Patent Application
20050251973
The present application generally relates to a reclosable fastener for resealably closing a bag such as a baby bottle liner and more specifically to a fastener comprising a plurality of interlocking hooks, recesses and bulbous protuberances dimensioned and arranged to create a substantially vacuum tight seal for such bags.
Plastic film bags with reclosable fasteners are in widespread use in many industries and the home. The separable and reclosable fastener provides a convenient means for access into the bag and allows the bag to be reused.
Nursing pouches and disposable baby bottle liners provide a convenient way for nursing, working mothers to provide nourishment and sustenance for newborns and growing babies. Current baby bottle liners do not provide a way to safely store breast milk while minimizing the risk of external contamination of the milk, and internal bacterial growth. One such exemplary prior art baby bottle and liner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,251 (“the '251 patent”). The '251 patent describes a baby bottle liner that provides a reclosable feature at one end of the liner. A serious drawback of this prior art patent involves the risk of contamination of the contents of the liner at the ends of the reclosable fastener and through the fastener itself. The liner of the '251 patent permits contamination by microbes through the sides of the fastener which are open to the environment. Further, the fastener itself permits air and water to enter the inside of the liner and contaminate the contents thereof. Consequently, a nursing mother may be feeding her child breast milk that may be contaminated with microbes which could cause serious gastrointestinal problems for the child.
Further, the prior art does not solve the problem of how to place an airtight, watertight or vacuum tight reclosable string fastener on a liner that is of a size of most liners for baby bottles. Conventional baby bottle liners are generally narrow in width. Hence, placement and sealing of a reclosable fastener onto a liner of narrow width is also a serious problem.
Reclosable fasteners have been the subject of considerable development throughout the years, as is evidenced by the volumes of patents covering these devices. A common reclosable fastener construction consists of a single rib and corresponding groove assembly. The rib terminates into a generally asymmetric arrowhead-shaped, member commonly referred to as the male end of the fastener. The corresponding groove, commonly called the female end of the fastener, ordinarily consists of walls terminating into hooks for grabbing the rib and interlocking the fastener.
This construction offers many advantages, as well as disadvantages. For instance, the fastener elements can be easily and economically manufactured by extrusion methods. The fastener is also securely retained in the closed position to discharge of contents of the bag. The flanges readily open from the outside by applying a separating force on the pull flanges extending from the mouth of the bag. The key disadvantage of the single rib and groove construction is that unless the fastener components have a certain size or stiffness and are manufactured to closely adhere to strict tolerances, the fastener elements are difficult to align and interlock and do not provide an airtight, watertight, or vacuum tight seal.
The above disadvantages have been overcome by constructing a separable fastener with a plurality of interlockable hook-shaped ribs that can be small in size and are composed of a relatively soft and resiliently flexible material that can be aligned and interlocked by simple inward pressure. However, this construction requires at least one of ribs to be hinged to the bag wall to prevent the fastener from opening by internal pressure, yet still does not achieve a vacuum tight seal. Therefore, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a reclosable fastener having the advantage of multi-rib and groove construction to facilitate alignment and interlocking engagement of fastener elements and which provide a substantially vacuum tight seal.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a reclosable fastener which provides ample resistance to internal separating forces without requiring complex structures manufactured into the fastener elements.
A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a substantially flangeless reclosable fastener that is both substantially watertight and airtight and yet small in size, which reduces plastic usage and cost and allows use of watertight reclosable fasteners in relatively small flexible containers.
The present invention pertains to a reclosable fastener that resealably closes a bag. The bag includes opposing panels, each having an inner surface, and the fastener is adapted to be affixed to the upper portions of the inner surfaces of the bag panels. The fastener readily secures to the bag walls between the fastener and bag walls and forms a vacuum tight seal.
According to an example, the fastener, in particular, includes a reclosable fastener for resealably closing a bag with opposing wall panels, each wall panel having an inner surface, the fastener adapted to be affixed to the upper portions of the inner surfaces. The fastener features a first continuous, elongated, profile strip with at least one first hook disposed thereon, the at least one first hook having a half-arrowhead profile being disposed at an end of the profile strip. The fastener also includes a second continuous, elongated, profile strip with at least one first hook having a half-arrowhead profile disposed thereon, the first hook being disposed at an end of the profile strip. Further, the fastener has at least one continuous recess disposed along the length of each of the first and second profile strips, the at least one recess being sized, constructed, and arranged to resealably mate with the first hook on the opposing strip forming an vacuum tight seal and at least one continuous recess on each of the first and second profile strip being dimensioned not to mate with the hooks.
