US20080118191A1

US20080118191A1 - Re-Sealable Bag

Info

Publication number: US20080118191A1
Application number: US10/597,424
Authority: US
Inventors: Rainer Garger
Original assignee: ZIP PACK IP AG
Current assignee: ZIP PACK IP AG
Priority date: 2004-02-26
Filing date: 2005-02-21
Publication date: 2008-05-22
Also published as: WO2005082731A1; EP1718540A1

Abstract

A re-sealable bag (1) including a closure (13) is provided, which is sealed to the front wall (3) in the interior of the bag (1). The two-part closure (13) is sealed by the edges of the two closure parts (13 a, 13 b) to the internal face of the front wall (3) below the removal opening that is covered by a security strip (11). A cover sheet (15), which is sealed to the internal closure part (13 a) and to the internal face of the front wall (3) above the opening, protects the closure (13) from coming into contact with the contents prior to the initial opening of the bag.

Description

BACKGROUND

The subject matter of the invention is a re-sealable bag according to the preamble of claim 1.
Re-sealable bags, especially for bulk goods, such as rice and the like, are known in many configurations. They usually include a closure made from two complementary profiled strips, which can be connected by pressing them together and which can be opened by pulling them apart or by means of a slide.
From EP-0 843 636 B1 such a closure is known. Here, the two profiled strips are bonded to the still flat foil web, from which the bag is formed at a later time. The two foil strips forming the closure are connected to the foil web, such that the two free edges, i.e., the edges lying opposite the engaging edges, do not come into contact, but instead extend wing-like away from the engaging parts. In the area of the foil coming to lie directly underneath the overlapping edges of the closure, a perforation is formed, which enables a strip to be detached from the foil to permit access to the closure, which is lying behind and is arranged in the interior of the bag. The production of such a bag or the attachment of the closure can be realized with simple means before the bag is produced. However, on one hand, the handling of this known closure is impractical, because the access to the closure through the slot-like opening is very narrow after the removal of the perforated strip and, on the other hand, the resealing is also impractical, because pressure must be exerted on the closure from the rear side via the partially still present contents, in order to be able to reconnect the closure.

SUMMARY

One objective of the present invention is to create a re-sealable bag with a re-sealable closure, which is protected within the bag behind a tear-open strip before the initial opening and which is optimally accessible after the removal of the strip providing protection before the initial opening and thus can be opened and reclosed easily.
This objective is achieved by a re-sealable bag with the features of claim 1. Advantageous configurations of the bag are described in the dependent claims.
Through the possibility created by the invention for opening and closing the closure by folding out the bag from the inside, it becomes possible to provide access to the bag as if the closure were attached to the upper end of the bag. The reclosing can be performed by guiding the closure between two fingers pressed against each other, as is possible with a bag to be opened at the top. Before opening, the closure lies in the interior of the bag protected and away from contact before the initial opening. Any attempted manipulation is immediately visible. The upper end of the bag, through which the bag has been filled, can be sealed with a seam using very simple means, e.g., bonding or stitching. Before the initial opening, the contents do not come into contact with the closure, because the closure is completely separated from the contents by a cover sheet. Only after the initial opening, i.e., the cutting of the cover sheet, is it possible to access the contents from the outside. When emptying the bag, contents coming into contact with the closure can be removed easily and thus the closure can be kept clean.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to illustrated embodiments. Shown are

FIG. 1 a perspective view of a bag, cut-away on one side, completely unopened,

FIG. 2 a schematic cross section through the front bag wall in the area of the closure in a second configuration of the invention,

FIG. 3 a schematic cross section through the front bag wall in the area of the closure, completely unopened,

FIG. 4 a schematic cross section through the front bag wall in the area of the closure, with the safety band torn away,

FIG. 5 a schematic cross section through the front bag wall in the area of the closure, with the closure pulled out from the bag,

FIG. 6 a schematic cross section through the front bag wall in the area of the closure, with the closure opened,

FIG. 7 a schematic cross section through the front bag wall in the area of the closure, with the closure cut,

FIG. 8 a schematic cross section through the front bag wall in the area of the closure, with the closure reclosed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

