US3387766A - Plastic bags - Google Patents

Description

E. KUGLER PLASTIC BAGS June 11, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 2, 1966 FIGI- FIG.4

INVENTOR. EM ANUEL KUGLER FIG-3 ATTORNEYS June 11, 1968 E. KUGLER 3,387,766

FIG. 5

I, I6 IO INVENTOR.

E lylANUEL KUGLER ATTORNEYS 3,387,766 PLASTIC BAGS Emanuel Kugler, 124 Richmond Place, Lawrence, N.Y. 11559 Filed Sept. 2, N66, Ser. No. 577,095 1 illaim. (Cl. 229-62) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates generally to the packaging of products using plastic materials, and more particularly to improvements in plastic bags used as protective enclosures for such products.

The practice of merchandising diverse products in plastic bags is in wide use today and is generally considered an effective Way to present products in an attractive manner to customers. The popularity of this manner of packaging products is of such an extent, in fact, that it is not even possible to enumerate all of the products for which it is used, or even the probable reasons for the acceptance and appeal of this packaging for these diverse products. For example, while the appeal of this packaging as used for foodstuffs or the like is probably due to the ability of the plastic enclosure to maintain the freshness of the product, the practice of bagging mens shirts and other clothing products in plastic material is of equal importance commercially, even though freshness of these products is not critical as with foodstuffs. Protection against soilage, however, is apparently important to the consumer and undoubtedly is a primary explanation for the appeal of this packaging in this product area.

An important contribution of the present invention is the recognition that the appeal of plastic bags as commercial packaging can be even further e-nchanced if, at the time of purchase, the product is completely sealed within the bag requiring the customer to break the sealed environment. This has the obvious desired effect of pro viding the customer with the assurance that the product has not been previously sold and returned. However, in achieving the foregoing it is not desirable that it be difficult for the customer to open the sealed bag or that during opening that the bag be destroyed to the extent that it cannot be subsequently used for product storage.

Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to pro vide an improved construction for a plastic bag whizh lends itself to initial use in a completely sealed condi tion and to subsequent opening thereof in a facilitated manner by the consumer. Specifically, it is an object to incorporate in a plastic bag construction means for producing an opening therein which not only is adequate to provide access to the enclosed product, but which assures a neat appearance in the opening and that during the production of the opening that the bag itself is not destroyed nor rendered ineffective for subsequent product storage.

A plastic bag used as a protective enclosure for a product which demonstrates features and objects of the present invention is conventional, in part, in that it includes a usual bag construction of facing front and rear walls States Patent joined to each other along opposite side seams formed by heat-sealing. In one of these- Walls, there is the novel feature of a prescribed area which is selected for the location of the contemplated access opening to the sealed product. A further novel structural feature includes a gripping member, preferably in the form of a plastic strip, joined to said one wall by a line of heat-sealing located adjacent the perscribed area thereon. The customer merely has to hold the sealed bag against movement with one hand and, with the other hand, manipulate the gripping member through movement away from the bag and this subjects the prescribed area to a rupturing force effectively applied in opposing directions. In response to this force, a neat and clean opening is produced, by tearing, in the prescribed area thereby permitting access to the product and subsequent use of the bag for product storage and other such uses to the same full extent that conventionally constructed bags are used.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nontheless illustrative embodiments in accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a bag according to the present invention and of the product to be sealed therein preparatory to placement of the product within the bag;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the product sealed within the plastic bag;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the plastic bag in which a gripping member secured adjacent one edge thereof is shown partially removed from the bag to better illustrate physical relationships existing between this gripping member and structural features of the bag;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view, taken on line -44 of FIG. 1, illustrating further details in the construction of the bag;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are each longitudinal sectional views illustrating, in sequence, the maner in which the gripping member is utilized to produce an opening in the bag, namely, to wit:

FIG. 5 illustrates how the bag and gripping member are initially gripped by the user preparatory to producing an access opening in the bag to the product sealed therein; and

