EDG1 EASY OPEN EDGE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Endeavor

Hard to open packages, including flexible packages, such as bags, pouches, and the like and more specifically, when it is difficult to separate the two opposing sides or lips at the mouth of the bag, when trying to open the bags.

More specifically, flexible bags with zip lock accessories, such a zipper bags or zip-lock bags.

Also hard to open blister packages, like those having a combination of sheets of hard or semi-rigid materials together with sheets of softer materials, such as blister packages for medical pills and the like.

In general, when dealing with situations, where somebody is trying to separate the two main layers of a package, to access its contents.

2. Prior Art

Several solutions to similar situations are on the market.

For example, many of the present vitamins containers have a cap, that flips open, when the user gets his/her finger under an edge of the cap flip lid, and pushes the flip lid open.

Manila folders have a tab at the top, which is used to write on it some indication about the contents of the folder. The tab can act at the same time as a means to help in opening the folder to get to its contents.

Sheets, almost similar to the conventional index cards, which are usually with tabs and alpha-numeric lettering, acting as “cheese separators”.

Some hard or semi-rigid plastic container, such as food containers that are used to carry home left-over food, after having dinner at a restaurant, or like those you get with a roasted chicken for example, and which are referred to sometimes as clam shell containers, have the top half shell with a set of tabs, located at a different place than another set corresponding tabs on the lower half shell, or in other words, they have staggered edge protrusions, to help the user in opening the container, so that the user would grab two tabs separately and pull on them individually in opposite directions, so as to open the two half-shells apart from each other. These food containers are usually thermo-formed and seem to be die-cut to shape the edges as described. Most of the times, the two half-shells are connected together at the hinge area.

On the other hand, most of the flexible bags, pouches and the like do not have any such features.

So, one of the purposes of the present inventions is to fill in the gaps, where the industry has not given enough attention to correct the problem.

RELATED PRIOR ART PATENTS

I did find only a few Design patents for such semi-rigid food containers. All of them were issued to one company. One of those Design patents is: U.S. Pat. D828,062, to a “CONTAINER”. It is assigned to Direct Pack, Inc., Sun Valley, Calif. On the container itself, we can see the name or Brand Name BOTTLEBOX. But again, as I said, it is the only one that I could find and it relates to rigid or semi-rigid containers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Object of the Invention

One of the objects of the invention is to provide better visual and tactile means and feel to a user, in order to facilitate the opening of a package, especially a flexible package, such as bags, pouches or the like, by providing an irregular shape or profile at the mouth edge of a package, such as hills and valleys, so that the user can utilize these irregularities to facilitate in opening the package, say by Grabbing the hills of one side with the fingers of one hand and grabbing the hills of the other side with the fingers of the other hand and then pulling the two sides apart.

Another object of the invention is to provide various edges for such packages, so as to facilitate the opening of these packages.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide edges, which are wavy and straddling each other, being wavy on the two opposing side walls of the package, but offset sideways along the length of the package mouth, so that the hills of one side wall of the package would be in line, or facing, the valleys of the other side wall, or in other words, the hill tops of the waves of one side wall of the package will be “straddling” the hill tops of the opposite side wall of the package, or staggered right and left, or front and back with each other. Another way to look at it, is that the hills and valleys are staggered, one high tip at one side wall coinciding with a low bottom at the opposing side wall of the package.

Yet another object is to provide an equivalent result by having one “lip” protruding beyond, or receding away from, the general outline of a body, so that a person can more easily feel and grab the protruding edge or lip and move it away from where it was originally.

So again, the objects of all this is to provide means to facilitate the opening of packages, such as visual clues, tactile feels or the like, so that the user can more easily detect and grab one edge or one side of the package material and pull it away from the rest of package to ultimately open the package.

Some of the features that could be introduced in the packages design and construction could include providing wavy edges, folded edges, beaded edges and/or materials, dimpled materials, break-away corners or edges, and the like.

Another way to look at it is this. In a general sense, the invention alms to provide features to capitalize on the sensory perceptions of the users, in order to facilitate the opening of such bags.

The inventions covered by this application can be applied to at least the following packages:

1. Grocery bags in supermarkets for vegetables, fruits and the like.

2. Bandage adhesive strip wrappers, around and/or outside the adhesive strip itself, as well as the release cover strip of the bandage adhesive strip itself.

3. Zip-Lock bags;

4. Zip-Lock Strips, which in turn would be applied to other packages.

5. Packages with embedded Zip-Lock features.

6. Any other similar packages.

7. The cereal boxes: The internal flexible bag can have its top sealed edge with the WAVY EDGES, and then inserted in the hard cardboard box.

These solutions will become clearer when I describe the drawings in detail further down below. Also the advantages of the solutions will also be clearer at that time.

Illustration Convention

In my drawings, I am using a number of different ways to illustrate the concepts of the invention, depending on which way may best convey the message and intention of the drawing.

In some drawings, I am showing that the parts are made of transparent materials, which allows us to see the details of ail the parts and components, both the parts that are at the front of the objects, as well as the parts that are in the back.

In other drawings, I am showing that the objects are opaque, in which case, the objects in the background are either completely hidden or partially hidden. In these drawings, I am showing the objects either in wire frame format or as shaded objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TOE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 through 6 show examples of Prior Art zipper bags and zipper strips, highlighting their important features, as relating to the present, invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a general view and a close-up view of a zipper bag, with PRECUT triangular wavy edges feature, as per present invention.

FIGS. 9 through 15 show different views of bags, with precut sinusoidal wavy edges feature, as per present invention.

FIGS. 16 through 18 show different views of a similar bag, but with precut trapezoidal wavy edges feature, as per present invention.

FIGS. 19 through 24 show bags with sine wave edges, hut the top part of the bags, the scrap, was still attached. The wavy edge feature is applied to the bag with perforations. In FIGS. 19 and 20, the scrap is still attached to the bottom part of the bag. In FIGS. 21 and 22, the scrap has been detached from the main body of the bag, but it is shown near the top of the bag. In FIGS. 23 and 24, the scrap has been totally removed from view, and we only see the final shape of the bag with the wavy edge feature at its top. In all these 6 figures, I am showing the bags first as being flat, and in the second case, as the bag being filled with some contents and slightly bulging along it center.

FIG. 25 shows an example of a cutter/tool, which could be used to cut away the scrap, from one side of the bag, one side at a time.

FIG. 26 shows one way to apply the perforations of a wavy edge feature to a flat sheet material, which would then be folded, in preparation for making the final bags, as per the present invention.

FIGS. 27 and 28 illustrate a machine that can utilize the method shown in FIG. 26. FIG. 27 show the wavy edge feature being parallel to the edge of the flat sheet material, while FIG. 28 shows the wavy edge as being across the length of the flat sheet material, i.e. at 90 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the material.

FIG. 29 shows some important details of the wavy edge feature, when it is applied in the cross direction, i.e. as shown in FIG. 28.

FIGS. 30 through 39 show how we can create the wavy edge feature, in an economical way, in two steps. The first step is to provide the wavy edge feature to BOTH sheets of the material of the bag or the zipper strip, at THE SAME TIME. The second step is to shift the position of one sheet of material, either forward or backwards, along the length of the wave, as shown, by doing the so-called the “STRIP SHIFT”.

FIGS. 40 through 43 illustrate two possible ways to provide the well-known adhesive bandage strips, with features, that could give us similar tactile and visual effects as the wavy edges features, as per present invention.

FIGS. 44 and 45 show how we can provide the wavy edge feature to only one side of the bag, and yet, we would get practically, almost the same equivalent benefits, as when we have the feature in both sides/sheets of the bag.

