The invention relates to a bag and zipper assembly in which side gussets of the bag are restrained from movement outwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,646 discloses a bag constructed with a pair of strips that are welded together along lateral edges to form a tube. The tube is welded to a bottom strip. Manufacturing tooling is disclosed to provide the bottom strip with openings to permit a weld to pass through the openings and join together the two strips forming the tube.
A side-gusseted bag is constructed with two side gussets joining a first panel and joining a second panel to form a tube. The side gussets are folded inward to assume positions between the first and second panels. A zipper is assembled over an open end of the tube to close the open end by actuating the zipper. However, the folded inward sides of the bag are able to unfold outwardly from under the zipper to cause openings to occur at the end of the bag. To prevent the openings, the side gussets of the bag were glued after being folded to hold the folded orientations together at the end of the bag. However, when the bag is filled with contents, the side gussets are required to unfold and expand the bag interior, which causes at least a slight openings to occur at the bag sides adjacent the end of the bag.
The invention provides a bag and zipper assembly, in which side gussets of the bag are at inwardly folded positions between first and second panels. Each side gusset adjacent the first panel has a set of one or more openings adjacent an open end of the bag, and the first panel has a corresponding set of one or more panel openings, and adhesive extends in each set of one or more openings and in each corresponding set of one or more panel openings for the adhesive to adhere the side gussets to the first panel adjacent the open end of the bag and restrain each side gusset from movement outwardly from between the first and second panels.
An advantage of the invention is that the side gussets of the bag are adhered to another panel of the bag preventing the side gussets from movement outwardly from between the panels.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the adhesive adheres to one of the zipper flanges.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the adhesive extends along the first panel adjacent the bag end and secures one of the zipper flanges to the bag.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, additional adhesive extends along the second panel adjacent the bag end and secures another of the zipper flanges to the bag.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the adhesive extends in each of another set of one or more openings through the side gussets, and extends in each corresponding set of one or more second panel openings to adhere the side gussets to the second panel.
A method of making a bag and a zipper assembly includes, penetrating through each side gusset of a bag adjacent a bag end to provide a set of one or more openings through the side gussets at inwardly folded positions between a first panel and a second panel, and penetrating through the first panel to provide a corresponding set of one or more panel openings, and applying adhesive in each set of one or more openings and in each corresponding set of one or more panel openings for the adhesive to adhere the side gussets to the first panel adjacent the open end of the bag and restrain each side gusset from movement outwardly from between the first and second panels.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In
According to an embodiment of the invention,
According to another embodiment of the invention, the adhesive 126 of additional quantity extends along the first panel 116 adjacent the bag end and secures one of the zipper flanges 108, 110 to the bag. The adhesive 126 can be a continuous quantity or, alternatively, can be separate quantities, provided that the adhesive 126 extends in the openings 120, 124 and along the first panel 126.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, an additional quantity of adhesive 126 extends along the second panel 118 adjacent the bag end 104 and secures another of the zipper flanges 108, 110 to the bag.
A method of making the bag 100 and zipper 102 assembly of
A method of making the bag 100 and zipper 102 assembly of
This description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. In the description, relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,”, “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivative thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms concerning attachments, coupling and the like, such as “connected” and “interconnected,” refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise.
Patents and patent applications referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. Although the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the appended claims should be construed broadly, to include other variants and embodiments of the invention, which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents of the invention.
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