U.S. patent application number 11/979281 was filed with the patent office on 2008-05-08 for offset opening tabs for plastic zippered bags and plastic containers.
Invention is credited to Marlin Daniel Ballard.
Application Number | 20080105679 11/979281 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39358881 |
Filed Date | 2008-05-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080105679 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ballard; Marlin Daniel |
May 8, 2008 |
Offset opening tabs for plastic zippered bags and plastic
containers
Abstract
Offset opening tabs for zippered plastic bags and a variety of
disposable and reusable containers which make opening a container
fast and easy, as well as solving the difficulties experienced by
diverse types of users who have functional or situational finger
dexterity limitations or compromised vision that make opening
packages a cumbersome or frustrating event.
Inventors: |
Ballard; Marlin Daniel;
(Austin, TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Marlin Daniel Ballard
4900 W. William Cannon
Austin
TX
78749
US
|
Family ID: |
39358881 |
Appl. No.: |
11/979281 |
Filed: |
November 1, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60856098 |
Nov 2, 2006 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
220/260 ;
383/65 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 33/2508 20130101;
B65D 33/007 20130101; Y02W 30/807 20150501; Y02W 30/80
20150501 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/260 ;
383/65 |
International
Class: |
B65D 33/16 20060101
B65D033/16; B65D 43/26 20060101 B65D043/26 |
Claims
1. A resealable plastic bag with a common zipper closure mechanism
that is modified to utilize offset opening tabs to be grasped and
pulled apart in opposite directions in order to separate the male
and female sides of the zipper closure mechanism; and which offset
opening tabs can be shaped like a sine wave or repetitive squares,
triangles, truncated triangles, or other easy-to-grasp repetitive
shapes running parallel to the length of the zipper closure
mechanism such that the peaks of the tabs on one flap of the bag
would align with the troughs between the tabs on the other flap of
the bag.
2. Plastic bag modification in claim 1, plus the adding of
contrasting colors of opaque or semi-opaque paint, ink, or other
colorant to the inside or the outside of the offset opening tabs,
or to only one flap (or set of tabs), to facilitate identification
of the direction to pull the offset opening tabs in order to
separate the male and female sides of the zipper closure
mechanism.
3. Plastic bag modification in claim 1, plus adding contrasting
visual patterns, shapes, or lines to the inside or the outside of
the offset opening tabs, or to only one flap (or set of tabs), to
facilitate identification of the direction to pull the offset
opening tabs in order to separate the male and female sides of the
zipper closure mechanism.
4. Plastic bag modification in claim 1, plus adding physical
textures to the inside or the outside of the offset opening tabs,
or to only one flap (or set of tabs), to facilitate identification
of the direction to pull the offset opening tabs in order to
separate the male and female sides of the zipper closure
mechanism.
5. A packaging enclosure or product container having at least two
mated or adhered parts that is constructed from plastic, foil,
paper, synthetic materials, or a combination of those types of
materials, that is modified to utilize offset opening tabs to be
grasped and pulled apart in opposite directions in order to expose
the product contained inside; and which offset opening tabs can be
shaped like a sine wave, or repetitive squares, triangles,
truncated triangles, or other easy-to-grasp repetitive shapes
running parallel to the length of the adhered flaps such that the
peaks of the tabs on one flap of the container would align with the
troughs between the tabs on the other flap of the container.
6. Packaging enclosure modification in claim 5, plus the adding of
contrasting colors of opaque or semi-opaque paint, ink, or other
colorant to the inside or the outside of the offset opening tabs,
or to only one flap (or set of tabs), to facilitate identification
of the direction to pull the offset opening tabs in order to open
the enclosure and expose the product contained inside.
7. Packaging enclosure modification in claim 5, plus adding
contrasting visual patterns, shapes, or lines to the inside or the
outside of the offset opening tabs, or to only one flap (or set of
tabs), to facilitate identification of the direction to pull the
offset opening tabs in order to open the enclosure and expose the
product contained inside.
