US2978164A - Bags - Google Patents

Description

April 4, 1961 J; w s ETAL 2,978,164

BAGS

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 22, 1958 April 4, 1961 R. J.'WILLIAMS EI'AL BAGS 2 Sheets$heet 2 Filed May 22, 1958 BAGS Russell J. Williams, Clayton, and Charles V. Brady and August F. Ottinger, St. Louis, M0,, assignors to Bemis Bro. Bag Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed May 22, 1958, Ser. No. 737,106

16 Claims. (Cl. Mil-66) virtually foolproof, being improved over the closures,

shown in the above-noted copending application in that they make it easier to obtain a grasp on the end of the thread for unraveling it; the provision of closures of this character which, while being easily opened when desired, are strong closures, adapted to withstand strains resulting from dropping or other rough handling of the bags; the provision of closures of this character adapted for unraveling of the entire line of stitching in one piece with assurance that there will not be any thread particles that may contaminate the contents of the bag; and the provision of closures .of this character which are economicaLin respect to manufacture. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated in the following claims. a In the accompanying drawings, in which several of various possible embodiments of the invention are illus- Itrated,

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of one end ing a closure of this invention; V Fig. 2 'is; an enlarged plan View of the upper right corner of the bag shownin Fig. 1;

Fig, 3 is a view in elevation of the upper right corner of the bag shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the initial step of a bag havin the opening of the bag;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a modification;

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the upper right corner of the bag shown in Fig. 4 illustrating the initial step, in

the opening of the bag; j

Fig. 9 is a view corresponding to Fig.7 showing the unraveling of the thread. I

, Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to Figs. 1 and2 of the drawings, a multiwall paper bag having an end closure of this invention is indicated at 1. For simplicity, the bag is shown as a twoatent 2,978,16 Patented Apr. 4, 1961 is applied along its side margins in narrow strips. A

line of stitching indicated at 11 is driven through the tape and through the walls of the bag securing together the walls adjacent the end of the bag. When the tape has its margins pasted to the bag by narrow stripes of paste, the line of stitching is located outward of the stripes of paste. The length of the tape 9 is greater than the width of the bag, and the tape has end portions 13 and 15 which extend past the side edges of the bag. The stitching 11 extends completely throughout the length of the tape and, "as shown, may be driven through a narrowpaper ribbon 17 constituting a so-called filler cord located on the side of the bag which is referred to as the needle side, this side being the side which faced the needle of the sewing machine employed for stitching.

In accordance with this invention, the stitching at 11 is of a single thread readily unravelable chain stitch type. As illustrated in Fig. 6, the single thread used for this stitching is designated 19. As will be understood by those conversant with the art, the stitching is formed by feeding the bag with the tape 9 folded around the end of the bag through a sewing machine having a needle which drives loops 21 of the thread 19 through the bag, thereby forming needle holes 23 in the bag, the loops extending from the needle side of the tape 9 through the needle holes to the other side of the tape, each loop being laid over on the said other side and extending through the preceding loop 21. This type of stitching is unraveled with ease by taking hold of thatend of the thread which is at the trailing end of the stitching in relation to the passage of the bag through the sewing machine, this being the end of the thread at that end of the stitching in the direction in which the loops are laid over (the right end of the stitching as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawings herein). It will be understood that unraveling proceeds by successively pulling out the loops 21, the pulling out of each loop freeing the next loop so that it may be pulled out.

In accordance with this invention, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the end portion 15 of the tape which projects from the right side edge of the bag is folded back on the bag, and the folded-back end portionlS is rcleasably secured to the bag by means of adhesive as indicated at 25. This folding is on a fold-line 27 which extends generally parallel to the side edge of the 'bag and which is located somewhat outward from the side edge of the bag. The end portion 15 is folded over on theneedle side of the bag. Instead of having the adhesive 25 located a substantial distance inward from the very end of the end portion 15 of the tape as in the above-noted copending application, the adhesive is located at the very end of the end portion 15- of the tape so that the end stitch, which is specially designated 29, is anchored to the bag. Also, the width of the adhesive is less than the width of the end portion 15 of the tape so that at least one corner of the end portion (such as the corner indicated at 31 in Fig. 1) is free of the bag so that it may be grasped between the thumb and the forefinger to pull or rip the end portion 15 away from the bag. The adhesive at 25 does notextend throughout the entire length of the folded-over end portion 15, and part of end portion 15 from fold 27 to the adhesive 25 is free of the bag. I

