US3674135A - Flexible film bag with tear strip for closure - Google Patents

Abstract

A roll of separable bags for being sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material having closed sides and heat seals and perforations for separating the strip into discrete bags. Extra heat seals and perforations are provided for conveniently packaging with the bags suitable ties or closure bands which may be colored and reinforced.

Description

Unite States Patent Simon 1 July4, 1972 [54] FLEXIBLE FILM BAG WITH TEAR 211 Appl. No.: 61,319

[52] US. Cl ..206/58, 229/62 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 33/16, B65h 55/00 [58] Field of Search ..206/56 AB, 57 A, 58,59 F, 206/DIG. 29; 229/17 RS, 65, 51 TS, 51 AS, 66, 69, 62; 150/3 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,162,539 12/1964 Repko ..206/58 3,107,842 10/1963 Guilfoyle. ....229/62 3,186,626 6/1965 Shvetz ..229/62 2,430,995 11/1947 Roos ..206/56 AB UX 3,162,539 12/1964 Repko ..206/56 AB X 3,411,698 11/1968 Reynolds ..206/58 UX 3,510,054 5/1970 Sanni et al. ..229/66 3,405,861 10/1968 Bush ..229/51 AS 3,160,273 12/1964 Reuther et al.... ..206/56 AB 3,519,193 7/1970 Palmer 229/51 AS 3,204,760 9/1965 Whiteford 229/53 UX 2,743,009 4/1956 Williamson et al. ..206/58 Primary ExaminerWilliam T. Dixson, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Steven E. Lipman Attorney-Herbert S. Sylvester, Murray M. Grill, Norman Blumenkopf, Ronald S. Cornell, Thomas J. Corum, Richard N. Miller and Robert L. Stone [5 7] ABSTRACT A roll of separable bags for being sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material having closed sides and heat seals and perforations for separating the strip into discrete bags. Extra heat seals and perforations are provided for conveniently packaging with the bags suitable ties or closure bands which may be colored and reinforced.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures FLEXIBLE FILM BAG WITH TEAR STRIP FOR CLOSURE This invention relates to the art of packaging and more particularly to an arrangement which incorporates with a roll of separable bags tear strips for use as closure bands for sealing the individual flexible film bags sequentially dispensed from the roll.

Various packages for dispensing individual flexible film bags from a roll of separable bags have been devised. Further, there have been many devices used for sealing flexible bags, as for example, the paper wire laminated strip which is tied about the open end of the bag. However, the consumer has been required to either obtain closures for the flexible bags separately from the roll of bags or to use one of a group of closures packaged with the roll, but manufactured separately at additional cost. Since a number of such closure devices are required in actual practice, the seals for the flexible bags when dispensed from a roll thereof may have been misplaced or are generally inconvenient or unavailable to the consumer at the time of need. In those instances when closure bands are provided and including in the package of the bags, such closure bands are subject to becoming misplaced and therefore are not always available when needed.

The concept of the present invention is to incorporate a tear strip between or along side each bag or every several bags as integral parts of the roll of bags so that they may be conveniently manufactured with the bags and are maintained in a readily available state, while rigidifying and strengthening the roll of bags. Further, the tear strips facilitate the separation and dispensing of the individual bags and reduce the overall cost of providing to the public both the bags and the closure bands.

An object of the present invention is to provide a roll of bags having incorporated therein closure bands between each individual flexible film bag in the form of tear strips which facilitate the separation of the bags and which may be separately colored or marked to indicate the location where the bags may be conveniently separated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a colored closure band for making the locations marked for conveniently separating individual flexible film bags from a roll thereof with the colored bands being in the form of tear strips adapted to be used for closure of and sealing of the bags.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a closure band which has saw tooth or other irregular-size perforations at the sides thereof for preventing slipping of the closure band when tied about a flexible film bag.

In the various types of rolls of individual flexible film bags, the handling of this material has been somewhat inconvenient to the consumer because the flexible film material from which the bags are formed is very light in weight and rather difficult to manipulate. The present invention overcomes this disadvantage by providing reinforced and relatively more rigid areas which further define the contours of the individual bags.

Still further objects and features of this invention reside in the provision of a roll of bags having integral tear strips for forming closure bands which is simple to manufacture and inexpensive to produce, capable of having metal, wire, string, or other deformable material included or laminated thereto for reinforcing the closure bands and the roll of material, wherein the tear strip and closure band can be made simultaneously with other operations performed on the film material, and which is especially convenient for the consumer to use.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of the present invention, which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this flexible film bag with tear strip for closure, preferred embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, by way of example only, wherein: I

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a package incorporating the concepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a portion of a roll of flexible film bags showing the tear strips for forming the closure bands at the sides of the bags;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one of the closure bands;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating an arrangement wherein the tear strips for forming the closure bands are disposed between the top and bottom of adjacent bags;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a modified fOrm of tear strip employing saw tooth perforations; and,

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane of line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, reference numeral 10 generally designates a package constructed in accordance with the concepts of the present invention, which includes a carton, generally indicated at 12, and of the type disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,743,009, to Marshall I. Williamson, for Article Supporting and Containing Cartons," issued Apr. 24, 1956. Other similar type cartons may be employed and the carton 12 is of a generally box shape having front and rear walls 14, and end wall 16, a bottom, not shown, end flaps 18, a top 20, and top flaps 22. A roll, generally indicated at 24 of flexible bags which are provided with means for dividing the roll into individual flexible film bags is disposed in the carton for the sequential dispensing of the individual flexible film bags. The flexible film bags may be of the type made from an extruded tubular film, with plies of flat sheets of film secured along the sides or out of a single elongated sheet which is folded substantially along the middle thereof to form one side and with the abutting edges being heat sealed along the other side.

