1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure pertains to the punching of holes or apertures into the zipper of a reclosable package wherein a portion of the zipper profile is deformed, smashed or otherwise splayed to improve the opening characteristics of the zipper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, it is known to punch holes or apertures into a zipper to remove part of the interlocking profile. The removal of a portion of the zipper profile aids in the side seal creation in that a flat and hermetic side seal at the zipper area may be facilitated by removing the mass of material associated with the profile and leaving the web material of the zipper in place. However, when the holes or apertures are punched into a zipper web and a separator bar or pin is used to open the zipper of a package for pre-made opened zippered packages, the separator bar or pin may encounter the trailing end of the hole or aperture and a collision with the profile is created, thereby potentially damaging the profile.
It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide a method and apparatus wherein apertures may be punched or otherwise formed in zipper profiles and a separator bar, pin, or similar device is used to separate in zipper profiles with little or no damage to the profiles.
This and other objects are attained by deforming or “smashing” the interlocking elements of the zipper profile at the trailing end of apertures or holes which are punched or otherwise formed in a zipper which is separated by a separator bar, pin, or similar device. This deformation or “smashing” of the interlocking elements disrupts the interlocking of the interlocking elements thereby resulting in the separator bar, pin, or similar device being more likely to separate the profiles without creating a collision or damage to the zipper.
The advantages typically achieved by this configuration include allowing double profile zippers with larger masses to run in the automated manufacturing machinery, lessening the web breakage of zippers, allowing faster operating speeds thereby resulting in more bags or packages per minute, and allowing a zipper with greater opening forces (i.e., profiles more tightly fastened with each other) to run in the automated manufacturing machinery.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, wherein:
Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, one sees that
Reclosable zipper 10 is illustrated in
Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/115,611 filed Nov. 18, 2008, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
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5273511 | Boeckman | Dec 1993 | A |
5906438 | Laudenberg | May 1999 | A |
6884207 | Pokusa | Apr 2005 | B2 |
6973704 | Cortigiano, Sr. | Dec 2005 | B2 |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20100122440 A1 | May 2010 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61115611 | Nov 2008 | US |