FIGS. 46 through 52 show how we can provide “separators” between the two sheets of a bag, to facilitate the opening of such a bag.

FIG. 46 shows one or more “lips” that can act as mechanical springs, which would push the opposite sides of the bag apart, thus facilitating the opening of the bags.

FIG. 47 shows a rather large size “bead”, which would duplicate the effect of the lips shown in FIG. 46.

FIGS. 48,49 and 50 show another example of the “bead” of FIG. 47, but here the beads are laid out on the sheets of a bag, so at to meander up and down, in this case, looking as a trapezoidal wavy edge feature.

FIG. 48 shows that the head is applied to only one sheet of a bag, while FIG. 49 shows that the beads are on both sides of the bag. More importantly, when the two skies of the hag are brought close together, one against the other, the heads paths criss-cross each other, to prevent “nesting”.

FIG. 50 shows several optional cross-sectional shapes of heads, that could be used in cases like in FIGS. 48 and 49. Same options can apply to the heads that will be seen in FIG. 51 or the like.

FIG. 51 shows four various optional patterns of beads arrangements, that can be used for cases like the ones shown in FIGS. 46 through 49.

FIG. 52 shows that we can “form” the bag sheets, to accomplish an effect, similar to having beads, but this way, we do not need to “add” material to the bag.

DEFINITIONS AND SYNONYMS

Bag=bag, pouch, stand-up pouch, flexible package

Bag body=the material used to make a bag, usually comprising at least two sides of the bag. Also referred to sometimes as the bag skins or the bag sheets. It can be made out of rigid, flexible or semi-rigid material, whether plastic or paper or the like.

Bag mouth=bag opening

Bag sheet=bag side, bag skin, bag film, bag material, side of the bag,

Blister=blister packaging, blister lidding, blister labeling. The way to package products, using a flexible or more often a semi-rigid sheet of material together with another sheet of material, holding the product between the two sheets. Sometimes, the blister sheet is the more rigid layer, sometimes it is the reverse.

Cross Wave and Long Wave, or Longitudinal, Wave=A long or longitudinal wave means a set of wavy edges that are applied to long continuous web or sheet of material used to make flexible bags, wherein the main direction of the wave or wavy edges is in the same direction as the general longitudinal axis, or direction, of the web. A cross wave is one that is generally perpendicular, i.e. generally at 90 degrees, to a long wave, or to the generally longitudinal axis or direction of the web.

Grab=take hold of, hold,

Height between the hills and valleys of the wavy edges=wave amplitude

Laser perforations=when the perforations are created using a laser

LHS=Left hand side

Lips of the bag=Metaphorically for Edges of the bag, at the opening area of the bag, referred to also as the mouth of the bag. The user usually holds on to the lips or the edges of the bag to open it.

Long Wave, or Longitudinal, Wave and Cross Wave=A long or longitudinal wave means a set of wavy edges that are applied to long continuous web or sheet of material used to make flexible bags, wherein the main direction of the wave or wavy edges is in the same direction as the general longitudinal axis, or direction, of the web. A cross wave is one that is generally perpendicular, i.e. generally at 90 degrees, to a long wave, or to the generally longitudinal axis or direction of the web.

Mfg=manufacture or manufacturing

Perforations=Holes or scored features provided in the bag sheets for special purposes. In our case, they refer to features intended to weaken the sheets, so that the sheet can be torn apart along the perforations, when such perforations are placed along a certain line or curve

Phase shift=It is when one wave shape is not in-sync with another one. When there is a phase shift between two wave shapes, the peaks of one wave shape would not always coincide with the peaks of the other wave shape. See longer explanation in the body of the specification, especially as related to FIGS. 30 through 39.

Pre-folded edges or corners=We can help create a feature for packages which would be easy to grab, by folding or pre-folding one or more “corners” of the package, so that we would have a portion of the package material stand out, away from the flat and uniform outer surface of the package. Some packages that are already on the market have “pre-folded edges”, following a “line” or the complete edge of the package. Such a pre-folded “edge” is not as convenient to detect and/or to grab. I feel that a pre-folded “corner”, in contrast with a pre-folded “edge” would stand-out more prominently and would be more prone to be detected and grabbed.

Protrusions or Hills or Peaks versus Recesses or Valleys or Troughs=In our case, and in a wavy line or a wavy edge of a bag at the bag's mouth, the wavy edges would have an undulating curvy wavy edge, wherein the edge of the bag is not straight, but will have some high spots and some low spots. In this case, we will, refer to the high spots of the wavy edge as Protrusions (i.e. above or beyond the straight line), or Hills or Peaks, as opposed to the low spots of the wavy edge, which we will refer to as Recesses or Troughs or Valleys.

Recesses or Valleys or Troughs versus Protrusions or Hills or Peaks=In our case, and in a wavy line or a wavy edge of a bag at the bag's mouth, the wavy edges would have an undulating curvy wavy edge, wherein the edge of the bag is not straight, hut will have some high spots and some low spots. In this case, we will refer to the high spots of the wavy edge as Protrusions (i.e. above or beyond the straight line), or Hills or Peaks, as opposed to the low spots of the wavy edge, which we will refer to as Recesses or Troughs or Valleys.

RHS=Right hand side

Scrap=It is that portion of a bag, usually above any provided perforations, and which is the portion of the bag that the user usually pulls off and tears off from the bag, in order to open the bag, leaving behind, the bag with the cut edges, regardless of whether those edges are straight or not, or whether they are shaped to have wavy edges, as per present invention. In our case, we will encounter this scarp, as being the portion of the bag material, which is above the perforation provided in a bag or a ripper or a zipper bag.

Staggered, staggering, staggeringly=According to Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus, second edition, 2002: Stagger=to set or arrange alternatively, as on either sides of a line; make zigzag; to arrange so as to come at different times/to stagger employees' vacations. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus, 2006: Stagger=to arrange in overlapping or alternating positions of times.

Tactile=relating to, or perceptible through the sense of touch

Tactile feel=of, relating to, or perceptible through the sense of touch.

Tear line=a line that is provided in the bag, which is prepared to be more easily torn to allow a user to open the bag. Such a tear line can be pre-scored or perforated to make it easier to tear apart the bag material on the two opposing sides of the tear line

Tear notch=a notch, usually placed at the edge of the bag mouth, at the place where we want to “start” a tear. It is placed there, to act as a stress concentration feature, to weaken the material, so that when we try to tear the material, we would have a better chance that the tear will start at the place where this tear notch has been placed.

Tear strip=a string or any similar filament or strip of strong material, that is usually placed near and along a tear line, to help a user when trying to open a bag, especially if the bag is already provided with a tear line.

Ultrasonic welding of beads=after a bead is placed on top of a bag sheet, we can join the bead to the sheet, by applying an ultrasonic energy to the bead and/or to the sheet, to join them together. We could also consider the use of heat and/or pressure, to enhance the joining process or to even totally replace the use of the ultrasonic energy. Also we could consider applying the bead, by using a jet of molten material, which could be applied to the sheet, in a way like printing ink on paper using ink jet printing, as used in many ink jet copiers.

Undulating=to have a wave like appearance

Visual=perceived by vision, that can be seen, visible

Wave=Curve, curvy line, which most of the time has an up and down shape, with peaks and valleys, repeating periodically.