8. Packaging enclosure modification in claim 5, plus adding
physical textures to the inside or the outside of the offset
opening tabs, or to only one flap (or set of tabs), to facilitate
identification of the direction to pull the offset opening tabs in
order to open the enclosure and expose the product contained
inside.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS:
[0001] Provisional Patent Application 60/856/098 by Marlin Daniel
Ballard dated Nov. 2, 2006 and titled "Hand Gripping Tab Structure
for Zippered Bags"
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING
[0003] Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention relates to a modification of the
opening mechanism for resealable plastic bags that have a zippered
closure device, as well as to the same type of modification of the
opening mechanism for flexible thermo-formed and pressure-formed
plastic, synthetic, paper, foil, or laminated containers used as
disposable, temporary, or recloseable packaging for a variety of
food and retail products, which are often referred to as peel packs
and laminates, easy open lidding, shrink films, or blister
packs.
[0005] PRIOR ART: The advent of modern synthetic and paper
packaging meant the introduction of product enclosures that had
little resemblance to what was seen in the first half of the
20.sup.th century. Although most product containers were touted as
easy to open, certain packaging materials such as plastic were
often notoriously difficult and frustrating to open or remove.
Resealable plastic zipper bags and a variety of plastic, synthetic,
or paper packaging have turned out to be some of the most difficult
to open containers, primarily because it was the simplest solution
during manufacturing to cut the sandwiched edges of most packaging
in a smooth, straight line, leaving completely flush edges. A
significant trait of plastic is that static electricity combined
with the thinness of the plastic membrane tends to cause it to
adhere to nearby similar and dissimilar substances. Consequently,
opening the flaps with straight, flush edges on the opposing sides
of zippered plastic bags is usually a slow and frustrating task,
which is made even harder if the user has compromised vision or
manual dexterity or must wear some sort of hand protection which
limits the sense of touch and ability to manipulate very thin
membranes that are often adhering together in a manner that resists
separation. Trying to separate the edge flaps of nonpliable
plastic, foil, paper, or synthetic packaging in styles other than
zippered bags is equally frustrating, since the rigidity of some of
the materials causes the material to snap back when it is partially
separated from the flush, adjacent flap, especially if the flaps
are partially or totally adhered. The manufacturing processes used
to adhere the halves of some pliable containers make them equally
difficult to open or peel back, especially when the opening flaps
are stuck together all the way to the edge of the package.
[0006] No completely effective method has previously been devised
to alleviate the difficulty in opening plastic zippered bags or
other multi-part product containers (not referring to clamshell
containers) that require separating the parts of the container by
peeling back a lid, cover, or protective film. Several inventors
have suggested the use of longitudinal ridges and waves on either
the inside or outside of the opening flaps on zippered bags (U.S.
Pat. No. 4,363,345, No. 5,009,828, and No. 5,259,904), but these
have not proved to help users separate the closely sandwiched
flaps, nor have these methods been utilized on multi-part
containers such as blister packs or peel packs. Some manufacturers
have avoided fusing the flaps all the way to edge of the enclosure
on blister packs, peel packs, and some types of lidding, but the
sandwiched flaps must still be separated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,244
suggested longitudinally sliding the opposing sides of the zippers
in opposite directions in order to open a recloseable bag, however
that assumes the zipper halves will not significantly adhere to
each other, and it also assumes the user has sufficient thumb and
finger strength to slide the tightly wedged zipper halves against
each other. Although one inventor (U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,111)
suggested embossing a pattern on the body of plastic zipper bags in
order to make them distinctive in appearance, none has proposed
using that approach applied to the opposing flaps of zipper bags to
aid in separating the opposing flaps. Manufacturers of plastic
zipper bags have used a variety of colored stripes and geometric
shapes on their bags for branding and to indicate when the zipper
is closed or open, but that use of decoration has not been used to
aid in the opening of zipper bags or other types of peel open
containers. Tactile indicators (U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,215 and No.
