Reclosable Bag with Segmented Easy-Open Feature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional plastic bags with easy open features, such as zippers, struggle to handle weight loads and are prone to accidental opening or tampering, while also failing to provide effective resealing capabilities, especially when subjected to rough handling or dropping.
Innovation Solution
A bag design featuring laminated panels with a woven polymer and polymeric film, incorporating an easy open feature with a sliding actuator and mechanical stops, which can be reclosable and includes a gusset configuration to distribute forces, ensuring secure closure and easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a zipper is used for reclosing the bag, then the bag can be reclosed and resealed, but the zipper is vulnerable to accidental opening and tampering under weight loads and rough handling
Solution Approach 1:
The closure system is divided into two independent parts: a zipper mechanism for reclosure and a separate easy-open feature with tear notches for controlled opening. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function without interfering with the other, enabling reclosure while protecting against accidental opening under load.
Solution Approach 2:
Tear notches are pre-formed in the panel at strategic locations to guide the opening process. These pre-prepared weak points allow the panel to be easily torn open when needed while maintaining full strength and closure integrity during normal use and under weight loads.
2Ease of operation
If the easy open feature completely covers the zipper, then inspection for tampering is concealed, but tampering can be performed by cutting through the cover
Solution Approach 1:
Teardrop-shaped notches are pre-formed in the panel to create controlled weak points that guide the opening process. These notches allow easy opening through tearing while preventing clean cuts that would indicate tampering, as any attempt to cut through the covered zipper would be evident through the pre-formed notch structure.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional plastic adhesive or hot melt is used to seal the bag, then the ends can be sealed, but the bags are unable to handle the weight loads of conventional bulk bags
Solution Approach 1:
The panel is constructed as a composite structure with a thermoplastic layer laminated to a paper or cardboard layer. This composite material combines the sealing capabilities of thermoplastic with the strength and rigidity of paper/cardboard, enabling the bag to handle heavy weight loads while maintaining ease of manufacturing through conventional sealing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The panel material undergoes a parameter change by combining materials with different mechanical properties - the thermoplastic provides ductility and sealability while the paper/cardboard provides tensile strength and rigidity. This material parameter optimization allows the sealed ends to withstand heavy weight loads while using conventional sealing methods.
4Reliability
If a zipper is isolated from forces endured by the bag, then the zipper maintains closure integrity under rough handling, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The closure system is segmented into a zipper mechanism and a separate easy-open feature with integrated tear notches. This segmentation allows the zipper to be protected from dropping forces by the rigid panel structure, while the tear notches provide a simple, non-complex mechanism for controlled opening that does not require complex assembly processes.
Data Source
Figure 1~2B
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Figure 5~8
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a bag (100) with one or more easy open features (120), which in certain embodiments are reclosable. Methods of making such bags are also disclosed.