The instant invention relates to the field of flexible bags; particularly, to a free-standing bag with an application spout and a gripping area.
Many products today are distributed in heavy duty bags and rigid containers, especially products with a granular structure. It is well known that a variety of flexible heavy duty bags have been developed, including some formed from a single sheet of material folded into a bag shape. Many types of bags are used to store and/or dispense granular substances, and a variety of these containers are freestanding. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,540 ('540), issued to Heydarpour teaches a flexible container with a relatively planar bottom section. Other containers contain a reclosable opening, through which the contents of a flexible bag may be dispersed, like that seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,355 ('355), issued to Schneck.
What has been missing in the art has been a bag or container which is designed to be freestanding and upright during storage, while facilitating easy dispensing of the product from an inverted position. While a variety of freestanding bags are currently present in the art, they all lack distinctive improving features which make the present invention needed. For example, the preferred embodiment of this invention includes a gripping flap positioned opposite the application opening such that during storage the bag stands upright concealing the flap, while to discharge the contents of the bag it must be inverted thus revealing the convenient gripping flap. In addition to this gripping flap, the present invention also includes a resealable spout and stable base face. Finally, the gripping flap is designed to ergonomically correspond to at least one finger of the user, thus allowing the user to more easily dispense the contents of the bag in an efficient and controlled manner.
In its most general configuration, the present invention advances the state of the art with a variety of new capabilities and overcomes many of the shortcomings of prior devices in new and novel ways. In its most general sense, the present invention overcomes the shortcomings and limitations of the prior art in any of a number of generally effective configurations. The instant invention demonstrates such capabilities and overcomes many of the shortcomings of prior methods in new and novel ways.
The present invention consists of a storage bag designed for use with a flowable substance. The invention may be configured from a single substrate folded upon itself and sealed to itself, or multiple substrates. The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a base face upon which the storage bag can stand freely without external assistance. In addition, the bag contains a resealable spout located on an application face. Finally, a gripping flap extends from the base face, opposite from an application end, to facilitate the dispersal of the flowable substance.
These variations, modifications, alternatives, and alterations of the various preferred embodiments may be used alone or in combination with one another as will become more readily apparent to those with skill in the art with reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying figures and drawings.
Without limiting the scope of the present invention as claimed below and referring now to the drawings and figures:
The freestanding upright mounted storage bag with grip (100) of the instant invention enables a significant advance in the state of the art. The preferred embodiments of the device accomplish this by new and novel arrangements of elements and methods that are configured in unique and novel ways and which demonstrate previously unavailable but preferred and desirable capabilities. The detailed description set forth below in connection with the drawings is intended merely as a description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the designs, functions, means, and methods of implementing the invention in connection with the illustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the same or equivalent functions and features may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention.
The present invention is a freestanding upright mounted storage bag with grip (100), as seen in
First, the basic structure of the substrate (130) will be disclosed, with the detailed description of the substrate (130) variations to follow. The substrate (130) may be configured to create an application face (150) formed with an application opening (152). As seen in
The storage bag (100) of the present invention also contains a base face (190), which interconnects the application face (150), the rear face (160), the dextral face (170), and the sinistral face (180). The base face (190) is the face upon which the storage bag (100) rests when not applying the flowable substance. The ability of the bag (100) to rest in an unsupported upright position, such as that seen in
Additionally, the base face (190) has a gripping flap (192) designed to rotate from a storage position (193), in which the gripping flap (192) is substantially parallel to the base face (190), as seen in
In one embodiment, the storage bag (100) previously described is created with a substrate (130) that is a single sheet of material having a first longitudinal edge (131), a second longitudinal edge (132), a first transverse edge (133), and a second transverse edge (134). In addition, the substrate (130) contains a first longitudinal fold line (135), a second longitudinal fold line (136), and a third longitudinal fold line (137), and also contains a first transverse fold line (139), illustrated in
One with skill in the art will recognize that the first longitudinal edge (131) and the second longitudinal edge (132) need not lie at one of the corners of the storage bag (100). For instance, the longitudinal edges (131, 132) may lie at any point on the application face (150), the rear face (160), the dextral face (170), or the sinistral face (180). Such embodiments need only incorporate additional fold lines to accommodate creation of the faces (150, 160, 170, 180).
The storage bag (100) may also include a first dextral base fold line (142), which extends from the first transverse edge (133) toward the application end (120). Further, a second dextral base fold line (143) may extend from the first dextral base fold line (142) toward the rear face (160), terminating at the first transverse fold line (139). Similarly, a third dextral base fold line (144) may extend from the first dextral base fold line (142) toward the application face (150), terminating at the first transverse fold line (139). Additionally, a first sinistral base fold line (145) may extend from the first transverse edge (133) toward the application end (120). A second sinistral base fold line (146) may extend from the first sinistral base fold line (145) toward the application face (150) terminating at the first transverse fold line (139), and a third sinistral base fold line (147) may extend from the first sinistral base fold line (145) toward the rear face (160) and terminate at the first transverse fold line (139).