Wave amplitude=height of the wave, from valley bottom to hill top or peak top

Wave length=distance from one hill or peak top to the adjacent hill or peak top, or from one valley bottom to the adjacent valley bottom

Wavy edge=an edge, of a bag at the bag mouth or the like, not following a straight line, but having ups and downs, or high spots and Low spots. Such a wavy edge can look like a sinusoidal wave, a trapezoidal wave, a triangular wave, or any other wavy line which has some ups and downs. We can also refer to such a wavy edge as an edge which has some protrusions and recesses, or hills and valleys, or peaks and troughs, or any undulations compared to a straight line edge.

Zip-Lock=Trade name, or trade mark or company's name

ZIP-PAK=Trade name, or trade mark or company's name

Zipper=zipper closure feature

Zipper with Slider

Zipper/Bag=An abbreviation, denoting a bag, or a zipper strip, or a bag with a zipper, i.e. a zipper bag.

POSSIBLE TITLES OR NAMES FOR THE VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS AND/OR COMBINATIONS, AS PER THE PRESENT INVENTION

EASY OPEN BAG

EASY OPEN ZIPPER

BEAD EDGE ZIPPER

BEAD SPACER ZIPPER

BEAD EDGE AND TEAR ZIPPER

WAVE BEAD AND STRAIGHT EDGE

WAVE BEAD AND WAVE EDGE

WAVE BEAD AND WAVE TEAR EDGE

EASY OPEN WAVY EDGE BAG

EASY OPEN BAG

EASY OPEN WAVY EDGE BAG

EASY OPEN WAVY EDGE ZIPPER

EASY OPEN WAVY EDGE ZIPPER BAG

SEPARATOR BEAD BAG

SEPARATOR BEAD ZIPPER

SEPARATOR BEAD ZIPPER BAG

SEPARATOR BEAD BAG

WAVE EDGE

WAVY EDGE

Brief Overview of the Problem and the Proposed Solutions

One of the problems with existing flexible bags and zipper bags is the difficulty of opening them.

More specifically, it is the problem of separating the two sheets of the flexible material of the bags from each other, near the mouth of the bag, and then grabbing each individual sheet, and trying to pull them apart to finally open the bag.

One of the reasons that it is difficult to separate the two sheets from each other is that the sheet material is very flexible and pliable, and when you try to pull one of them apart, away from the other, by pulling on the edge of one of the sheets, both of the sheets move together and do not offer a way to separate the one from the other. The other reason is that most of the time, the two sheets are cut or trimmed or scored together, so that the edges of both sheets end up almost perfectly in line with each other, with hardly any difference in the position or location of their two edges.

First, let's review once more, in more details, the source of the problem.

Let's now first look at FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows another almost typical flexible bag with certain features. Item 1, (101), represents a tear string, or a pull string, if you will, which encourages the user to pull on it, to tear open the top of the bag.

Item 2, (103), is a line of tear perforations, provided to act like tear concentrator. At the end of the tear perforation line we usually see a tear notch, item 3, (105), to act even more as a stress concentration feature, to force the tear to start near that notch

Usually the bag is provided either with a) item 1, or b) with item 2, or c) with both items 2 and 3 together. But I do not think that all 3 items are ever provided in the same bag at the same time.

We see also items 4, (107), and 5, (109). Item 4, (107), is a zipper strip, to convert the bag to become a reclosable and/or resealable bag. Item 5, (109), is a feature to reinforce the zipper in place and to make sure it is properly confined in place.

Item 6 is a hook notch, (111), to hang the bag on a hook, says in a display rack.

Usually there is a tear notch and/or tear perforation line, as mentioned above with FIG. 1. But in the absence of such a perforation line, then when the user tries to open the bag, then the tear can wander in almost in any direction. Also, the tear edge would look ragged and non-uniform. Also sometimes the two sides of the bag, along the tear, are similar and fairly close to each other, and sometimes they are not. Also, regardless of all the above, it is still not easy to separate the two sides of the bag, to open the bag and to access its contents.

But with some other packages, like the one shown in FIG. 1, the tear line is more defined. Here the tear is concentrated along the provided tear perforations as shown. Even with that, it is still not easy to separate the two side sheets of the bag, to open the bag and to access its contents.

Analysis

Let's see what can be done to improve the situation.

Let's study and analyze what happens when we bend a magazine or the sheets inside a book, or any stack of sheets of paper We will assume that, before bending, the edges of all the sheets are in line with each other, with no protrusions or recesses with respect to the edges of the rest of the sheets in the stack. After we bend the stack we will notice that the edges are not in line any more. The edges of the sheets which are near the inside radius of the bent stack, are protruding further outside, compared to the edges of the other sheets. This is basically the result of the geometry of the bent stack of sheets. Let's refer to the distance of this “protrusion” as the distance “d”.

This is the first principle in my proposed solutions.

We can easily visualize that we can use a finger tip to feel and to touch the edge of the innermost sheet, which is the edge that is protruding or sticking out in front of the other sheets, and to more easily separate that individual sheet away from the rest of the stack.

We will get back to all these observations again later on, and use them for the solutions that will come next, but for now, we will address the following point.

If the sheets in the stack are relatively thin, then we can easily visualize the protrusion distance “d” will be relatively small. In situations like this, we can choose to use the following first approach or solution.

So, to help in solving this problem, one of the proposed solutions here is to somehow create a way to help in separating the two sheets from each other, so that the user can, more easily and more conveniently, grab each sheet separately, or at least one of the sheets, and do the opening of the bag, as just described above.

I am offering a number of approaches or solutions to solve this problem.

The first approach, represented by FIGS. 7 through 24 and most of the other drawings in this application, is to purposely change the shape or contour of the lips or edges of the sheets, so instead of being straight, now, we can create undulating or wavy edges, with distinct protrusions and recesses or wave peaks and wave troughs, or hills and valleys, but at the same time, we will make sure that the hills and valleys of the first sheet do not coincide with the hills and valleys of the adjacent second sheet. They should rather have some “phase shift” between the “waves”, in other words, instead of having the peaks or hills of the first sheet facing the peaks or hills of the adjacent second sheet, we will rather have the peaks or hills of the first sheet facing the troughs and valleys of the adjacent second sheet, and vice versa, the troughs and valleys of the first sheet will be facing the peaks or hills of the adjacent second sheet.

A second approach would be what I would call “half the solution” of the first approach. In other words, one sheet will have either protrusions or recesses, peaks and valleys, or any such irregularities, say a notch, while the adjacent second sheet will have a straight edge, with no such irregularities.

A third approach, represented by FIGS. 42 and 43, would be to start with both sheets having practically the same outside profile or contour or shaped or straight edges, but we provide a way to easily change this condition, say by breaking or folding a corner of the package, thus creating a clog-ear situation, thus crating an almost similar condition as in the earlier solutions.

The fourth approach, represented by FIGS. 46 through 52, is to create a more pronounced separation between the two adjacent sheets, i.e. a large difference in the location or position of the lips or edges of the two sheets, with respect to each other, even when the cut edges of the sheets are straight and are at the same height and even when the sheets are thin, and even when the bag and/or zipper are closed. Here, we purposely create a larger separation between the two sheets, so that their lips or edges can be more easily separated from each other, in order to grab each sheet separately and thus to be able to open the bag more readily.

And Fifth, I will show a few more specific approaches and applications, as will be described down below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form(s) disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

While I am describing the drawing in more details, I will at the same time explain the technology basis of the invention. I will also include a number of examples in this section, which should be considered as part of the embodiments for the purpose of this application as well.

This description covers more than one invention. The inventions are based partly on the same technology platform, but then each of the inventions has some additional features of its own. I would like to leave it to the patent examiner to decide on the number of the inventions contained and how to split one invention from the other.