, With the end portion 15 of the tape 9 folded back and adhered to the bag as above described, and hence a r 3 with the endportion of the stitching from which unraveling progresses folded back with the tape and anchored to the bag, unraveling of the stitching such as might occur in the absence ofany anchoring thereof is prevented even under severe strains such as may occur due to dropping or other rough handling of the bag. It will be observed that the thread is anchored to the tape at a point outward of the side edge of the bag, which means that the anchor is not subject to severe strains which, when the bag is dropped, 'come on the portion of the stitching which extends from one side edge of the bag to the other. With the anchor so located it is also insured that there will be no unraveling whatsoever of the stitching inward past the side edge of the bag such as would open up the bag and cause loss of its contents.

To open the bag shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a corner such as the corner 31 of the end'portion 15 of the tape is grasped between the thumb and forefinger, and portion 15 pulled or ripped away from the. bag so that it extends laterally outward free of the bag as illustrated in Fig. 3. Since the adhesive 25 contacts the thread and anchors the end stitch 29 and the end of the filler cord 17 to the bag, the end portion 15 of the tape pulls away from those stitches which were initially driven through end portion 15 and away from the end portion of the filler cord 17. The end of the thread and the end of the filler cord 17 remain adhered to the bag, and the stitches which pulled out of the end portion 15 appear as loops such as indicated at 33 in Fig. 3 extending out from the filler cord 17. The portion of the thread and the filler cord between the adhered end thereof and the corner of the bag, which portion is exposed on ripping away the end portion 15 of the tape, lies free of the bag and may now be readily grasped as by inserting the forefinger under it as shown in Fig. 3, to obtain a grasp on the thread. Then the thread and the tiller cord are pulled to pull them out of the adhesive 25 and to unravel the thread all the way across to the other side of the bag. The thread will readily pull out of the adhesive 25 and then may be quickly unraveled and pulled out of the bag as one continuous length of thread without any possibility of loose bits or pieces of thread contaminating the contents of the bag, as is desirable for certain products, in particular food products for human consumption and animal feed. It will be understood that suitableinstructions as to the pulling of the end of the tape and the pulling of the end of the thread may be printed on the bag.

From the above description and from Fig. 3, it will be seen that the pulling away of the folded-over end portion 15 of the tape has the result of starting the unraveling of the thread, noting that all the stitches originally in the end portion 15 of the tape are in effect pulled out of end portion 15, and there is thus provided an unraveled portion of the thread of substantial length and so disposed to be easy to grasp in order to ccrnpletethe unraveling. in this respect, the closure of this invention is to be distinguished from the closure illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the above-noted copending application where pulling away of the folded-over end portion of the tape does not start the unraveling of the thread, and it is necessary to pick out the end stitch, after the end portion of the tape has been ripped away from the bag, in order to unravel the thread.

It will be observed that with the adhesive 25 located at the very end of the folded-rover end portion 15 of the tape, there is no possibility of anyone grasping the central part of the end of end portion 15 of the tape in such manner as to pinch the end stitch 29 between the thumb and forefinger. If the end stitch 29 were so pinched, the stitches in the end portion 15 of the tape would pull away intact with the released end portion 15 of the tape, instead of having the tape rip away from the stitching and start the unraveling of the thread as illustrated inFig. 3.