In yet another embodiment, the substrate (130) is folded to create the gripping flap (192) by folding substantially along the first, second, and third dextral base fold lines (142, 143, 144), and by folding substantially along the first, second, and third sinistral base fold lines (145, 146, 147). The first transverse edge (133) and the second transverse edge (134) each have a dextral face transverse midpoint (172), defined as the point equidistant from both the first longitudinal fold line (135) and the second longitudinal fold line. The first transverse edge (133) and the second transverse edge (134) also have a sinistral face transverse midpoint (182), defined as the point equidistant from both the third longitudinal fold line (137) and the second longitudinal edge (132). The first dextral base fold line (142) of the storage bag (100) usually originates at the dextral face transverse midpoint (172) along the first transverse edge (133), while the first sinistral base fold line (145) usually begins at the sinistral face transverse midpoint (182) along the first transverse edge (133).
Additionally, the substrate (130) of the storage bag (100) may include a dextral application fold line (148) extending from the second transverse edge (134) toward the mounting end (110), and a sinistral application fold line (149) extending from the second transverse edge (134) toward the mounting end (110), seen in
In addition, the application end (120) of the storage bag (100) may be sealed in any variety of manners. In one embodiment, a portion of the second transverse fold line (140) located between the first longitudinal fold line (135) and the dextral application fold line (148) is joined to a portion of the second transverse fold line (140) bounding the application face (150). In this embodiment, the portion of the second transverse fold line (140) located between the second longitudinal fold line (136) and the dextral application fold line (148) is joined to a portion of the second transverse fold line (140) bounding the rear face (160). Here, the portion of the second transverse fold line (140) located between the third longitudinal fold line (137) and the sinistral application fold line (149) is joined to a portion of the second transverse fold line (140) bounding the rear face (160). Finally, the portion of the second transverse fold line (140) located between the second longitudinal edge (132) and the sinistral application fold line (149) is joined to a portion of the second transverse fold line (140) bounding the application face (150).
The mounting end may also be formed in a variety of manners. In one embodiment, seen in
The storage bag (100) of the present invention can be a variety of sizes, shapes, and volumes. The bag (100) has a height (106) and a width (108), as seen in
The spout (200) may be formed in any variety of ways. For example, the spout may be formed as a simple opening. In addition, the spout (200) could be a predefined tear area in the application face (150), which may consist of a perforated region of the substrate (130) with a pull-tab, or any other mechanism to tear away the perforated region to create the application opening (152). Alternatively, the spout (200) could be a separate and distinct device attached to the application face (150) as seen in
The configuration of the storage bag (100) provides a significant benefit to the user. The presence of the gripping flap (192) and the gripping opening (195) allows the user to carry the bag (100) without grasping the portion of the bag (100) containing the flowable substance. This technique is preferred because it reduces the likelihood of puncture and product waste. In addition, carrying of the bag (100) by grasping the gripping flap (192) ensures a reduced chance of the user coming in contact with any hazardous contents should a tear or leak occur in the substrate (130). Finally, the storage bag (100) includes a benign tear location, so that if the substrate did tear during application, it would be at the gripping opening (195), and not in the main storage compartment of the bag (100). This feature protects the user by containing the flowable contents of the storage bag (100) upon failure of the substrate (130), again ensuring that the user does not come into contact with any hazardous contents of the bag (100).
The storage bag substrate (130) may be constructed of virtually any pliable material. However, it is generally preferable to have the substrate (130) constructed of a liquid impervious substrate to ensure dry goods remain dry and liquids do not leak from the storage bag (100). Additionally, in another embodiment the substrate (130) may be translucent so that the user can visually confirm the release of the flowable substance from the storage bag (100). In yet a further embodiment, the substrate (130) may be made of PVC or other thermoplastic material, such as plastic, polypropylene, polyethylene, styrene, cold-formed foil, or other suitable materials for packaging, however, tear resistant paper products may also be used.
In order to assemble the substrate (130) into the storage bag (100) of the present invention, some means of sealing or joining the various elements must be used. The sealing or joining means may, in general, be adhesive, chemical, thermal or mechanical in nature. The seals in this invention may be stronger than the material to which it is attached, and which therefore requires breaking or tearing of the substrate at the intended locations, such as the application opening (152) or the spout (200), to release the contents of the storage bag (100). One with skill in the art will recognize the numerous types of seals that may be incorporated into the present invention. For instance, the longitudinal seals need not lie at one of the corners of the storage bag (100), known as a corner seal. In fact, the longitudinal seals are generally created via a lap-joint where the longitudinal edges (131, 132) overlap by at least ⅛″. Such a seal located down the middle of the rear face (160) is common and is often referred to as a backseal. Alternatively, any of the seals may be fin seals, wherein the interior surface (102) of two edges are joined together.
The storage bag (100) may include multiple internal chambers and may be formed using a manufacturing process incorporating multiple webs of substrate (130). For instance, one web of substrate (130) may be used to form the application face (150), the dextral face (170), and the sinistral face (180), whereas a second web of substrate (130) may form the rear face (160) and be joined to the first web. The design of the storage bag (100) enables the forming, filling, and sealing to be completed in a continuous process.
Numerous alterations, modifications, and variations of the preferred embodiments disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art and they are all anticipated and contemplated to be within the spirit and scope of the instant invention. For example, although specific embodiments have been described in detail, those with skill in the art will understand that the preceding embodiments and variations can be modified to incorporate various types of substitute and or additional or alternative materials, relative arrangement of elements, and dimensional configurations. Accordingly, even though only few variations of the present invention are described herein, it is to be understood that the practice of such additional modifications and variations and the equivalents thereof, are within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or acts for performing the functions in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed.