Recloseable bag and method of production

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a recloseable bag having a front and rear faces. The reclosing feature is accomplished with one or more bendable shape-retaining spines formed and bonded to a face of the bag. The spines are formed of resilient plastic having a shape-retaining strand such as wire embedded centrally therein, or from a shape-memory polymer. A variety of spine-shapes are disclosed including straight, T-shaped and curved spines. An installation machine is also disclosed for formation of and heat- or adhesive-application of the spines to the recloseable self-sealing bag material either prior to or during the filling and sealing process. The present invention=s design is simple and straightforward, highly effective, and can be economically manufactured.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 776,671 for “RECLOSABLE BAG AND METHOD OF PRODUCTION”; filed 9 Feb. 2004, which in turn derives priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 444,376, filed: Feb. 10, 2003.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to food bags and, more particularly, to a recloseable self-sealing bag for food articles such as crackers and chips that maintains freshness and yet is easy and inexpensive to manufacture using current production processes. [0004] 2. Description of the Background [0005] Plastic bags are used to distribute a wide variety of items. For example, food such as potato and tortilla chips, as well as cookies, crackers and cereal, are frequently sold in disposable plastic bags. Generally, plastic bags are air sealed until opened by the consumer. The air in the sealed bag provides a ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved recloseable self-sealing bag for food articles such as crackers and chips that maintains freshness and yet which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture using current production processes and equipment.

[0012] It is another object to provide a more economical way of attaching a resealable fastener as a part of the conventional form, fill, and seal process in a way that requires a minimum of retooling.

[0019] The present invention's design is simple and straightforward, highly effective, can be economically manufactured, and there is no wasted material in the production process.

Problems solved by technology

Neither method works very well as the folded and / or twisted end inevitably comes undone.

), but they require an expensive zipper profile applicator from AMI RecPro (Glenview, Ill.).

The aforementioned methods and devices suffer from a number of drawbacks, most notably, that the existing manufacturing plants that utilize a conventional form, fill, and seal machine would need to purchase new equipment or retool their own equipment to add the capability of attaching a resealable closure.

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