Claims
- 1. A container having an opening-closing flap with inside and outside surfaces and provided with an opening device which comprises:
- a strip of adhesive disposed along a straight line on the inside surface of said opening-closing flap for sealing the container,
- a non-tearable guide strip disposed in a straight line along the outside surface of said opening-closing flap, and
- a non-tearable, elongated straight tear band attached to the inside surface of said opening-closing flap, one elongated edge of said tear band being adjacent said adhesive strip, while the opposite elongated edge of said tear band is aligned with an edge of said guide strip whereby the tear band is disposed between said adhesive strip and said guide strip so that when said flap is sealed by said adhesive and said tear band is freed and pulled away from the container, the container is opened with a tear line which extends along the container flap in a straight line defined by said adhesive strip and said tear band.
- 2. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear band has free ends which extend along the inside surface and fold around the outside edges of the container and onto the outside surface.
- 3. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear band contains at least one free end which extends and folds from the inside surface to the outside surface of said flap.
- 4. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein a tab is attached to one end of the tear band for opening the envelope.
- 5. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein the container is a carton.
- 6. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein the container is an envelope.
- 7. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear band or guide strip is made of plastic.
- 8. The container as defined in claim 7, wherein the plastic includes polyvinyl chloride.
- 9. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein the container is a corrugated box.
- 10. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear band or guide strip is made of metal.
- 11. The container as defined in claim 10, wherein the metal includes aluminum.
- 12. The container as defined in claim 1, wherein there are lines of perforation through the flap along each elongated edge of said tear band so that when said tear band is pulled to open the flap of the container, the tear lines are straight.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 947,806 filed Dec. 30, 1986, and is related to application Ser. Nos. 901,741, 901,744, and 901,942 filed Aug. 29, 1986, Ser. No. 947, 966 filed Dec. 30, 1986, Ser. No. 042,787 filed Apr. 27, 1987, Ser. No. 077,443 filed Jul. 24, 1987, and Ser. Nos. 081,239 and 081,240 filed Aug. 4, 1987.
The present invention relates to a tear band opening device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a container, for example, a package, an envelope, carton or corrugated box containing a non-tearable plastic or metal guide strip or ridge positioned on an inside surface of a sealing portion of the container. The plastic or metal guide strip is positioned between dotted punch lines and disposed between a small plastic or metal tear band attached to the outside surface of the sealing portion, on one side, and a glued portion disposed on the inside surface of the sealing portion thereof, on the other side, for use in easily and readily opening the container.
Many types of package opening devices have been developed in the packaging industry to facilitate the opening of packages. For example, packages such as sugar containers or the like have been designed with perforated punch lines disposed along the middle of the packages.
Also, envelopes have been designed to contain a thread positioned along the bottom thereof. However, these packages and envelopes suffer from a number of disadvantages, such as, they are difficult to open easily and, thus, an opening device, such as a paper opener, must be used for opening the packages or envelopes. Also, it has been found that the thread positioned along the bottom of an envelope produces a zigzag cut in the paper when the containers are opened. Furthermore, to tear packages provided with perforated punch lines, made of thin paper products is very difficult.
In the specification of my copending applications Ser. Nos. 901,741 and 901,744, entitled "A Tear Strip Opening Device" filed on Aug. 29, 1986, I have described and claimed a tear band opening device characterized by utilizing a pair of plastic tear bands attached to the outside surface of the container. However, it is to be noted that, if the tear band opening device is utilized on the sealing portion of the envelope or package, one of the pair of plastic tear bands should be attached to the glued portion thereof, which increases the manufacturing cost.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tear band opening device for use in producing a straight opening in a package or envelope in an easy manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a package which utilizes a plastic or metal guide strip tightly attached to a sealing portion of an envelope or box for facilitating the easy opening thereof.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a package, envelope, carton or corrugated box containing a non-tearable plastic guide strip or ridge positioned on the outside thereof along one or more perforated punch lines and a non-tearable material, e.g., a plastic or metal tear band disposed on the inside of the package or envelope. Thus, the plastic or metal tear band is disposed between the adjacent guide strip and a glued portion disposed on the inside of the sealing portion thereof in a substantially parallel relationship to the plastic or metal guide strip for use in easily and readily opening the envelope, box or package along a tear line (or lines) which is straight.
The present invention relates to a tear band opening device disposed on a sealing portion of a container which comprises a non-tearable plastic guide strip or ridge positioned on the outside thereof along a perforated punch line and a non-tearable material, e.g., a small plastic tear band disposed out of the sealing portion thereof and on the opposite side from the guide strip. Thus, the tear band disposed between the plastic guide strip and a glued portion disposed on the inside of the sealing portion thereof is in a substantially parallel relationship to the plastic guide strip for use in easily and readily opening the container.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 1194243 |
Nov 1959 |
FRX |
| 117001 |
Dec 1926 |
CHX |
| 400750 |
Apr 1966 |
CHX |
| 563919 |
Jul 1975 |
CHX |
| 16784 |
Sep 1893 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
947806 |
Dec 1986 |
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Patent Grant
4877139