Finally please note that the dimensions, especially the height of the waves or the hills and valleys, or protrusions and recesses, shown in the various figures are arbitrary and not to any special scale. They just illustrate the design concepts. The actual dimensions of any of the devices, according to the shown embodiments, should be chosen to suit the specific respective application case.

More often than not, the features dimensions are exaggerated, simply to make them more visible and discernable.

FIGS. 2 through 6 show a study and review of one of the existing Prior Art Zipper Bags and Zipper Strips.

Each one of the figures, FIGS. 2 through 4, shows a front view and a side, or edge, view of a common, prior art zipper bag, wherein the zipper strip is at the top, or mouth, of the bag itself.

Similarly, each one of the figures, FIGS. 5 and 6, shows a front view and a side, or edge, view of a common, prior art zipper strip by itself, which can be applied to regular bags, to convert them to zipper-bag type.

Notice the beads, items 527 and 529 in FIG. 4 and items 727 and 729 in FIG. 6. They are very small in cross-section, hardly noticeable, and, proportionally, pretty far apart from each other, to have much of an effect on keeping the two sheets away from each other. I guess one of their purposes is to give the sheets some additional stiffness in their straight shape. Now, there are some newer models of zipper bags on the market, with several lines of such beads on each side of the bag sheets and they are located closer to each other, which makes them seem to be more effective. However, they are just straight line beads, and still do not provide the functions that I am proposing further down below in this present invention.

Please see an expanded explanation, of the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of these beads, when I describe FIGS. 46 through 52,

First Preferred Embodiment

FIGS. 7 through 24 show a first embodiment, as per the present invention. They show some shapes and selected details of zipper bags/pouches and their zippers, with various shapes of the wavy edges features, as per present invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a zipper bag with triangular wavy edges, while FIG. 16 through 18 show trapezoidal wavy edges, and FIGS. 9 through 15 show a sinusoidal wavy edges feature.

The choice of the shape of the wave, as well as the dimensions of the wave, including the wave length and the amplitude of the wave, will depend on several factors, including the thickness of the material of the bag sheets, its stiffness or flexibility, and above all, it will be influenced by the effect it will impart on the end user and on the function of the design, including the visual and tactile feel of the wave and how it will affect the end goal.

The wavy edges can be provided in the bag body itself, or in the ZIPPER strip, which is attached to the bag body at one time during the mfg process of the bags or at one time or another.

As mentioned earlier, FIGS. 2 through 6 show a Prior Art zipper with four beads, two beads on each side. But these beads are still too small and too far apart to be effective enough, except they may be helping in keeping the sheets straight.

We can prepare the zipper strips in advance to have the various wave shapes and amplitude, i.e. the height differences between the hills and valleys, as desired.

FIGS. 7 through 24 show examples of the first principle and the first approach of my proposed solution.

Let's now explore the fourth solution.

Let's say that we have a situation, where the sheets in the stack discussed earlier above are relatively thin, then we can easily visualize that the protrusion distance “d” will be relatively small and it will still be pretty difficult to feel the difference, i.e. the protrusion “d”, to separate the sheets.

So, here we can use the fourth solution, as follows:

Let's imagine that we use much thicker sheets, assuming that they still stay flexible enough, which will make it that the protrusion distance “d” will be much larger between any two adjacent sheets. This will make it even easier to feel the difference in the location of the edges and we will be able to more easily separate one sheet away from the stack and to grab it and pull it away.

We can accomplish a comparable end effect, not by making the sheets thicker, but by putting some “shims or spacers, or separators, if you will,” between the sheets, even if the sheets themselves are still as thin as they were in the first example, described above.

So, this is the fourth proposed solution.

If we purposely place some means between the sheets to separate them from each other, then we can accomplish that second effect. I proposed to do any one or more of these things, as I will explain in more details, farther down below. For example, we can place some beads along the “internal” surfaces of the two opposing sheets of the bag, or we can “roughen” these surfaces, or we can put a combination of “dimples” on one sheets, which would interface with the opposite “flat” sheet, or we can put similar dimples on the opposite sheet, but with different size and distribution, so that the two sheets will still be forced to stay apart, or we can have a combination of dimples working against beads, and so on.

Let's explore the first approach, further in more details.

FIGS. 7 through 24 show examples of the wavy edge easy open features, illustrated by using bags or pouches, whether in their flat conditions or when they are open and bulging out slightly, highlighting how the hills of one side of the bag, rather of the bag lips, are facing the valleys of the opposite side of the bag. And vice versa, the valleys of the one side of the bag are facing the hills of the other side.

As mentioned earlier, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a zipper bag where the month edge has been shaped to have a triangular wave, which is already precut and ready for the end user.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the precut edge of another hag, where the wavy edge has a sinusoidal shape and the wave is repeated uniformly throughout the entire length/width of the bag's mouth.

Please note the difference in the looks of bag drawings in these two figures.

As explained above under “Illustration Convention”, here in FIGS. 9 and 10, the bag is shown as being made of an opaque material. Further, FIG. 10 shows the bag in the “wire form” format.

Most of all the remaining drawings are shown in the wire form format as well.

This arrangement in Jigs. 9 and 10 provides an easy way to use the fingers of one hand to grab the hills of the bag side that is on the same side of that hand, while using the opposite hand to grab the hills of the bag side that are on the opposite side of the bag. This way, it will be easier to separate the two opposing sides of the bag and to open the bag.

Any conventional perforating tool or knife or die cutting tool is an example of a tool, which can provide the desired wavy perforations.

We can have the easy open wavy edge feature just perforated and still hanging on to the body of the bag, as in FIGS. 19, 20, 30 through 33, and 44. The top edge or lip of the wave can be shaped as a sinusoidal wave, or as a trapezoidal wave, or as any irregular up and down shape, as long as there is a phase change between the wave or the curves of one side of the bag or pouch or box, and the ones on the opposing side of the bag.

We can also have the easy open wavy edge feature already precut or cut-through, as in FIGS. 7 through 18, and 34 through 39. Any known methods used to create such a precut edge can be used. One example is shown in FIG. 25.

The curve needs not to have the same amplitude or wave length, throughout its length of the edge. If we come closer to the end of the bag's width, or rather the bag's mouth's width, we can compromise and use a shorter or a longer wave length, or portion of the wave, near the end of the bag's width or mouth and the wave could be different according the expected MOOD of the “users”. See examples of this option in FIGS. 11 through 18.

The tool to create the wavy edges and/or the perforations can be special perforating die, whether a straight die, or a rotary die. But we can also create the wavy edges and/or the perforations with laser or any other appropriate method available in the industry.

NOTE: The amplitude of the wavy edges features need not be too large. Even if the amplitude of the wave and the difference between the peaks and valleys of the two opposing sides of the bag are very small, even down to a few thousands of an inch or a few millimeters, they can still be significant in helping to make the opening of the bags much easier. But this also depends on the nature of the material of the bag or the zipper, including its rigidity and flexibility, its thickness and feel, and even its affinity to cling to layers of its own kind, etc.

Zippers with Sliders

I would like to propose an embodiment, which would comprise the wavy edge even if the zipper uses a slider.

The slider can be made similar to the ones made by ZIF-PAK. We can make the slider, with a “deeper”, or “taller”, opening, or tunnel, if you will, so that we can have the wavy edges feature still fit within the slider opening.

FIG. 26 shows how we can create the wavy perforations on a bag material that will go through a pouch making machine, and how we can create these wavy perforation, on the fly, while forming the pouch out of a flat sheet of material that will be folded over to end up with the final bag. Two examples of such machines, which can do such a job, are the ones made by Robert's Packaging, or Allied Flex Techs.