6,877,898 B2) have been suggested to aid in closing plastic zipper
bags, but no straightforward, effective means to separate the
opposing zipper halves or the two halves of a blister pack or peel
pack have been offered prior to the current invention.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The prior art in the disposable and resealable packaging
industry has been characterized by difficult to open, and in some
cases seemingly impossible to open, plastic bags and containers,
paper wrappers and lidding, peel packs, sealing film and laminates,
and blister packs. Utilizing offset opening tabs to separate and
open the zipper closure mechanism on plastic bags, or to open any
type of disposable or reusable packages, virtually eliminates the
opening difficulty experienced by the average user with normal
dexterity and good vision. Offset opening tabs are equally
effective with users who have limited vision, impaired finger
agility or sense of touch, or who must wear gloves or hand
protection. Offset opening tabs are adaptable to virtually any
situation that requires the separation of two closely aligned or
sandwiched membranes, paper, or packaging material. The primary
objective of the invention is the creation of a package for which
the means of opening is convenient and self-apparent. Simply
stated, the goal for the invention is to allow the user to
instantly grasp one and only one opening tab/flap with one hand,
and to immediately grasp the other tab/flap and only that tab with
the other hand, and to instantly know which direction to pull with
each hand.
[0008] An additional goal of the invention is to create a two-fold
market niche for both the sellers of products by employing unique
shaped containers that are easy to open and reseal, as well as to
allow a manner of product branding through form and function of the
actual package for the packaging manufacturers who are often not
permitted by the product sellers to print or emboss a brand name on
the packaging material itself. Acceptance by both product sellers
and industrial packaging users will be found with both small
operations that hand-fill zippered bags as well as high rate
producers that must open the previously closed zippered bags for
machine filling. Zippered bags with offset opening tabs are easily
adaptable for use by a machine, since the tabs can be grasped and
separated by a high speed device as easily as by a person.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a typical zippered plastic bag
with an array of offset opening tabs (11 and 12) at the top of the
figure or openable end of the bag. The illustrated bracket (15) at
the top of the figure refers to the pair of opposing flaps attached
to the zipper closure mechanism (13). The opposing flaps are
composed of multiple offset opening tabs (11 and 12) that are
grasped to separate the flaps and the attached male (13A) and
female (13B) sides of the zipper closure mechanism (13). The
midpoint intersections (16) of the opposing sine wave patterns
coincides with the thermally sealed edges (14) of the plastic
bag.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a top view of the openable end of the bag. The
arrows indicate the direction that the offset opening tabs (11 and
12) must be pulled in order to separate the male (13A) and female
(13B) sides of the zipper closure mechanism (13).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0011] One embodiment of the present invention relates to a
modification of the opening structure for resealable plastic bags
that use a zippered closure mechanism. Currently configured
zippered bags are often hard to open because of the difficulty of
separating the two flaps composing each side of the zippered
closure mechanism. Specifically, even users with good manual
dexterity and average vision may find it difficult to open a
zippered plastic bag by grasping one flap between the fingers of
one hand and the other flap between the fingers of the other hand,
and separating the opposing sides of the zipper mechanism.
[0012] The inventive concept is the reshaping of the two flaps (15)
attached to the opposing sides of the zippered closure (13) to make
grasping much easier and require less concentration, so that
separating the sides of the zipper (13A and 13B) is effortless,
self-apparent, and does not require undue attention. The solution
proposed herein is to reshape the opposing flaps (15) by cutting
each flap into a configuration which has multiple tabs (11 and 12)
for grasping, and by placing the tabs on one flap in a position
such that they are offset relative to the tabs on the other flap.
This configuration of tabs will allow the user's left hand to
quickly grasp a tab from one flap while the right hand grasps a tab
from the other flap, prior to separating the flaps of the zipper
mechanism. Consequently, the two opposing flaps (15) can be easily
grasped and pulled apart (FIG. 2).
[0013] One preferred configuration of the tabs (11 and 12) on each
flap (15), would be to have them in the shape of a sine wave
running parallel to the length of the zipper (13) such that the
peaks of the tabs (11) on one flap of the bag would align with the
troughs between the tabs (12) on the other flap of the bag. This
configuration would facilitate the manufacturing process by
allowing for easy cutting of the tabs (11 and 12) by a cutter
shaped like a sine wave, as the sheet of plastic film is moved
longitudinally down the processing line. The tabs (11 and 12) could
also be square cut, triangular cut, truncated triangles,
combinations of these shapes, or any of a variety of other shapes
which would enable easy grasping by a user's fingers.
