Plastic Bag Having Reclosing Means

Abstract

A plastic bag of heat-sealable material is provided with a length of wire covered with a flat strip of paper adjacent to the mouth end of the bag, there being a heat-seal connection holding the paper strip against the bag material.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to plastic bags, and more specifically to a bag of the reclosable type.

2. Prior Art

Bags have been previously provided which are made of paper to which there is glued paper-covered wire for serving as a reclosing means. Other bags have been provided that are made of plastic having entrapped foil serving as a reclosing means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to my invention, a plastic bag of heat-sealable material is provided with a strip of paper-covered wire that is joined to the bag, such as by a heat-seal connection.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bag of plastic material that has a reclosing means.

A further object of the present invention is to utilize paper-covered wire in a plastic bag in such a manner that the metal thereof will not interfere with burn-through heat-sealing.

Another object of the present invention is to so utilize a strip, which is at least partially metallic, as a reclosing means that the ends of the metal are covered to minimize the likelihood of scratching taking place.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a reclosing means on a plastic bag such that the reclosing means will not only eliminate the likelihood of loss of contents of the bag, but will aid in opening a bag of film-type material.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying drawing in which preferred structural embodiments incorporating the principles of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative example.

ON THE DAAWING

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly broken away, of a plastic bag having reclosing means provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper end of the bag of FIG. 1 after it has been closed;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the mouth end of another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the upper end of the bag of FIG. 3 after it has been closed; and

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are views of the upper ends of other bags provided in accordance with this invention.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWING

The principles of the present invention are particularly useful when embodied in a bag assembly such as illustrated in FIG. 1, generally indicated by the numeral 10. The bag is made of heat-sealable film-type of plastic material such as polyolefin or polyethylene, and because of its construction is normally flat when empty. In the manufacture of the bag, a web of the material is folded near its center to provide a fold 11 so that the body of the bag has two thicknesses, the edges of the web being thus disposed at the ultimate mouth of the bag. The number of thicknesses can be greater when this invention is applied to other forms of bag, e.g., a gusseted bag. The web is cut at intervals by burn-through heat-sealing means so as to provide a pair of parallel heat seals 12, 13. In this embodiment, before such heat sealing, a strip of paper-covered wire 14 is disposed on the side of the bag between the prospective heat seals 12, 13, and a narrow marginal portion or flap 15 is folded outwardly over the papr-covered wire 14 toward the fold-end 11 of the bag. Thus, the original marginal edge portions of the web provide a tab 16 and the flap 15. The bag assembly 10 thus has a mouth at 17 defined by the folded edge of the marginal portion 15. As part of the preferred manufacturing process, a seal is applied to the flap 15 over a portion thereof at least sufficient to trap the paper-covered wire 14 therein. Preferably, such seal is a heat-seal. If desired, the heat-seal 15 is done before the fold 11 is made. As the ends of the paper-covered wire 14 are spaced from the prospective heat-seals 12 and 13, the wire does not in any way interfere with the formation of those heat-seals on a burn-through basis. Further, the ends of the paper-covered wire 14 are enclosed and thus preclude any scratching. Film material of the type described herein normally clings together, and the paper-covered wire 14 facilitates the opening of the empty bag, particularly where the tab 16 is employed.

When the bag assembly 10 has been filled, the portions of the mouth that lie beyond the ends of the paper-covered wire 14 are folded toward the center of the bag, and then the paper-covered wire is bent at two places, each about one-fourth of the length of the paper-covered wire from the ends thereof. Where the tab 16 is utilized, it is folded over the mouth 17 as the first step in closing the bag. The resulting closed bag is illustrated in FIG. 2. Although the paper-covered wire 14 is not shown in that view, it begins at 18, then extends to the bend 19 and around to a second bend 20 and terminates at 21. The heat-seal connection of the flap 15 with the bag wall positively holds the paper-covered wire against the bag wall. When the bag is closed, there are thus both wall thicknesses of the bag that cover the ends of the wire endwise so that the likelihood of scratching is minimized. If desired, the added layer of film-type of material 15, instead of being a flap, is a separate strip of heat-sealable film type of material, and again the heat-seal connection is substantially coextensive with the area of such added layer that is directly adjacent to the bag. In either form, the added layer covers the ends of the wire 14 to preclude scratching in the event that during closing, the bag were folded in the reverse direction from that explained.

FIG. 3 shows the upper end of a bag assembly 22 wherein the tab 16 has been omitted, and the added layer of film-type of material that holds the wire 14 is a separate strip 23 of film-type of material that has a heat-seal connection indicated by the dots in the drawing, which connection preferably is substantially coextensive with the area of such layer that is directly adjacent to the bag. In this embodiment, portions of the paper-covered wire 14 project from opposite sides of the added layer 23 so that they can be grasped. For instance, the portions of the bag that extend to the right and to the left of the layer 23 can be folded reversely so that they lie behind the strip 23 as illustrated, and then the ends of the wire 14 can be grasped and twisted as shown in FIG. 4.

Another form of the invention is shown in FIG. 5 where the bag assembly is generally indicated at 24. In this embodiment, the added layer is a coating on a paper-covered wire 25 so that the paper-covered wire 25 is by virtue of its coating capable of being sealed as by glueing or heat-sealing directly onto the bag material as indicated by the dotted shading. Preferably, the coating is a plastic so that a heat-seal is employed. Such coating may also be provided on the paper-covered wire 14 if desired.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a bag assembly 26 wherein the added layer is in the form of a flap 27 which is an original part of the bag integral therewith along a fold 28 at the edge of the flap 27. In this embodiment, the ends of the paper-covered wire 14 project from opposite sides of the added layer 27 so that this embodiment can be closed in the manner of FIG. 3.

In FIG. 7, there is shown a bag assembly 29 where the added layer of film-type material is a flap 30 which is an original part of the bag integral therewith along the folded edge 31 of the flap 30.

It is evident that certain portions of the description of the bag assembly 10 apply also to the bag assemblies 22, 24, 26 and 29, and repetition thereof is not necessary. The manner in which the flaps 27 and 30 have been provided in FIGS. 6 and 7 thereby further provides exposure of the rear wall of the bag so as to in effect provide a pair of tabs 32, 33 that facilitate the opening of a flat empty bag, much like the tab 16 in FIG. 1 does.

Although various minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted herein, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

Claims

I claim as my invention:

1. A bag assembly comprising in combination:

a. a normally flat bag of heat-sealable film-type of material having a mouth end, and having side edges which comprise parallel heat seals;

b. a flat strip of substantially straight paper-covered wire, said strip being disposed along said mouth end, and being substantially shorter than the distance between said heat seals, each of the ends of said strip being spaced from said heat seals to enable burn-through formation of said heat seals with said wire in position; and

c. a connection between the bag covering of said strip and said material of said bag, said connection being permanent at least at the central portion of said paper strip and comprising a layer of film-type of material overlying only the central portion of said strip, whereby each of the ends of said strip projects beyond an edge of said layer but terminates short of the nearer heat seal.

2. A bag assembly according to claim 1 in which said layer of film-type of material is a separate strip that has a heat-seal connection substantially co-extensive with the area of such layer that is directly adjacent to the bag.

3. A bag assembly according to claim 1 in which said layer is in the form of a flap which is an original part of the bag integral therewith along a fold at the edge of the flap.