Bag closure

May 23, 1972

3,664,575

C. LAKE

BAG CLOSURE

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ATTORNEYS

May 23, 1972

3,664,575

Filed Nov. 20, 1970

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C. LAKE

BAG CLOSURE

Sheets-Sheet' 2

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FIG. 9

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FIG. II

INVLN'H j!'.

CONNIE LAKE

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ATTORNEYS

3,664,575

Patented May 23, 1972

United States Patent Office

3,664,575 BAG CLOSURE

Connie Lake, 31 Kurt Road, Pittsford, N.Y. 14543

Filed Nov. 20,1970, Ser. No. 91,262 g

Int. Cl. B65d 33/16

U.S. Cl. 229—62 15 Claims

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE _w

A closure device for a plastic bag is formed of the plastic material of the bag itself during manufacture of the bag and is made by perforation and seal lines that form a keeper removable from the bag. The keeper has a loop end and a seal region spaced from the loop end to _lgclose the loop. The tail end of the keeper opposite the loop is wrapped around the neck of the closed bag and pulled through the loop. The keeper is sufficiently wide and flexible so that it is drawn down to a substantially narrower width where the loop and tail engage to hold the bag tightly closed.

THE INVENTIVE IMPROVEMENT

Many attempts have been made to form a bag closure of the same material as the bag to eliminate extra parts such as tie wires, and to reduce the expense of providing separate closures. These attempts have failed for various reasons including difficulty or cost of manufacture, inconvenience in use, or failure to effect a tight and practical closure of the bag.

This invention involves analysis of the shortcomings of previous bag closure devices, and conception of a new closure device having many advantages over previous devices. The invention aims at simplicity, economy, and convenience in providing a reliable and secure bag closure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive bag closure uses a keeper made during ₄θ the manufacture of a plastic bag, and formed of the plastic material of the bag itself. A line of perforations formed through the bag in a multi thickness region of the bag outlines the keeper which is removable from the bag along the perforation line. One end of the keeper has a loop, and a seal region spaced from the loop end of the keeper joins the multi layers of plastic material together to close the loop. The end of the keeper opposite the loop end is formed as a tail for wrapping around the neck of the bag and drawing through the loop. The loop and the tail are _ggsufficiently wide and flexible to be drawn down to substantially smaller dimensions where they interengage to form a secure hold when the tail is drawn tightly through the loop.

Drawings. 55

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one preferred embodiment of the inventive bag closure;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the bag of FIG. 1 with the bag slightly expanded;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an upper fragment of θθ the bag of FIG. 1 spread open for loading;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a keeper removed from the bag of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bag of FIG. 1 loaded and closed with the keeper of FIG. 4; and _6g

FIGS. 6-12 are fragmentary views of alternative preferred embodiments of the inventive bag closure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Plastic bags are formed of tubes or strips in modern 70 bag-making machines that rapidly make the necessary cuts and fusion lines to mass produce several styles of bags.

The inventive bag closure is adaptable to most of these and generally involves a keeper formed of the material of the bag and removable from the bag for holding the bag closed. One preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1-5 and alternative, preferred embodiments are shown in FIGS. 6-12.

As shown in FIGS. 1-5, bag 10 is formed of plastic material with a closed bottom 11 and an open top 12, with inwardly folded side panels 13 forming four thicknesses of plastic material along the sides of bag 10. Keeper 15 is preferably formed in the four-thickness region of side panels 13 as illustrated.

A perforation line 16 extends generally parallel with top 12 of bag 10 and is cut through the front and back panels and a pair of side panels 13 of bag 10 to outline keeper 15 which can be separated from bag 10 along perforation line 16. Line 16 preferably forms a notch 17 which is useful as explained below. A seal line 18 fuses all four layers of plastic together at one end of keeper 15, and another perforation line 19 extends downward from the top 12 of bag 10 to join perforation line 16. Another seal line 20 preferably extends parallel with perforation line 16 toward one end of keeper 15.

As best shown in FIG. 4, the resulting keeper 15 has a loop end where its plastic layers are held together by seal line 18, and a loop 21 is formed between seal line 18 and seal line 20 which extends along the length of a tail 22. The layers of plastic material in keeper 15 can be spread apart between seal lines 18 and 20 to open loop 21.

When the top of bag 10 is spread open as shown in FIG. 3, keeper 15 is torn loose from some of the bag panels along perforation lines 16 and 19, but unless keeper 15 is deliberately pulled entirely from bag 10 it remains attached to one of the panels as illustrated. It does not matter which panel keeper 10 remains attached to because any one of the four panels used to form keeper 15 is equally satisfactory.

