Leak resistant tamper evident reclosable plastic bag

Abstract

A reclosable plastic bag includes lips that are adjacent to the opening near the top of the bag and which are initially joined to one another by a removable element. The removable element when attached indicates that the bag has not yet been used. When the removable element is no longer attached this indicates that the bag may have been opened and the contents contaminated. The reclosable plastic bag also includes a closure element for sealing and unsealing the top of the bag that incorporates two substantially parallel, but spaced apart, zippers. This combination of two zippers and the spacing between them reduces the likelihood that the closure will leak or inadvertently open.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 093,565, filed Mar. 8, 2002, which is incorporated in this application in its entirety by this reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to containers and more specifically to reclosable plastic bags. [0003] Reclosable plastic bags are used for many purposes, including transporting and storing food products and other materials. Reclosable bags are often preferred over other available bags because of numerous advantages, including that they are easy to close and reopen for access without compromise of integrity when closed. [0004] Typically, such bags are reclosable using a zip-action, locking reclosable closure. Unfortunately, when using such a bag for a first time, there is currently no way of knowing if the bag is sanitary, has been used, tampered with or otherwise contaminated. This is particularly important if the contents t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] Furthermore, the reclosable plastic bag of the present invention can include two closure elements to provide a more leak-proof sealing of the bag. Most preferably, the two zippers each include an asymmetrical barb, which barbs are both oriented in a manner to facilitate opening the bag using the lips but rendering accidental opening of the bag less likely. Preferably, each of the lips is rather tall to facilitate easy opening of the bag. Most preferably, each of the lips is more than one inch in height.

[0013] Preferably, the lips are unattached to one another along most of their respective side edges. Optionally, the lips are notched along their respective side edges to remove a heat seam initially formed in the side edges. Optionally, each of the lips is more than one inch in height to facilitate easy opening of the bag.

[0015] Optionally, the lips are initially joined to one another by a removable strip, the removable strip when attached indicating that the bag has not been used and when no longer attached indicating that the bag might have been used. Optionally, the lips can be scored or otherwise pre-formed to facilitate easy removal of the removable strip.

[0016] Bags according to the present invention have numerous advantages. For example, such a bag is extremely well-suited to containing liquids and aggregate material. Furthermore, it is particularly well-suited to safely storing perishables, including breast milk, for example. Contributing to this utility is the ability to ensure that the interior of the bag has not been contaminated simply by observing that the tamper-evident strip or removable element is still attached to the lips (i.e., the lips are still attached to one another). This is a good indication that the bag has not been opened and thereby indicates that no contamination has been introduced into the interior of the bag. Moreover, the large lips provide more convenient handles for handling the bag and opening the openable top of the bag. The cutouts in the lips provide a ready grip even when the lips are still joined by the removable strip. Furthermore, by eliminating some of the heat seal normally found on typical prior art reclosable plastic bags along the entire length of the side edges of the lips, the lips are more naturally opened, ready to pull part.

[0017] Also, by providing some heat seal along the side edges of the lips immediately above the zipper, the integrity of the edge of the zipper is protected as the user pulls on the lips. In other words, without at least a little heat seal above the zipper (or some other strain relief feature), pulling on the lips would tend to pull the edges of the zipper apart. Furthermore, the use of dual, asymmetrical zippers helps to ensure that the contents of the bag do not leak out. The bottom gusset allows the bag to be freestanding, an important advantage when dealing with liquid contents.

Problems solved by technology

When the removable element is no longer attached this indicates that the bag may have been used (and potentially contaminated).

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