It is possible that the adhesive may be spaced somewhat back from the end of the folded-over end portion of the tape, as long as it is located at a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started, but this is not as desirable as locating the adhesive at the very end because of the possibility of pinching of the end stitch between the thumb and forefinger.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification which is in all respects the same as that of Figs. 1 and 2 except that the end portion 15 of the tape, instead of being folded back on a line parallel to the side of the bag, is folded back on a line 36 angled outward at a 45 angle in the direction away from the end of the bag. Fig. 5 illustrates the end portion 15 of the tape of the Fig. 4 bag as it appears when pulled free of the bag and made to extend laterally outward.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate another form of the invention in which the end portion 15 of the tape 9 is not folded back, being left to extend laterally outward from the side edge of the bag. A pull tab 35 is releasably secured to the end portion 15 of the tape over the thread 19 on the needle side of the tape by adhesive at 37. As shown, the tab 35 consists of a strip of paper narrower than the folded tape 9. It extends beyond the end of the end portion 15 of the tape, so as to provide the projecting end portion 39 for easy grasping. The adhesive extends from the inner end 41 of the tab all the way to the end of the tape. This anchors the thread against unraveling until is is desired to open the bag. It also secures the thread to the tab a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started, i.e., it secures the end stitch 29 to the tab. To open the bag, it is simply necessary to grasp and pull the tab. As shown in Fig. 9, the tab comes away from the tape carrying with it the thread 19, which unravels and pulls out of the needle holes in the bag.

It will be observed that with the adhesive 37 extending to the very end of the end portion 15 of the tape, there is no possibility of anyone pushing back the tab 35 and grasping the central part of the end of end portion 15 of the tape in such manner as to pinch the end stitch 29 between the thumb and forefinger. If the end stitch 29 were so pinched, the stitches in the end portion 15 of the tape would remain intact instead of coming away with the tab. It is possible that the adhesive may be spaced somewhat back from the end of the end portion 15 of the tape, as long as it is located at a point from which unraveling'of the thread may be started, but this is not as desirable as having the adhesive extend to the very end because of the possibility of pinching of the end stitch between the thumb and forefinger.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. A bag having at least one end closure constituted by a line of stitching driven through the walls of the bag and securing together the walls adjacent said end of the bag, the stitching being of a single thread readily unravelable chain stitch type which is unravelable by pulling the thread from one end of the stitching, and means releasably secured to the bag over said one end of the stitching by adhesive and adapted to be grasped and pulled away from the bag, said adhesive contacting the thread at a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started and anchoring the thread against unraveling until it is desired to open the bag, and whereby,.upon grasping and pulling said means away from the bag, unraveling of the thread is started. a

2. A bag having at .least one end closure constituted by a line of stitching driven through the walls of the bag and securing together the walls adjacent said end of the bag, the stitching being of a single thread readily unravelablechain stitch type which has loops extending from one side of the bag through needle holes to the other side of the bag, each loop being laid over on the said other side of the bag and extending through an adjacent loop, said thread being readily unravelable by pulling it from one end of the stitching, and means releasably secured to the bag over said one endof the stitching by adhesive and adapted to be grasped and pulled away from the bag, said adhesive contacting a portion of the thread lying on said one side of the bag at a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started and anchoring the thread against unraveling until it is desired to open the bag, and whereby, upon grasping and pulling said means away from the bag, unraveling of the thread is started.

3. A bag having at least one end closure constituted by a tape folded around the respective end of the bag, a line of stitching'driven through the tape and through the walls of the bag and securing together the walls ad jacent said end of the bag, the length of said tape being greater than the width of the bag and end portions of the tape extending past the side edges of the bag, the stitching extending completely throughout the length of the tape, the stitching being of a single-thread readily unravelable chain stitch type which is unravelable by pulling the thread from one end of the stitching, the end portion of the tape which includes said one end of the stitching and which projects from the adjacent side edge of the bag being folded back on the bag and releasably secured to the bag by adhesive, said ad-hesve being so located as to secure the thread to the bag at a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started and anchoring the thread against unraveling until it is desired to openthe bag, and whereby, upon grasping the end of the folded-over end portion of the tape and pulling it away from the bag, the thread remains adhered to the bag by the adhesive and the end portion of the tape separates from the stitching with'attendant unraveling of the stitching from the adhesive to the said adjacent side edge of the bag.

4. A bag as set forth in claim 3 wherein the said end portion of the tape is folded back on a line generally parallel to the side edge of the bag.

5. A bag as set forth in claim 3 wherein the said end portion of the tape is folded back on a line which is angled outward in the direction away from the end of the bag.

