Enhanced Plastic Net Bag

Abstract

An enhanced plastic net bag is provided and is configured to be used for the commercialization of food products. The bag has a longitudinal axis and at least one end. The bag includes a tubular mesh body fabricated at least partially of plastic material; and at least one laminar strip having at least one end. A closure is formed by an enveloping association between the at least one end of the tubular mesh body and the at least one end of the laminar strip by laying the laminar strip over the tubular mesh body and folding both the laminar strip and the tubular mesh body. The laminar strip is heat sealed to the tubular mesh body to form at least one heat weld wherein the at least one heat weld is transverse to the longitudinal axis. The at least one heat weld comprises a fused mass comprising at least two layers of the laminar strip and at least two layers of the tubular mesh body.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of priority from Spanish patent application number P200800049, filed Jan. 10, 2008, and Spanish patent application number P200802342, filed Aug. 5, 2008.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]As indicated by the heading, this invention refers to an enhanced plastic net bag. More specifically, the object of the invention is a bag, of the type composed of a tubular element made of plastic material in the form of a netted element, such as woven, extruded or similar mesh, with lateral sheets also made of plastic and united to it by heat sealing, which is intended primarily for the commercialization of different food products, especially fruit and vegetables, because, unlike other conventional plastic bags, it permits product transpiration and visual, tactile and olfactory inspection. It presents the particularity of including a single plastic sheet arranged along the tubular element and attached to ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0022]It should also be noted that the described configuration of the bag of the invention, in which the single laminar element is arranged along it and united only to its ends, facilitates its advantageous use as a handle to hold and carry the bag, since the welds of this laminar element with the tubular mesh body of the bag are, as described above, sufficiently resistant to withstand the weight of the product contained in the bags for their intended use.

[0023]Finally, in order to provide the bag with an opening system that allows the user to easily open it without having to resort to the use of cutting tools and, furthermore, that enables the opened bag to continue to be a valid container for the rest of the product contained in it, a small cut has been made in at least one of the folds that close the openings of the bag, beginning at the end of the fold or book folded point of the mesh and the sheet, which affects the two layers of the sheet and the two layers of the mesh.

[0024]It should be mentioned that, preferentially, these cuts are provided in the center of the folds that close the openings of the bag and are oriented perpendicularly to the folded axis of them, without this entailing a limitation since they can be shifted with respect to this center and have different orientations, e.g. oblique, without affecting their functionality.

Problems solved by technology

This means that the packing machines are presented with the complexity of having to include two sheets on the bags and, on the other hand, it is not possible to appreciably reduce the amount of plastic material that forms them, since the two strips required for making them are of a width that is not possible to decrease.

On the contrary, one of the defects that is usually observed at the welded ends is that they break in a longitudinal or transversal direction.

Another problem that currently occurs with these bags refers to the regularity and resistance of the welds and the satisfactory attachment of the labels.

This attachment is not very satisfactory because, in some cases, the labels can come off, especially if they are used to manipulate the bags, which is often the case.

However, the use of such different materials for making a package, which furthermore are integrally joined together, entails a significant limitation when the possibility of selective collection is considered for subsequent recycling or energy recovery of the package.

The incorporation of these handles means that the packing machines must be provided with the necessary means to obtain and incorporate them into the bags, with the complexity that this entails; they also represent a further increase in the amount of plastic material used to make the bags, with the resulting increase in their production and recycling costs.

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