Claims
- 1. A gusseted bag, comprising
a body having opposing broad face panels defining a volume therebetween for holding a quantity of contents, an end of the body forming an expandable gusset between the broad face panels; and a reclosable bag closure between the expandable gusset and a corresponding adjacent edge region of one of the broad face panels, such that when the closure is opened a bag opening is formed between the expandable gusset and said one of the broad face panels of the bag, to access the bag contents.
- 2. The bag of claim 1 wherein the body has two opposing gussets between the broad face panels on opposite ends of the bag, the bag closure being disposed adjacent one of the gussets.
- 3. The bag of claim 2 wherein the opposing gussets are disposed at top and bottom ends of the bag, and wherein the bag is constructed to rest on its bottom end when filled.
- 4. The bag of claim 2 wherein the bag is constructed to rest on a bottom end thereof when filled, with the two opposing gussets disposed along opposite vertical sides of the bag.
- 5. The bag of claim 1 wherein the bag is constructed to rest on a bottom end thereof when filled.
- 6. The bag of claim 5 wherein the gusset and closure are disposed at a top end of the bag with the bag standing on its bottom end.
- 7. The bag of claim 5 wherein the gusset and closure are disposed along a vertical side edge of the bag with the bag standing on its bottom end.
- 8. The bag of claim 1 wherein the bag closure comprises a mechanical touch fastener.
- 9. The bag of claim 8 wherein the bag closure comprises elongated, mating bands of hooks and hook-engageable fibers.
- 10. The bag of claim 9 wherein the bag closure comprises a unitary strip-form base along which the mating bands extend in parallel, the base defining a frangible burst membrane between the mating bands, the membrane arranged to be breached to gain initial access to the bag contents.
- 11. The bag of claim 10 wherein the burst membrane is disposed inboard of the mating bands.
- 12. The bag of claim 1 wherein one longitudinal side of the closure is attached to the bag body only outboard of the mating bands.
- 13. The bag of claim 12 wherein said one longitudinal side of the closure is disposed adjacent said one of the broad face panels of the bag, an opposite longitudinal side of the closure being secured to the gusset.
- 14. The bag of claim 1 wherein the bag closure comprises two separate closure strips, the two strips together forming an overlapping touch closure and defining the fill opening therebetween.
- 15. The bag of claim 1 wherein the bag body comprises two opposing weld flanges outboard of the bag closure and exposed to be sealed together after filling.
- 16. The bag of claim 15 wherein the bag body defines a frangible tear line along an inboard edge of at least one of the weld flanges, for tearing the weld flanges from the bag to access the contents after filling.
- 17. The bag of claim 1 further comprising a wicket extension along a free edge of one of the face panels outboard of the closure, the wicket extension defining at least one hole therethrough.
- 18. The bag of claim 1 wherein the bag closure comprises a unitary, folded strip carrying opposing bands of mating touch fastener elements on a front face thereof, a back face of the folded closure strip defining said one side of the fill opening.
- 19. The bag of claim 1 wherein the gusset extends between sealed edges of the bag.
- 20. The bag of claim 19 wherein the bag closure also extends between the sealed edges of the bag.
- 21. A method of forming fillable, reclosable bags, the method comprising
attaching a bag closure strip along one longitudinal edge of a length of bag film; and forming from the length of bag film a bag having an open end, two broad, opposing faces and a flap with an inwardly-extending fold, the flap attached to an edge of one of the broad faces along the open end and extending between sealed edges of the bag, the open end of the bag defining a fill opening between the closure strip and the other of the broad faces of the bag.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the closure strip comprises an elongated strip-form base with two spaced-apart, parallel, mating bands of fastener elements disposed on a common face of the base, the base folded along its length between the bands of fastener elements to maintain the fastener elements in engagement while the bag is being formed.
- 23. The method of claim 22 wherein one of the mating bands of fastener elements comprises hooks, and the other of the mating bands of fastener elements comprises hook-engageable fibers.
- 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the band with fibers comprises a non-woven web of fiber.
- 25. The method of claim 21 wherein forming the bag comprises folding the length of bag film to form both broad face panels and the flap.
- 26. The method of claim 21 wherein the bag is formed after the closure strip is attached to the bag film.
- 27. The method of claim 21 wherein the closure strip extends across the bag between the sealed edges of the bag.
- 28. The method of claim 21 wherein forming the bag comprises cutting the length of film and the bag closure strip to selected lengths after the bag closure strip is attached, and sealing cut ends of the film and closure strip to form the sealed edges of the bag.
- 29. The method of claim 21 further comprising
filling the bag with a quantity of contents; and forming a seal along the open end of the filled bag along the closure strip, with the flap forming an expandable gusset of the filled bag.
- 30. A method of filling and sealing a reclosable bag, the method comprising providing a bag comprising
a body having an open end, two opposing, broad face panels defining a volume therebetween for holding a quantity of contents, and a flap attached to one of the broad face panels along the open end, the flap having an inwardly-facing fold for forming an expandable gusset between the broad face panels after the open end is sealed; and a reclosable bag closure secured to a free edge of the flap and having an exposed side defining one side of a fill opening at the open end of the bag; filling the bag with contents through the fill opening; and sealing the exposed side of the closure strip to the other of the broad face panels of the bag, to permanently close the fill opening.
- 31. A method of vertically forming, filling and sealing recloseable bags, the method comprising
attaching a bag closure strip along one longitudinal edge of a length of bag film; forming from the length of bag film a bag having, two broad, opposing faces and an expandable gusset between the broad faces adjacent the closure strip; filling the bag with a quantity of contents; and forming a seal along an edge of the bag between the broad faces and crossing the closure strip at one end of the expandable gusset, to seal the filled bag.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. §120, of PCT[US02/08055, filed Mar. 15, 2002, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/276,567 filed Mar. 15, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60276567 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/US02/08055 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Child |
10662266 |
Sep 2003 |
US |