Each of the individual bags 26 have transverse heat seals 28 extending normal to the sides of the bags and form the bottom of the bags. Perforations adjacent the heat seals 28, and indicated at 30 are provided for separating the bags 26 and form the bag openings 32. Ifthe roll is formed from extruded tubular film no heat seals are necessary to seal the sides 34 and 36 of the bags. However, one or more heat seals are indicated at 38 in the form of an elongated heat seal running the length of the roll, may be provided when the bags are formed of two plies of flexible material or of a sheet folded to form the side 36.

In accordance with the present invention an additional elongated heat seal 40 is formed along the side adjacent but spaced from the heat seal 38. Perforations 42 extend substantially parallel with the heat seals 38 and 40 and are provided for enabling detachment of the tear strip 44 from the bag 26. The tear strip 44 is reinforced by heat seal 40 and may, of course, be further reinforced by additional heat seals or by the application of separate strengthening materials such as string, deformable metal, or another play of film material which may be bonded, laminated to or between the plies of which the tear strip 44 is constructed.

In FIG. 4 there is shown another form of the invention wherein the bag 50 has transverse heat seals 52 for forming the bottom of the bag and perforations 54 closely spaced to the heat seal 52 for separating the bag from a tear strip 56 which is separable from the next adjacent bag 50 by means of perforations as at 58. Between the perforations 54 and 58 is one or more heat seals 60, and the perforations 54 and 58 define a tear strip 62 for forming a closure band. Further, the perforations 58 enable the separation of the next bag adjacent the open front 64 thereof. It is to be noted that the tear strip 62 may be colored separately from that of the rest of the bags for facilitating the visual observation by the user at the point where the bags should be separated. When the bags are of a considerable size, and strips, such as tear strip 44, is of an elongated length, it may be provided or one or more of transverse perforations 46 for dividing the closure bands into smaller sections for further use (FIG. 3).

In FIG. 5 there is shown an arrangement wherein the closure band 70 is formed with perforations 72 ad 74 which are irregular in shape, preferably of a saw tooth configuration, for anti-slip engagement with a portion of the bag about which it is tied. Further, embedded between the plies 76 and 78 of the material forming the tear strip 70 may be a layer of metal 80 or other deformable material, such as string, wire, or the like.

A latitude of modification, substitution and change is intended in the foregoing disclosure, and in some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of other features.

I claim:

1. A roll of separable bags sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material, means joining said plies together along the sides of said strip, a series of spaced heat seals joining said two plies and extending transverse of said strip to define the bottom of a film bag, a series of spaced perforations closely adjacent said series of heat seals for separating sections of said strip to define the open top of a film bag, said means including two spaced parallel heat seals adjacent one side of said bag, and further perforations between said two heat seals to form closure bands removable from said film bag.

2. A roll of bags according to claim 1, including elongated pieces of deformable material secured to said closure bands between said two plies.

3. A roll of bags according to claim 1, wherein said closure bands are colored separately from said bags.

4. A roll of separable bags for being sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material, means joining said plies together along the sides of said strip, a series of pairs of spaced heat seals joining said two plies and extending transverse of said strip, one of each of said pairs of spaced heat seals defining the bottom of a film bag, a series of pairs of spaced perforations closely adjacent said series of pairs of heat seals for separating sections of said strip to define the open top of a film bag and to separate closure bands defined by each said pair of spaced perforations.

5. A roll of bags according to claim 4, wherein said perforations are irregular in shape for grasping the material about which a closure band is tied.

6. A roll of bags according to claim 5, wherein said closure bands are' colored distinctly from said bags, deformable pieces of material being secured to said closure bands.

Claims (6)

1. A roll of separable bags sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material, means joining said plies together along the sides of said strip, a series of spaced heat seals joining said two plies and extending transverse of said strip to define the bottom of a film bag, a series of spaced perforations closely adjacent said series of heat seals for separating sections of said strip to define the open top of a film bag, said means including two spaced parallel heat seals adjacent one side of said bag, and further perforations between said two heat seals to form closure bands removable from said film bag.

2. A roll of bags according to claim 1, including elongated pieces of deformable material secured to said closure bands between said two plies.

3. A roll of bags according to claim 1, wherein said closure bands are colored separately from said bags.

4. A roll of separable bags for being sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material, means joining said plies together along the sides of said strip, a series of pairs of spaced heat seals joining said two plies and extending transverse of said strip, one of each of said pairs of spaced heat seals defining the bottom of a film bag, a series of pairs of spaced perforations closely adjacent said series of pairs of heat seals for separating sections of said strip to define the open top of a film bag and to separate closure bands defined by each said pair of spaced perforations.

5. A roll of bags according to claim 4, wherein said perforations are irregular in shape for grasping the material about which a closure band is tied.

6. A roll of bags according to claim 5, wherein said closure bands are coloRed distinctly from said bags, deformable pieces of material being secured to said closure bands.

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