FIG. 6 illustrates the manipulation of the gripping member through movement upward and away from th bag so as to apply opposing forces on the bag which produces the opening therein;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the removal of the product through the opening produced by the gripping member;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a plastic bag according to the present invention in which a precise location of the opening is achieved by use of a perforated line in the bag; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a plastic bag hereof.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1-7, wherein there is shown a first embodiment of a plastic bag, generally designated 1! demonstrating features and objects of the present invention. The plastic bag 10, except for the novel features discussed subsequently herein, is gene-rally typical of packaging which is currently being Widely used for diverse products including mens shirts 12. The bag It) is fabricated of plastic sheet material which is heatseala'ble, such as, for example, polyethylene preferably in a gauge of about 1.5 mils, and includes facing front and rear walls 14 and 1-6, respectively. In accordance with well understood manufacturing procedures, the walls 14 and 16 are joined to each other by lines of heat-sealing 18 and 20 which form the side seams of the bag. In the illustrated embodiment, the walls 14 and 16 are integrally connected via a bodily fold along an upper edge 22, leaving only the respective lower edges of these walls unattached and bounding an opening 24 into the bag It The opening 24 is utilized in initially packing the product 12 in the bag 10, as at the factory, and as best shown in FIG. 2, is sealed closed as by a strip seal 26.

Thus, use of the bag 10 hereof contemplates initial sealing of a product 12 within the bag, and the subsequent provision in the bag 10 of an opening, to be provided by the consumer, after purchase of the sealed bag and product and when it is desired by the consumer to remove the product 12 from the bag 10. In accordance with the foregoing, it is also contemplated that once the opening is provided in the bag 10, as will be described in detail herein, that the bag 10 can then be used for storage, either of the original product or other products, in the same manner that prior art plastic bags exemplary of this type of product packaging are now being used.

In accordance with the present invention, and as is best shown in FIGS. 3, 4, a suitable location is first determined for the access opening which is to be subsequently provided in the sealed bag 10. This location may be anywhere in either the front or rear walls 14, 16. In accordance with usual practice in connection with a twelve inch bag, a preferred location is one adjacent the upper edge 22. and spaced a predetermined distance X of approximately two inches or so below this edge. Having determined this location or prescribed area for the opening, which in FIG. 3 is designated 28a, the present invention further contemplates the use of a gripping member 30, in the form of an elongated heat-scalable plastic strip, which is heat-sealed to the plastic sheet material which ultimately forms the front wall 14. This is accomplished at an appropriate stage and in accordance with well understood procedures during mass production manufacture of the bags 10.

More particularly, the gripping member 30 is joined to the front wall 14 along a line or band of heat-sealing 32 located generally between the prescribed area 28a and the upper folded edge 22 and is specifically located immediately adjacent the area 28a. In addition to the line of the heat-sealing 32, each gripping member 30 for each bag 10 is joined along respective opposite sides to the sides of the front walls 14, 16 during the application of the lines of heat sealing 18 and 19 which form the sides of the bags 10. Thus, each gripping member 30 lies generally flush across the front wall 14 and is joined to this wall by the portions of the lines of heat-sealing 18, 19 coextensive with the width of the gripping member 30, and by the transversely extending line of heat-sealing 32. A comparatively narrow band 39a along the upper edge of the gripping member 3%) may extend beyond the line of heat sealing 32 in the direction of the upper folded edge 22, and a comparatively wider band 30b of a sutficient extent to be conveniently gripped extends below the line of heat sealing 32 and overlies the prescribed area 28a.