Notice the dotted lines on the flat area of the flat sheet material. They are there, on the drawing only, just to make it easy to see the relative position of the peaks and valleys of the waves on either side of the flat sheet material, and the phase shift between them.

By ensuring that we do have this phase shift at the Oat portion of the material upstream, we would get a similar phase shift, after folding the material downstream.

FIG. 27 illustrates the concept of such machines. The sheet material 3211 is fed in the direction of the arrow 3213 from a supply source, a roll or the like, then at one of the machine stations, the wavy curves are provided, be it by a perforating die or by laser machining, etc. Then the sheet goes through a folding mechanism 3215 to present the two side edges of the sheet to a sealing station 3221. Notice that here the wavy edges are what I would call “in line” or generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sheet. So, I will refer to such an arrangement as the “longitudinal” wavy edges feature.

Notice that the wave on one side of the flat sheet, before the folding station 3211, is shifted off, compared to the wave on the opposite side of the flat sheet. The result is that, when the sheet is folded and the two opposite sides of the sheet come close to each other, at area 3221, the wave of the two sides will not be in sync, but will be shifted, as proposed by the present invention.

FIG. 28 shows a setup almost similar to the one in FIG. 27, except that the perforations for the wavy edges feature are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 3353 of the sheet. I will refer to them as the “transverse” or the “cross” waves, or the “cross wavy curves”, or the “cross wavy edges”.

Again, like in FIG. 27, the flat sheet material 3311 flows in the direction on arrow 3313, from some upstream roil or the like. At some point, as shown in FIG. 28, the perforations are applied, as shown, by 3341 and 3345, across the width of the flat sheet material.

Line 3351 is the symmetry line of the wave, but the flat sheet material will be folded along line 3353, as will be explained in more details next in FIG. 29.

The flat sheet material will then go through the folding station 3315, will flow down in the vertical direction of arrow 3319, where the edges of the sheet will be joined and sealed together, somewhere near point 33231.

The wavy edge feature is shown at 3343 and 3347.

A cross seal can be applied optionally at either of the two locations indicated by items 3361, depending on the manufacturer's preference.

FIG. 29 shows details of such cross waves.

FIG. 29-A shows the perforations across the width of the sheet material.

Notice that the perforations in this figure are represented by solid lines, simply to make the drawing less cluttered, and to differentiate these perforation lines from the “dashed” lines in FIG. 29-B, which represent the folded half of the sheet.

Notice the points A, B and C1, and the Longitudinal Center Line (LCL or 3353), which is going through the middle of the sheet, and which is going through the whole length of the sheet, and specifically through point B. I will refer to this as the “folding line”.

FIG. 29-B shows what happens, when we fold one half of the sheet, here it is the right hand side (RHS) of the sheet, being folded over the other half, the LHS of the sheet. The fold line goes through the point B, as mentioned above.

Now the perforations of the RHS of the sheet are sitting over the perforations of the LHS of the sheet. We can see that the perforations of the two halves are straddling each other. The peaks of one half are on top of the valleys of the other half, and vice versa. This is controlled by the way we have placed the folding line.

FIG. 29-C shows the final situation after the folding is completed. We can now seal the two sheets along their longitudinal edges (D). We may have a surplus margin or strip (E), which we can leave as is, or we can trim it off, if we prefer.

Between the rows of perforations, we have several options.

We can simply create a seal line, to become the end of each bag, and leave it at that. This could be a good option for bags used in a grocery store, for example, for vegetables, etc.

In this case, we can also provide a “hook notch”, as shown in FIG. 1. Only the hook notch, not the straight line of perforations shown in FIG. 1. In our case here, we will use those perforations provided as per FIGS. 27 through 29. These bags could be provided in a dispenser which has a catching hook. When a customer tries to pull out one bag out of the dispenser, the catching hook will catch the hook notch in the bag, and tries to stop it from reeling off the dispenser, but the pull of the customer will ultimately win and will tear the bag off from the reel, right at the perforations provided as described above. The end result will be that the bag will have the wavy edges feature at its mouth and the customer will have an easier way to open the bag. The customer will be very happy. I would be too, if I were the customer in that situation.

Another Embodiment

Now, I would like to propose an additional way of creating a similar situation. The conventional grocery store bags can be made, just by taking a “tube”, coming out of a bag tube “blown-film extrusion” machine. The tube coming out of such a machine can simply be “heat sealed” across the tube, and a straight line of perforation would be provided downstream of the seal, together with an appropriate hook notch if desired. I propose to add one more step to this procedure.

I propose to slide and displace the two layers of the bag material, one with respect to the other, circumferentially or transversely, i.e. perpendicular to the longitudinal center line (LCL) of the bag tube, by a certain distance, which would ultimately provide the desirable phase shift, and then provide the perforations of the wavy edges feature, in both layers of the bag material at the same time, then slide the two layers of the bag material back to their normal position, to end up with the desirable phase shift, as described earlier.

Another necessary step in this procedure is to do the heat sealing to define the end of the bags. To do that we have to consider the method of manufacturing the bag tube.

If we are using the bag tube “blown-film extrusion” method as mentioned above, then I suppose that one important factor is to make sure that we do not loose the air pressure inside the bag tube. So, the timing and sequence of the various steps are important. For this reason, it would behoove us to do the sealing first and then provide the perforations “downstream” from the seal.

The end result will be that we will have the wavy edges feature in the bag, similar to the ones we would get in the setups in FIGS. 27 through 29, which again, would make the customers happy.

Hayssen Sandiacre Package Company makes bags, that look like one that would be produced by machines like the ones illustrated in FIGS. 27 and 28. However, those bags do not have any wavy edges as per present invention. On the other hand, those bags can easily be provided with the present invention wavy edges, if and when they would adopt the setups shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, or any of the other proposed concepts and embodiments described in this specification.

Phase Shift or Strip Shift

FIGS. 30 through 39 show a study of the “phase shift” of the wave shape.

They illustrate a method to make the wavy edges features, in an economical way, using the “phase shift” or the “STRIP SHIFT” method.

This can be done in two steps.

The first step is shown in FIGS. 3D and 32. Here, the strips are viewed from different view points, to ensure that the concept can be visualized clearly enough.

We would create the form or the desired wave profile, in both front and back sheets or strips of a zipper strip, at the same time. This can be done by applying the perforations, either by die-cutting or die-perforating or laser manufacturing or the like, to both sheets of the bag or both zipper strips, at the same time, as shown in FIGS. 30 and 32.

The second step is shown in FIGS. 31 and 33. Here, we would move, or phase shift, one side of the bag material or the zipper strip, sideways, or rather lengthwise, with respect to the other side or along the length of the zipper, which is indicated as “STRIP SHIFT”, to get the proper relation between the hills and the valleys.

FIGS. 30 and 32 show the first operation step, applied to both sheets of the zipper or the bag, at the same time. This will be true regardless of how we provide the wave shape, as mentioned above, i.e. be it by die-cutting the sheet material, or simply perforating the material with a wave shape as shown. At this stage, the two strips, the Front Strip “F” and the Back Strip “B”, have their wave patterns “in sync”, which means that the peak of the waves on both the Front Sheet as well as the Back Sheet are happening at the same time. They are co-incident with each other. For example, the point F1 is in line with the point B1 and the point F2 is in line with the point B2, etc. The same can be said for the bottoms of the valleys for both sheets, i.e. the valleys reach their lowest levels at the same time.