After the bag is filled, keeper 10 is torn loose and used for holding the bag closed. This is accomplished by gathering up the open end of the bag to form a neck 23, wrapping tail 22 around neck 23, threading tail 22 through loop 21, and pulling tail 22 tightly through loop 21. This draws tail 22 and loop 21 down into a knot-like relationship as shown in FIG. 5 with notch 17 located at the inter-engagement of tail 22 and loop 21. Where they interengage, tail 22 and loop 21 are wrinkled and drawn tightly down to a much narrower width facilitated by the narrowing of loop 21 at notch 17. Such wrinkling and squeezing down helps keeper 15 form a tight and secure engagement holding bag 10 closed. Tail 22 as pinched in notch 17, resists pulling back through loop 21 partly because tail 22 flares outward past loop 21 and must be squeezed down and deformed to pass back through loop 21. The simple tail-and-loop closure proposed by the invention has surprising strength and holding ability and does not tend to slip loose in practice.

Bag 30 of FIG. 6 is similar to bag 10 and has a perforation line 31 outlining a removable keeper 32. Seal, line 33 corresponds to seal-line 18 in closing the loop end of keeper 32, and seal line 34 is spaced from seal line 33 to form a loop 35. The tail end 36 of keeper 32 is formed of unsealed layers of plastic material and is similar in function to tail 22. The preferred notch 37 in loop 35 completes keeper 32 which is used in the same way as previously described for keeper 15.

Bag 40 of FIG. 7 is similar to bag 30 except that its keeper 42 is formed with two opposed notches 43 and 44, and the tail layers are held in a longitudinal seal 41. A loop 45 is formed between seal lines 46 and 41, and a perforation line 47 outlines keeper 42 for separation from bag 40.

3,664, 3

Bag 50 of FIG. 8 lacks the inwardly folded side panels and is formed of two thicknesses. A perforation line 51 outlines keeper 52 which has a loop end 53 formed at the closed edge of bag 50. A esal line 54 extends along the tail of keeper 52 and is spaced from the loop end 53 5 to close off a loop in keeper 52. A preferred notch 55 near loop 53 completes keeper 52. As bag 50 is opened, keeper 52 remains attached to either the front or back panel until the bag is ready for closure. Then keeper 52 is torn from bag 50 and the tail is wrapped around the 1® neck of the bag and pulled through loop 53 such as previously described. Keeper 52 is made of only two thicknesses of plastic material, but has been found to have adequate strength particularly if made sufficiently wide. FIG. 9 shows a top view of a bag 50 and keeper 52. ¹⁵

Bag 60 of FIG. 10 also has plain front and rear panels without folded-in edge panels, but has a folded down collar 61 along top 62. This provides a four-thickness region along the top of bag 60, and keeper 63 is preferably formed in such region. Seal lines 64 and 65 are ²® spaced apart to form a closed loop 66 and a sealed tail 67, and a perforation line 68 defining a preferred notch 69 allows keeper 63 to be torn away from bag 60 and used for closing bag 60.

Bag 70 of FIG. 11 has a bottom 71 having folded-in ²⁵panels forming a four-thickness region from which keeper 72 is preferably formed. Seal lines 73 and 74 form a looped keeper 72 having a sealed tail and separable from bag 70 along perforation line 75. Another seal line 76 surrounds keeper 72 and seals the bottom of bag 70 so ³⁰that keeper 72 can be removed without opening the bottom of the bag 70.

Bag 80 of FIG. 12 is formed with inwardly folded side panels 81 forming a four-thickness region along each side of bag 80. The keeper 82 is oriented vertically along ³⁵one side of bag 80 and includes a seal line 84 spaced from bottom seal 83 to form a closed loop, a seal line 85 sealing the tail, and a seal line 86 surrounding keeper 82 for holding bag 80 closed after keeper 82 is removed by tearing away along perforation line 87.

The illustrated embodiments show that the inventive keeper can be formed in many ways. It can even be made as a straight strip that is manually folded in the middle to form a loop for receiving the tail that is wrapped around the neck of the bag. However, cutting and heat- 45 ing equipment are readily available in bag-making machines, and the preferred seal lines can be applied to form a closed loop and a sealed tail without appreciably adding to the expense or complexity of the bag-making process. The inventive keeper is preferably made an inch 50 or more wide, and can exceed two inches in width. The notched loop allows a relatively wide keeper to be drawn down to a much narrower, tighter constriction that provides a secure grip.

The inventive bag closure is not only simple and easily made on present bag-making equipment, but its keeper is attached to the bag so it cannot be lost and is ready for use when needed. It does not require any additional material or parts that must be handled, accounted for and packaged with or attached to the bag. Accordingly, ⁰® the inventive bag closure meets the existing needs for simplicity, economy, convenience, and security.

Persons wishing to practice the invention should remember that other embodiments and variations can be adapted to particular circumstances. Even though one ⁶⁰point of view is necessarily chosen in describing and defining the invention, this should not inhibit broader or related embodiments being beyond the semantic orientation of this application but falling within the spirit of γθ the invention. For example, those skilled in the art will appreciate the different bag shapes, sizes and circumstances to which the inventive bag closure can be adapted.