6. A bag as set forth in claim 3 wherein the adhesive is located at the very end of the said folded-over end portion of the tape and that part of the tape and stitching from the line where said end portion is folded to the adhesive is free of the bag.

7. A bag as set forth in claim 6 wherein the adhesive is narrower than the tape so that at least one corner of the said folded-over end portion of the tape isfree of the bag for grasping thereof to pull said end portion away from the bag.

8. A multiwall paper bag having at least one end closure constituted by a paper tape folded around the respective end of the bag, a line of stitching driven through the tape and through the walls of the, bag and securing together the walls adjacent said end of the bag, the length of said tape being greater than the width of the bag and r end portions of the tape extending past the side edges of the bag, the stitching extending completely throughout the length of the tape, the stitching being of a single thread readily unravelable chain stitch type which has loops extending from one side of the tape through needle holes to the other side of the tape, each loop being laid over on I the said other side of the tape and extending through an adjacent loop, said thread being readily unravelable by pulling it from one end ofthe stitching, the end portion of the tape which includes said one end of the stitching and which projects from the adjacent side edge ofthe bag being folded back on the bag with said one side of said portion of the tape toward the inside and releasably secured to the bag by adhesive, said adhesive being so located as to secure a portion of the thread lying on said one side of the tape to the bag at a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started and anchoring the thread against unraveling until it is desired to open the bag, and whereby, upon grasping the end of the folded-over end portion of the tape and pulling it away from the bag, the thread remains adhered to the bag by the adhesive and the end portion of the tape separates from the stitching with attendant unraveling of the stitching from the adhesive to the said adjacent side edge of the bag.

9. A bag as set forth in claim 8 wherein the said end' portion of the tape is folded back on a line parallel to the side edge of the bag.

10. A bag as set forth in claim 8 wherein the said end portion of the tape is folded back on a line which is angled outward in the direction away from the end of the bag.

11. A bag as set forth in claim 8 wherein the adhesive is located at the very end of the said folded-over end portion of the tape and that part of the tape and stitching from the line where said end portion is folded tothe adhesive is free of the bag.

12. A bag as set forth in claim 11 wherein the adhesive is narrower than the tape so that at least one corner of the said folded-over end portion of the tape is free of the bag for grasping thereof to pull said endportion away from the bag.

13. A bag having at least one end closure constituted by a tape folded around the respective end of the bag, a line of stitching driven through the tape and through the walls of the bag and securing together the Walls adjacent said end of the bag, the length of said tape being greater than the width of the bag and end portions of the tape extending past the side edges of the bag, the stitching extending completely throughout the length of the tape, the stitching being of a single thread readily unravelable chain stitch type which is unravelable by pulling the thread from one end of the stitching, and a tab releasably secured to the tape over said one end of the thread by adhesive and adapted to be grasped and pulled away from the tape, said adhesive also anchoring the thread against unraveling until it is desired to open the bag and securing the thread to the tab at a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started, whereby, upon grasping and pulling the tab away from the tape, the thread is pulled away with the tab and unraveled.

1 4. A multiwall paper bag having at least one end closure constituted by a paper tape folded around the respective end of the bag, a line of stitching driven through the tape and throughthe walls of the bag and securing together the walls adjacent said end of the bag, the length of said tape being. greater than the width of the bag and end portions of the tape extending past the side edges of the bag, the stitching extending completely throughout the length of the tape, the stitching being of a single thread readily unravelable chain'stitch type which generally has'loops extending from one side of the tape through .also anchoring the thread against unraveling until it is desired to open the bag and securing the thread to the tab at a point from which unraveling of the thread may be started, whereby, upon grasping and pulling the tab away from the tape, the thread is pulled away' with the tab and unraveled.

15. A bag as set forth in claim 14 wherein the tab comprises a strip of paper which extends at least to the end of the tape and which is secured to the tape by adhesive from its inner end to the end of the tape.

16. A bag as'set forth in claim 14 wherein the tab comprises a strip of paper narrower than the tape and projecting beyond the end of the tape and is secured to the tape by adhesive from its inner end to the end of the tape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bates Dec. 14, Dever Mar. 20, Swanson Dec. 10,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain June 19, Canada Feb. 26, Canada Feb. 26, France Nov. 12,

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