So, if we provide this wave shape in both sheets at this stage, both wave shapes are in sync with each other.

FIGS. 31 and 33 show what happens when we intentionally introduce a “phase shift”, or a STRIP SHIFT, AFTER having completed the first step as described above. One sheet or strip is moved sideways, along the length of the wave shape, by a certain distance, either to the right or to the left with respect to the other sheet or strip. So, we can say that one sheet will have its wave shape out of sync with respect to the wave shape of the other sheet. In this particular case, the Front Sheet or Front Strip has been shifted to the right by a distance equal to half of the wave length of this particular wave shape. So, the peak F1 of the Front strip is rather in line with the valley of the Back strip, or we can say that the peak F1 is straddling the two peaks, B1 and B2, of the Back strip. And vice versa, the peak B2 of the Back strip is rather in line with the valley of the Front strip, or we can say that the peak B2 is straddling the two peaks, F1 and F2, of the Front strip.

Bear in mind that we do not need to have a phase shift equal to exactly one half of the wave length. We could choose the smaller or larger phase shift, depending on what we feel appropriate for any particular situation.

FIGS. 34 through 39 show the same strips, which were shown in FIGS. 30 through 33, hut after the top parts of the strips, i.e. the scrap parts, have been separated from the lower part of each strip. Again, they are viewed from different view points.

FIGS. 34, 36, and 38 show the strips still in phase, which in reality would not exist at this stage, with the scrap removed already.

FIGS. 35, 37, and 39 show the same strips, but AFTER the phase shift or the STRIP SHIFT, which is the situation, when an end user would see the end product.

Preliminary Prototypes

I have made a couple of hand made prototypes, to prove the effectiveness of the concepts of the present invention.

First Prototype

For the first prototype, I used an off the shelf product and created the waves on the two opposing sides or sheets of the bag. It is a flexible bag containing Creamy Havarti sliced cheese, marketed by ARLA DOFINO. I made the wavy edges to look like a trapezoid. The edges of the wave of the front side were colored Red (R in the two words, (fRont and Red) and the edges of the back side Blue (B in the two words, Back and Blue). I first created the wave, by simply drawing the shape of the two waves, one with a red marker and the other with a blue marker. Then, with a pair of scissors, I cut and trimmed the two sheets to follow the drawn wavy edges, as if we have pulled it off the perforations, keeping the colored edges still visible and part of the remaining package edges.

I tried the prototype and it worked fine. It was easy to find the proper edges, to hold on to them, and to open the zipper and the bag.

Please note that we can vary the wave length and the amplitude of the wavy edges feature, as well as the colors of the wave edges, as deemed most desirable to the end users. Some market trials can be done, to have some people use the packages, to find out their preferences.

Second Prototype

For the second prototype, I used another off the shelf product and created a set of easy to open cheese separator, following the same principles of the wavy edges ideas described earlier.

I used a package of FINLANDIA Deli Slices Muenster Cheese.

The cheese slices had layers of thin semi-transparent sheets of paper, laid between each slice of cheese. It was hard to discern the edges of these separator sheets.

I marked these paper sheet separators, and drew along their top edges, some thick wide lines, with different shapes, with different colors,

As a result, it was much easier to find the edge of each separator sheet.

These separators look very much like the conventional office index cards tabs. They can actually be considered to be the same. The only difference here, is these separators should be of special quality, such as they should be clean, made of proper materials that would be food grade quality, etc., safe, and possibly they could be wax coated paper or the like and should not stick to the cheeses or whatever other sliced foods that can be in contact with them in the stack, etc. The tabs can be shaped like the wavy edges shown earlier, including being sinusoidal, trapezoidal, etc.

Also the edges can be highlighted by relatively thick wide lines or the like, printed on the separators, possibly each separator with a different color, along their perimeters or just the edges, and optionally, the whole separators sheets can be of various colors too.

This would make the separators edges more visible and easier to differentiate the one from the other.

The separators can have a larger thickness than is necessary. The number of tabs per width is also optional. Such separators can be used for cold cut slices, especially soft ones like liverwurst, pâté and the like.

SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS EXAMPLES, APPLIED TO VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

We can easily think about many other products that can utilize and benefit from, the present invention. Here is a small sample of them.

Philadelphia Creamy Cheese Package

The package of the well know Philadelphia cream cheese could be another good example.

The edges of the wrapper which contains the cheese and which then is placed in a

cardboard outer box are in a straight line. They usually are difficult to separate from each other and the creamy cheese squirts out when you try to force the wrapper sheets apart.

I would like to propose an embodiment, which would comprise the wavy edge feature that I would introduce to this kind of package. The wavy edge can have a trapezoidal or a sinusoidal wave. Another add-on feature is that I would prefer to extend the “double fold” at the end of the wrapper's lips.

Bandage Adhesive Strips See FIGS. 40 through 43,

1. Bandage Adhesive strips are packaged inside wrappers. The wrapper has one edge at the end of the wrapper, folded over, with the fold line being parallel to the end edge of the wrapper. In order to reach the adhesive strip itself, the user needs to open the wrapper. Many times, the folded edge is stuck in a way that makes it difficult to find, or to release it from its dormant position, so that the user can take hold of it and pull on it, in order to open the wrapper.

2. I propose to shape the wrapper, to have a more noticeable access edge feature, which the user can more easily hold on to, to more easily pull it and to open the wrapper. Examples of such a feature are shown in FIGS. 40 through 43.

3. FIGS. 40 and 41 show a bandage adhesive strip inside its wrapper. The end of the wrapper which the user needs to open has a feature, similar to the wavy edges features described earlier. The adhesive strip itself can also have a similar feature, as shown. We can have this feature as a trapezoidal wave, as shown, or it can be sinusoidal or any other desirable shape.

4. FIGS. 42 and 43 show a bandage adhesive strip, wherein the wrapper layers have been folded outwardly, to create a raised corner of wrapper package material, or a dog-ear. If you will, so that the user could grab hold of those corers and open the wrapper. When we open the outer wrapper, we find that the release sheet itself, right on top of the bandage strip or gauze, is also made to have a raised corner, for a similar purpose.

Please note that, in the Bandage Adhesive Strip shown in FIG. 43, I have shown more details of the components in a more realistic way, while in FIGS. 40 through 42, I have eliminated some components details of the Bandage Adhesive Strip, to present a simplified image, showing only die parts that are relevant to the present invention.

Blister Packages, e.g. for Pharmaceutical Blister Card

Blister packages usually comprise a relatively hard or semi hard base layer, with one or more pockets to carry pills or other similar articles, and a thinner cover layer, to enclose the contents inside the base pocket(s).

I propose to provide such blister packages with either a wavy edge feature or a thumb-nail recess feature, as per present invention, to facilitate getting access to the contents.

Such a feature can be placed along the border edges of the blister package, or at the corners.

Also, when the blister package comprises more than one pocket, with perforations or the like, to facilitate the breaking off of individual pockets, then the break lines at the break edges of the individual pockets, can also be provided with similar wavy edge or thumb-nail feature, again to facilitate accessing the contents of the pockets.

An additional helpful feature that I propose is to make the corner of the blister package to be breakable, such that the broken corner would still be holding on to the cover layer and then it can be used to peel the cover layer off the base, again in order to more easily access the contents of the pocket.

Embodiment

Tear perforations on one side of the bag ONLY.

Back to FIG. 1.

As mentioned earlier, FIG. 1 shows an almost typical prior art bag. The bag has a tear strip (1), 101, at the top of the bag, and a line of perforations (2), 103, below it. We do understand that these perforations go through BOTH sides or sheets of the bag.