Those of ordinary skill in the art might construe the term “air tight” differently. Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, copyright 1997 by Merriam-Webster, Inc., defines “air tight” to mean “impermeable to air, or nearly so.” Under such as definition for “air tight,” those of ordinary skill in the art might construe an “air tight” seal on a plastic bag to mean a seal that is actually impermeable, or only nearly impermeable to air. Alternatively, persons of ordinary skill might construe an “air tight” reclosable seal to be defined by an industry standard air leak test known as ASTM D3078-02. Under this standard, a bag is submersed in water above which a pressure is applied. Leaks in the bags seal are manifested as air bubbles. As used herein, an “air tight” seal means a seal that will meet the ASTM D3078-02 test. Under the test, an airtight seal would prohibit the transfer of air molecules from the inside to the outside and vice versa, and should be able to keep air molecules in a bag after the seal's closure and air molecules outside the bag after the seal's closure, for as long as the product contained within the bag is expected to be kept reasonably fresh. The term “vacuum tight” as used herein is also defined as at least meeting the “air tight” standard.
The bag 16 may be fabricated from any suitable plastic film or sheet material, as is commonly known in the art. The bag 16 has a pouch 18 including opposing wall panels 20, 22 with inner surfaces 24, 26. The wall panels are defined by a first 28a, 30a, second 28b, 30b, third 28c, 30c and fourth 28d, 30d edges. The bag 16, shown in
The fourth edges 28d, 30d provide an access opening to the pouch 18. The profile strips 12, 14 are affixed to the upper portions of the inner surfaces 24, 26 of wall panels 20, 22 to close and seal the bag 16 from the exterior environment. Preferably, the profile strips 12 and 14 are sealed on their rear surface 13 and 15 to inner surfaces 24 and 26 by means of heat sealing. The segments 32, 34 distal to the profile strips 12, 14 act as pull flanges for opening the fastener assembly 10 (
An important aspect of the invention is the fact that the first continuous elongated profile strip 12 and the second continuous elongated profile strip 14 are configured and arranged to provide a vacuum tight seal upon interconnection thereof. The vacuum tight seal provides the important function of keeping foreign material including bacteria, molds, and viruses from entering the pouch 18. Further, this seal starves any bacteria or other microbes inside the contents of the pouch of oxygen, thus destroying the ability to replicate exponentially. Hence, the risk of contamination of the pouch's contents is greatly reduced. Moreover, the vacuum tight seal provides resistance to inadvertent opening of the seal due to external pressure on the pouch 18 or due to internal pressure from within the pouch 18.
A further advantage of the disclosed examples of
The present inventive reclosable fastener 10 has been found to provide a particularly durable vacuum tight seal. Fastener 10 includes first continuous elongated profile strip 12 and second continuous elongated profile strip 14 each having at least two hooks 42, 52, 44, 54 thereon. First continuous elongated profile strip 12 has hooks 42, 52; second continuous elongated profile strip 14 has hooks 44, 54 hooks thereon. While only two pairs of hooks 42, 52 and 44, 54 are constructed and arranged on the profiles 12, 14 in the variant shown in
Preferably hooks 42, 52 on the first continuous elongated profile strip 12 and hooks 44, 54 on the second continuous, elongated profile 14, as extruded, are of equal height and have a half arrowhead-shaped tip 43, a concave tail 45, and a generally upstanding neck 47 connecting the hip and tail. Hooks 42, 52 are adjacent to each other on the first profile strip 12. Optionally, the hooks 44, 54 on second profile strip 14 are also adjacent to each other in one variant of the invention. At least one hook 44 is at an end of the first continuous elongated profile strip 12. The second hook 54 is located proximal to hook 44. It is appreciated that a hook 44 formed at an end of a profile strip will have a partially-concave tail segment 49.