Having reference now particularly to FIGS. -7, an access opening into the sealed bag at or adjacent the prescribed area 28a is achieved by applying a force, exerted in opposing directions along the prescribed area 28a, which causes a rupture or tear in the front wall 14 in this area. This is done using the gripping member 30. That is, the consumer merely places one hand on the body of the bag 10, grips the overlying flap b of the gripping member 30 and, while holding the bag against movement, manipulates the gripping member 30 through movement in a direction towards the upper edge 22. This movement should be preferably executed abruptly and in such manner as to cause the front wall 14 to snap apart within or adjacent to the prescribed area 28a. Thus, there is produced, by tearing, an access opening 281) into the interior of the bag 10 through which the product 12 can be removed, and which enables subsequent use of the bag for storage purposes.

In most instances, it has been found that the opening 28b occurs along the boundary of the line of heat-sealing 32 which joins the gripping member 30 to the front wall 14. This is believed to be attributable to the fact that the force which is exerted on the gripping member 30 is transmitted through this member and is directly exerted at this location in the front wall which, at its other end, is held against movement by the pressure applied by the other hand of the user. Subjected to this opposing force, the front wall 14 fabricated of plastic material, which is not particularly known for its strength, thus ruptures and results in the formation of the access opening 2%. It is recognized that there maybe other explanations or factors contributing to the production of the opening 28b in the wall 14. For example, it is known that heat-scalable plastic material, such as is used in the fabrication of the bag 10 hereof, is normally weakened in an area adjacent to a line of heat-sealing, and thus this may be a supplementing factor in the functioning of the gripping member 30. In any event, a bag 10 which is provided with a gripping member 30 as described herein, and which gripping member 30 is manipulated in the manner as described herein, has been found to readily produce an access opening as exemplified by the opening 28b for an otherwise sealed plastic bag 10.

Preferably, although not essential to the present invention, the gripping member 30 may be fabricated of a relatively heavier gauge of plastic material than the plastic walls 14, 16. Reasonably satisfactory results have been achieved, for example, using polyethylene in a gauge of about 3.0 mils. Additionally, in order to achieve an exact location for the bag access opening, use may be made of a line of perforations 34 in the front wall 14' in the precise location where the opening is desired, all as is clearly shown in the embodiment of FIG. 8 wherein similar parts are designated by the same, but primed, reference numbers. The line of perforations 34 of course weakens the front wall 14', and thus the access opening which is produced in the front wall 14' occurs along this weakness.

In the further embodiment of FIG. 9 wherein similar parts are designated by the same, but double-primed, reference numbers, the sides of the gripping member 30" are sealed in the side seams 18", 20 only above the transverse seal line 32", but not below this line. One expedient way of achieving this, is to provide cut-away areas 36, 38 in this member along the sides thereof which, in an obvious manner leaves the gripping member 30" free of attachment to the sides of the front wall 14" for length portions equal to the extent of the areas 36, 38.

From the foregoing it should be readily appreciated that the embodiments of the bags hereof, as exemplified by the bag 10 hereof with a gripping member 30, represents a noteworthy improvement in the packaging art since it permits the product to be completely sealed within the bag while enabling the consumer to readily and easily open this sealed environment for removal of the product. Further, the opening 28b is neat and clean permitting subsequent use of the bag 10 for storage.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A bag comprised of facing walls of plastic sheet material of generally rectangular shape joined to each other along three sides to define an enclosure, at least one of said walls having a prescribed area oriented generally transversely of the width of said wall and located adjacent one end thereof selected for forming a product 5 removal opening for said bag, a transversely oriented line of perforations in said prescribed area, a gripping memher in the form of a plastic strip of a generally rectangular shape and of a greater extent than said prescribed area located in a superposed position on said one Wall overlappim said line of perforations, said gripping member having a free edge and attached along a portion from said free edge to said wall and remaining thereon throughout the use of said bag, said attachment between said gripping member and said Wall including a line of heat-sealing joining gripping member to said one Wall on the side of said line of perforations remote from said free edge of said gripping member whereby an opposing force applied to said one Wall on one side of said line of perforations and applied by said grip-pin member to the opposite side of said line of perforations is eifective to produce an opening in said one Wall by rupturing said line of perforations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner.

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