When we pull on the tear strip, we will tear the bag material, at the top of the bag, 113, adjacent to or right where the tear strip, 101, is located.

But, if we do not pull on the tear strip, or if we do not have a tear strip at all, but instead we hold the bag material at one of the top corners and pull on it, we expect that the bag material will tear along the perforation line (2), 103. Especially, if we have a tear notch (3), 105, to induce the teat to start there.

Note also that if we do have a tear strip, as shown in FIG. 1, then this tear strip is usually made out of a strong, but thin filament or the like, to act as a “cutting” tool, if we decide to pull on it, so that we will more easily tear the bag material right where the tear strip is located.

Now let's look at FIGS. 44 and 45

FIG. 44 shows an illustration of a zipper bag. I have shown the side edges or ends, 6111 at the zipper strip, and 6113 at the body of the bag to be open, just to be able to better see what will be going on in it.

Notice that here, I am showing only ONE line of tear perforations, 6125. It is shown to be at the front side of the bag. The perforations effectively divide the front side into two distinct areas, 6127, below the perforations and 6129 above the perforations.

Notice also that the tear strip, 6131, is shown to be relatively thick, with a relatively large diameter than a normal tear string would be.

Now, if we pull on the tear strip here, preferably in an upwards motion, as illustrated by the arrow 6133, and if the tear perforations have been provided properly, then we would expect that the bag material would tear along these tear perforations and the bag will finally look like it is shown in FIG. 45. In effect, this would separate the front portion of the zipper bag into two separate areas, 6127 below the perforations, 6125, and 6129, above the perforations.

The back side, or back flap, 6219, of the bag will look like it is shown in FIG. 45. It would be longer than the front flap, 6127. It will comprise the old part of the back side of 6121, together with the part 6129, which was in the front.

This will help the user to hold on to the two individual ends of these two flaps and to more easily open the bag and access its contents.

We can also weaken the material further, at the perforations, by making the size and openings of the tear perforations with a larger width or length. This would create deeper “teeth”, items 6231 and 6233, when the bag material is torn apart, as illustrated in FIG. 45. This will enhance the visual and tactile feel, to help the user in opening the bag, even more so than otherwise.

Embodiments

1. After all that was described earlier, about having the two sides of the bag's mouth shaped with the wavy edges feature, now I would like to propose yet a different approach and different embodiments.

2. We can accomplish most of the goals stated earlier by putting the wavy edges features on only one side of the bag. In such embodiments, we will not need to worry about phase shift or the like. In addition, it will be more economical to make such bags and we probably can still obtain the same or very similar end results and advantages. The only thing to worry about is to make sure that the undulations provide enough of the desired tactile and visual feels, to make the approach effective enough. One side would have the wavy edges feature, while the other side would just have a straight line edge. This can apply to a) Bags without zippers, b) bags with zippers, and/or c) Just the zipper strips by themselves. An example of such an approach is to provide recesses along certain edges, which would act as a thumb-nail area, to pinch the exposed portion of the thinner layer and to pull it off away from the thicker layer.

3. Another approach is to simply provide a protruding corner of the bag, which can stand out and can be readily used to grab on to the material of the bag, to be able to easily open the bag. An example of such an approach is shown in FIGS. 42 and 43.

Embodiment
Surgical Dressings Packages

Continuing with medical products, I would like to propose one more embodiment.

It relates to surgical dressing used frequently in the operating room, when the surgeon needs to remove excessive blood from the open surgery site. The attending nurse grabs one of these packages, tears it open and presents the content, which is a surgical dressing, to the surgeon for his use. It is very important that this sequence of steps be done as expeditiously as possible.

So, it would be helpful and desirable to make the opening of the package as easy and as fast as possible.

The present popular way, is that the package has at least one end, folded over, to create a flap, near the apex of the chevron seal, holding the two sheets of the package together, with the surgical dressing itself in the space created within the chevron seal. The nurse will need to find the edges of the package flaps and pull on them, to open the package.

I propose to shape the opening edge of the package to have a wavy edge feature, as per present invention.

Hopefully, this arrangement will provide a better visual and tactile feel to the nurse, so as to expedite the opening of the package.

Here are a few new additional points.

Usually, the two sides of the package are joined together by a heat sealing operation, done after placing the surgical dressing between these two sides of the package. Also, usually the heat seal has a chevron shape, with its apes near the edge of the package, which the nurse would open.

The middle point of the wavy edge, which will be the closest point to the apex of the chevron seal can be at a certain minimum distance away from the apex of the chevron seal, to ensure the integrity of the seal. When we get sideways away from the seal's apex, we can make the amplitude of the wave larger, and when we get even farther away yet, the wave amplitude can be even larger yet. All the way near the outer side edges of the package, we can end at a point of the wave, which is close to the peak and the valley of the wave, to present the most pronounced difference in the height of the wave.

Embodiments

Now, I would like to propose a new group of solutions, slightly different than what was covered earlier. This group of solutions can be used separately and independently from the previous ones, or they can be used in conjunction with one or more of those earlier solutions.

The key concept here is to separate the two facing sides of the zipper or the bag mouth, before the user ever tries to reach them and tries to open them. The amount of separation is more or less optional, depending on a number of criteria which will become clearer as I go through the respective descriptions.

This group of solutions is illustrated by FIGS. 46 through 52

FIG. 46 shows a closure zipper, with at least one pair of features, which I would like to refer to as “lips”, 6111, 6113, 6115, and 6117. The same concept would apply also when the zipper is built as part of a flexible bag. The lips are made of flexible, yet resilient, material. Each one of the lips is shaped as cantilever beam or as a simple beam or tube or the like, and is anchored proximate the zipper section provided on the side of zipper carrying that respective lip, and is located between the two sides of the zipper or the bag, as shown.

Let's start with only the lip, 6111, or two lips, 6611 and 6613, at the top of the figure, i.e. near the top of the zipper, near the mouth opening of the zipper and/or the bag. Let's also start by having only one lip, 6111, on one side of the zipper or the bag, say the RHS of the figure.

When the zipper is closed and the two zipper sides, or bag sides, are at a short distance apart from each others, the lip will be compressed in the new (closed) shorter space between the two sides of the zipper and a certain amount of stresses will be created inside the lip(s) as a result of this compression.

The lip will try to push out, so as to minimize these induced stresses. The end result will be that the sides of the zipper will be forced to open apart, as in the direction shown by the arrow 6621. And the only place that this can happen will be at the mouth opening of the bag. If we use two lips, 6611 and 6613, one on each side of the zipper, we will increase the amount of induced stresses in the lips and we would get a larger force to open the sides of the hag apart. We could consider also placing similar lips, 6625 and 6627, on the lower portions of the zipper, but this may have a counter-productive effect on the upper portion of the zipper. It may help in certain situations, but we need to be aware of this potential counter productive effect. So, the effect of such lips would be to force apart the free edges of the zipper, and of the bag. Accordingly, it will be easier for the user to find and to grab each edge by itself and to pull the zipper and the bag open.

FIG. 47 shows a simpler version of the one shown in FIG. 46.

Here we use just a simple bead to push the two sides of the zipper/bag apart. I will refer to such a bead as a “separator bead”.

The separator bead should be large enough to create an appreciable distance between the two sides, so that the distance between the two edges of the two sides will be enough to facilitate in opening the zipper/bag, as shown in the figure. Also, the separator bead should be fairly close to the free edges of the bag, otherwise the portion of the bag material above the separator bead may bend and lean over closer to the opposite side and we would loose the effect of the separator bead sitting between the two sides.