In one variant of the invention, the first continuous, elongated profile strip 12 has a plurality of continuous recesses 62, 72, 82, 92 along a length of the strip. The second continuous, elongated profile strip 14 has a plurality of continuous recesses 64, 74, 84, 94 along a length of the strip. A plurality of neck segments 62′, 62″, 72′, 82′ and 92′ are disposed along base segment 64 and define recesses 62, 72, 82 and 92 along the first profile strip 12. Likewise, neck segments 64′, 64″, 74′, 84′ and 94′ are disposed along base segment 65 and define recesses 64, 74, 84 and 94 along the second profile strip 14. The base segments 63, 65 do not extend beyond the neck segments 62′, 92′ and 64′, 94′ located at the opposite ends of each base segment. In other words, the fastener is flangeless; no lateral flanges are used to seal the fastener to the bag wall. Of course, it is appreciated that any number of recesses can be created along the first and second profile strips 12, 14, including but not limited to more than four recesses, with a corresponding increase/decrease in corresponding hooks and other members. In one variant of the invention, at least one of the recesses is dimensioned to resealably mate with one of hooks. The recesses 62, 72 are substantially congruent to hooks 44, 54 such that releasably interlocking the hooks into the recesses creates a secure airtight and watertight seal. Similarly, recesses 64, 74 are substantially congruent to hooks 42, 52 such that releasably interlocking hooks 42, 52 into recesses 64, 74 creates a secure airtight and watertight seal. It is appreciated that the presently disclosed examples provide a reclosable fastener with a plurality of airtight and/or watertight seals between corresponding members of the profile strips 12, 14.
It is further appreciated that, preferably, at least two continuous recesses 62, 72 are dimensioned to resealably mate with hooks 44, 54, and/or at least two continuous recesses 74, 84 are dimensioned to resealably mate with hooks 42, 52.
In another variant of the invention, at least one continuous recess on each respective profile strip is not dimensioned to mate with a respective hook, but rather dimensioned to tightly fit into a recess that is substantially congruent to a profile member. It is appreciated that when member 56 is inserted into recess 84, the tight fit between the member 56 and the recess 84 also creates an additional substantially airtight and watertight seal. The interaction between the other recesses and members causes a similar result with the combination of the interaction of the various hooks, recesses, and members creating a substantially leak-proof failsafe seal. Of course, it is further appreciated that while the geometry of the members as shown in
As further seen in
While only a few, preferred embodiments of the invention have been described hereinabove, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the embodiment may be modified and altered without departing from the central spirit and scope of the invention. As illustrated, the fastener strip 120 includes first and second profile strips 12, 14. The elongated profile strips 12 and 14 are respectively affixed to the inner surfaces 24 and 26 of wall panels 20 and 22 to close and seal the bag 16 from the exterior environment. In the illustrated example of
The first continuous elongated profile strip 12 includes at least one hook element hook 128 and the first portion 122 of the second elongated profile strip 14 also includes a similar hook element 130. Preferably, the hooks 128 and 132 are constrictive in the range of equal height and have a half arrow head-shaped tip 132, 134, respectively. Similar to the similarly described embodiment, corresponding recesses are formed in each of the strips 12 and 14. When the strips 12 and 14 are releasably interlocked, the hook elements 128 and 130 releasably interlock into recesses creating, in conjunction with additional structure to be described below, a vacuum-type seal.
Also illustrated in
Additionally,
In light of foregoing, the preferred embodiments described are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced herein.
It is appreciated that while the geometry and arrangement of the various recesses, bulbs and hooks described herein generally relate to a hook and a substantially congruent recess to the hook configured, sized, constructed and arranged for creating a vacuum tight seal, a variety of suitable geometries or configurations of the male members and female members are disclosed subject only to the condition that the seal made when the profiles are interlocked is vacuum tight.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of Ser. No. 10/054,203 filed on Nov. 13, 2001 entitled “Reclosable Fastener Strip,” which is a continuation of Ser. No. 09/524,439 filed on Mar. 14, 2000 entitled “Reclosable Baby Bottle Liner and Baby Bottle having Reclosable Liner,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,278 and all assigned to the same assignee, Com-Pac International, Inc.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10054203 | Nov 2001 | US |
| Child | 11122355 | May 2005 | US |
| Parent | 09524439 | Mar 2000 | US |
| Child | 10054203 | Nov 2001 | US |