[0014] A second and independent modification is to make the
appearance and/or the feel of the surface distinct on each of the
two flaps (15) of the bag. This distinct appearance could be
accomplished by applying opaque or semi-opaque paint, ink,
colorant, or other opaque substance to the outside of the flaps
(15), and then applying a contrasting color or no color to the
inner portion of both flaps, or vice versa (applying color to the
inside of the flaps but not to the outside), or to only one flap,
to give a visual indication of whether you are looking at the inner
side or outer side of the flaps. This feature would allow for easy
visual identification of the direction (shown by arrows in FIG. 2)
in which adjacent tabs should be grasped and pulled in order to
open the bag or container. Other variations of the embodiment to
make the surface appearance of the flaps (15) distinct would be to
use visual patterns, colored lines or patterns, or physical
textures applied to the outside of the flap, and utilizing
opposite, diverse, or no surface treatments on the inside of each
flap, or vice versa. Therefore, a user would be able to quickly
make a visual or manual identification of the dissimilar appearing
tabs, even with compromised vision, in order to grasp the correct
tab to separate the sides of the zipper and open the bag. As noted
above, ridges and waves have been previously patented for use on
the flaps of zippered bags to aid with gripping, however the use of
texturing with the current invention is not primarily for gripping
purposes, but rather to allow a user to be able to tell without
looking whether they are touching the inside or outside of an
offset opening tab, so that the user can quickly determine the
proper direction to move each hand.
[0015] An additional embodiment of the present invention is the use
of the concept of offset opening tabs for virtually any type of
disposable or reusable packaging, wrapping, or covering that
requires the separation of two thin membranes that tend to adhere
to each other or stay closely sandwiched together because of static
electricity or adhesive forces resulting from the high heat and
pressure of manufacturing processes. This inventive concept can be
utilized on sterile healthcare products such as gauze, sponges, and
single-use packages, or on food and retail product containers such
as thermo-formed peel packs or blister packs. Utilizing offset
opening tabs is often necessary to allow the user the ability to
open containers while using sterile gloves or other cumbersome hand
protection, and/or for users who have impaired manual dexterity
and/or limited vision. Multiple offset opening tabs could be
employed along a full side, or on all sides of a container that can
ultimately be opened, so that the user could grasp anywhere along
the side of the package to remove the lidding or separate the
halves of the enclosure.
[0016] With respect to the potential manufacturing process for this
invention, in one embodiment of the inventive concept, the bags
would be produced by starting with a continuous roll of plastic
sheet film which is a width of approximately two times the height
of the finished bag. At some point during the manufacturing
process, but before the plastic sheet is folded and thermally
bonded into the final bag configuration, the sine wave shaped tabs
(11 and 12) would be created by a cutter along both of the running
edges of the roll of plastic sheet material, which will eventually
become the flaps (15) for each side of the zipper mechanism. The
peaks of the sine wave (11) along one edge would be aligned with
the troughs of the sine wave (12) along the opposing edge, such
that after folding the material into a bag configuration, the sine
wave shaped tabs will be staggered with reference to each other
(FIG. 1). The thermally bonded edges (14) of each side of the bag
will be located at the midpoint (16) where the sine waves converge
between the peaks and the troughs. At some point during the
manufacturing process, but before the running sheet material is
folded into a bag configuration and thermally bonded, the male
zipper strip (13A) will be applied to one edge/flap (15) and the
female zipper strip (13B) will be applied to the opposing edge/flap
(15).
[0017] Manufacturing of peel packs, paper or film lidding,
laminated packages, blister packs, etc., incorporating the current
invention would be accomplished by altering the outline of the
stamped or die-cut shape of the lidding, cavity base, or two halves
of the formed enclosure to include offset opening tabs along the
previously flush edges. Enclosures that are normally fused or
adhered together would require leaving the offset opening tabs
unattached so that they could be easily separated and pulled apart
by the user after grasping one of the offset opening tabs.
* * * * *