I would like to propose an embodiment, which would comprise a combination of the feature described with FIGS. 47 and 1. I mean the separator bead, shown in FIG. 47, together with the tear perforations, shown as item 2 (103) in FIG. 1.

We can have one first set of perforations and one first separator bead applied to the front side of the bag, and a second set of perforations and a second separator bead applied to the back side of the bag. The perforations lines can be at a higher level, above the individual separator beads. The idea here is that we start with the two sides of the bag being joined at the top of the bag. Then we tear off the upper strip of the bag material, i.e. the “scrap”, so as to separate that part of the bag by tearing the material along the perforations. At this moment, the separator beads will try to push apart, unless the zipper is already open and not applying any compression forces on the separator beads. When we close the zipper, the distance between the two sides of She bag will become smaller and they would try to squeeze the separator bead, but the separator bead will resist that and instead, it will force the walls of the sides of the zipper and/or bag to open apart from each other. We can also place the front set of perforations and separator bead higher or lower than the back set of perforations and separator bead, and we can play with these two height differences to determine if they are really effective and if so, what is the optimum effective magnitude of these two distances.

Remember that, when I was describing the embodiment in FIG. 47, I cautioned to make sure to place the separator bead fairly close to the top edge of the zipper/bag. That is especially important if we use only one separator bead.

In the next few figures, I am going one step further.

FIG. 48 shows a separator bead that meanders up and down, almost similar to the wavy edges features described earlier above. The purpose of this shape of separator bead is to provide a larger contact between the two sides of the zipper/bag, mostly to prevent any bending or sagging or collapsing of these two sides, thus preserving the distance between the two sides.

In FIG. 48 I am showing the wavy separator bead on one side of the zipper/bag, which is an option that we can use.

But in FIG. 49, I am showing the separator beads on both sides of the zipper/bag. Here I am showing the wavy separator beads following a trapezoidal shape, but they can have any desirable wavy shape otherwise. The key is to make sure that the separator bead on one side will be criss-crossing the separator bead on the opposite side, to make sure that they stay apart. Otherwise, they may “nest” one inside the other and we would loose some of their effectiveness.

FIG. 50 shows some cross sectional views of such separator bead arrangements. By ensuring that the separator bead waves do criss-cross each other, we ensure that the space between the zipper/bag sides will be equivalent to the height of the separator beads multiplied by two. This would be better and more economical than if we make the separator beads twice as large to achieve the same spacing. FIG. 50 shows also that we can have beads that have a round cross section, or their cross-sections can be square, trapezoidal, etc.

FIG. 51 shows a number of options as to how to shape the beads and how to place them across or criss-crossing each others.

FIG. 51-A shows two pairs of beads criss-crossing each other, one pair located on the front side of the zipper/bag, shown in solid lines, and the second pair is located on the back side, shown with dashed lines. I called the beads, FU for Front Upper and, FL for Front Lower, both of them are the ones located on the front side of the zipper/bag. Then I have the BU for Back Upper and BL for Back Lower, both of which are located on the back side. Again, please notice how the beads criss-cross each other, for the same reason described earlier above.

The four heads, FR and FL on the Front sheet, plus the BU and BL on the Back sheet, are in essence comparable to the four straight beads that were shown in FIGS. 2 through 6, but with a very important difference.

If the sheet material of the bag is relatively thin, which it usually is, and consequently is soft and flexible, as in the case of most zipper bags, then when we push the two sheets of the zipper bag, one against the other, then the beads of one sheet of the zipper bag can nest within the empty spaces between the beads of the other, adjacent, sheet of the zipper bag. Consequently, the largest separation distance between the two zipper bag sheets will be equivalent to the thickness of the largest one of both beads.

In contrast, when we make the beads meander up and down, as in FIG. 51, we prevent the nesting of the beads. Consequently, the separation distance between the two zipper bag sheets will be equivalent to the sum of the height of BOTH beads.

FIG. 51-B shows a simplified version. Here, we have the front beads having a wavy shape; here it is a sinusoidal shape, but the back bead, shown in dashed lines, being just as a straight line. We probably get a similar separation distance, but at a lower cost. This is in a way similar or comparable to having the wavy edge feature on one side of the zipper bag, while the other side has a straight edge, as suggested earlier above.

FIG. 51-C shows an almost similar arrangement, but the wavy beads now have a triangular shape.

Now, FIG. 51-B shows a more simplified arrangement, even though it looks a bit strange. Here, the back bead is still shown with dashed lines, but the front beads looks as if they are also drawn with dashed lines. Not true. The front beads are made out of shorter segments of beads, practically similar to the ones shown in FIG. 51-C, but cut short to create simple short straight lines, on a diagonal, which will cross the straight bead on the back side. The end effect should be practically the same as in the ones shown in FIG. 51-C, but it may be easier and more economical to apply beads like in this arrangement.

One economical method for producing the beads as described above could be to have both sides of the zipper and especially of the bag, being opened apart and laid out flat side by side. At this stage, they can be still made out of one piece of material. We can apply the beads features as desired and then fold the two halves over, one on top of the other, to end up with the final zipper or hag as desired. This reminds me of the method described by FIGS. 26 and 27 earlier above. Here we need to make sure that the “phase shift” is maintained properly, so that when we fold the two halves over each other, the bead waves will in fact criss-cross as planned and as desired. Or we can use the method, similar to the one shown in FIGS. 30 through 39, i.e. lay down the bead “In sync” and then do the “strip shift”.

Now, how can we obtain beads as described in above, as in FIGS. 47 through 51.

One way is to place the beads, which could be in the form of a thin filament, say like a fishing line, on the zipper/bag material, in the proper location and shape that we want, and apply pressure and possibly heat to “weld” the filament to the zipper/bag material. We could also consider using laser to perform the “welding”, or we could use heat sealing, or ultra sonic welding. Any convenient method would be acceptable. Another method would be to “print” the bead on the zipper/bag material. Again, a number of printing options come to mind. One is to use a jet of molten material and again “print” or lay down the stream of this molten material on the sheet, similar to the method used to attach certain inserts inside or at the front of some magazines. I remember seeing an advertisement of a company that provides such jet printing machines. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the company at this moment.

FIG. 52 shows yet another method to manufacture devices as described in FIGS. 47 through 51. Instead of “adding” a bead to the zipper/bag sheet materials, we simply “form” the sheets to look as if they have such beads. I am talking about “embossing” or “ironing” the form into the sheet materials. FIG. 52 shows a cross sectional view of the expected shape of the embossed sheets.

FIG. 52 highlights the special arrangement of locating the embossed feature. In essence, we need to shape the embossed protrusions on each of the sides of the zipper/bag, such that they would not intermesh or nest one inside the other. For example, in FIG. 52, the pitch or the spacing between the embossed “dimples”, if you will, in the RHS sheet, is P1, while the pitch, or spacing between the dimples in the LHS sheet is P2. I purposely made P2 much larger than P1 to highlight the difference and to show that the dimples of one sheet will not nest between the dimples of the opposite sheet. This way we can ensure that we keep the distance between the two sheets as large as possible.

Another method is to “sand blast” the inside surfaces of the two opposing side of the zipper/bag. Almost like when we “frost” a pane of glass. But we also need to make sure at the same time, that we do not leave the surfaces too rough with a high amount of friction. We can do this maybe at least on one side, while the other side would get the embossed dimples.

EDG1 EASY OPEN EDGE

Information

Publication Number

Date Filed

Date Published

Inventors

CPC

US Classifications

International Classifications

Abstract

Description

Claims