Bag for crushing objects

Abstract

The invention relates to a plastic bag suitable for crushing and dispensing an object, such as medicinal pill. The bag has an open end, is strong enough to withstand crushing forces, and includes a bottom seal that forms an angle of greater than 90° with the sides of the bag. For example, the bottom seal may be curved and concave toward the open end of the bag. The bag may also include a lip near the opening and formed by one of the bag walls. The bag may also include a gripper on any of (1) the interior or exterior surfaces of the lip or (2) the interior or exterior surface of the other wall. The bag may also include an indicator mark, e.g., a colored line near the opening to serve as a visual and / or tactile indicator for the user of the bag.

Description

I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to containers used in crushing or otherwise reducing medicine from pill or tablet form to powder form and methods to manufacture such containers. More particularly, it relates to plastic bags used to contain the medicine during the crushing process and a method to manufacture such plastic bags. [0002] It is widely known that many people have difficultly swallowing a pill or tablet regardless of size. As a result, such people often crush pills into a powder to make the medicine easier to take. Once crushed the user may mix the powdered medicine with a liquid, food, or another substance to make the medicine easier to take, or the user may simply consume the powder directly. Although crushing a pill may render medicine easier to ingest, it has disadvantages including losing or contaminating a portion of the dose while crushing the pill. To avoid losing or contaminating the medicine while crushing a pill, users often pl...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004] The inventor has developed a bag that addresses the disadvantages described above and minimizes the amount of medicine lost or contaminated when crushing a pill. A bag according to the convention has a front wall and a back wall as depicted in FIG. 4. Each wall has a first side edge, a second side edge, a top edge, and a bottom edge. The respective bottom edges, first side edges, and second side edges of the front and back walls are connected to create an interior region. Although the front and back walls of a bag according to the invention can be made from various plastic materials, low density polyethylene (LDPE) is suitable and approved by the FDA for containing food and medicine. The walls are preferably at least 6 mil thick to withstand without failing the forces applied during crushing. However, any thickness of the bag walls that withstands the forces applied during crushing is sufficient. The seal at the bottom of the bag defines an angle α inside the bag interior of greater than 90° and less than 180° with each of the side edges of the bag. Increasing the angle a beyond 90° reduces the amount of crushed, powdered material that may remain lodged in the bag during dispensing. A preferred minimum angle α is 120°. This bottom seal can be curved with the concave side facing the top (open end of the bag) as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the bottom seal may be defined as a series of two or more connected linear segments (not illustrated) arranged so that the angle α on each side of the bag is greater than 90° and less than 180° and all angles between any two connected segments is also greater than 90° and less than 180°.

[0005] The bag according to the invention may also incorporate several additional features that facilitate its use. For example, to maximize the proportion of crushed material that can be extracted reliably from the bag, the walls may be made with a material that includes an additive or interior coating that minimizes static charge, reduces friction between the interior walls and the contents of the bag or both. Such anti-static and anti-friction additives are commercially available and known. The free top edge of the back wall may extend beyond the free top edge of the front wall to form a lip that makes the bag easier to open by providing a part of the bag that the user can grasp easily when the bag is closed. This lip may also include a gripper portion defined by features on the interior, exterior, or both surfaces of the lip (or the front and / or back walls near the opening) to assist further the user in opening the bag. For example, gripper portion is illustrated in FIG. 4 as one or more gripper lines that protrude from the exterior surface of the lip and extend approximately parallel to the top edge of the back wall. Alternatively, the gripper portion may be a texture that is embossed or printed upon the interior and / or exterior surfaces of the lip (or the front and / or back walls of the bag if no lip is present). Placing the gripper portion on the exterior of the bag allows the crushed material to be poured from the bag across the lip without obstruction. To assist in aligning, registering, or orienting the bag in a pill crushing device, the bottom edge of the bag may extend beyond the bottom seal and away from the open top edge of the bag as depicted in FIG. 4 to form a flat bottom edge. The bag may also include relatively wide sealed seams that extend along at least portions of the first and second side edges. A preferred width of 0.125 inches or more causes the bag to open more readily when the user grasps the sides of the bag and squeezes them together. These seams also increase the strength of the sides of the bag to prevent bursting when pressure is applied to crush a pill. A bag according to the invention may also include an indicator mark to permit a quick visual identification of the unsealed edge of the bag. For example, the indicator mark may be an integrally extruded line of material near the open end of the bag (which may be colored) as depicted in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the indicator mark may be pressed or printed near the top edge of either wall. Either of these two types of indicator marks may further ease the opening of the bag when the user squeezes the sides of the open end of the bag together.

Problems solved by technology

It is widely known that many people have difficultly swallowing a pill or tablet regardless of size.

Although crushing a pill may render medicine easier to ingest, it has disadvantages including losing or contaminating a portion of the dose while crushing the pill.

Such methods for crushing pills typically cause the user to lose a portion of the pill.

During the process of crushing the pill, it may also get contaminated with dirt, bacteria, or other undesirable substances introduced by the material used to contain the pill, the objects used to apply the pressure, or the objects used to retrieve the crushed pill from the materials used to contain the pill.

Additional disadvantages include possible injury during the crushing process, and other possible physical hazards stemming from pieces of the crushed object acting as a projectile.

When using such a bag to contain a pill for crushing, a portion of the crushed pill typically lodges in the lower corners of the bag and remains difficult to retrieve without significant additional effort.

As a result, the entire dose of the pill may not be available for ingestion.

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