Landing Rails for Freezer Bags

The present disclosure relates to reclosable freezer bags with landing rails to reduce the contact of the bag walls to other surfaces, particularly while frozen, thereby reducing the formation of apertures or holes in the bag walls. This disclosure has many applications, but is particularly adapted to applications wherein reclosable bags are used to transport, freeze and store expressed mother's milk.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to freezer bags with landing rails to reduce the contact of the bag walls to other surfaces, particularly while frozen.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In general, reclosable plastic bags used in a freezer may develop small apertures or holes while the contents are frozen. This can be caused by the surface of the bag freezing to other surfaces. This can be disadvantageous in many applications, but it is particularly disadvantageous in reclosable bags which are used to store expressed mother's milk.

In the prior art, grip strips have been formed on reclosable bags. However, the grip strips have typically been made of the same resin as the bag walls and therefore have not been sufficiently stiff Similarly, these grip strips have not been sufficiently thick to elevate or separate the bag walls from adjacent surfaces.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide to a reclosable bag, such as a plastic bag, which has a reduced propensity to form apertures or holes in the bag walls while frozen, particularly those apertures or holes which may be formed by the surface of the bag contacting and freezing to adjacent surfaces.

These and other objects are attained by providing landing rails on the outside of the film forming the bag walls. This is typically done with color stripes applied behind or above the zippers of the reclosable bags. The further advantage of color stripes is that the consumer can tell where the strips are when the consumer is placing the bag into the freezer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings in details wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views, one sees thatFIG. 1is a front plan view of a reclosable bag100, which is an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The particular embodiment of reclosable bag100is drawn to a bag for the transportation, storage and freezing of expressed mother's milk. However, a wide range of embodiments for a wide range of applications is envisioned.

Reclosable bag100has front and rear walls10,12made of a polymeric or similar material. The edges of front and rear walls10,12are sealed together at the bottom by bottom seal14(which may include gusset60as shown inFIG. 2) and at the sides by side seals16,18thereby forming mouth20. Indentations41,43form an hourglass shape in the front and rear walls10,12between the upper zipper22and the mouth20. Typically, side seals16,18do not extend into the hourglass shape formed by indentations41,43.

Immediately adjacent from the bottom of indentations41,43, upper zipper22is formed thereby making mouth20reclosable. Upper zipper22includes upper male profile26sealed to the interior of front wall10and upper female profile28sealed to the interior of rear wall12. Upper male and female profiles26,28can interlock together in a leak-resistant configuration. Upper front landing rail30is formed or sealed on the exterior of front wall10immediately outward from upper male profile26. Likewise, upper rear landing rail32is formed or sealed on the exterior of rear wall12immediately outward from the upper female profile28.

Lower zipper40is spaced immediately downwardly from upper zipper22. Likewise, a storage volume200is formed, bounded by the lower zipper40, the side seals16,18and the bottom seal14.

Lower zipper40includes lower male profile42sealed to the interior of front wall10and lower female profile44sealed to the interior of rear wall12. Lower male and female profiles42,44can interlock together in a leak-resistant configuration. Lower front landing rail48is formed or sealed on the exterior of front wall10immediately outward from lower male profile42. Likewise, lower rear landing rail50is formed or sealed on the exterior of rear wall12immediately outward from the lower female profile44. Landing rail52is formed at a somewhat lower portion of the mid-section of front wall10while landing rails54,56are formed on the lower portion of respective front and rear walls10,12upwardly adjacent from or proximate to lower gusset60which is formed between the bottom of respective front and rear walls10,12, and is intended to allow the filled bag to stand upright. However, in practice and use, the bag100is not always maintained in an upright position and may be laid upon its side. In this case, the landing rails30,32,48,50,52,54,56are intended to separate the front and rear walls10,12from adjacent frozen surfaces.

Landing rails30,32,48,50,52,54,56are typically color stripes which have a sufficient thickness to separate the front and rear walls from adjacent surfaces. The landing rails30,32,48,50,52,54,56are typically made from a polymeric material which is thicker and stiffer than the polymeric material used for the front and rear bag walls10,12. Landing rails30,32,48,50,52,54,56can be co-extruded with the front and rear walls10,12or can be formed separately and then sealed or otherwise joined to the front and rear walls10,12.

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.