On the only partially illustrated bag 1, the upper region of the front wall 3 and the rear wall 5 are visible. The two walls 3, 5 are connected to each other undetachably by a bond and/or thread seam 7, in short, seam 7, at the top after the bag is filled. The base of the bag 1 is not visible. Two perforation lines 9, which are connected to each other at their ends and which are formed by notches or laser-created holes, are visible in the front wall 3. The perforation lines 9 define a tear-away or safety strip 11, which can be torn away by hand from the front wall 3 composed of a film or a different coated material. Behind the safety strips 11, a closure 13 and a cover sheet 15 are attached to the inside of the front wall 3 by sealing seams 17 a and 17 b. The edges of the inner and the outer closure parts (13 a, 13 b) can be connected to the front wall (3) by a common seam or by two separate bonding or sealing seams 17 b.
The lower edge of the cover sheet 15 is attached at the inner closure part 13 a by a sealing seam 17 c. The upper edge and the side edges of the cover sheet 15 are fixed undetachably at the inside of the front wall 3 by a bonding or sealing seam. The outer closure part 13 b and the inner closure part 13 a can be connected to each other detachably by a tear-away or grooved closure 19, also called a “cut-n-seal” closure. Gripping strips 21 for better handling can be formed on the inner and one of the outer closure parts (13 a, 13 b) of the tear-away or grooved closure 19.
For an unopened bag 1, the grooved closure 19 lies protected between the cover sheet 15 and the front wall 3, so that no contents can reach the area of the grooved closure 19.
Obviously, the closure arrangement could also be arranged on the rear wall 5.
For better clarity, FIG. 7 shows only the front wall 3 of the opened bag 1 after removing the safety strip 11 and opening the grooved closure 19, i.e., pulling apart the two parts 19 a and 19 b. In addition, the inner closure part 13 a is cut along a cutting line 23 with a blade 25 or, if provided, along a perforation cutting line 23. Alternatively, the closure part 13 a which lies on the inside could be connected directly to the front bag wall 3 by a peelable connection 29 (FIG. 2). This configuration would enable the opening B to be exposed without the aid of a blade.
The opening process is explained step-by-step with reference to the schematic views in FIGS. 3 to 8. In FIG. 3, which corresponds to FIG. 1, the closure 13 lies behind the safety strip 11. The latter is completely or partially pulled away in FIG. 4. The pulling away can be realized by hand without tools. Here, with a fingernail, the perforation 9 is opened and thus the safety strip 11 is gripped. Now the closure 13 is freely accessible in or behind the opening 27, which is created in the front wall 3 after pulling away the safety strip 11. The closure 13 can be closed at this time, i.e., the grooved closure parts 19 a and 19 b can be joined together; it is also possible to arrange the closure 13 unclosed between the safety strip 11 and the cover sheet 15 before the initial opening. After pulling away the safety strip 11, the closure 13 can be pulled out from the opening 27 (compare FIG. 5). If the grooved closure parts 19 a and 19 b have not yet been pulled apart (as shown in FIG. 5), these can be pulled apart in a known way at the gripping strips 21 (FIG. 6). With the blade 25, a cut can be created from the outside at the position A, i.e., between the two closure parts 13 a and 13 b, or, if a perforation line 23 is present in this position, this line can be opened with a finger or a different pointed object (state according to FIG. 7). In this way, a removal opening B, which is located behind the opening 27, is created. The removal opening B can be reclosed by pressing together the two grooved closure parts 19 a and 19 b (state as shown in FIG. 8). The reclosing is performed outside of the front wall 3. If desired, the closure 13 can now be pressed back into the interior of the bag 1 (not shown). As an alternative to a grooved closure without a slide, such a closure with a slide (not shown) can also be used.
The production of bags 1 with the closure 13 according to the invention is simple, because the closure 13 and the cover sheet 15 can be attached by long-known sealing processes onto the still band-shaped films, which form the front wall 3 and the rear wall 5 and if necessary the base.
In another configuration of the invention according to FIG. 2, the cover sheet 15 can be attached directly or formed/extruded directly on the grooved closure part 19 a.
The two closure parts 13 a and 13 b can also be connected to each other along their free edges or can be composed from a single drawn part.
Furthermore, the cover sheet 15 can be produced integrally with the closure part 13 a instead of with an attachment to the closure part 13 a by the sealing seam 17 c.

Claims

1. Re-sealable bag (1) comprising a closure (13) attached in an interior thereof to one of the front or rear walls (3, 5), with the closure comprising two closure parts (13 a, 13 b), which are at a distance from a connecting or latching area (19) of the closure (13), which form a connection to the wall (3, 5), and having free edges that are connected undetachably to the wall (3, 5), and with a safety strip (11) above an opening (27) above the latching area (19) of the closure (13), the safety strip (11) is configured so that it can be separated from the wall (3, 5) before an initial opening for exposing the opening (27), both of the closure parts (13 a, 13 b) are connected to the wall (3, 5) underneath the opening (27) and a cover sheet (15) is attached to an inner one of the closure parts (13 a) and also to the wall (3, 5) above and to a side of the opening (27).

2. Bag (1) according to claim 1, wherein edges of the inner and the outer closure parts (13 a, 13 b) are connected to the front wall (3) by a single common seam (17 b) or by two separate bonding, fusing, or sealing seams (17 b).

3. Bag (1) according to claim 1, wherein a lower edge of the cover sheet (15) is fixed undetachably at the inner closure part (13 a).

4. Bag (1) according to claim 3, wherein the lower edge of the cover sheet (15) is fixed directly on or at a distance to an inner grooved closure (19 a).

5. Bag (1) according to claim 1, wherein free edges of the closure parts (13 a, 13 b) are connected to each other and the closure (13) is produced in one part.

6. Bag (1) according to claim 1, wherein the cover sheet (15) is produced in one part with the closure (13) or with the inner closure part (13 a).

7. Bag (1) according to claim 1, wherein the inner closure part (13 a) is connected to the wall (3) in a peelable way.