, such as along the centerline 66. This way, two items may be kept separated but together for use later. The bag 60 may be also formed with a line of weakness along the centerline 66 so that the first and second pockets 62 and 64 may be separated from each other along the line of weakness by pulling the two pockets away from each other. This way, when only one pocket is need, a user may tear the first pocket away from the second pocket. The bag 60 may have air channels formed within the pocket in a variety of ways as discussed above.
FIG. 18 illustrate another [0039] bag 70 capable of substantially vacuum sealing items within the bag. The bag 70 has a width “W” and a length “L” formed from a first panel 12′″ and a second panel 14′″ coupled to each other along the outer edges 16 except for the opening end 18. With the bag 70, the first and second panels 12′″ and 14′″ may be formed from two layers: the outer and inner layers 24 and 26, where the outer layer 24 may be substantially planer along their entire outer surfaces and the inner layer 26 may have protrusions that form channels 20 and 22 between the protrusions.
While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. [0040]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A bag for vacuum sealing at least one item therein, comprising:

a first panel and a second panel sealed together along outer edges except for at least one opening end, where the first and second panels each have an inner surface and the opening end has a first portion and a second portion, where the inner surface of the first panel has embossing on the first portion of the opening and the inner surface of the second panel has embossing on the second portion of the opening end.

2. The bag according to claim 1, where a cross-sectional view of the embossing along the opening end form a saw-tooth configuration.

3. The bag according to claim 1, where the cross-sectional view of the embossing along the opening end form a sinusoidal configuration.

4. The bag according to claim 1, further including a divider between the first and second panels defining a first pocket between the first panel and the divider, and defining a second pocket between the second panel and the divider so that the first and second pockets keeps the items in the first and second pockets separate.

5. The bag according to claim 4, where the divider is embossed on a portion that is facing the first panel along the second portion of the opening end, and the divider is embossed on a portion that is facing the second panel along the first portion of the opening end.

6. The bag according to claim 1, where the first and second panels are sealed along the outer edges having a length and a width, where the opening end is formed along one of the width side, where the first portion of the opening end is one-half of the width and the second portion of the opening end is other one-half of the width.

7. The bag according to claim 1, where the first and second panels are sealed along the outer edges having a length and a width, where the opening end is formed along one of the width side, where the first portion of the opening end is near the outer edges of the first panel, and the second portion of the opening is a center of the second panel.

8. The bag according to claim 1, where the first and second panels are sealed along the outer edges having a length and a width, where the opening end is formed along one of the width side, where the first portion of the opening end is near one outer edge of the first panel and the second portion of the opening end is near other outer edge of the second panel.

9. The bag according to claim 1, where the first and second panels each have an outer surface that is substantially planer.

10. The bag according to claim 1, where the embossing form square shape protrusions.

11. The bag according to claim 1, where the first and second panels are sealed together to form two opening ends on opposite ends of each other, where the first and second panels are sealed together between the two opening ends.

12. The bag according to claim 11, further including a line of weakness where the first and second panels are sealed together between the two openings ends.

13. A vacuum bag, comprising:

a first panel and a second panel sealed together along outer edges having a length and a width, where an opening is formed along one side of the width and both the first and second panels have an inner surface, the first panel is embossed on an inner surface on substantially one-half portion of the width and the second panel is embossed substantially on the other one-half portion of the width, where the embossing forms channels that allow air between the first and second panels to be withdrawn during a vacuuming process.

14. The vacuum bag according to claim 13, where each of the first and second panels are formed from layers including an outer layer and an inner layer, where the outer layer is gas-impermeable and the inner layer is heat sealable.

15. The vacuum bag according to claim 13, where the embossing on the first and second panels form square protrusions creating channels between the protrusions.

16. A bag for vacuum sealing, comprising:

a first panel coupled to a second panel along outer edges except for at least one opening end; and

a portion of the first and second panels embossed to form air channels within the bag to provide paths for air within the bag to be withdrawn through the opening end during a vacuum sealing process.

17. The bag according to claim 16, further including a divider between the first and second panels.

18. The bag according to claim 16, where the bag has two opposite opening ends and a length and a width, where the bag is heat sealed along the width of the bag between the two opening ends.

19. The bag according to claim 16, where the first panel is embossed on a right one-half side of the bag, and the second panel is embossed on a left one-half side of the bag.

20. The bag according to claim 16, where the first panel is embossed near the right hand side of the bag and the second panel is embossed near the left edge of the bag.

21. The bag according to claim 16, further including a divider between the first and second panels, where the divider panel is embossed on one-half of the width of the divider wall on one side and embossed on other one-half of the width of the bag on the other side of the divider.

22. The bag according to claim 16, further including an embossed layer adhere to a portion of the first panel and a second embossed layer adhere to a portion of the second panel.

23. A vacuum bag, comprising:

a first panel and a second panel sealed together along outer edges except for at least one opening end, where the first and second panels each have an inner surface and the opening end has a first portion and a second portion;

a first embossed layer over the inner surface of the first panel along the first portion of the opening end; and

a second embossed layer over the inner surface of the second panel along the second portion of the opening end.

24. The vacuum bag according to claim 23, where the first and second panels are sealed along the outer edges having a length and a width, where the opening end is formed along one of the width side, where the first portion of the opening end is one-half of the width and the second portion of the opening end is other one-half of the width.

25. A vacuum bag having multiple pockets, comprising:

a first panel and a second panel, and an embossed divider between the first and second panels that are sealed together along outer edges except for at least one opening end, where a first pocket is defined by the first panel and the embossed divider, and the a second pocket is defined by the second panel and the embossed divider.

26. The vacuum bag according to claim 25, where the embossing forms square protrusions.

27. A method for forming a vacuum bag, comprising:

sealing a first panel and a second panel along outer edges except for at least one opening end, where the first and second panels have a length and a width; and

embossing a first portion of the width of the first panel and a second portion of the width of the second panel so that embossing on the first and second panels are offset, where the embossing forms channels between protrusion to provide paths for air between the first and second panels to withdraw.

28. The method according to claim 27, where opening end is formed along the width, and the first portion is about one half of the width of the opening end and the second portion is about other one half of the width of the opening end.

29. The method according to claim 27, further including:

dividing the opening end to form two pocket so that items in the two pockets are kept separated.

30. The method according to claim 27, further including:

opening two ends of the first and second panels along the width; and

sealing the first and second panels between the two ends of the width to form two pockets.

31. The method according to claim 30, further including:

forming a line of weakness along the sealing so that the two pockets can be pulled apart from each other along the line of weakness.

32. A method of vacuum sealing an item, comprising:

inserting an item into an opening end of a bag having a first panel and a second panel, where the first and second panels each have inner surfaces;

withdrawing air within the bag by providing air channels on a first panel along a first portion along the opening end of the bag and providing air channels on a second panel along a second portion of the bag; and

sealing the opening end of the bag.

33. A vacuum bag, comprising:

a first panel and a second panel sealed together along outer edges except for at least one opening end, where the first and second panels each have an inner surface; and

means for withdrawing air between the first and second panels through the first panel along a first portion of the opening end and the second panel along a second portion of the opening end.