Patent Application
20230303291
The present invention relates generally to a pizza storage bag. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a pizza storage bag having a resealable opening formed along one of its longer sides.
Pizza storage bags are a popular way for individuals to store leftover pizza slices in their fridges or freezers for eating at a later date in a way that keeps their home organised and neat, and prevents the pizza slice from coming into contact with other foodstuffs during storage.
These bags are generally in roughly the shape of a pizza slice profile, i.e. bags that form a triangular internal volume with two long sides and one shorter side. All such bags of the prior art also have an opening along this shorter side for inserting the uneaten pizza slice, the opening often being resealable in some form.
There are two problems with this pizza storage bag design: firstly, it causes the bag to take up a longer total length, since the opening usually has one or more grip tabs disposed about its edges which increase the length of the other two sides, which are already the longer sides of the bag. This leads to more difficulty in fitting the bag with pizza slice into often cramped refrigerator and freezer spaces. Secondly, since the pizza slice, often still warm and soft/melted, is being inserted through the shorter side, the tip point of the pizza slice must be pushed along the entire length of the bag with no support. Naturally this will cause the cheese and toppings on and around the tip to press up against the internal surface of the bag, often causing them to be pushed off or around the top of the pizza during the insertion and causing a mess.
The following are a set of example pieces of prior art pizza storage bags which suffer from the problems noted above, many of which emphasise design advantages associated with having the opening formed along the short length of the triangular bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,290 describes a flexible bag having a tapered body portion with a closed bottom narrower than a top thereof. The bag has a handle portion and a folding portion coupling the body portion to the handle portion. The handle portion includes two handle halves separable to open the bag. The bag is movable from a flat position in which the holding portion is folded to an expanded unfolded position in response to the weight of objects to be carried.
US Patent Publication No. 2004,247,208 a flexible bag for storage of food products of a configurationally sustaining nature, having somewhat the configuration of a flat segmental portion of a circular disk such as a slice of pizza, provides a peripherally defined triangular body having an interconnected rectilinear neck to define a bag containment chamber. One or both sides of the triangular body provide expandible pleat structures to accommodate food products of differing thickness in the containment chamber.
US Patent Publication No. 2008,193,058 describes a reclosable, triangular shaped disposable plastic storage bag which is dimensioned to accommodate a single slice of pizza. The bags are preferably packaged and dispensed from a similar but somewhat larger triangular reclosable plastic pouch. The pouch is preferably provided with a hook hole to allow the pouch to be hung on a hook or a display rack.
It is within this context that the present invention is provided.
The present disclosure provides a pizza storage bag having a triangular profile with two longer sides and a shorter side, one of the longer sides having a resealable opening formed therein to allow for insertion of a pizza slice. As the slice is inserted sideways across a broader length of the bag there is less risk of the pizza cheese and toppings being pushed across the pizza as it is inserted into the bag. Furthermore, if grip tabs are provided about the opening of the bag, the total length of the bag on any side is less than it would be if the opening was made in the shorter side of the triangle.
Thus, according to one aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a pizza storage bag, comprising a bag having a triangular shape with first and second sides of equal length and a third side of a shorter length, the sheet thus forming a triangular internal volume for receiving and storing a pizza slice; wherein the third side and one of the first and second sides are closed along their lengths, and wherein the other of the first and second sides is open and has formed therein a resealable opening mechanism spanning a portion of its length.
In some embodiments, the resealable opening is formed by corresponding indents and protrusions running along an interior surface of the open side of the bag which are configured to detachably interlock with one another to form an airtight seal. In other embodiments, the resealable opening is in the form of a Ziplock.
In some embodiments, the open side comprises one or more grip tabs disposed about the resealable opening.
In some embodiments, the bag is made of clear plastic.
In some embodiments, the bag is formed of a flexible sheet folded over and bonded along the two closed sides.
In other embodiments, the bag is formed of two flexible sheets bonded together along the two closed sides.
Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Common reference numerals are used throughout the figures and the detailed description to indicate like elements. One skilled in the art will readily recognize that the above figures are examples and that other architectures, modes of operation, orders of operation, and elements/functions can be provided and implemented without departing from the characteristics and features of the invention, as set forth in the claims.
The following is a detailed description of exemplary embodiments to illustrate the principles of the invention. The embodiments are provided to illustrate aspects of the invention, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalent; it is limited only by the claims.
Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
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The bag comprises a bag body 102 made of a flexible material such as clear plastic that forms a triangular profile having a first long side 104, a second long side 106, and a short side 108. The first long side 104 and second long side 106 are generally of equal length, but the bag is not limited by specific dimensions.
The first long side 104 and the shorter side 108 are closed, either being, for example, two layers bonded together or one layer of material folded over and bonded—though other methods of manufacture may also be possible. The second longer side 106 is open, but has a re-sealable opening 110 formed therein. The resealable opening has a pair of grip taps 112 formed about it that allow a user to easily gain purchase on the sides of the bag to open it when it is closed. Having the grip tabs positioned along one of the longer sides reduces the total length of the bag and makes it easier to store.
In the present example configuration the resealable opening mechanism is in the form of corresponding indents and protrusions running along an interior surface of the open side 106 which are configured to detachably interlock with one another when the user pinches them together, forming an airtight seal in the bag's interior volume as is known in the art.
It should be understood that this type of resealable opening mechanism is merely used as an example, and that various other types could be used. Furthermore, the term “mechanism” as used herein is intended to be interpreted broadly, and also encompasses the use of adhesives on the inner surface to make the opening resealable, etc.
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Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
The disclosed embodiments are illustrative, not restrictive. While specific configurations of the pizza storage bag have been described in a specific manner referring to the illustrated embodiments, it is understood that the present invention can be applied to a wide variety of solutions which fit within the scope and spirit of the claims. There are many alternative ways of implementing the invention.
It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention.
